Air Twister

This game is a MUST PLAY for any fan of action, arcade, shooting, or even just artistically beautiful games in general. I somehow missed both the game's initial launch on mobile platforms, and its subsequent fullscale reloease for the remaining big boy platforms. Needless to say, the moment I heard the words Space Harrier, Panzer Dragoon, and Yu Suzuki of course being thrown around, I was officially "interested". All that said, after watching some trailers and reading a couple reviews my expectations shot through the roof as I thought everything about it looked so freaking good, as well as the fact that I nearly JUST finished up playing a bunch of the incredible ASURA THE STRIKER, which if you aren't like me and managed to pick this release up on time, then Asura should definitely be your next on-rails shooter! The secret ace in the whole that elevates this game from "THIS IS AMAZING" to "HOLY F*N S&*^ how did they make this stunningly brilliant, unparalleled thrill ride of an art piece meets Panzer Dragoon meets Space Harrier meets cute chick on mythical animal friends!" and that my friends is the incredible music provided by Dutch rock artist Valensia. Just a lovely e…

Is this a mobile game port? Kinda feels like it's a mobile game port. It's not bad, it's just arcady. The mechanics are shallow. Lock-on is weird (you lock-on by crossing in front of enemy sprites), but why not use the right stick for that? No crosshair either, so manual aiming is a bit wonky. No dash, no rush; you avoid enemies and projectiles by moving away with the left-stick. Feels like something could have been done there. It really plays like an arcade shooter brought over to PC without much graphical or mechanical refinement, and it is piss-easy. I cleared 3 bosses while still trying to figure out the best way to utilize lock-on vs manual aim. Not for me, but probably for people who love on-rails shooters. Now the music.. the music is weird and really f**kin cool. It sounds like unreleased Queen recordings, which is awesome, of course. But, I'm not sure if it really matches the vibe here. Either way, VERY arcady. VERY easy. If that's your thing, go for it!

After the [b]Shenmue III[/b] fiasco, it was right to be wary of Yu Suzuki's throwback to his early years with [b]Space Harrier[/b], even more so after seeing the less-than-impressive screenshots, and knowing it started life as an iOS title, which means elements of mobile game design are present in the many unlockables and rewards to collect. Before anything else, however, what gets noticed is the soundtrack. After the ominous chanting of the intro, the action is accompanied by rock opera-style songs from Dutch artist Valensia, apparently quite popular in Japan (if the fair number of comments in that language under videos of his songs is any indication) and expressly sought out by Suzuki. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, of course, but it's still a pretty unique choice among video game soundtracks and the quality is undeniable, even if sometimes the line between "homage to Queen" and "plagiarism of Queen" feels thin. Predictably, it's very easy to pick up and play and takes full advantage of the mouse on PC. Just like decades ago, the perspective often makes it hard to determine the distance and position of incoming enemy projectiles, not helped by the size of the main charact…

Decent shootemup with a great soundtrack. There's a good amount of upgrades and cosmetics to unlock so you don't start from square one everytime you run out of lives. It's a good game to start with if you've never tried a shootemup by wanted to.

This is a legitimately fun rail shooter with some familiar ideas from Space Harrier and Panzer Dragoon. The presentation is very charming. It's good.

New Space Harrier by the guy who made old Space Harrier Wish they'd actually use the whole soundtrack (which ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ slaps) instead of just the one song on every ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ level though 25 bucks is a bit pricey, would wait for a sale, but it's pretty cool for what it is