devonrv
  • Shooting Stars!

    2 hours playtime

    achievements are broken

This is a SHMUP. You move with the left stick, shoot straight up with X (but you have to hold it for half a second before you start firing), and use your special item with A. As for gameplay, each level assigns you a random boss, at which point you fight a few enemy waves (I’m not sure if each boss has its own set of waves, but I think so), then fight the boss and move on to the next level. Enemies can also randomly drop powerups, like more bullets, homing missiles, or drones that’ll shoot and take bullets for you. On the 6th level, you fight the final wave, then the final boss (who has a cheap laser attack that’s only conveyed by a brief animation), then the game loops with another set of random bosses. It only takes around 20 minutes or so to beat one loop, and it’s easy enough that you’ll be able to do it on your first try. Enemies and projectiles are fine at first, but each loop, enemies get more health and speed, and I’m pretty sure certain projectile patterns become impossible to dodge around the 5th or 6th loop (not helped by your bright projectiles making it hard to see enemies’ projectiles). I only made it that far because an enemy randomly dropped a temporary-defense special item, but I ended up losing it because another powerup was obscured by the HUD (and if you get another special item, the previous one disappears; it isn’t like other games where it’ll pop out of you and become collectible again in case you change your mind). Plus, even though I only made it to the end of the 2nd loop on my first run, I still got repeat bosses on my second run (and honestly, the only reason I did a second run in the first place was because I still had more card drops).

Overall, it’s okay. There may not be much substance here, but it’s fine for what it is and short enough that you can always refund it after you beat the game. Still, wait for a sale.