Zaxoid

Zaxoid is a great throwback twin stick shooter that has precise controls, unlocks and upgrades, and unforgiving enemies. You can tell that the developers that made it are fans of the classic twin stick games like Geometry Wars and Smash TV. Every time you take damage or are killed it's clear why and that helps fuel the 'one more time' vibe. As you learn the patterns of the enemies and start to find a favorite upgrade path you can really zen out and get into a flow state with the game. Highly recommended!!!

Zaxoid is a few menus leading to a lot of fast-paced action and moment-to-moment strategic decisions, with enough customization and variance to let score-chasers and leaderboard legends battle for dominance one run at a time! Instead of wasting your time with easier difficulties to build up and get good, Zaxoid starts at a proper challenge level and requires the player to learn the game in order to advance and succeed. If you want to skip the "story" and get straight into the action, arcade mode has you covered!

This game is a blast! Has a very retro vibe to it, reminded me of playing Space Invaders for the first time as a kid! Quickly realized that this game was going to be more challenging though, with very fast pace moving and highly necessary progression in each level that will make or break the level for you. Still need to unlock the other ships that are rewarded for progression, but I'm starting to get really good with the Razer ship and it feels natural so I'll keep grinding it for now. Highly recommend if you are looking for a good challenge that will keep you hardcore locked in!

8 hours in and I keep coming back. Zaxoid is controlled chaos done right. It's a twin stick shooter where you defend a planet from waves of different enemies, but the hook for me is that you upgrade your city alongside your ship. The game has some cool moments like when you're seconds from getting overwhelmed, you punch the boost, and you burn through the swarm to save yourself. Feels great every time. Main gripe is upgrade variety. I'd like a deeper pool on both the ship and city side to increase replayability. Worth it and I hope the dev keeps adding more to it!

A Modern Arcade Masterpiece That Hooked an Open-World Fan! As someone who usually only plays open-world style games, Zaxoid completely took me by surprise. Being a kid in the 80s, I immediately connected with its retro arcade feel, but it’s completely modernized and made incredibly smooth by today's standards. It is super easy to start playing and incredibly smooth to learn. The GUI is intuitive, and the game flow drops you right into the action without any headaches or tedious menus. You're just instantly in the zone. One of the standout features is the audio. It’s exceptional! Not just in its high quality, but in how it acts as an entirely separate layer of the experience. The sound design actively alerts you to what's happening around you, perfectly cueing you in on whether something good or bad is about to go down. This gamer appreciates it. Even when things go wrong (and they will), the death messages are both helpful and hilarious, taking the sting out of a loss and teaching you exactly what you need to tweak for your next run... and it actually had me making belly laughs. Ultimately, the experience rewards the experience. That elusive "flow" to the game is absolutely there. Super delivery of a great time, and I highly recommend it! EVEN IF you never play twin-stick arcade shooter type games, it's very well crafted and fun! Worth it!

All-in-all, a refreshingly new way to experience a traditional game genre :) A lot of nice surprises that remind you that this game was make by professionals who understand the little things players love, including: - Upgrades actually being inventive and affecting the run's strategy - The spacecraft preview gif in the top right of the character select screen - Tooltip saying "find the 1 remaining..." when you clearly forgot what the objective was lol A few thoughts: - Would love somewhere to re-read the game's mechanics (without having to actually play the tutorial again) - It takes a while to make enough coin to build a blueprint, is this intentional?

Fun twin stick shooter. I don't play a lot of these, but this one has me hooked.

Great Steamdeck game! Satisfying match progression. Looking forward to putting many more hours in.

I'm an old school gamer and don't usually write reviews but Zaxoid really caught my interest. It reminds me of games like Super Stardust HD and geometry wars. The base defense element brings a unique perspective but doesn't get in the way of the arcade action. It's pretty difficult at first but once I got into the swing of things, I was weaving around enemies and it felt good. Recommended!

ZAXIOD is a fast paced adrenaline rush! Super fun twin-stick shooter. Great work M80!