May you attain enlightenment
Now this is how you do a fucking videogame!
I've never been a fan of shumps, I tried many times to enter the genre, but those attempts ended with me frustrated or dying over and over again not even knowing what hit me. So I began ZeroRanger excited but cautious, after all it was very possible that it didn't grab me as well... that was not the case.
This game presentation hits you like a damn truck, it's fascinating to me how a game with only mostly two colors can look so pretty and visually clear. The animations and transitions are so clean that any praising would be underselling it, and the music... holy mother of orange is the OST one of the best I've heard in a long time, not only it's awesome on its own but it also serves as the perfect accompaniment to the rest of the game, making even the least difficult parts of the stages the most hype thing to ever exist.
It plays just like another shump would, but from a very simple base it builds up masterfully the rest of what's to come; the enemies feel distinct enough so when you see one approaching, you immediately know you have to prepare yourself and adapt; the bosses are a spectacle but still pretty challenging; as you progress through the game you unlock new power-ups to your ship and you can go back to a beaten level to unlock more and personalize your ship with the ones you prefer; the progression system feels like a middle finger to the arcade shumps of old and this time the end is not the end, but rather a new opportunity to grow stronger and to get more and more continues to use in the stages... It amounts to an experience that it's just pure fun and a treat to the eyes. It's also apparently not very hard compared to other games in the same category, which I do agree, but it's still fairly challenging, maybe a bit too much sometimes; there are certain moments where the difficult spikes are very much apparent, like some stages that are criminally longer compared to others (tho in the grand scheme of things they all are pretty short) and some bosses, in particular the final one, are a huge leap in difficulty, tho that does make defeating it much more satisfying.
But perhaps what caught my attention especially half-way was the story, itself the game doesn't much dialogue and story progression, but it's constantly surprising you, toying with your expectations, tricking you into thinking it's over, and delving into incredibly weird visual and narrative themes. Not only keeps you engage, making you truly live and feel the need of the destruction of the alien menace Green Orange, but it also makes you ask a ton of questions and wanting them to be resolved.
The ending is something that I've seen done in barely any other games, much less in the shump genre, and it's mind-blowing, and it all culminates in one last decision, one last challenge that I honestly didn't see coming, and the pain this last part made me feel couldn't be even described. The uneven difficulty, some types of shots being imbalanced and that possible final outcome are probably the biggest problems of the game, but it's the last one that breaks my heart, 'cause it's both discouraging and genius, it does something that games that I could count with the fingers on one of my hands have the balls to do, a true masterful decision for the story of the game and makes the stakes feel palpable, but a true heart-breaker for those not up to that challenge, like me...
I say all of this and without spoiling it because I really want you to play this game, but at same time be aware that at the end, your perceptions of it could change, as it has for many other people. For me? ZeroRanger is one of a king, a true masterclass of both design, music, presentation and story, it's not perfect, but its damn close.
It has the courage to be its own thing and to tell what its wants to tell, all while being fun and surprising no-stop, and I truly value that, more than anything.
Happy flight and...
Good luck, you'll need it
Now this is how you do a fucking videogame!
I've never been a fan of shumps, I tried many times to enter the genre, but those attempts ended with me frustrated or dying over and over again not even knowing what hit me. So I began ZeroRanger excited but cautious, after all it was very possible that it didn't grab me as well... that was not the case.
This game presentation hits you like a damn truck, it's fascinating to me how a game with only mostly two colors can look so pretty and visually clear. The animations and transitions are so clean that any praising would be underselling it, and the music... holy mother of orange is the OST one of the best I've heard in a long time, not only it's awesome on its own but it also serves as the perfect accompaniment to the rest of the game, making even the least difficult parts of the stages the most hype thing to ever exist.
It plays just like another shump would, but from a very simple base it builds up masterfully the rest of what's to come; the enemies feel distinct enough so when you see one approaching, you immediately know you have to prepare yourself and adapt; the bosses are a spectacle but still pretty challenging; as you progress through the game you unlock new power-ups to your ship and you can go back to a beaten level to unlock more and personalize your ship with the ones you prefer; the progression system feels like a middle finger to the arcade shumps of old and this time the end is not the end, but rather a new opportunity to grow stronger and to get more and more continues to use in the stages... It amounts to an experience that it's just pure fun and a treat to the eyes. It's also apparently not very hard compared to other games in the same category, which I do agree, but it's still fairly challenging, maybe a bit too much sometimes; there are certain moments where the difficult spikes are very much apparent, like some stages that are criminally longer compared to others (tho in the grand scheme of things they all are pretty short) and some bosses, in particular the final one, are a huge leap in difficulty, tho that does make defeating it much more satisfying.
But perhaps what caught my attention especially half-way was the story, itself the game doesn't much dialogue and story progression, but it's constantly surprising you, toying with your expectations, tricking you into thinking it's over, and delving into incredibly weird visual and narrative themes. Not only keeps you engage, making you truly live and feel the need of the destruction of the alien menace Green Orange, but it also makes you ask a ton of questions and wanting them to be resolved.
The ending is something that I've seen done in barely any other games, much less in the shump genre, and it's mind-blowing, and it all culminates in one last decision, one last challenge that I honestly didn't see coming, and the pain this last part made me feel couldn't be even described. The uneven difficulty, some types of shots being imbalanced and that possible final outcome are probably the biggest problems of the game, but it's the last one that breaks my heart, 'cause it's both discouraging and genius, it does something that games that I could count with the fingers on one of my hands have the balls to do, a true masterful decision for the story of the game and makes the stakes feel palpable, but a true heart-breaker for those not up to that challenge, like me...
I say all of this and without spoiling it because I really want you to play this game, but at same time be aware that at the end, your perceptions of it could change, as it has for many other people. For me? ZeroRanger is one of a king, a true masterclass of both design, music, presentation and story, it's not perfect, but its damn close.
It has the courage to be its own thing and to tell what its wants to tell, all while being fun and surprising no-stop, and I truly value that, more than anything.
Happy flight and...
Good luck, you'll need it