Travel across different worlds while listening to relaxing music and struggling with bland combat.
The game takes place in a world where the sea level rises steadily with each year. Most towns and continents are now submerged, leaving only large hills that resemble islands as safe havens. People are driven to Paradise, a fabled place where they can have anything they desire, out of fear for their future. Every year, two sailors attempt to reach it, but none have returned. You play Hawk, a young boy who sets out to find his father, who went missing during one of these expeditions.
Well, you actually take control of the airship. Controls are simple; all you have to do is press left and right. This moves the heading arrow around the ship. Wind also plays a role. The huge arrow indicates the direction of the wind, and traveling against it will cause the airship to slow down. You can counteract this with your gun, which has a recoil that gives the airship a tiny boost.
A cannon is also employed to defeat any threats that might pop up throughout the journey. Most enemies can be defeated with a few rounds, and you can destroy enemy bullets by firing at them or avoiding them with the recoil. Because Paradise is beyond six skies, each more hazardous and strange than the last, you never know what you'll encounter.
Although each of the worlds has a unique look, they aren’t very detailed or rich. All of them are ruined and have very little to show. Also, there’s no reason to explore them. You will find memories from previous sailors that don’t lead to anything. You can go look for them by replaying any level you want from the main menu, but looking for the missing ones is a waste of time.
You can’t just fly anywhere. There is a path that you must follow, either by following the objective arrow or by locating things that point in the appropriate direction. If you attempt to fly off the course, you will be halted by the parrot or high winds.
This can lead to some odd scenarios. You may see an objective on the screen, but the parrot may order you to turn back since you failed to hit a checkpoint. There are some challenges that require exploration, but because there is no map or obvious direction, you must look for clues in the environment. Stages work fine and don’t have any issues, except for the sixth stage where the map shows a wrong location for a key object. This forces you to carefully search the entire stage.
Each world has a specific goal, and most have some sort of enemy. You begin with hostile airships and kamikaze fish. Sadly, it doesn’t expand on the new designs because there are only a few types. Each hit takes half a heart, and you have three hearts. This can be restored with health packs acquired along the way. One issue with enemies is that they can fire from outside the screen, so you will see bullets flying before even realizing the enemy is nearby. Combat isn’t very fun, and boss fights, while rare, are a chore.
Despite the relaxing music and artwork, the game is not easy. It takes a second or two for you to fire again, and evading opposing fire while paying attention to the wind and toxic clouds can be very frustrating. There are checkpoints to ensure that you do not waste time even if you die, but sometimes you need to repeat a long section until the next checkpoint.
