|| REVIEW || Space Racket (PC)
Developed By : Double Dash Studios Published By : Double Dash Studios
Category : Indie, Action, Adventure, 'shmup Release Date : October 22, 2019
With the amount of games that exist in the world, it's hard to come up with new things at this point. With the influx of Indie studios being able to brainstorm and create almost anything, finding some space on the board that hasn't already been eked out can be quite difficult. Not impossible, but difficult. Recently, I have gotten cover a few such games that were lucky enough to find some new space on the board by combining elements that hadn't been mixed before. Sky Racket is another one of those new combinations, meshing 'shmup gameplay with brick breaking, for the worlds first ever Shmup Breaker, and it truly is a unique combination.
You'll take on the role of either RacketBoy or RacketGirl, and if you're looking for a difference between the two, I couldn't personally tell if there was one. Your mission either way is saving the galaxy from the evil paws of Korrg who has begun possessing and animating just about anything he can come across in his quest to rule the galaxy.
The only downside to being put in charge to save the galaxy, is that you have no means of attacking on your own to squash the baddies. Instead, you'll be relying on your trusty racket and superfluous tennis skills to smack every projectile right back at your enemy.
In each level, your character can perform the basic maneuvers of moving, rolling (which moves you faster to get around some projectiles) and swinging your racket to attack. However, you'll also end up having a companion at your side for most of the time, and these guys can fire off a unique shot that keep things in your favor.
Your enemies will end up firing a lot at you, and you'll see a lot going by you as well as you move through space. Only a select amount of things can be fired back though, and you'll know them if they're highlighted and glowing. Some things can only be hit once, sent on their course and only be watched as they fly off. Other things though can be hit repeatedly every time they get near enough to you, and each time you hit it will add momentum and power to it.
Most basic enemies will present hurdles to you in formations that will be reminiscent of Brickbreaker type games, and it'll feel even more like this once you get the tennis shots in to destroy these blocks. Most enemies have a set number of bricks they throw in your way before they veer off, while others will need to be hit and destroyed directly.
Big bosses will occur once in each world, of which there are five in the whole game. These are big boys that Korrg comes out and basically creates right in front of your face, before flying off to watch you suffer in the battle to come. These will be enemies like a stuffed teddy bear or a giant banana. Yes...a banana.
Where other areas of the game feel more like a brickbreaker, these boss fights are where the game really takes on a bullet hell feel. The bosses themselves typically have three phases worth of fighting, each with it's own specific type of attack that you'll need to navigate and defend. Along the bottom you'll get to see their health bar so you can judge just how well you're doing against it, and as soon as they're taken down you'll be headed off to the next world.
I had a lot of fun with Sky Racket. To be totally honest, going into this game I thought I'd like it, but definitely not on the level which I did. I was skeptical about only being able to smack back my enemies projectiles, but it brought a whole new level of challenge to this type of game that kept me a bit on edge until I got comfortable.
Visually and audibly, this game will instantly transport you right back to the good 16-bit days. The sprites and animations are spot on, combined with a beautiful chip-tune soundtrack that's not only authentically retro in it's sounding, but beautiful to listen to at the same time.
Sky Racket is a game that is a ton of fun and is something that needs to be played to experience it for what it is. It offers a unique new spin on a genre, combining with another that you wouldn't think fits...but in the end it does. It's fast, it's beautiful, and it'll be extremely hard to set down once you jump into it. And it all culminates with the fact that the experience this one offers is extremely realistic and based on a true story. (It says so on their Steam page). So grab your copy as soon as you can and save that galaxy!
Game Rating : 8.5/10
Pick up the game HERE on Steam
Game Played on PC (Steam) and a codewas graciously provided by the devs
