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.

Smash TV (XBLA, 2005)

Smash TV

Developed by Midway/Digital Eclipse

Published by Midway

Released for XBLA (11/24/2005)

Also on Arcade

 

Around a year after Xbox Live Arcade launched, Midway dropped a bunch of arcade classics as download-only titles onto the service and Smash TV was one such title. An arcade fondly remembered by those who played it back in the day, Smash TV is a twin-stick shooter with a game show theme heavily inspired by the Running Man. We'll go into a brief overview of the game to see if it's still worth playing all these years later... 

Smash TV is the textbook definition of an arcade quarter muncher, meaning that the game is excessively difficult and designed to empty out all of the quarters from your pockets. Death will come quick and frequently in Smash TV as you are constantly being swarmed from enemies in all directions. There are only 3 levels, but there are many screens within each. You'll get to choose your own path as you go, making for some nice replay value should you decide to come back for more. Each room is a screen where you'll have to fend off an onslaught of enemies while powerups and bonus prizes appear at random during the action. There's a nice array of weaponry to find here, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.

Freakout: Calamity TV Show (Xbox One, 2020)

Freakout: Calamity TV Show

Developed by Immaterial Studio

Published by JanduSoft

Released for Xbox One (4/17/2020)

Also on Linux/Mac/PC/PS4/Switch

 

Freakout: Calamity TV Show was developed by Immaterial Studio and would be their only release on the Xbox One (and the only game they've created as far as I can tell). Published in April 2020 for the Xbox One by JanduSoft, Freakout immediately gave me hopes for a Smash TV-style twin-stick shooter with its game show theme. In the game description, the developer promises "a juicy top-down dual-stick shooter inspired by old arcade games and more recent die & retry shooters." Basically, the game aspires to be a mix of Smash TV and Hotline Miami. It's a premise with a lot of promise, so let's look at Freakout and see how it fares...

Freakout starts off with you taking the place of a game-show contestant where you must fight for your life with a firearm, similar to the movie the Running Man or the game Smash TV. This premise alone is enough to build a game off of, but Freakout decided to take it a step further with the plot revolving around our contestant escaping from the game show with the assistance of an off-screen helper. You'll play a total of 3 stages with the game-show theme, at which point our character escapes out onto the city streets. It all sounds cool and it's a solid concept, but unfortunately it's all downhill from here...

Gaijin Charenji 1: Kiss or Kill (Xbox One, 2019)

Gaijin Charenji 1: Kiss or Kill
Developed/Published by overGame Studio
Released for Xbox One (9/4/2019)
Also on PC

Gaijin Charenji 1: Kiss or Kill was released in early September 2019 and is easily among the weirdest games I've encountered on the Xbox One. For starters, this game has an interesting back-story to its creation. If the game is left idle at the title screen, a crawler will pop-up explaining the origins of how Gaijin Charenji came to be. The game was originally being programmed for the Dreamcast by the developer's father back in 1998, but it wasn't finished in time before the system met its untimely demise. After his father passed away before completing the game, Yosuke Takahashi vowed to finish what his father started and release it to the public when it was finished. Over 20 years after the development began, Gaijin Charenji 1: Kiss or Kill finally saw a release in September 2019.

Before we get into the review, I want to say that if you're into the strange and eccentric, particularly of the Japanese flavor, then Gaijin Charenji is definitely going to tickle your fancy. This is one of those titles that's best experienced if you go in blind, so you may want to hold off reading this review, download and play the game first, then come back and read the review. The less you know, the more shocking it all is and discovery is part of the fun. Now that we have that out the way, here's a look into the craziness of Gaijin Charenji... 

Null Drifter (Xbox One, 2020)

Null Drifter
Developed by Panda Indie Studio
Published by Eastasiasoft Limited
Released for Xbox One (4/8/2020)
Also on PC/PS4/Switch

Null Drifter bills itself as a "1-bit lo-fi simulation," which seems fitting considering the graphics are composted of 2-tones of color and rather basic, but decent pixel-art. The game plays like your average twin-stick shooter, starting off easy but picking up in difficulty quite fast. Several of the waves will feature a boss at the end to fight. As you destroy enemies, they'll drop coins and sometimes power-ups. There's also a dash maneuver that can be used to evade or damage enemies, which requires a short time to recharge after use. Upon dying, you can spend your collected credits purchasing upgrades that allow you to start out powered-up a bit. That's really about all there is to Null Drifter, it's a minimalist twin-stick with some frenetic action; nothing more and nothing less.

Reagan Gorbachev (Xbox One, 2016)

Reagan Gorbachev
Developed/Published by Team2Bit
Released for Xbox One (2/24/2016)
Also on Ouya/PC

Reagan Gorbachev is brought to us by Team2Bit, developers of XBLIG titles Washington's Wig and Fist Puncher, which were both solid efforts when compared to the average XBLIG title. Reagan Gorbachev originally released in October 2014 for the Ouya (remember that thing?!) and would later release for PC and Xbox One in February 2016. As the title suggests, the game stars both Reagan and Gorbachev, who must team up after being captured by militant extremists.

Reagan Gorbachev features both characters on-screen simultaneously, allowing for either solo or local-coop play (no online play included). When playing solo, you'll just have to either manually switch between characters or use the LB to command the other to follow you. It's manageable but the game is definitely best enjoyed when playing with someone. Reagan Gorbachev plays similar to the Hotline Miami games, where the action is viewed from a top-down perspective with an aiming control scheme of a twin-stick shooter. While you can manually aim your weapon using the right stick, there's also a target lock-on system in place. Pressing the Y button will highlight a nearby enemy, pressing Y again will de-select the target or the right stick can be used to toggle between available targets. The lock-on target system is a bit clunky, particularly when trying to quickly switch targets, but it's one you'll need to use in order to survive the tougher stages. The targeting system works, but it's certainly not optimized. The funky lock-on aim isn't a game-breaker and, outside of that issue, the controls work well.

On the first level you'll obtain the default weapons for both characters: a katana for Reagan and poison darts for Gorbachev. Other weapons can be picked up, which include the usual suspects such as revolvers, silenced handguns, shotguns, assault rifles, grenade/rocket launchers and even a minigun. There are a total of 32 levels to play through in Reagan Gorbachev. Stealth is the best approach on most levels, though you can just run in with all guns blazing if you wish. The enemies are fierce and will close in the second they detect you. Being caught in their line of sight often results in instant death. Speaking of death, you will die a lot playing Reagan Gorbachev, but it's all part of the learning process. In addition to the armed extremists, you'll also have to contend with dogs and turrets which both pose a lethal threat. The turrets can only be destroyed with explosives, so on levels with no rocket or grenade launchers you'll have to extra careful to stay out of their line of sight. There are a few stages with boss battles as well for some needed variety. Overall, the enemies aren't particularly interesting from a design aspect, but they all pose a serious threat and will keep you on your toes.

A level can be completed by simply finding the exit, which represented by a vent duct on the ground. and after using the exit you'll lose all weapons but the default sword/darts. Each level is followed by a trivia question, with the answer being either Reagan or Gorbachev. Other than some achievements tied to them and some random trivia there's no real reward for getting these correct, so don't sweat it if you get them wrong.

Reagan Gorbachev features throwback pixel graphics and while they are quite simple, there's still enough detail you can always tell what you're looking at. The character sprites smoothly rotate around as you adjust your character with the sticks and it all looks decent enough. The cut-scenes between stages look very nice, while lacking in animation the pixel art is impressive. The sound effects are appropriately retro and go right along with the visuals, though this means they are also a bit limited and you'll hear the same dozen or so sounds throughout the whole game. Luckily, none of the sounds are too irritating so it's not that big of a deal. The music sticks with the retro theme and, like the sound effects, is a bit limited with only a few tracks that you'll hear throughout the game. What's here as far as music is good though and sounds like something that would have come out of a Sound Blaster card on your computer back in the day. Overall, Regan Gorbachev boasts a solid retro presentation in all departments. Your mileage may vary of course and if you aren't into games rocking old-school pixel graphics this one isn't going to convert you.

While there are some issues with the lock-on aiming, Reagan Gorbachev is still an enjoyable game, especially if you have a local buddy to play coop with. The game is still playable and a good time in single player, but is much more enjoyable with a second player. It's a bit on the short side and can easily be completed in around 5-8 hours, which felt just about right for this type game. There's some nice retro charm in the pixel graphics, so if enjoy twin-stick shooters and you're looking for a fun throwback Retro Gorbachev might be for you.

There's something strange in regards to the achievement list in Reagan Gorbachev. There are 10 achievements each worth 100 points each, so you have your typical 1000 gamerscore available. Where it gets weird is that there are a total of 21 achievements to unlock, meaning that there are 11 achievements that are worth absolutely nothing as far as gamerscore is concerned. The only time I recall ever seeing achievements with no gamerscore was Quake 2 on the Xbox 360. It doesn't hurt the game in any way, just thought I'd give it a mention as it's not something you typically see.

Final Verdict: Reagan Gorbachev plays similar to Hotline Miami, featuring a retro presentation with  an overhead view and a twin-stick control layout. There's local coop support and despite some control issues the game is quite fun.

Related Links:
Buy Reagan Gorbachev - Microsoft Store
Team2Bit - Official Site
Regan Gorbachev Official Trailer - YouTube
Reagan Gorbachev - Metacritic
Reagan Gorbachev - GameFAQs
Reagan Gorbachev - True Achievements
Reagan Gorbachev Achievement Guide - 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.

Biology Battle (XBLIG, 2008)

Biology Battle
Developed by Novaleaf Game Studios
Released for XBLIG (11/2008)
Also on PC

Biology Battle was released toward the beginning of XBLIG's existence, but if you judge the game by its quality you would never know this! Biology Battle is another twin-stick shooter, but remember at this point the XBLIG service hadn't been flooded with these types of games yet. The title of the game is an obvious nod to Geometry Wars, though in many ways you could say Biology Battle comes out on top in terms of visuals. The game also differs from Geometry Wars in that it has several multiplayer modes on offer.

In Biology Battle you play as a nanobot that has been sent into an infected host and you must take care of the diseased cells. The game plays off the theme well and each stage has a good excuse to be walled-off, as you are battling within a cell. You can use the left trigger to speed up which can be very useful for evasion. The right trigger activates your lightning which will decimate most enemies but you have a limited stock. You also have a "blast" function that will push enemies back and give you some breathing room. The single-player portion of Biology Battle is a good time, but the most unique feature about the game is its host of multiplayer modes. There are quite a few different variations of competitive and cooperative modes, but I haven't been able to try them out yet as I've only played the trial. The game retailed for $4.99 which is the only thing that kept it from being an instant-buy for me, but if you're into twin-stick shooters Biology Battle is definitely worth a look.

Biology Battle was originally released as an XBLIG exclusive in 2008 but in 2015 it appeared on PC via Steam. From what I can tell, it looks like the game was since pulled after the original developer noticed someone else releasing his work without permission.

Final Verdict: Biology Battle is a solid twin-stick shooter where you play as a nanobot destroying diseased cells. The price tag was high for an indie title, but it was definitely of a higher quality than your average indie.

Related Links:
Biology Battle - GameFAQs

radiangames Inferno (XBLIG, 2010)

radiangames Inferno
Developed by Radian Games
Released for XBLIG (9/2010)
Also on Ouya

radiangames Inferno is a twin-stick shooter where you are given maze-style levels you are allowed to explore as opposed to the common fixed screens of most other games in the genre. The best way to describe Inferno is a tribute to the arcade classic Gauntlet with twin-stick shooter controls. The maze-like levels will have areas locked off unless you've picked up a key to get through. Many of the levels reward the player for exploration with hidden areas to find. The graphics are a bit abstract, but the controls are so tight and the action so smooth it never bothered me that I was basically shooting at what look like bubbles and very strange looking ships. The threat level of each enemy can be easily assessed just by looking at their color. The explosions and particle effects when blowing your foes up are top notch. Defeated enemies will drop currency that can be used at shops to unlock upgrades for your ship or to buy power-ups. Every other level or so you'll gain an upgrade point that you can apply to the attribute of your choice. radiangames Inferno offers up thirty levels and once you've completed them the game offers a new game + mode where you can keep your unlocks and maximize your ships power. The game also supports up to four-players local. Highly recommended for fans of Gauntlet and/or twin-stick shooters!

Final Verdict: radiangames Inferno is a top-tier twin-stick shooter on XBLIG. It removes the quarter munching aspects of the arcade classic Gauntlet while maintaining the kind of action that made it so great!

Related Links:
radiangames Inferno - GameFAQs
radiangames Inferno - radiangames Official Site

Ikaroids (XBLIG, 2009)

Ikaroids
Developed by John Wordsworth
Released for XBLIG (12/2009)

Ikaroids is a twin-stick shooter inspired by Atari's classic Asteroids, this one exclusive to the XBLIG platform. This one has a bunch of enemy ships firing at you in addition to the giant rocks floating about. One thing I noticed immediately is that this game has no problem spawning enemies right on top of you. They pretty much appear out of thin air, with only a quick "phasing-in" animation to indicate they're going to pop up. You'll need to be very quick on your toes to stay alive. The graphics are high-res sprites with some good detail. There is a campaign mode (complete with boss battles) for one or two players (local) and also a survival mode. The game doesn't keep seem to keep tabs on your high scores, which is a bummer in these kind of games (at least have a local leaderboard). Overall, Ikaroids is an above-average twin-stick shooter but is a bit overshadowed by some of the other Asteroids-inspired games on XBLIG.

Final Verdict: If you're an Asteroids nut, I'd recommend Echoes+ or Space Crüesader first, but if you still need more space rock blasting action Ikaroids will do.

Related Links:
Asteroids & Deluxe - Xbox Overview
Space Crüesader - Xbox Overview
Echoes+ - Xbox Overview
Ikaroids - GameFAQs

P3 (XBLIG, 2012)

P3
Developed by Laser Space Horse Games
Released for XBLIG (1/2012)

P3 is a twin-stick shooter released for XBLIG. With the multitude of titles released in this genre, there's no doubt several decent titles will get buried in the bunch. P3 has a cool concept, where you pilot a nano-ship and the play-field is a petri dish that has a nucleus in the center of it. Your objective is to protect the nucleus by blasting the incoming bacteria and collect the energy they leave behind to keep the nucleus active.

The controls in P3 work well and the land mine and speed adjustment buttons are a nice bonus. The game looks nice but seems to have a tough time running at a steady 60 FPS like most of these twin-stick shooters do and seems like it stays more in the 30 FPS region. This makes quite a difference in a type of game where precise movement and aiming is constantly required. The game also only lasts fourteen waves, at which point the game deems the nucleus safe. P3 doesn't keep tabs on high scores so there's not going to be much to bring you back after you've cleared it. Overall, P3 is not a bad game but one I find hard to recommend when there are so many quality shooters on the 360.

Final Verdict: P3 is a decent twin-stick shooter with a cool concept that needed a bit more refinement to be at its best, but even in its released state it's an above average effort from the developers just tough to recommend when there are so many twin-stick shooters on the platform.

Related Links:
P3 - GameFAQs

Zombie Estate II (XBLIG, 2013)

Zombie Estate II
Developed by JeremyVerchick48
Released for XBLIG (4/2013)
Also on PC

Zombie Estate II plays and looks much like the original title (review here), but this time around you have four different environments to choose from for some needed variety. Levels include the estate, high school, shopping mall and skyscraper rooftops. There are tons of unlockables this time around, including characters and hats that will grant you bonus stats. These will be unlocked by spending points earned from playing well. There are also over eighty guns to mess around with. The game takes what was good about the original and piles on quite a bit more content. There is still support for up to four-players local and a much better variety of enemy types this time around, in addition to much more detailed environments to do your zombie blasting in. The pixelated gore is pretty nasty as zombies satisfyingly get reduced to bloody chunks as you mow them down. The game offers three difficulties (casual, hard and insane) that go for fifteen waves and there is also an endless mode. Zombies will drop ammo and money as you kill them, which can be spent between rounds to purchase new weapons. The game is simple yet fun and offers up a decent challenge at the same time. The Zombie Estate series is, in my opinion, one of the better zombie shooters available on XBLIG. The game would later see a release on Steam with some additional content.

Final Verdict: Zombie Estate II is an excellent sequel and delivers quite a bit more content than the original. The four-player mode is a blast with some buddies!

Related Links:
Zombie Estate I & II - Official Site
Zombie Estate II - Steam
Zombie Estate II Official Trailer - YouTube
Zombie Estate - Xbox Overview
Zombie Estate II - GameFAQs
Zombie Estate II - Steam

radiangames Ballistic (XBLIG, 2011)

radiangames Ballistic
Developed by Radiangames
Released for XBLIG (1/2011)
Also on iOS/Macintosh/Ouya/PC

radiangames Ballistic is the seventh and final release from the developer on XBLIG. Ballistic plays like your traditional arena twin-stick shooter. The main game features an infinite number of waves filled with frenetic blasting action. If you've played any of Radiangames previous entries then the presentation will be familiar. The menu designs, sounds and in-game graphics are very consistent throughout the whole series. The enemy design is definitely the weakest aspect of the game, as you'll be shooting at circular enemies of varying shapes and colors. Once the shooting action begins you'll hardly have time to care about what you're shooting and the core gameplay delivers the goods in Ballistic.

The controls are extremely responsive and you're given a few weapons you can choose from, plus a power-shot modifier activated by hold the right trigger. This shot is limited so you'll want to save it for when you really need it. Every ten rounds, you're given another upgrade point which you can use to power-up one of nine different enhancements to your ship. In addition to the waves mode, there are also five challenges where you have a time limit to rack up your highest possible score. This title supports two-players and is a good time, but of course multiplayer is local only. radiangames Ballistic gives you a lot of bang for your buck and is a very polished twin-stick shooter.

Final Verdict: radiangames Ballistic is an excellent twin-stick shooter featuring excellent controls and some decent replay value.

TIME VIKING!!!!!ANDSPACERAPTOR (XBLIG, 2014)

TIME VIKING!!!!!ANDSPACERAPTOR
Developed by Ska Studios
Released for XBLIG (1/2014)

TIME VIKING!!!!!ANDSPACERAPTOR is a bit of an oddity, where you play as the "time viking" blasting your enemies with twin-stick shooter style controls. The art definitely has that Ska Studios look to it, resembling drawings that jumped right off the paper and onto your screen. The objective in the game is to kill your enemies, and as you shoot them there robotic remains will pile up underneath your character. The objective is to build this scrap pile all the way to the moon. Some enemies will drop weapon power-ups when killed which will give a limited amount of ammunition. The game is a bit easy at first but the enemy swarms do pick up eventually. There's some rock music going on during the affairs which suits the action quite well. TIME VIKING!!!!!ANDSPACERAPTOR makes decent use of the twin-stick control scheme layout, though it seems a bit odd that your character can't jump. The game contains a single level that can be completed in roughly 20 minutes. It's not bad, but it's very simple and short. It's definitely not quite as good as the developers other efforts that made it over to XBLA. Why did they feel the need to make the game's title look as if it's from an angry 10-year old's YouTube comment?

Final Verdict: TIME VIKING!!!!!ANDSPACERAPTOR is a strange game where you build a skyscraper to the moon on your enemies remains. Unfortunately, it sounds a bit cooler than it is in execution but it still was not a bad buy for the dollar asking price.

Related Links: 
Ska Studios - Official Site
TIME VIKING!!!!!ANDSPACERAPTOR Review - TheXBLIG.com
TIME VIKING!!!!!ANDSPACERAPTOR - GameFAQs

AtomHex (XBLIG, 2009)

AtomHex
Developed by Escapist Games
Released for XBLIG (8/2009)

AtomHex is a twin-stick shooter with color-coordination gimmick. You'll have to collect the appropriate color hexagon to change your shot color to coordinate with the enemies you're trying to kill. Some enemies can be killed by any color shot, but certain enemies with shields can only be destroyed by gunfire of the same color. Big points can be earned from chaining together multiple kills of the same color. You'll be able to pick up power-ups such as enhanced firepower, multipliers and one that freezes all enemies. The game also features its own built in awards system which functions very similarly to achievements, with 100 different challenges to unlock. If you like some intricate scoring mechanics in your shooters, then you may enjoy this title. Personally, I think the title is well-designed but I just wasn't attracted to the color-matching mechanic and found it a bit too complex for this style of game, but I'm sure there are some shooter fans out there who might dig it.

Final Verdict: AtomHex is a twin-stick shooter featuring complex scoring tactics involving color chaining and multipliers. Definitely not for everybody but if you like complicated mechanics in your twin-stick shooter you might like it.

Related Links:
AtomHex - GameFAQs

I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1 (XBLIG, 2009)

I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1
Developed by Jamezila
Released for XBLIG (8/2009)

I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1 is a twin-stick shooter featuring zombies and a title that displays some obvious illiteracy. Being an older person, I don't really get this style of writing that looks like a raging six-year old's rushed comment on YouTube or something. It annoys me not only because it just looks tacky, but also because it's really hard to type it accurately, but thank goodness for copy & paste! My bad there, I got a bit sidetracked complaining about the stupid title so let's get to the game itself...

I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1 is your basic twin-stick shooter, though this one goes for digitized backdrops and sprite-art enemies rather than your typical abstract designs with neon graphics. The game plays as a single level that lasts roughly about twenty minutes, with the backgrounds and enemies changing up every so often. Enemies have a decent range of stuff like zombies and asteroids, but everything basically acts the same and just chases after you. There are gun power-ups with limited ammo that will frequently pop-up and these add a little variety to the action. The biggest selling-point of this game was the music, which is pretty humorous but I can't say it's something I'd listen to outside the game (I've read somewhere that the track from this game made it into Rock Band, but I'm unable to confirm). In all honesty I've always been baffled as to why this game has remained a top-seller on XBLIG pretty much since its release. Granted, it's better than most of the other highest selling titles, but the gameplay is quite limited and there are at least a dozen other twin-stick shooters that are more polished and offer superior gameplay that were released on XBLIG for the same price. The game definitely has some style going for it, and for a buck, I'm sure many of the people who bought the game were at least somewhat satisfied with it.

Final Verdict: I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1 is an above-average twin-stick shooter with zombies and a humorous theme song. Not the best twin-stick shooter on XBLIG but far from the worst.

Related Links:
I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1 - GameFAQs
Ska Studios - Official Site

Ultratron (XBLIG, 2008)

Ultratron
Developed by Pumpkin Games
Released for XBLIG (12/2008)
Also on Linux/Macintosh/PC/PS3/PS4/Vita/WiiU/Xbox One

Ultratron came out back in 2008 when XBLIG was young and still full of hope. The game is a straight up homage to the classic arcade Robotron 2084. The presentation in this game is top-notch, with a sleek menu with selections for settings, mode, awards and options. I appreciate the option to put scanlines on the screen to complete the retro experience. The neon-style graphics in game look pretty sweet too, but it annoyed me that the characters always face left and right. In a game with multi-directional movement, 2D or not, you need at least animations of your character walking in four different directions. Still, this isn't something that's going to mess with the core gameplay. It's similar to Robotron, but not identical. The overall play area is quite a bit smaller, and you don't have the innocent bystanders to rescue either (at least not in the trial, perhaps they do appear later on in the full game). Many enemies just kind of wander about aimlessly while others will fire weapons at you. Compared to the arcade classic it was inspired by, Ultratron is a pretty easy game, but that's understandable as Robotron was a relentless beast. Things are a bit more manageable in this title but the challenge does escalate once you get a ways in (the full game features 40 rounds!). Ultimately, Ultratron is not as good as its inspiration but it's still a competent twin-stick shooter. Ultratron would see ports to a nice variety of systems, so if you're interested chances are you have something you can play it on!

Final Verdict: If Robotron 2084 is Dr. Pepper, then Ultratron is Mr. Pibb. It's still good but it's just not the original classic. Still, it's a buck and it's a good time!

Related Links:
Ultratron - GameFAQs
Ultratron for Xbox One - Microsoft Store
Ultratron for PC - Steam