Shoot em ups are one of my favorite genres. Since the beginning, with games like Star Force and Galaga, we have always imagined that extraterrestrials are invading our planet and like the heroes of the movies, we are the only hope. Its a plot that has been used several times, but it never gets old and now we have another entry in one of the most influential and defining genre, with Star Ghost, a shoot ‘em up that is fun and different from the rest.
A metagon warfleet has been detected at the outer perimeter and as the pilot of the most advanced Star Fighter ever built, you are the only hope for defense. Star Ghost is a different kind of breed in the universe of shmups. It has all the elements, bad guys trying to destroy your home? Check! A cool and advanced machine to fight them off? Check! An arsenal of weapons and upgrades to give you a fighting chance against waves of enemies? Check! But where Star Ghost is stands above other games in the genre it’s in the way it takes known elements of the shmups, and bends them to its will, creating a unique experience and mechanics that keep the game fresh.
Star Ghost uses a simple but hard to master control scheme, wherein you only use the A button for “thrusting”, and your left stick to aim your shots and to use your tractor field( which is used to get orbs much needed for power ups and retries) and that’s it. The rest of the gameplay is based on pure skill alone. The gameplay is similar to infamous “flappy bird” style, but don’t let that fool you as Star Ghost is a game that will challenge your skills. It couldn’t be a shooter without power ups, but unlike other games they are not permanent and every shot the ship fires will deplete your shot power up downgrading it all the way to the initial level. However, you can find blue orbs scattered through each of the areas and when you destroy enemies. You can attract them with you using your tractor field, and while the field is active the weapons are not active meaning you can save precious shots to take down the next wave of enemies.
Now graphically speaking the game looks good, although don’t expect 4K HD and all of that because this game doesn’t need that. The darkness of outer space and the looming threat that the Metagon army pose, plus the upbeat music makes the package really attractive. Regarding difficulty, I would classify it from medium to hard, since the only control you have over your ship is going up and down. That being said though, if you maintain your shot upgrades on the higher levels you can survive. You only have 1 life and you must make it last, so you have to maneuver your way and collect orbs and upgrades like a mad man. If you somehow fail during the mission, you can retry the stage again as opposed to starting from the beginning of the game if you have 50 orbs. Since the levels are procedurally generated, no stage is the same twice so that keeps the game fresh. The music is also really good and while some tunes get repeated, I don’t personally think that affect the game at all.
Bottom Line is that Star Ghost is a shmup that definitely deserves a change, with simple but challenging gameplay, good music and a different take on the shmup genre I recommend it to Switch owners especially if you did not play it on WiiU. What are you waiting for?
Disaclaimer: A Review code was provided