Spartaga

I heard about this last month at a local indie game meetup & really liked the idea: it's a shmup, but your ship is just your hand, holding a touch controller. Your ship's position and orientation is exactly tied to your hand. It's kind of hard to overstate how novel that was for me -- you can control your ship almost perfectly, so weaving through bullets feels great, not frustrating. It's also got a neat sorta-rhythmic mechanic where you want to kill enemies in groups of 4 of the same type. I dunno, I enjoy it.

If you liked xortex from the lab you'll like this game.

[h1]Spartaga - [i]Retro VR has never been so new and fun![/i][/h1] When I was a kid, many many moons ago, I used to play with toy spaceships and planes holding them in my hand and flying them. Come on, admit it, you did the same. So imagine how cool it would be if you could have one that fired for real, have real enemies to shoot at and most importantly you could get away with playing with it age 38 lol. Well, Spartaga is damn close to that, you have the shooting and the flying but you also have an almost puzzle element to the game due to the way the laser works (shoot 4 of the same type of enemy) and the scoring system which rewards combos. One of the cool things about the game is the different modes, each level can be played normally or one of a multiple of other modes. Including a peaceful mode where you can not shoot but, the enemies spawn with a lifespan that even mayflies would say “Damn that's a short life”, just dodge them as the frantically try to kill you before their number is up. Once you reach Level 8 and face your first boss you unlock a marathon mode (think survival, one life last as long as you can!). If that is not enough variety for you, there is also the ability to level up your special weapons (of which there is a fair few to choose from) and change your skins with a complete experience and level system. [b]ROOMSCALE / ENVIRONMENT / GRAPHICS[/b] The main area of the game is a large water plane with particle effects in the distant, planets and stars. It is simplistic and yet beautiful, I love it. But most of the time your attention will be focused on the large array of enemies (that get added to with each level) that are trying to shoot or ram into you. The enemies have a decidedly retro look and feel which goes well with the game’s sound effects and soundtrack. The soundtracks can be switched between fast beated arcade-style music or some rather relaxing tunes by a band I had never heard of called Carbon Based Lifeforms, the latter is what I mostly opted for, again it works well with the game. [b]PERFORMANCE[/b] The whole area can be filled with balls of purple energy, white tracer fire of shots, red scatter particles, purple chaser ships and large yellow lasers, and yet it runs smooth as pie. This is a very smooth and well-optimized game. [b]INTUITIVENESS[/b] The first level serves as a tutorial and will quickly teach you the basics of the game, and you soon learn the power of the 4. What do I mean by the power of the 4? Well when you hit 4 of the same enemy without killing another type you get a laser, 4 more keeps it going and this is where the power of the 4 and the almost puzzle-like part of the game comes in. [b]MULTIPLAYER:[/b] Not multiplayer per say but it does have leaderboards, those little lists that encourage the one more try. [b]PROS:[/b] [list] [*] Well designed atmosphere, from the game area to the enemy design. [*] There is that “one more try” feel. [*] The enemies are added at a pace that allows you to learn each one and keeps the levels fresh. [*] Fun boss fights (though you will die the first time you try one...guarantee it lol) [*] Choice of two soundtracks both pretty cool. [*] Great scoring system which makes you actually think how to approach the enemies and encourages you to not just blindly shoot everything. [*] multiple game modes to mix it up and add variety. [*] Get to play with a spaceship 38 with almost no judgement (making plane noises and going pew pew can cause mild judgement from your cat...may be just my cat though) [*] Can be played with one pad (great if you need to charge one or if you only have one) [*] A developer that cares about their game (After my first try video I had a ton of feedback about the tutorial and some other bits and pieces, the developer heard this keenly and pretty soon the game was patched. This is a developer that listens to his users and cares about his game) [/list] [b]CONS:[/b] [list] [*] At times it can be a little too hard. (to some that may not even be a con and tbh I deleted this line and re-added it twice in the draft of this review) [/list] [b]The [strike]first[/strike][i]Second[/i] try video:[/b] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKrcqhp6KAA [b]VERDICT[/b] As you can see from the video I had difficulty putting it down, that really says it all. This is a great game that I have really enjoyed playing even when exhausted from my day job. I really recommend the game.