If you are a fan of things like Projekt MKUltra, and Polybius you might find yourself right at home playing this latest shmup by Sonoshee. Full of deliberate visual, and audio mind f**kery this one-of-a-kind shmup aims to take you on a hardcore flight to the moon. A sensory overload in the form of a shoot 'em up. As the story goes there is a prophecy detailing a certain eclipse foreseen by the green dweller which has come to be. According to said prophecy there is a treasure to be found upon the eclipsed moon called the RYM 9000 which will gift ownership of the world, and beyond to the one who finds it. You happen to be one of those pilots, a revolutionary. With your ship you will be tasked with piloting through several stages of alien infested defenses in an attempt to claim the RYM 9000 as your own. The task might seem simple at first, but through limited ship capabilities attributed to damage taken you will need to pilot carefully lest you find yourself among the many failed attempts.
As cryptic, and visually confusing as the game's presentation is, RYM 9000 is a shmup that can still be mastered and understood. Despite having no tutorial, and no mechanics breakdown RYM 9000 is a simple enough experience for casuals to pick up on, but one that's also difficult enough for those looking for a proper challenge. From the hidden menus to the gameplay itself RYM 9000 is truly a game of discovery, and mastery. You will find beyond the storytelling intro sequence a ship base dashboard with symbols, and arrows pointing you to the game's various features. Pressing up or "X" will launch you into one of the game's 5 different stages with a unique starting shot type. Pressing down will let you cycle through the five stages, numerically before launch. As far as shot types go they vary per selected stage or can be collected as power-ups with shot type icons. Shot types range from straight bullets, side bullets, spread shots, and homing among others. The ships when hit will take on a secondary more powerful shot type. It is through the weaker, and more powerful shots that you will be able to better deal with certain enemies, respectfully. Reverting back to the main shot is done by collecting a plus sign power-up which will appear after defeating waves of lesser enemy types. There are two stages of damage before your ship destructs. Each with progressively more powerful shot types. Also in your ship's defense is a brief shield (or possibly bomb?) that can be used by pressing "SQUARE". Movement is done using the left analog stick, and shooting is done by pressing "X".
To the left of the ship dashboard you will find the 'World log', and 'Elite Log'. The world log has challenges to unlock, and complete as you make progress through the game's 5 stages. The challenges entail such things as beating certain enemy types, or bosses as well as completing the game. The elite log, on the other hand, is the game's leaderboard listing. To credit your highest score among the elites you must either complete a stage or "OPTIONS" out of the game before your score is reset, and you are placed back at the beginning of the stage. To do this you will need to press "OPTIONS", and then hold 'DOWN' on the DPad until the arrow icon fills up.
For those of you looking for a settings/options menu you can access that by pressing right on the ship base dashboard. Doing so will take you to the settings menu where you can change the 'Tate Mode' (Screen Direction, Left/Right/Off), wallpaper (animated. revolutionaries), effects (on/reduced), sound levels, and languages. It's your basic setting options to allow you to experience the game as you see fit. Keep in mind this game comes with a stern warning at the beginning. It's not for people with epilepsy, or who are prone to having seizures. It is a visually flashy game with colors that play on your visual perception.
The verdict ...
As of this review I did not make it very far. It is a truly challenging game, and one without mercy. Hard mode is everywhere! If you don't like hard shmups you might want to give this one a pass. If, however, you like a proper challenge in such a visual style RYM 9000 might be to your liking. In the way of mechanics I'm not 100% sure I nailed them. I feel this is the type of shmup that could do with a tutorial, and there is a chance I may have missed it clicking past the end of the intro storytelling. That being said if it isn't included perhaps it could be patched in later? If not I can kind of understand why. With the game being as cryptic as it is it adds a level of mystery, and intrigue. It makes mastering it a journey of discovery much like the pilots of the game are taking on as they fight & flight for the RYM 9000. Personally I don't mind the game's cryptic nature, and kind of found it interesting stumbling upon the features without them being explained to me. Overall, it's a game I can see myself getting into. Me being a shmup fan.
As cryptic, and visually confusing as the game's presentation is, RYM 9000 is a shmup that can still be mastered and understood. Despite having no tutorial, and no mechanics breakdown RYM 9000 is a simple enough experience for casuals to pick up on, but one that's also difficult enough for those looking for a proper challenge. From the hidden menus to the gameplay itself RYM 9000 is truly a game of discovery, and mastery. You will find beyond the storytelling intro sequence a ship base dashboard with symbols, and arrows pointing you to the game's various features. Pressing up or "X" will launch you into one of the game's 5 different stages with a unique starting shot type. Pressing down will let you cycle through the five stages, numerically before launch. As far as shot types go they vary per selected stage or can be collected as power-ups with shot type icons. Shot types range from straight bullets, side bullets, spread shots, and homing among others. The ships when hit will take on a secondary more powerful shot type. It is through the weaker, and more powerful shots that you will be able to better deal with certain enemies, respectfully. Reverting back to the main shot is done by collecting a plus sign power-up which will appear after defeating waves of lesser enemy types. There are two stages of damage before your ship destructs. Each with progressively more powerful shot types. Also in your ship's defense is a brief shield (or possibly bomb?) that can be used by pressing "SQUARE". Movement is done using the left analog stick, and shooting is done by pressing "X".
To the left of the ship dashboard you will find the 'World log', and 'Elite Log'. The world log has challenges to unlock, and complete as you make progress through the game's 5 stages. The challenges entail such things as beating certain enemy types, or bosses as well as completing the game. The elite log, on the other hand, is the game's leaderboard listing. To credit your highest score among the elites you must either complete a stage or "OPTIONS" out of the game before your score is reset, and you are placed back at the beginning of the stage. To do this you will need to press "OPTIONS", and then hold 'DOWN' on the DPad until the arrow icon fills up.
For those of you looking for a settings/options menu you can access that by pressing right on the ship base dashboard. Doing so will take you to the settings menu where you can change the 'Tate Mode' (Screen Direction, Left/Right/Off), wallpaper (animated. revolutionaries), effects (on/reduced), sound levels, and languages. It's your basic setting options to allow you to experience the game as you see fit. Keep in mind this game comes with a stern warning at the beginning. It's not for people with epilepsy, or who are prone to having seizures. It is a visually flashy game with colors that play on your visual perception.
The verdict ...
As of this review I did not make it very far. It is a truly challenging game, and one without mercy. Hard mode is everywhere! If you don't like hard shmups you might want to give this one a pass. If, however, you like a proper challenge in such a visual style RYM 9000 might be to your liking. In the way of mechanics I'm not 100% sure I nailed them. I feel this is the type of shmup that could do with a tutorial, and there is a chance I may have missed it clicking past the end of the intro storytelling. That being said if it isn't included perhaps it could be patched in later? If not I can kind of understand why. With the game being as cryptic as it is it adds a level of mystery, and intrigue. It makes mastering it a journey of discovery much like the pilots of the game are taking on as they fight & flight for the RYM 9000. Personally I don't mind the game's cryptic nature, and kind of found it interesting stumbling upon the features without them being explained to me. Overall, it's a game I can see myself getting into. Me being a shmup fan.
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