Rigid Force Redux (NS)

Shmups usually fall into one of a handful of categories. I like to call those categories the Gradius, Xevious, Space Invaders, and Raiden. Basically you have horizontal side-scrollers like Gradius, vertical top-down shmups like Xevious, stationary wave base verticals like Space Invaders, and bullet hell shmups like Raiden. In the case of "Rigid Force Redux" the category it falls best under is the Gradius lineage. It harbors much of the same horizontal side-scrolling mechanics, but does so in it's own unique way.

In Rigid force Redux, whether you're playing through the multiple stage story driven campaign or action only arcade mode, you'll find your ship has certain functions tied to shooting, satellites, and power-ups. These functions include satellites that can be moved towards the front or back in multiple positions for wide and streamed shots in the left or right directions. Giving you the ability to take care of forward facing or backward facing enemies simply by pressing the right or left shoulder buttons, respectively. On top of that the shot type changes with collected power-ups. Power-ups can be stacked to gain a variety of simultaneously firing projectiles. Things like downward, and upward firing missiles on top of the bullet type. Also included with shot, and power-up function are force shards which can be collected to increase the power level of the power-ups. In tandem with the energy bar which utilizes gathered or magnetized energy left behind from fallen enemies or enemy waves you can blast an even more powerful concentrated shot to clear out more formidable enemy types and bosses. That's the gimmick in a nutshell.

Where "Rigid Force Redux" really shines is it's inclusion of three modes. Campaign, Arcade, and Boss Rush. This includes the main campaign, and it's story focused stage playthroughs as well as Arcade Mode which is an action focused variant that leaves out the story commentary, but adds objectives in the form of bomb clearing, and astronaut rescue. That, and boss rush which is self-explanatory. The story or campaign itself is simple yet somewhat complex. In the campaign you are guided along through an introduction tutorial and into the fray by an AI assistant known as PSYE. PSYE informs you on the nature of your ship's technology, and has you running missions that require you to clear threats such as alien species contaminated by the CORE tech, and those looking to steal it or misuse it in some capacity. Along the way you'll fight, and flight through various planetary environments with their own themes, hazards, and enemy threats. Some of which are technology based, and others more organic or a mixture of the two. After a collective of waves in each stage, and well beyond the introductory mission briefing you'll face off against a boss. In doing so you'll clear the stage completely, and advance to the next in line.

Arcade mode differs from that story based campaign orientation in that it foregoes the commentary, and cinematic story elements to give you a different arcade-like experience. This adds wave clearing point bonuses as well as side objectives that include blowing up CORE bomb containers as well as hovering over astronauts long enough to collect them as a dial meter encircles their bodies. Each stage has a set number of bombs to destroy, and astronauts to rescue. Collecting them all will maximize your score, and add to the base score that tallies in enemies killed, lives left, shield left, and other such things. Ultimately giving you a medal ranking, and score total for the global leaderboards. In a somewhat similar fashion the campaign mode's end stage tallies are added up, but without the bonus objectives that are only available in arcade not accounted for.

Whatever mode you choose to play you will find that you have a set number of ships, and continues. That, and the choice of difficulty (Easy, Medium, Hard). Ship stock is always at 3 at the start, but is lost when you receive three hits from the environment, bullet hell, or enemy contact. After you've exhausted all three ships you'll be prompted to continue a few times before a GAME OVER screen appears. This can be bypassed by going to the new game menu option though, and selecting the stage you wanted to play on, supposing you've already beaten it on at least the easy difficulty setting. When it comes to difficulty differences the differences are noticeable. Ships get added bullet hell, they behave differently, there are more of them, and even environmental hazards or obstacles change.

For those of you interested in the leaderboards, and the bragging rights they offer you'll be pleased to know that the leaderboards here are global or at least region based, and contain rankings along with score for all modes, and stages. Navigating the leaderboardsis as simple as choosing the desired tab option, and scrolling through the listing's names. Also to note the game does have a trophy system for in-game feats adding an extra layer of replay value for those looking to perfect their playthrough.

Graphically, and audibly "Rigid Force Redux" is what you'd expect from a shmup inspired by games like Gradius. It is modernized with 2.5D animations, and environmental detail that give it a more modern appearance. The only thing not really fitting of the visual theme is PSYE's cartoon avatar which throws things off a bit in regards to a sense of belonging. That being said it is something you can look past as the narrated voice-overs are done well, and shed light on a world you'd not know otherwise if it were simply an arcade shmup without story elements. In the way of soundtracks it features techno-symphonic style tracks that seem to be inspired by 90's classics within the genre. A sort of anime flair most of the shmup players out there will be familiar with. It accents gameplay quite nicely.

The Verdict ...

I liked this shmup. Though it borrowed heavily from others, and definitely showed elements of inspiration it did manage to stand out enough to be different. The commentary drew me in to the story aspect of it, and the gameplay offered enough challenge to make leaderboard placement worthy of praise. If I had any complaint at all it would be with PSYE's avatar art as it doesn't match the rest of the visual presentation. It feels out of place, and distracting. I think a more serious avatar would have been better. Something less cartoonish. That is a minor gripe though, and can easily be overlooked. Overall, with all things weighed, I think "Rigid Force Redux" earns it's place as a recommendable addition to the growing library of shmup titles on the Nintendo Switch. Definitely check it out if you enjoy shmups!