I can't say this is my favorite game to come of the $5-psuedo arcade game trend that I've seen take place over the past couple years, but it's still a solid effort and fully worth your time. Essentially, Hop Top meshes a contemporary mobile game (Doodle Jump) with the arcade classic Galaxian. It's a novel idea, but I feel like the execution is hurt a bit by its randomness in the main campaign.
The formations stay the same, but depending on your luck, it seems like you may either get a really easy set of obstacles to contend with or a harder set. You may get 1-ups and plenty of power-ups (keep in mind that, in campaign mode, you don't get extends based on scoring at all) or you may not. I understand that a lot of people love roguelike design, and by default arcade games always do have a bit of randomness to them, but I much prefer the "fixed" layouts of games like Donut Dodo and Cash Cow.
Still, despite my gripes, this is a fun pick-up-play experience and I will give it credit for going out of its way in a way even my favorites didn't. You actually get two games in one here- an arcade mode that shows what "Hop Top" would've looked like in the 80's and a campaign mode that gives the game a gorgeous 32 bit makeover. This was brilliant, and the latter gives off serious "Arranged Mode" vibes from the Namco Museum collections in the PS2 era for those old enough to remember. I would love to see this kind of thing done more often.
The formations stay the same, but depending on your luck, it seems like you may either get a really easy set of obstacles to contend with or a harder set. You may get 1-ups and plenty of power-ups (keep in mind that, in campaign mode, you don't get extends based on scoring at all) or you may not. I understand that a lot of people love roguelike design, and by default arcade games always do have a bit of randomness to them, but I much prefer the "fixed" layouts of games like Donut Dodo and Cash Cow.
Still, despite my gripes, this is a fun pick-up-play experience and I will give it credit for going out of its way in a way even my favorites didn't. You actually get two games in one here- an arcade mode that shows what "Hop Top" would've looked like in the 80's and a campaign mode that gives the game a gorgeous 32 bit makeover. This was brilliant, and the latter gives off serious "Arranged Mode" vibes from the Namco Museum collections in the PS2 era for those old enough to remember. I would love to see this kind of thing done more often.