Welcome to our review of Super Destronaut DX, bringing old-school arcade shooting to the Nintendo Switch.
Once upon a time, arcade shooter gamers where you have to fend off impending waves of an alien menace, was all the rage, but while retro may be old, it is never forgotten. So, inspired by an arcade classic, Super Destronaut DX is retro space shooter that pits you against an enemy more dreaded than a UFO, a scoreboard. With multiple modes and high-scores that can be attained by yourself and players all over the globe, this is a game that will put you on the path of achieving a score as high as you can possibly muster.
So, if you are a fan of old-school shooters, be prepared to feel right at home and if you have a friend who is just as passionate as you are about shooting, why not have them play with you. With support for a local multiplayer mode, maybe the two of you together have just what it takes to beat the invading aliens once and for all and secure the top spot! You know you want too.
Super Destronaut DX is priced just right at 5 euros and is basically a clone of greats like space invaders and Galaxian, but in a modern jacket. Still sporting 2D graphics, 1 way to fire your gun and a hectic amount of action going in, which is exactly what sets this game apart from the rest.
The initial levels are easy as to be expected, but once you get to the promised land, you will get in a heap of trouble as bullets become homing missiles or arrays of smaller projectiles. Sometimes there will be so much action going on, you die without even knowing what hit you. When a level starts, that is the only time you will really know what is happening, all other periods of your level, pure luck or skill to survive.
And I haven’t even spoken about the hardcore mode yet! That literally puts the hard in hardcore. You get 1 life. Now it is up to you to grab that high score. It is extremely punishing as you just have to deal with so many things at once. My first few games, I never even made it past the first level. It is that hardcore. But… I can proudly say my high score is a lot higher now, perseverance always does the trick with games like these.
Mind you that the toughness is a good thing in my humble opinion. You just want to keep beating that score and much like some other greats of this arcade shooter genre, it is a time-tested mechanic. You won’t easily tire of it, but for the majority of players out there, this will be more the occasional game rather than the one you are constantly playing. I do have high hopes for its longevity and again, that price point does do the trick.
In conclusion, despite being simplistic in approach, Super Destronaut DX sure is fun. Its lack of multiple attacks does not really hurt the game but its die-hard modes might. My rating is 80%.
