I really enjoyed my time with ZeroRanger. I don’t quite have the lexicon built up to talk about Shmups (I haven’t played that many), but I feel pretty confident that ZeroRanger excels in comparison to most of its competition. The structure of the game gives a large focus to elements that often feel tacked on in these types of arcade-y games, namely the scoring and continue systems. It should be noted that it's not just that these elements are incorporated in a way that incentivizes players to engage with them, but they are also used in interesting narrative ways. It feels elegant in a way that most games' core design isn’t.
It's especially noteworthy that these changes are implemented so well because of how many games simply copy older games’ design. Lots of old games have systems built in place because they were common at the time. This isn't a shocking revelation, but a whole lot of design trends have become outdated. Yet at the same time, if you were to make a modern Shmup, you would be heavily criticized if you didn't include a score system, or a limited continue systems, etc. ZeroRanger sidesteps both of these grievances by being cleverly built to accommodate the best parts of arcade-y games, while still feeling modern with its approach by elevating each aspect.
My favorite part (to no one’s surprise) was the presentation. Such a bold color palette is used expertly to create vastly different atmospheres throughout the four levels. Really incredible stuff visually. But it's not just that it's well executed, it's that it's unique. A lot of games can have excellent visuals by most metrics, but they don’t tend to stand out in my mind the way that a Green and Orange color palette does. It’s bold, and it’s all the better for it.
The music is of course the highlight. Sky XXXX Days, The Sea Has Returned, It May Be Greenish, Despair, the list goes on. I couldn’t do justice talking about them here, just listen to them. A lot of the music hit especially close to home after playing Void Stranger, since the games share a lot of motifs.
I couldn’t recommend ZeroRanger enough. I tried not to touch on the spoiler stuff because you should play it for yourself. Between ZeroRanger and Void Stranger, System Erasure has solidified themselves as one of my favorite developers. I heavily anticipate whatever they release next.
It's especially noteworthy that these changes are implemented so well because of how many games simply copy older games’ design. Lots of old games have systems built in place because they were common at the time. This isn't a shocking revelation, but a whole lot of design trends have become outdated. Yet at the same time, if you were to make a modern Shmup, you would be heavily criticized if you didn't include a score system, or a limited continue systems, etc. ZeroRanger sidesteps both of these grievances by being cleverly built to accommodate the best parts of arcade-y games, while still feeling modern with its approach by elevating each aspect.
My favorite part (to no one’s surprise) was the presentation. Such a bold color palette is used expertly to create vastly different atmospheres throughout the four levels. Really incredible stuff visually. But it's not just that it's well executed, it's that it's unique. A lot of games can have excellent visuals by most metrics, but they don’t tend to stand out in my mind the way that a Green and Orange color palette does. It’s bold, and it’s all the better for it.
The music is of course the highlight. Sky XXXX Days, The Sea Has Returned, It May Be Greenish, Despair, the list goes on. I couldn’t do justice talking about them here, just listen to them. A lot of the music hit especially close to home after playing Void Stranger, since the games share a lot of motifs.
I couldn’t recommend ZeroRanger enough. I tried not to touch on the spoiler stuff because you should play it for yourself. Between ZeroRanger and Void Stranger, System Erasure has solidified themselves as one of my favorite developers. I heavily anticipate whatever they release next.