System: Microsoft Xbox 360

Publisher: Q Entertainment

Reviewer’s rating: ***

ESRB rating: Everyone

Game type: Shooter

Kind of like: The last reel of “2001: A Space Odyssey” on ecstasy.

Best feature: The gameplay achieves a hypnotic synthesis of sound and motion.

Worst feature: Unlike the original, there’s no “trance vibrator” accessory available.

The bottom line: When it was originally released six years ago for the PlayStation 2, “Rez” was little more than a curiosity. A trippy, futuristic shooter that attempted — and occasionally succeeded — to produce mild synesthesia (a merging of the senses), it was praised by critics and ignored by consumers.

Game over? Not quite. Oddly enough, the game slowly attained cult status (our theory: lackadaisical stoners finally got around to sharing it with their friends), and eventually copies of “Rez” were going for big bucks on eBay.

But now you can download it for just $10 on Xbox Live Arcade. Even without the vibrator accessory, the old-school, rail-shooter gameplay is a fun blast of retro-futurism.

You play as a virtual space-age hacker, traveling through a colorful cybernetwork and destroying viruses and firewalls represented by hovering geometric shapes and patterns. It’s not just point-and-shoot; you lock on to as many enemies as you can and destroy them all at once. The game’s pulsating trance music syncs with the action and builds as you progress through each level.

Simple, stylish and spellbinding — even without mind-altering substances.