Stellatum (Xbox One, 2019)

Stellatum

Developed by Satur Entertainment

Published by Sometimes You

Released for Xbox One (10/9/2019)

Also on PC/PS4/PS5/Switch

 

Prelude

Stellatum combines the control-layout of a twin-stick shooter with the level format of a standard vertically-scrolling shmup. It's a novel idea and a refreshing change from the constant arena-style approach that twin-stick shooters tend to use. Developed by Satur Entertainment and published by Sometimes You in October 2019, Stellatum promises to deliver an "exciting scroll shooter" so let's delve in and see if it can live up to the hype...

Presentation

While navigating the ship upgrade menu can be cumbersome, once you get into the actual shoot 'em up gameplay Stellatum makes a solid first impression. The visuals are super-detailed and initially the space backdrops look great, but once you realize that this is basically the same backdrop for every stage (of which there are 80!) the once impressive backgrounds start to become tedious. The sound design fails to make much of an impression, featuring standard sound effects that all sound stock and a soundtrack that didn't leave any mark. Overall, while Stellatum looks nice in the graphics department, the presentation is lacking when you put together all of the pieces.

Deep Ones (Xbox One, 2018)

Deep Ones
Developed by BURP! Games
Published by Sometimes You
Released for Xbox One (4/11/2018)
Also on PC/PS4/Switch/Vita

Deep Ones was developed by BURP! Games, a developer that's hard to find much info on. From the little bit I could gather, I believe they are from Ukraine but everything else is a mystery. It really makes you curious what the process is for Sometimes You and where they dig up some of these obscure indie games to publish. Deep Ones was released for 5 platforms in April 2018, including PC, PlayStation 4, Switch, Vita and the Xbox One.

Deep Ones starts off showing your character, floating along in his submarine when it is suddenly destroyed by a giant octopus creature, leaving you to navigate the bottom of the ocean on foot. You'll pick up a harpoon quickly, which you'll need to defend yourself against the various dangers that await. The graphics in Deep Ones are composed of simple pixel-art that looks to pay homage to the ZX Spectrum and its limited color palette. Your character moves slow, but I suppose that's appropriate considering he's walking on the ocean floor.

There are over 20 levels you'll have to traverse and in the early levels you'll see enemies like turtles, blowfish and crabs, but later in the game it gets a bit crazier when the pirates show up. The pirates come in several varieties with some that fire rifles at you, some that attack with swords and big guys that attack when you get close. Every now and then, the game changes things up a bit to keep it interesting. One stage has you riding on the back of a giant seahorse escaping from a giant shark in pursuit while another a few later stages take away your harpoon and arm you with a sword. The stage design is extremely simplistic and a bit on the easy side, but the developer did a good job at least changing it up and keeping it from getting too monotonous. The campaign will last you around 3-4 hours and there are a few boss fights thrown in there for good measure.

It's easy to take one look at Deep Ones, notice publisher Sometimes You and just label it as more easy gamerscore garbage that the company has been known to pump out, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a fun little game here, well worth the $5 asking price. If you don't mind a 2D action-platformer with a slower, more methodical pace, give Deep Ones a look. While the graphic design is definitely an acquired taste, the gameplay is very basic and it's a bit easy, there's a lot of cool ideas and level variation that make this one worth a play.

Final Verdict: Deep Ones is a simple 2D action-platformer with a minimalist pixel-style where you play in scuba gear, slowly walking along with ground underwater. It's decent, but drags on a bit longer than it needs to.

Related Links:
Buy Deep Ones - Microsoft Store
Sometimes You - Official Site
Deep Ones - Metacritic
Deep Ones - GameFAQs
Deep Ones - True Achievements
Deep Ones Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements

Awesome Pea (Xbox One, 2019)

Awesome Pea
Developed by PigeonDev
Ported & Published by Sometimes You
Released for Xbox One (3/1/2019)
Also on PC/PS4/Switch/Vita

Awesome Pea, developed by PigeonDev, is a 2D platformer that was originally released for PC in September 2018, while the Xbox One version was published by Sometimes You in March 2019. Awesome Pea attempts to capitalize on the nostalgia craze, featuring retro-inspired graphics that mimic the look of the Game Boy with it's limited yellow-green color palette. There's been no shortage of retro-throwback titles or 2D platformers over the years, so without further ado let's look at Awesome Pea and see if it's worth taking the money and time to download and play...

In Awesome Pea, you take control of the little blob-looking thing that I'd guess is supposed to be the titular pea. The pea looks quite reminiscent of the main character Jerry from Game Freak's Jerry Boy (or Smart Ball in the US). You move the pea with the analog stick or d-pad and use the A button to jump. You also have a double-jump. That's it to the controls in Awesome Pea. While simple, they work well enough and the platforming feels good for the most part.

Awesome Pea features an overworld map featuring 4 worlds with 30 stages between them, unlocking the next as you complete each one. There's a couple different types of themes for the stages which you'll see repeat with different layouts as you progress. The backgrounds are detailed enough when taking the game's limited color palette into consideration. The music and sound effects are retro-themed in order to complement the graphics, and while nothing stands out too much they're not bad either. The limited color palette makes the game a bit ugly though and I frequently found myself wanting to play only a few levels at a time as the drab palette makes it uninteresting to look at for long periods of time. That's not to say that the game is terrible, it's an above average effort, just that the lack of colors and repetitive stage designs makes it hard to bear for long periods of time.

Each stage has a set of collectibles in the form of coins and gems, with an achievement to be unlocked for gathering all of them on every stage. This helps add at least a small amount of replay value, which is good because Awesome Pea is a short game. The first time you boot the game up, both of the featured "effects" are turned on, which are actually just filters. The tube-effect warps the corners of the screen to emulate and old computer or television monitor. The CRT-effect adds some overall transparent fuzziness and a bit of a warped picture down towards the lower portion of the screen. This looks more like viewing a worn-out VHS tape or watching a channel with bad reception than your standard CRT picture. We'll delve a bit more into these filters when we get into the gripes here shortly. Awesome Pea features music and sound that feel appropriate to the graphic style, and while they suit the game well enough there's not enough music tracks and the overall sound design is unremarkable.

In a platformer like Awesome Pea, it's important to be able to control your character with accuracy. I'm glad to report that the controls here, while far from perfect, work well enough with regards to the challenges laid out by the developers. It feels like there's a slight lag between the moment you press the jump button and when the pea on-screen reacts to it, but it's not game-breaking and is something you'll adjust to if you stick with the game. Awesome Pea has a double-jump that's easy to use and adjusting in mid-air works well. You can control the pea with either the analog stick or the d-pad.

Most of the levels themselves are quite standard and not too challenging, just jump over the obstacles while collecting the coins and gems. There is one particular stage type that stood out as more annoying than the others, which are the stages where you're descending downwards while the ball projectiles are coming up from below and the sides. These stages are far more difficult than the others and will no doubt be the main source of frustration for those trying to 100% the game. They're do-able, just a major pain in the butt.

Other gripes include a questionable player hit-box, where it feels like I clearly jumped over the spike or projectile but somehow still got hit. The included CRT filter not only makes no sense for a game trying to replicate something from the Game Boy, but it also obstructs the view of some coins or gems located on the sides of the screen, thus it handicaps the gameplay. The other included screen distortion effect also makes no sense on a Game Boy game either and is a rather pointless inclusion.  If you intend to play Awesome Pea, my first recommendation is to go into the options and turn the filter and distortion effects off.

While Awesome Pea delivers a serviceable 2D-platforming experience, when you reach the final stage it feels anti-climactic and the game just sort of ends. With a lack of boss battles or any type of confrontation at all, the game feels a bit hollow when compared to other efforts in this genre. A little bit of action mixed with the platforming might have went a ways to make the game a bit more fun, but as it stands Awesome Pea is a middle of the road 2D-platformer with a relatively easy set of achievements to obtain. It's not bad, but it really doesn't do much to stand out.

Final Verdict: Awesome Pea is a basic 2D-platformer with decent controls and relatively easy achievements, but the game feels a bit underwhelming in the long run due to the lack of any boss fights and unmemorable level design. You get what you pay for with this one.

Related Links:
Buy Awesome Pea - Microsoft Store
PigeonDev - Twitter
Sometimes You - Official Site
Awesome Pea - GameFAQs
Awesome Pea - True Achievements
Awesome Pea - Xbox Achievements

State of Anarchy: Master of Mayhem (Xbox One, 2018)

State of Anarchy: Master of Mayhem
Developed by Lapovich
Ported/Published by Sometimes You
Released for Xbox One (8/1/2018)
Also on Linux/Mac/PC/PS4/Switch

Developed by Lapovich and originally released for PC back in March 2017, State of Anarchy: Master of Mayhem received a port to the Xbox One in August 2018 thanks to Sometimes You. State of Anarchy is a basic twin-stick shooter featuring graphics made to look like they were drawn out on paper and sound effects all generated by a human.

State of Anarchy features 48 levels to play through, with a few different objectives for a little variety. Most stages will have you navigate an overworld map where you'll need to make your way to a bank which is marked by an arrow. Once there you'll need to head inside and, after a loading screen, you'll need to defeat the bank boss, an enemy in the center of the bank that has a health bar. These banks bosses are largely the same other than a different bullet-pattern, they all just sit in the middle of the room firing off. Other stages will have you fighting against alien invaders, sometimes chasing after UFOs on Earth and other levels have you flying a ship in outer space battling the aliens. The variety sounds greater than it really is, as every stage boils down to shooting enemies while dodging stuff and you'll do these same types of missions ad naseum. Upon completing a stage, you'll receive a new weapon which will replace whichever main or secondary weapon you currently hold.