Great price brings a nice arcade game with exciting gameplay but also bad optimization that makes it barely playable.
Update: the slow performance and broken progress is caused by unlimited waves. This happens when you destroy enemies the moment they show up on the horizon. The fix for this is to let a few enemies live.
The gameplay is straightforward: you merely fly the ship and shoot with three weapons. You don't have to worry about throttle because the ship will fly forward on its own. All three weapons have an infinite supply of ammunition; the only difference is the shooting speed and type. For example, the machine gun allows you to keep the button pressed, whereas the laser and missile weapons require you to mash the button for each shot.
Although enemies are precise, you may avoid the majority of bullets by constantly moving around the screen. The main disadvantage is that you cannot invert pitch settings. You might get used to it after a few rounds, however I was continually colliding with enemy shots because I pressed up and the plane went down.
The game takes you through a variety of typical locations, including desert and ice. Although they don't have much to offer, you won't have time to appreciate the surroundings anyway. When you complete a stage, your progress is saved.
After a specific amount of time on a stage, the game will toss health, extra lives, or a special weapon icon in your way. When you face certain enemies that remain on the screen until you eliminate them, you can use this to earn more lives. However, it can be dangerous because tougher foes can eliminate you after a few shots. Picking up icons is occasionally broken. Because of a slightly skewed camera, you may believe you are going towards an icon, only to entirely miss it.
Points earned during stages unlock new gear. The variety is minimal, but it is still a welcome addition. Aside from a somewhat improved version of your main three weaponry, you can also equip a new hull and wings. These can increase the plane's agility, allowing you to travel faster. Or you can add a heavier gear that makes your move slower. I am not sure what the positive is, but I assume it allows you to take more damage.
A ship has four weapon slots, so you can add one extra type that increases the damage for the weapon button. The best part is that nothing stops you from filling up all weapon slots with the same weapon. Although the machine gun is the weakest, that goes away when you fill the ship with four of them. And the biggest plus, you don’t have to mash buttons.
The game’s biggest problem is occasional bad optimization. Some stages are better than others, but the worst has to be the one where you protect a convoy. It’s almost unplayable when there are many enemies on the screen. The game’s frame per second drops to a slideshow, and you lose all your lives to bullets you can’t even see or dodge. What's weird, the game returns to normal frame rate as soon as you lose all your lives. There are no graphical options, so you’re stuck with the default. Get it at a heavy discount because it's not great.
