Hazelnut Hex

like that other guy said, its like darius

Fun straightforward shmup with a surprising amount of character in the art. Took 5 credits first time (2 in the final stage), gonna try and get it to 1 or 2 but the last couple bosses have a lot going on, and it's a little hard to parse your hurtbox at that point. It stands out, it doesn't waste your time, and it's fun. The bat enemies don't stand out enough, and the icicles that launch at you also seem like background objects until they kill you, but that's a first playthrough problem. Steam input dpad emulation doesn't work for some reason, and i'm kind of bad on just dpad, but that's a very me thing.

Hazelnut Hex is one of, if not the best charged shot based shoot 'em ups I've played. Which is saying quite a bit. Since as a shump player I hate the mechanic. It also has an interesting art direction and tongue-in-cheek story that isn't too bad, either. To start the game, the player is given the usual three STG options of shot spread vs. move speed. They all seem to work well enough that it is player's preference to which to pick. From there, the player can collect acorn pick ups to power up that shot. As well as a limited stock of powerful bombs. All common shump weapons and work well for the game. Where Hazelnut Hex seperates itself from other shooters is with its charged shot mechanic. This key mechanic not only delivers a powerful attack, but it also clears out path of most enemy bullets. Requiring the player to master the charge timing to succeed at the game. As it doesn't take long for the screen to be filled with projectiles and enemies. I honestly do not like charged shot mechanics in my shumps. I am from the school of ABS (Always Be Shooting). As such, I don't want to let up on the trigger to charge my shot, move faster or pull in pickups. However, it all depends on how the game forces me to yield ABS that allows me to tolerate those type of mechanics. And to Hazelnut Hex's credit, the game manages this very well. The first few levels can easily be managed without using the charge mechanic at all if the player knows how to create space in shumps. The charged shot could be considered more of a nicety. Though, as the game goes on, the charge shot does make the surviving far more manageable. Though, the player also isn't leaning on charging their shot constantly either. Nor did I ever get the feeling that the game was being too binary in forcing the player to use regular or charged. Just that route would be far easier picking the correct time to use either. Hazelnut Hex still has a good amount of challenge even with that flexibility. If the player does fall behind in dealing with the enemies, they will get overwhelmed. Though, the game is also very generous with continues to allow mediocre players like myself to see everything the game has to offer. I also appreciate that the mechanics are especially complicated or take much of a learning curve to master. The player really just has to get the timing of the charged shot down to do well. Combined with pleasing monochromatic-ish cute 'em up theme and killer music and sound, Hazelnut Hex is a very fun game. Even for ABS players like me.

Excellent little horizontal shmup. Enemy design and variety was great, music was excellent, bullets are visible and patterns are fun. Base difficulty is pretty easy with the harder mode being a fun challenge. Story and characters were cute. Great game and at a price that's a steal.

Não vale o preço.

Silly shmup

Um muito bonito e divertido shmup!!!