Spacewing War

Imagine Kirby, but no copy and you’re a plane with a way too big hitbox, Not sure if this is the world’s greatest idea or not, but I liked this way more than I should’ve of. 100% in about seven hours. There’s a color mode if you need it, a hard mode if you want it, and many unlockables for unlocking..

Spacewing War is a horizontally scrolling shoot-em-up game designed to look and sound like something you would find on the original Game Boy. In particular, the game seems to take a lot of inspiration from the early Kirby games in terms of aesthetics. But don't dismiss this as just another indie pixel game, because it's clear that a genuine amount of effort went into it. The story of Spacewing War is that you're trying to stop an alien invasion. As with the majority of games from the era that inspired this one, the story is very simple, and mostly serves to provide context to the gameplay. However, it does show a sense of humor at times, particularly with the quirky enemy/boss designs and one of the side game modes' objectives. It only takes about an hour to finish the main story, but going for 100% completion should take you around four to six hours. In most of the game modes, you control the titular Spacewing, a cute little spaceship equipped with a variety of weapons, which you can switch between at any time. These include standard shots that fire straight ahead, boomerangs that are launched from the front and rear of the ship, bombs that fire slowly but deal great amounts of damage, and a short-ranged spread shot. Each weapon works best in specific situations, though you probably won't get much use out of the standard shots. In terms of difficulty, Spacewing War is fairly average. Your ship can take up to six hits from enemies before losing a life, while getting crushed by the scrolling screen makes you lose a life instantly. Enemies and hazards are abundant, especially in the later levels, but the game is also generous with health pick-ups and checkpoints. There is one particular side game mode that has a lot of trial-and-error, especially if you intend to unlock every achievement, but everything else shouldn't give you too much trouble. The graphics in Spacewing War are intended to imitate what you would see on a Game Boy, so everything appears monochromatic. The game does give you a wide variety of color palettes to choose from, including a few that are based on the original Game Boy, the Japan-exclusive Game Boy Light, and even the infamous Virtual Boy. Upon meeting certain conditions, you can also unlock a proper color palette, like the one shown in the game's trailer. Spacewing War's audio, for the most part, stays within the limitations of typical Game Boy audio, with crunchy percussion and explosion sound effects. The soundtrack is fairly catchy, but isn't really on the same level as any of the big-name Game Boy soundtracks. It's not bad or annoying, but some of the tracks could've been better, like the final boss theme. In conclusion, Spacewing War is a solid shoot-em-up. The five game modes offer plenty of variety and challenge, and the sizable selection of color palettes adds to its nostalgic appeal. The gameplay doesn't really do anything new, and the soundtrack could use a little more polish, but overall there's enough fun to be had that you will likely return to this game from time to time, even after finishing everything. Review Score: 8/10