No Stick Shooter

One of my favourite games on the old Atari systems was Asteroid. I’d spend hours as a small child playing the hell out of it. When I wasn’t playing, it I was watching my mother or a friend playing. We’d often have competitions to see who could do the best. When I first saw No Stick Shooter, developed by Happy Robot Games, had been released onto Steam I was hopeful that it would rekindle some of those memories. [h1]First Impressions – It Didn’t Disappoint[/h1] To be perfectly honest, I knew within the first handful of minutes that this was the game that I had been looking for. I was instantly hooked. Yet, this was another game that I was disappointingly poorly skilled in. Truth be told, I had set it up to be streamed on Twitch. But I knew almost right away that my skills weren’t of a sufficient standard to stream this for a stream worthy of watching. However, it’s certainly one of those games that engaged my mind. I wanted to strive for improvement. I turned off my Twitch stream and went about learning the game. I soon made some progress. I started unlocking achievements (something I always remove when reviewing so that in my free gaming time I can come back and enjoy the game and earn those achievements then!) What caught my attention the most, right from the first level of the game, was that the game wasn’t going to hold my hands. This game throws three different enemy types at you in the opening level. There’s big ball clusters, the regular slower single asteroids as well as faster individual asteroids. The player is taught to immediately understand that there is going to be a significant amount of strategy as well as quick trigger fingers required to be successful at the game. This is a challenge I could get into! [h1]Weapons[/h1] The further you delve into the game the more weapons you unlock. What an absolute pleasure it is to unlock each new weapon. The game design decisions that have gone into the selections of the weaponry is very well done. Each of them is easily differentiated from one to the next. Each of them has their own unique strengths and weaknesses. Each of them makes complete and utter sense with regards to why you would have each weapon in the game. Of all the arcade and asteroids-like games I have played No Stick Shooter has me appreciating the design the most. Kudos to Happy Robot Games for nailing one of the most important components of the genre. It’s their Steam debut, no less. Having completed most of a game design course myself, intelligent game design choices are still what impress me most. They are the little, yet highly significant choices, that transform a game from being mediocre into being very good. Yet they are so easy to get very wrong. It really goes to show that you don’t need to be a major studio to have people who truly understand how games work in today’s day and age. [h1]It’s a Challenge[/h1] There was a level midway through the game where I was obliterating all of the objectives, 3 each level, and so I thought that I was going all guns’ blazes. That was true until towards the very end of the level I had fired so many shots that I was out of energy. One of the enemies that spawns a lot of tiny fragments shat all over my base with its evil demented spawn. Not only did I lose all my shields but my base exploded. Therefore, players need to be careful not only to cause the largest explosions but to preserve ammunition. Strategy in this game is every bit as important as action. Consequently, dying isn’t something that is uncommon within the game. You’re going to die and you’re going to do it often. Each level feels rewarding when you complete it for the first time (except for the first level). This is without even focusing on getting the objectives complete. I would urge players to focus on completing the level for the first time and replaying the levels to complete the objectives. Somewhat delightfully, you don’t even have to complete the first task to unlock the next level. You simply must beat the level. However, that’s easier said than done. There are also boss fights. The boss fights are even more impressive than the standard levels. They are well designed battles that force the player to utilize all the tools and strategies that they have learned throughout the game. They made me feel like a high school student sitting important tests all over again. This was a very good and comfortable feeling when the challenge was defeated. [h1]Presentation[/h1] I really hate to say this but whoever was responsible for putting the Steam store page up, please try again. The screenshots that have been uploaded to the Steam store do not do your game justice. Although simple in design the game is much more visually pleasing than the screenshots show. While not state of the art by any means they are easy on the eye and are more than sufficient to get the job done. In fact, I was quite pleased with the visual representation. I feel that they capture the genre and the retro feel well while also giving the fresh take that gives the game a positive differential on the classic. I’d also compliment the soundtrack of the game. It’s very befitting of the science fiction, space, theme that the game obviously has. It’s futuristic and again is very easy to listen to. The actual game sounds are a suitable choice as well. However, they are not the highlight of the presentation and are not at all memorable (but they needn’t be). [h1]Steamified[/h1] There are a set of Steam achievements with the game. However, I believe that the game has fallen victim to Valve’s new trading card program policy. I’m hopeful that the game will generate enough sales whereby the developer can add the game to the program. There is certainly a genuine amount of effort for potential buyers to follow through with a purchase. The game has been extremely well priced at just $2.99 on the US store and cheaper elsewhere (comparatively). I would, however, suggest that the developers patch in Steam leaderboard support. This would give the game a much-needed shot in the arm with regards to competitive play. The objectives are challenging in and of themselves but I often wondered how much better the best players are than I. I’m certain that it’s by an embarrassingly large amount. But let me see it! [h1]The No Stick Verdict[/h1] Thank you, Happy Robot Games, for giving me a part of my childhood back. Although you’re not the original you have provided a highly challenging and addictive retro arcade, asteroids-like, experience. You’ve inspired friends who haven’t played video games in years to bend to the word of mouth pressure and give you a chance. So far, they’re only disappointed in the fact that you’ve stolen their free time. Such is the quality of the game at the price you have set. Kudos Rating: 8/10 For more reviews, news and much more head over to [url=http://www.gamephasis.com/]Gamephasis[/url]

good game and all if ur looking for an update to missle command it starts out slow but gets hard really fast learning curve is too steep for me.... i would like it better if the difficulty ramped up slower so i could get in more levels before it got really hard if you are like me it will be alot of playing a level multiple times to get past it

Do you remember Asteroids? Well if not, now you can! Cause this game will take you back to the 80's and the genre of games. But I must say the graphics and sounds are far superior then the one back then. Take the time and explore this gem.

Fun 2D game!! the visual effects look very nice and the music in game is an extra detail to keep you playing longer! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jp7aZbnXOCA

[h1] Trojan detected on Kaspersky. [/h1]

I thought it was just gonna be another typical stylish looking indie clone of an old classic game, but ended up actually surprising me. It's not very long, I finished all the levels in about 40 minutes, but it's a good bit of fun if your brain can work fast enough. Starts off simple enough, asteroids coming in slowly, and you must shoot ahead of their path to destroy them when your shots get there. But within a few levels, you'll be seeing new enemies that take multiple shots, split apart, and more sneaky things! Luckily, the game provides what you need for the enemy variety. There's only a few weapons, but it becomes a lot of fun to juggle between them rapidly as you take out groups of enemies, and figure out the best ones to go for based on threat level, and distance. The last 5-10 levels of the 30 that exist get pretty frantic, and you must put all your skills to the test! There's even a few bosses which each require different tactics, and full use of your various powers. For it's short length and low price, it's a decent bit of fun, but prepare for pain if you're not confident in your ability to think fast and stay calm under pressure!

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Amazingly fun and satisfying game, at a bargain price. Though with all that clicking, you might need to buy another mouse too!