This is a game that thrives on its mechanics. There isn't any real story. The presentation and soundtrack are nice, but don't really stand out. Each stage is basically just a looping horizontal cave with hordes of enemies spawning in and all you need to do is wipe everything out. You have a basic forward firing gun, a stronger sustained laser, a spinning blade for taking care of close enemies, and homing missiles that basically always hit something. Every weapon other than the basic one uses a shared energy meter that recharges over time or by picking up items dropped by enemies. If it runs out, you're stuck with just your basic gun until it completely refills. Your basic gun doesn't draw from the energy bar, but if you use it for too long the rate of fire slows down to a craw. This encourages the player to balance their special attacks with their basic weapon and weave them together to dispatch your foes. The game also has a recharging dodge that covers about a quarter of the screen, creating a game that plays like a bullet hell, but feels oddly reminiscent of a character action game.

Reviewed on Dec 24, 2022


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