The endless Void sees Galak-Z at its very best

You might look at Galak-Z and wonder what needs adding. Here is procedural deep-space dogfighting with roguelike elements, lurid acid-belching foes, gorgeous hand-drawn explosions, and the ability, when things get tough, to transform yourself from a nimble little starfighter and into a giant mech clutching a laser katana. With The Void DLC, though, 17-Bit returns to its Saturday-cartoon universe with a precision retooling in mind. It's come to add an endless mode and, with it, a daily run.

Perfect. Finally, Galak-Z feels truly complete, and it's a genuine pleasure to wade back into the chaos. Opting out of chains of missions that thread through the scrambled interiors of asteroids, The Void lets you loose in a boundless sprawl of junk-ridden space, and sends you moving from one pack of foes to the next, collecting loot and knowing that each fight could be your last. The adventure is over as soon as you die: what remains is the score and the temptation to turn around and do it all over again.

It's no surprise that it works so beautifully. Galak-Z is at its best when you're pinwheeling through a firefight, juking over lasers and timing the transition from ship to mech just so. The Void simply takes moments like this and tumbles them into one another, so you barely have time to think as one battle finishes before the next begins. It's even possible - worryingly possible - to kite a persistent opponent from one fight right into a different fight. The Void can feel a bit like a pincer move at times.

On top of that, I just love a daily run, partly because of the idea that everyone around the world is tackling the same nightmare at roughly the same time, and partly because of the way it allows a game to work its way into your routine. Spelunky is as much a part of my morning now as tripping over the cat and missing the bus, and I'm pretty sure I can make room for Galak-Z alongside it. Not least because, with all its hectic disasters and relentless violence, I am truly terrible at The Void, lurking punishingly low in the new leaderboards and chewing through most of the daily runs I've tried so far in well under five minutes.

I'll keep at it, though. I love a good leaderboard even if it doesn't love me back, and, besides, The Void feels like Galak-Z at its wild, open-ended and heroic best.