In these days of modern video games, people seem to be losing sight of what gaming is all about. In all the glitz and glamour of motion control and Hollywood actors lending their voices and likeness to games, it sometimes feels like we’ve forgotten that games are meant to be incredibly difficult, repetitive tasks performed for an arbitrary and intangible reward system of “points.”

This is incredibly valuable experience to prepare young minds for entering the workforce, but thanks to free-roaming environments and checkpoints-a-plenty, we’ve gone from a generation of Mr. Do!‘s to bunch of Mr. Don’t!‘s.

But this nine-year-old kid, whose art class project based on a classic arcade shooter is shown above, gets it. And mark my words, he will become the future leader of this nation.

That image should be instantly recognizable as the classic top-view shooter Xevious released by Namco in Japan and Atari in the West. In this game you must pilot a futuristic fighter jet over what appears to be South America eliminating targets both in the air and on the ground.

I think it was a metaphor for Manifest Destiny or something… I don’t know. Look, if you actually care about the plot line to Xevious then I recommend sticking with Hideo Kojima’s latest movie sprinkled with bits of gameplay. Anyway, let’s look at how awesome this kid’s art project is.

▼ “My third grader came back carrying a shooting game in the style of Xevious he made during arts and crafts. So, I respectfully report this to the world of Namco fans. There are also two types of bullets.”

[tweet https://twitter.com/doremium/status/651001429625192448 align=center]

I’m only speculating from this single image, but it appears that by blowing through the straw you can fire the two types of projectiles at enemies. The small balls are intended for air targets while the heavier balls are bombs for ground targets. The enemy ships are set up like a pachinko game in that you have to drop your balls through the gap between them and the backboard to get a hit and the corresponding point printed on the target.

However, if your ball happens to fall into the chute just beneath the mothership, it becomes enemy fire. If that ball then falls into your pocket it costs you a life—freaking brilliant. Not only is it a beautiful work of art but it’s also a faithful emulation of Xevious‘ gameplay.

So, while other kids are out there jamming themselves into ice cream freezers for entertainment, it’s young renaissance men like this lad who are destined to lead the generations to come. Just you watch.

Source: Twitter/@doremium (Japanese)

Top Image: Twitter/@doremium, YouTube/Old Classic Retro Gaming (Edited by RocketNews24)

Video: YouTube/Old Classic Retro Gaming

