Supercharged Robot VULKAISER

Simple and fairly decent retro shoot 'em up with the only major flaw being the short length. It took me around 20 minutes at easy difficulty. At normal difficulty, becomes way more bullet hell, and I couldn't progress beyond level 4 (out of 6). I loved the giant robot theme reminding of Grendizer/Goldorak. It was different than the usual and gave personality. The music was good and appropriate to the theme. The best part, and the game's gimmick, was the four different crafts you could combine with during the level. Each combination attacked differently. The graphics were clear and colorful but low resolution and far from impressive. It controlled well. I wish the game had been twice the length, but you can get it on sale for a couple of bucks. (I didn't play 6 hours at time of review)

Let me preface this by saying this game isn't worth more than about $0.50 USD. If you can get it for that, or in a bundle, there's a small bit of fun to be had here. This is a perfect example of why Steam needs a "meh" option instead of just thumbs up or down. It's a 5 on a scale of 0-10. It's better than most of the trash by Astro Port. So why would I recommend it ONLY for a severely discounted price? Because the game is like, 30 minutes long or so. You're going to play it once, complete it and the only other time you'll load it up is to farm the trading cards. It's just an average, forgettable game. As such, I can't recommend it.

For a buck or two, the game has some heart and theme. Pretty typical shmup, and the style fits Hentenko Doujin's style: crappy homebrew games with a game mechanic twist. So if you are looking for a "B" movie equivalent in video games, then you've found your publisher haha. Now, having taken that low jab, I have to say this game is great in short stretches. 6 levels, 2-3 mins long each. 70% of the achievements are easy to acquire. The bullet hell always seems manageable, and what will get you killed is primarily losing track of where your hitbox actually is given how big the player sprite is. Since the player hitbox is off-center from the player sprite, often times you might lose track and get cross-eyed dodging correctly as most shmups center the hitbox in the sprite. Personally, I enjoy short and sweet shmups. I can do the 30-45 minute ones, but my brain gets exhausted, plus, spending that long then making a couple critical mistakes at the True Last Boss,,,,oof,,, here all the bosses are more than fair and do not spend too long on your doormat trying to convert you to Jesus. Love the theme. If a Vulkaiser II came out I would be game for more short snippets of 70/80s anime ch…

Supercharged Robot VULKAISER is a retro-inspired side-scrolling shooter that proudly wears its influences on its sleeve. Developed by ASTRO PORT and published by Henteko Doujin, the game draws heavily from the giant robot anime boom of the 1970s, delivering an experience that feels like an interactive episode of a classic super robot television series. Rather than attempting to modernize the genre with elaborate progression systems or cinematic storytelling, it focuses on recreating the excitement, energy, and spectacle of vintage mecha adventures through straightforward arcade action and nostalgic presentation. The story takes place during an alien invasion of Earth led by the ruthless Gogoh Army. Humanity's survival depends on the powerful Supercharged Robot VULKAISER and its pilot, Takuya Akatsuki. While the narrative is simple and intentionally reminiscent of old-school anime, it succeeds because it embraces the exaggerated heroism and dramatic atmosphere that defined the genre. The game treats its premise with complete sincerity, allowing players to feel like the star of a classic giant robot show battling overwhelming odds to save the planet. Gameplay centers on six action-…

Right from the title, [b]Vulkaiser[/b] wholly embraces its homage to 1970s mecha anime. Still weird to think that both [b]Armed Seven[/b] and [b]Gigantic Army[/b] (which were originally produced after this game but ended up released on Steam before it) are supposed to be set in the following decades of the continuity kickstarted here! While there is a charge weapon, regular shooting doesn't stop while it charges; in fact, launching the special attack is the only reason to release the fire button. It's a necessity because the enemy can get relentless at times, with swarms of small craft or robots filling the screen. While equipped with a rocket punch, the basic robot isn't that powerful; at regular intervals, the VulCrafts piloted by his comrades appear, of course falling into classic stereotypes. Drill Kaiser is the most difficult to use properly given its short range but of course it allows to destroy even the biggest enemy ships quickly. While not very detailed, the graphics do their job perfectly, and some enemies are really funny, like the animal-shaped ones, or a boss that is the classic cigar-shaped UFO and is called Cigaringer. Same for the music, especially the boss them…

game