The Bits That Saved the Galaxy

I enjoyed the first one and this one feels similar but a bit more polished.

Great game! It's incredible to see there were so many gameplay modes added and vehicles that change the dynamics of the game. I beat the game, enjoyed the music, and the background at the beach-planet was very vivid. The graphic style with the neon colors are amazing.

The Bits That Saved the Galaxy is a really fun, interesting, and varied game. Roughly half of the levels are run & gun style, ala Contra.. and then the other half of the levels are a variety of different gameplay styles which I will mention later. The pacing is on point, and because of all this variety, you never get bored while playing it. The controls are very tight and responsive. Nothing to complain about here. The graphics are simple, but generally effective. They look similar to vector style graphics. There are a few bosses that admittedly do look poorly drawn, but it doesn't really detract from the experience. There are a variety of different alien worlds to blast your way through, all with unique looking backdrops and color palettes. The character's sprite is very small, and the screen usually stays centered on it... No wonky camera angles here. The sound effects are crispy and satisfying. The music unfortunately is poor and one of the game's weakest points. (Sorry developer! I'm a musician myself though, so I may be biased here) There are a lot of different weapons: The basic shot, spreadfire, flac cannon, bi-directional shot, and a few others. Much like Contra, using the spreadfire is the best strategy for staying alive... However, I would say the spreadfire does a LOT of damage and is kind of unbalanced compared to the rest of the weapons. Some of bosses are too easy, but not all. The game gives you limited lives, and there are periodically "bunnies" that you can rescue which give you extra lives. The game presents a reasonable challenge, however some of the bosses are too easy, especially with the spreadshot. There are a variety of bosses, from bees, snakes, frogs, birds, a bodybuilder(?), a giant bloodshot eye, a giant witch, and more. There's even a giant disco ball that attacks you near the end! Generally when I die, I feel like it was my fault, and not a cheap shot by the game. Some of the "variety" levels: * One where you fly around like a bee, tapping or holding the jump button, but still able to shoot in any direction. Really cool. * One where you are swimming around in the water in any direction. * One of my favorite levels has you throwing snowballs which abide by Newtonian physics and arc downward. * One where you are on a frog (?), and you jump vertically through the level on various platforms and logs. * One where you are piloting a jetski in the water, trying to shoot or avoid mines and enemies. * One where you are going down a large pit and avoiding spikes. * One that is a shmup. The first part is vertical, and the second part is horizontal. * One that plays kind of like the "Base" levels in Contra 1 for NES. * One that is a top down run & gun. Interface: The interface is very spartan, and there are no control settings. Also no way to adjust the sound/music levels. Meta: The game does not have a points system, so there are a few times where it makes sense to just run past some of the enemies and avoid them. Wishes: I wish the game had a speedrunning mode, points, and kept track of your deaths. It's the kind of game that I wouldn't mind getting better at to see if I can beat it without dying. Overall: This game is extremely fun, and simply "satisfying". The pacing is perfect, and the challenge seems about right, although there are a few bits that seem too easy. Its few shortcomings don't weigh it down overall, and I definitely foresee myself coming back to this many times in the future. One of the coolest things is the last boss, which re-uses a lot of the different game mechanics that you played during the "variety" levels. Very cool. Summary: Super enjoyable, tight controls, great pacing, lots of variety, and even a disco ball that attacks you. What more could you want? :)

just like in the original the undead level is broken and has no end. when you get to the second stage it just scrolls on forever with no end in a black void. I am sad to have to leave a negative review but i can't recommend this due to it being impossible to beat