Rhys Lewis is the developer of the new Star Ghost that released in the Wii U’ eShop last week. The name doesn’t ring a bell? Lewis was part of both Rare and Retro Studios. He’s was there during the development of Donkey Kong, Metroid Prime and Banjo-Kazooie. Time to check out if his solo project ‘Star Ghost’ has the same kind of magic over it.
Flappy Bird meets shoot ‘em up
Based on the screenshots you might think that Star Ghost is one of those classic shoot ‘em up games, the moment you’ll start playing it, however, you know this is something different. You don’t control the ship directly with you analogue stick. In fact, if you’re trying to control the ship with your analogue stick, it will fall straight to the bottom of the screen, bouncing on an invisible wall. So how do you control it? Well, the same way you controlled the infamous Flappy Bird.
By pushing the a-button, you thrust your ship into the air. By holding the button, your ship will set course to the top of the screen. At first, it’s easy but the more you advance, the more obstacles are in your way. In fact, you’re controlling some kind of futuristic Flappy Bird as an automatically firing aircraft. It’s a fun experience but it’s never easy to control your fire due to this mechanism. If you ever played Star Drift on mobile devices, you’ll immediately understand what I’m talking about. No surprise there since Star Ghost is actually based on that game.
Not an easy ride
Since the controls aren’t that easy, you’ll need to restart a lot in the game but there’s no problem there. Since you’re forced to restart from level 1 the moment you die, the developer made sure there was enough variation to keep things fun. The levels are randomized but follow a set theme and pattern. You always have an idea of what you can expect but the enemies and obstacles might have changed locations. It’s a fun idea and it actually keeps things fresh even if you die a lot, and you will.
The reason why you’ll end up dying multiple times is due to the controls. It’s hard to push the button at the right time in order to hit the enemies in time. Using your left analogue stick you can change the direction of your guns a little but never expect full control. The combination of your left stick and the a-button is something you’ll need to practice on. If you spend some time with it, however, it becomes natural and feels like a second nature. It’s a harder way of playing the shoot ‘em up genre but that doesn’t mean it’s less fun.
Collect those upgrades
While you’re shooting enemies, some of them will leave behind upgrades, these are important to advance in the levels. The upgrades vary from extra bullets to faster bullets and health boosts. Keep in mind however that nothing lasts forever and these upgrades will be downgraded in due time. It’s important to keep picking up those upgrades in order to stand a chance against the enemies. But be aware! Not everything is safe to collect.
It happens sometimes that an enemy drops a virus. If you collect this virus, your guns will be disabled and a static image will make it harder to see where you are going. Picking up a virus makes you vulnerable and can end your run in seconds. It’s possible to survive when you’re infected by the virus since it will eventually be cured, but picking up a small virus always caused panic. It’s a great gameplay element to keep things interesting and unpredictable.
| The good: | The bad: |
| + Great visuals and soundtrack | – Very difficult |
| + Innovating controls | |
| + Randomized levels |
Star Ghost is a great little game that innovates the traditional shoot ‘em up genre. It’s hard to master but fun to play. Star Ghost has certain magic around it, so you’ll always want to go for one more round. Ending up first in the hall of fame is the main goal of the game and thanks to the randomized levels and great gameplay mechanisms; you’ll certainly enjoy playing this little gem on Wii U.
Score: 4.5 out of 5
