Super Star Path caught my eye because of its appealing pixel art, but I really jumped on board because it is a unique blend of puzzle and shmup. Every level is broken into two parts. You start off confronting masses of multicolored, stationary aliens as you push forward. Shooting them makes them explode in connected colored chains, but there's a catch - if a chain explosion hits an alien of a different color, it will be frozen solid and become an indestructible obstacle. In other words, you can't go into every stage shooting all nilly-willy or else you will create an impassable wall and resign yourself to death. Once you pass the aliens you go into a boss confrontation, where the game turns into a true bullet hell shmup. It's an odd combination juxtaposing planning ahead and methodically cutting through walls of enemies with frantic boss fights requiring raction time and good hand-eye coordination.
Each level has unique stage hazards that make things that much harder, and there are 10 ships you unlock gradually with increased stats and unique features (immunity to certain hazards, gem doubler, etc). Hidden in every stage are three aliens holding upgrade points you can use you increase your ships attack power, hit points, and speed. There are also three black aliens per stage holding green emeralds as per the storyline, and collecting them all will get you the true ending when you beat the final boss.
It's a short game. I beat it completely - every stage, every item, all ships unlocked, boss rush - in about 2 hours. Yet I feel satisfied. It's a tight package, with a great soundtrack to boot. Strangely, you can't reassign upgrade points, and there are a finite amount you can get in the game. And some of the later levels feel cheap with an abundance of hazards and chains of aliens you have to hit just right or end up screwing yourself. But I can forgive its faults because the overall package was worth a couple of moments of frustration.
Pros
- Unique blend of gameplay
- Clean and bright pixel art and color palette
- Awesome retraux soundtrack
- Cheap price
Cons
- Short
- Upgrade points can't be reassigned
- Cheap hazards late in the game
- Some of the ships are useless
I'd love to see a sequel expand on this game's concepts!
4.5