Dead End City

OVERVIEW: When you achieve a blend of vibes from Mad Max (movie), Carrier Airwing-Out Zone-Mega Swiv (Arcade cabinets and a Sega Mega Drive game) the final result will likely be known as Dead End City. This title from first impressions had a very nice pace with a fairly sizeable roster of characters (5) each with distinct special weapons. All things considered I was eager to play it! Pros -» Gameplay: Very smooth and you can unlock your own vehicle hitbox to better understand how to dodge -» Soundtrack and sound effects: suited to an apocalyptic theme even if I am a fan of S.E. only on shmups -» Graphics: 80's and 90's style with a bit more polish on the stronghold areas -» Bosses: Interesting battles where you will have a bonus stage if you clear them on a no damage run -» Replayability: Apart from the Arcade mode you are provided with a "Score attack" and "Highway" choices. Not less important is the ability to shop extra features for the next sessions like tuning your cars... or special pictures to save on your machine -» Difficulty: One of the most positive aspects. Challenging and rewarding Cons -» A hidden gem SUMMARY: 8.9/10 gaming scale Disclosure: After clearing the main campaign and, as I comeback for new sessions or new updates arise by developers, I intend to keep revising this review

Yes, it's exactly like that everyone is yelling about: Galaga meets 1943, meets Spy Hunter, in a Mad Max setting. AND IT'S AWESOME. (8.5/10)

Dead End City's an intense and fun retro-style shmup that's got some interesting systems going for it! I'll go ahead and give a rundown on them: For starters, instead of having lives and dying in one hit like other shmups, you instead have a fuel gauge that drains over time and drains faster when you take damage. It's only when you run out of fuel that you'll die in one hit, but fear not though, as you can collect fuel pickups to keep yourself alive. Collect fuel while you're already full of it, and your weapon will get stronger until the excess fuel drains. There's also ammo pickups enemies drop upon death to charge up your special shot, though if you leave it fully charged without using it, enemies will drop fuel instead of ammo and you'll be able to keep your weapon powered up for longer! This can make for some tense moments where you're close to dying and want to get fuel drops from enemies, but have to refrain from using your special weapon for a bit to enable said fuel drops (some enemies still drop fuel regardless, but being full on ammo makes fuel drop from every enemy). As for the structure of the game itself, each level starts with waves of enemies to clear one by one (a la Galaga), followed by a scrolling section where you eventually drive your way to the boss. I like that at the start of each wave, instead of saying the wave number, it shows text to describe what you're about to face, mention how close you are to the end of the waves section, or something else along those lines. I find that it adds some charm to each of the waves and helps with remembering them, plus the wave number is mentioned in the results screen after you clear it anyway, if curious. I also find the style of dodging enemies and bullets to be interesting, the game [i]does[/i] have its intricate patterns but I found more of a focus on reacting to quick bullets and manipulating player-aimed bullets around in order to set yourself up for free shots on a strong enemy or not get trapped, which is cool! Lastly, there's the scoring mechanics, which is where this game gets even more engaging. There's a score multiplier that either goes up when you kill enemies with your special shot or while you have excess fuel, and goes down when you take damage. Once you get the multiplier to 9, enemies will start dropping point-filled medals, [i]especially[/i] when you attack them with your special shot! ...This also applies to bosses once you get the final blow on them. You have to be cautious to not get hit during boss fights because when you finish them off at a score multiplier of 9, you're rewarded with a very satisfying [b]shower[/b] of medals! Dead End City's been pretty dope from what I've played so far as of writing this review, I've beaten Normal mode (and unlocked Hard mode), but I feel the urge to keep coming back at it to beat my high score (especially with the game's rockin' soundtrack), and I'm all for it. There's also unlockable characters, settings, etc. that you can either purchase with currency you gain throughout play, or earn for free by completing certain tasks which is neat. The game's nice overall for any shmup fans, but I highly recommend Dead End City to any high score enthusiasts out there, it's a fun time!

I've only just started playing but already I know I'm gonna spend a bunch more time with this one. I was surprised how nostalgic this game made me feel for games of the 90s. Great fun and awesome pixel art. My favourite part so far is the rival drivers you can duel to gain new cars :)

LOVE TI! Heart Pounding Action!

Dead End City is a wholly unique vertical shooter, with a lot of stage variety, a great setting, realized with excellent pixel art and frankly awesome bosses and set design. Play this if you're craving that late 80s/early 90s arcade experience!

This game is awesome. It's a car-based shmup with levels that start with a "shootiny gallery" like Galaga and then you have a normal scrolling section then a boss. The fuel system makes the game pretty forgiving but still very challenging (Still couldn't beat what I think should be the last boss). It has "secret" bosses - just destroy a boss without getting hit and you face a rival - which is pretty cool. The score system with the multipliers, medals and use of the special weapon is simple but fun to play with it. Boss design is really, REALLY top notch, with different parts to destroy and many different ways to milk them for score - which is always dangerous because your fuel means you have a time limit, and their patterns are fair and fun to play through. Graphics are very, very polished pixel art. The game has a score attack mode for each level and the Highway mode which seems to be a 2-minute mode (I admit I didn't try it because I was addicted to the main arcade mode). There are different cars to unlock (At the start you only have one available) and they do play differently (At least the one I've unlocked). The requirements to unlock them may be kinda hard to achieve, but you can buy it with in-game money you earn after each play, so it's all fair. But after all this, what's really important, the game is insanely fun to play. It's a shmup that makes me eager to start a new game after I get a game over, and it would sit perfectly in any arcade gallery of the 80s. Maybe a continue system would make the game a little bit more accessible for newbies and the music didn't win me over but, all in all, there's nothing to complain about the game. I strongly recommend this game.

First thing that strikes you are the aesthetics. The stages and enemies show off the Mad Max-ish post-apocalyptic world superbly. The soundtrack is great too & fits very well with the game. Some other things of note - many options (inc. changing bullet color); unlockables via the shop (inc. extra characters & vehicles via money earned by playing the game); online leaderboards, Score Attack per stage; a Hard mode; cool boss fights; and an interesting scoring system. Bargain price for a really cool game.

I wanted to update my initial review with this addendum: if you're a fan of CAVE shooters, don't let the larger hitbox, powerup chasing, and medal farming dissuade you. The later stages of this game are extremely what you're looking for. Dead End City is an incredible achievement. The game does a tremendous job of balancing a very deep shmup against easy-ish survival and approachability. The more time I've spent with the game, the more I've found that investment rewarded. It absolutely rules and quickly became my go-to shmup when I had some spare time. Original review: A solid arcade game that combines Spy Hunter with some light bullet hell shooter sensibilities. The Mad Max aesthetic is a nice touch. I played through the demo a bunch of times before eventually deciding to pick it up. I like that it's generally forgiving if you take damage, but the key to getting a high score is to go as long as you can without getting hit. The thing that finally sold me on Dead End City was the fact that the terrain can be an important part of how you navigate the levels. A lot of shmups have you in some kind of flying ship, so pathfinding is more about dodging bullets than anything else. Having to think about how I'm going to navigate between buildings reminded me of Guwange, one of my favourite shmups (I'd say the similarities stop there, but it's a nice touch).

A great Shmup that is easy to learn and hard to master as it should be. It also has some of the best pixel art of 2022 in my personal opinion. The post apocalyptic "Mad Max" inspired car combat isn't anything new in a conventional sense. But in a Shmup setting it feels very fresh and underutilized compared to the classic style with flying vehicles.