Spacewing War | PS4 Review

What do you get when you mix a side-scrolling shoot'em up, and a 2D puzzle platforming experience from the early Gameboy generation? Spacewing War!!! In a nutshell Spacewing War is exactly that. It is a low-rez horizontal shmup with platforming elements. In the game you pilot what amounts to Earth's last hope against an invading alien army. It seems an alien race who has polluted their own asteroid of a planet to the point of toxicity spotted Earth with hungry eyes. As one looking to escape planetary demise would do the aliens in question make a b-line to Earth in hopes of conquering it, and making it their new home. Humanity won't stand idly by though, and will send their finest to fight the threat ... 

Through several stages of a story mode we find a gaming experience that not only describes Earth's battle against the invaders through a brief intro story, but also an experience that allows the player to engage the adversary head-on in the cockpit of a special ship known as the "Spacewing". It's a shmup story not unlike certain others ... As the appointed pilot, and savior of planet Earth you are tasked with clearing terrestrial stages of lesser enemies while avoiding hazards, and destroying bosses as you venture forth to the heart of the problem. 

At your disposal are four different shot types that can be cycled through on the fly, and used in a sort of Mega Man fashion to kill enemies, and bosses in a quicker fashion. These shot types include a straight shooting single shot bullet, a boomerang, a bomb, and a spreadshot with backwards firing machine gun fire. Each shot type comes with their own unique advantages, and disadvantages depending on what enemies you are facing. Along the way you'll also pick up power-ups in the form of extra health, extra strength, shields, and 1ups. Things that will help to more easily kill aliens, and activate switches or blast through barricades when need be.

The stages in story mode are all an auto-scrolling affair forcing your ship to the right at a fairly speedy pace as you maneuver between ship crushing blockades/walls, and enemy alien craft. There are even hazards that are both stationary, and moving which will inflict damage to your ship's limited health meter. To progress through each stage you'll have to make your way to the blackened end zones. There are multiple sections per stage, and each stage carries with it a unique theme with unique enemy types. To get through it all you have a set stock of ships, and once those ships are depleted it's GAME OVER! From start to finish you will be racking up points that will be tallied up into a final top score when/if you beat the game, or lose all your ships first. 

While story mode is the only mode made available initially there are other modes and features that will be made available upon story mode completion. This includes a challenge mode, and a UFO character mode where you get to play as the alien with different abilities as you make your way back home to see if you left the oven on or not. It is these extra modes, and the color palette gimmick that make this retro OG Gameboy styled shmup  stand out among the genre offerings. Speaking of the color palette gimmick there are 50 different color themes that will change the color of everything from the stage set pieces to the enemies, and even your ship. Worth noting as well is the catchy chiptune soundtrack that accents the oldschool gameplay.

The Verdict ...

I can say with all certainty that this is definitely a different take on the shmup genre. The shot choices, and color palette swaps really set it apart. There's that, and the platforming design of the stages themselves that force you to act, and react quickly as if you were making your way through the labyrinthine levels of a metroidvania at breakneck speed. Catching cheap shots, and cheap deaths is a guarantee until you learn the stages. Thankfully this is offset by extra 1ups that come frequently through score earned, and power-ups collected. 

Visually, and functionally the game looks and plays like an original Gameboy game would. It's not the most impressive looking shmup, but if you are into new shmup mechanics the developer did dare to try something new. Even if it is only slightly so. Being 'Spacewing War' is a seven dollar budget title it earns it's pricing by what it offers at base level and beyond. If you're looking for some retro nostalgia this might be something worth trying out.