Super Crate Box

Super Crate Box was one of the first games I got on Steam, back in around 2013. I remember not liking it and dropping it quickly, but now I understand. Oh, I really understand, this is an amazing arcade game. There isn't really difficulty scaling as you get more crates, so it's always at maximum intensity, but what really creates the ebb and flow of things is the gun game element of not knowing what weapon you're going to get out of a crate and whether it's suited to the current situation unfolding with the enemies pouring out of the top of the screen. It's a bit hard to describe it all but there's a ton of quick decision-making that goes into this. Some weapons can clean house with some drawbacks, and some mean you have to maneuver out of the way with good jumps and even find another weapon ASAP. And if you die you can get right back into the action and try again, it's addicting but not exploitative. It's also huge that an enemy falling into the fire doesn't mean you lose - it's harder when they're enraged, but you can actually come back from the setback of a bunch of enemies enraging and keep your run going. The three maps also have their subtle differences between them that you can really start to understand and appreciate after about a hundred attempts. Similarly, some weapons that are usually overkill in the normal game mode will make a lot more sense when you see them in the harder SMFT and Ambush modes. It's a pretty quick endeavor to unlock all the weapons, but that's a good thing! I don't think meta-progression is healthy for a game like this, and as it is, it serves to get you accustomed to the more normal weapons before throwing the awkward ones at you. When you get them all, SFMT mode (not sure what that stands for) gets a funny "official" sticker on it that reflects this kind of thinking. I don't like the completion percentage rating on the stats screen, though. Players should never be completion-minded on a game like this. That may be my only nitpick with the game!