Hyper Sentinel is a game that delivers a throwback to shoot em ups on the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64, and does so with style. The game is patterned after the classic game Uridium, with some influence from Defender as well. This game is different from the typical shoot em up, by having you go back and forth horizontally to defeat enemies. There are powerups to be gained and enemies to defeat and multiple levels to play through.
I liked that the developers added in different filters to the game that allow you to replicate the look of a classic system. These include the ZX Spectrum, the Commodore 64 and so on. These do help give the game a nostalgic feeling, as if you are playing a lost classic. I was surprised with the amount of levels included and the different ways you can attack enemies. This was definitely a different experience, and the levels with objectives are fun to do, but that being said, there are some issues.
One thing I didn’t like was the blinding flashing lights that are constant in the game. They gave me a headache and made me feel weird. Granted it wasn’t as weird as I felt after breaking into that government warehouse and playing Polybius. I’m still not sure what happened after that, but I do remember waking up in Spain surrounded by cats. Getting back to Canada was an adventure in its own right, but at least I made friends with the arresting officers.
I do like the throwback nature of the game and the sheer amount of content present. These is a very nice budget game that offers many hours of gameplay. You will not get bored easily, but the flashing lights are an issue, and even changing the filters did not help at all with them.
I would recommend checking out Hyper Sentinel as it is a cheap game with a lot to offer, just make sure you do not have photosensitivity issues. If you do, then you will need to avoid this game.