Rofaxan 2089 A.D. (XBLIG)

Rofaxan 2089 A.D., there's a lot of things that come to mind when I mention the title of this game. In a way it reminds me of the oldschool arcade shooters I used to play at the local mall, and in another way it sounds like I'm talking about some kind of futuristic mind altering drug when I say it out loud. The fact of the matter is that this is indeed an oldschool shooter (shmup), and is so in more than one way. In it you'll find plenty of 16-bit retro goodness, and Gradius style gameplay that pays tribute to shmups of old. Even the soundtrack harkens back to the retro arcade era where the game's origins were likely inspired. Angry Gam3rs, the development studio behind this project definitely incorporated what I like to call the "Gradius Formula". That is a given. If you've ever played a Gradius shmup you'll know that it's a hardcore side-scrolling shoot'em up that utilizes an upgradeable power-up system. Like Gradius this 16-bit shooter will have you controlling a small ship as you guide it through various areas shooting alien ships out of the sky. Of course as you do so the enemy ships will drop power-ups in the form of different projectile types, shields, speed boosts, orbiting satellites, and even energy refills. With these upgrades your Rofaxan ship will become a formidable force against every opposing enemy including the screen filling bosses.

While "Rofaxan 2089 AD" follows the rules of proper 80's era shmups, and utilizes the upgradeable Gradius style power-up system as it should the game itself comes off as being more of an unpolished ROM. At the game's opening, for instance you'll find a selection of contributor's banners/ads done up in a rather sloppy digitalized style. I'd go so far as to say that this set of pre-game logo oriented banners, and advertisements looked unnaturally blocky in nature. Once you make it past this poorly crafted selection of prologue banners, and ads you'll be taken to the game's start menu which is scaled down significantly to look like the ROM I described it as. Anyone with a widescreen television will be left wondering why the onscreen display was limited to such a small fullscreen square. Display size, and poorly crafted pre-game ads are the least of this game's problems though.

When it comes to the actual gameplay in "Rofaxan 2089 AD" you'll find that it has an interesting blend of retro visuals, and sound features that seem like they were forced together in some haphazard manner. Not all is bad in the world of "Rofaxan 2089 AD" though. Some of the backgrounds, such as that of the ocean look quite impressive for their downgraded nature. Even the asteroid belt found within a later stage is up to par with the genre of shmups the developer was trying to capture. Things like rotating spaceships, and explosion effects also add to the game's Gradius style shmup appeal. While these are all praise worthy features there were still certain aspects that kept the game from realizing it's full potential. The sound, for example was a poorly mixed selection of child's voices, and heavy metal soundtrack lyrics. Often times it seemed that the child-like announcer (announcing the name of each power-up that you collected), and the heavy metal band were intruding upon each other mid-sentence. I will say that the band (Thunder & Lightning) that the developer chose to go with was definitely a good choice metal-wise, but the way it was applied sadly pointed to an amateurish style of game development.

As far as objectives are concerned your goal was to simply pilot the ship using the (Left Thumbstick/DPad), and blast any enemies in your path using the (A) button. As you collected power-ups from your fallen foes your spacecraft (Rofaxan) would be more prepared for the lengthy boss fight ahead. Speaking of bosses, the boss ships in the game were another poorly attempted feature that just did not make for a good shmup experience. I found that most bosses moved in a similar, and highly avoidable pattern (Up, Down, Left, and Right). The only real challenge with them was the hard to deplete life bar, and the bullet hell spray that seemed to fly about randomly. In the case of the third spaceship boss it was the unfair bullet hell spray that cost me a "GAME OVER" many times. I should also mention that midways into the third stage you'll be met by a barrage of spacecraft, and bullet hell spray that is damn near unavoidable. This sudden difficulty spike should not have happened so early on, and should have been implemented in a more subtle manner.

Aside from the standard mode of play you will find that "Rofaxan 2089 AD" comes complete with a fully unlocked "Boss Rush", and an "OMG Hardcore Mode". I did sample both of these, and they were, in their own right well made additions in comparison to the core game experience. Boss Rush, as it were is exactly as it sounds. You will test your skills as a Rofaxan pilot by destroying all of the bosses in order within a certain time limit. The time does count up in this mode, so your goal is to beat the top score. Also to aid you in your battles is a group of preselected power-ups which can be collected right before you face each boss. The "OMG Hardcore Mode" on the other hand is basically a harder version of the standard mode of play with added enemy ships, and more bullet hell spray. It definitely lives up to it's name in that respect.

Now on to the verdict ...

Without beating around the bush I found "Rofaxan 2089 AD" to be a partial failure. As I mentioned earlier it felt more like an unpolished ROM than a properly full developed indie shump experience. It had potential to be great, but fell short in so many different ways. Between the poorly delivered visuals, and soundtrack bits the game just continued to lose it's fun factor the longer i played it. Those issues accompanied with the odd style of bullet hell made for an often times frustrating experience. I hate to be the one to deliver the bad news here, but for $2.99 I'm gonna have to say skip "Rofaxan 2089 AD". Unless the developer can make some much needed improvements in a patch, or patches the game just isn't worth it.

*NOTE*: This does contain flashing images, so anyone who is known to have seizures, or has a family member who suffers from seizures should avoid it.