ASTROLANCER
Studio Hexeye · 2024 · Singleplayer, Shoot 'Em Up, Top-Down Shooter, Pixel Graphics, Action
PC
Very Positive98% · 137
Compare prices in Official Stores
Screenshots
About ASTROLANCER
You are LANCER TWO, superweapon and property of the military arm of the GALACTIC COUNCIL. You are a cutting-edge fighting machine, capable of merging with your TRUSTY LANCE to become a tiny FTL spacecraft, designed to go into the deepest reaches of space and fight alone.
The dreaded FORMATROIDS have appeared once again on the galaxy's edge! Having landed on a distant automated mining colony, this shape-shifting, self-replicating menace must be stopped before it gets a foothold in our galaxy. To guarantee the destruction of this existential threat, the COUNCIL has armed your internal BLACK HOLE BOMB. Should you fail your mission, it will detonate, destroying you, the entire planet, and the FORMATROIDS with it.
The FORMATROIDS are already doomed! Can you save this lonely planet, and yourself?
---
Inspired by a certain 1988 cult classic, ASTROLANCER carries the 8-bit mantle into a retro-styled adventure with modern appeal. Alternating between top-down shooting and high-flying shoot 'em up sections, the player will fight to destroy the FORMATROID threat while expanding their arsenal along the way. If you get into a tight spot, use your invincible THRUST ATTACK to break through!
ASTROLANCER offers the player a free selection of secondary weapons, and potentially over a dozen special ARMS with which to destroy the enemy. Find hidden rooms and collect Energy Cells to obtain upgrades between stages and customize your abilities even further! Not everything can be acquired in one playthrough, keeping the game fresh when the player is ready to take on the next difficulty level.
Speaking of difficulty levels, the FORMATROIDS believe the best defense is a good offense! As difficulty level goes up, enemy HP does NOT increase - but the damage, speed, and volume of their bullets does! If you're a real thrillseeker, the special difficulty level HEARTLESS RAMPAGE may have even more surprises for you...
That's not the only choice of game mode - if the old-school Retro Mode controls don't appeal to you, try Modern Mode, which lets you strafe with any weapon (while slightly increasing enemy durability to compensate). Is it still too tough? The cheat menu is right there, no codes needed! Cheats can be turned on or off at any time during gameplay.
With 7 stages of non-stop action, dynamic bosses, and all the weapons you could wish for, ASTROLANCER won't disappoint! Join LANCER TWO and you can be a LANCER, TOO!
The dreaded FORMATROIDS have appeared once again on the galaxy's edge! Having landed on a distant automated mining colony, this shape-shifting, self-replicating menace must be stopped before it gets a foothold in our galaxy. To guarantee the destruction of this existential threat, the COUNCIL has armed your internal BLACK HOLE BOMB. Should you fail your mission, it will detonate, destroying you, the entire planet, and the FORMATROIDS with it.
The FORMATROIDS are already doomed! Can you save this lonely planet, and yourself?
---
Inspired by a certain 1988 cult classic, ASTROLANCER carries the 8-bit mantle into a retro-styled adventure with modern appeal. Alternating between top-down shooting and high-flying shoot 'em up sections, the player will fight to destroy the FORMATROID threat while expanding their arsenal along the way. If you get into a tight spot, use your invincible THRUST ATTACK to break through!
ASTROLANCER offers the player a free selection of secondary weapons, and potentially over a dozen special ARMS with which to destroy the enemy. Find hidden rooms and collect Energy Cells to obtain upgrades between stages and customize your abilities even further! Not everything can be acquired in one playthrough, keeping the game fresh when the player is ready to take on the next difficulty level.
Speaking of difficulty levels, the FORMATROIDS believe the best defense is a good offense! As difficulty level goes up, enemy HP does NOT increase - but the damage, speed, and volume of their bullets does! If you're a real thrillseeker, the special difficulty level HEARTLESS RAMPAGE may have even more surprises for you...
That's not the only choice of game mode - if the old-school Retro Mode controls don't appeal to you, try Modern Mode, which lets you strafe with any weapon (while slightly increasing enemy durability to compensate). Is it still too tough? The cheat menu is right there, no codes needed! Cheats can be turned on or off at any time during gameplay.
With 7 stages of non-stop action, dynamic bosses, and all the weapons you could wish for, ASTROLANCER won't disappoint! Join LANCER TWO and you can be a LANCER, TOO!
What Steam players say
Recent verbatim reviews from Steam — separate from playze.io community reviews below.
not always sold on "the guardian legend (1988) by way of more formalistic game design", but the top-down levels nonetheless absolutely shred anything its spiritual predecessor was doing in that regard and the scrollers, while pretty humdrum, end with bosses that heavily invoke modern bullet-hell while still feeling somewhat distinct from the CAVEs and touhous of the world. the more direct inspirations, as well as some niche incidental interactions, really sell it as the successor to a strange, oddball NES adventure stg. really sweet little thing1 found this helpful
I was definitely most interested in the bosses, just 'cause of my proclivities, but the other parts of the game's stages were honestly really nice. I quite liked looking around for all of the secrets hidden everywhere—that was actually like a third of the game for me—and the little intro screens at the start of each stage did a lot more than i would've expected them too. It's honestly just a really good game.
Pretty fun little game!
Absolute blast of an action game (with no Guardian Legend nostalgia required), lengthy for the genre but beautifully paced. I'd especially recommend it to players curious about dipping their toes into shooting games, since it pairs its real-ass bullet-dodging shootouts with friendly checkpoints and unlimited lives.
I'd recommend this one only for 3 reasons: 1) you're a hardcore fan of bullet hell games. 2) You want to play (and finish) a new game just for a lazy weekend 3) You are a frustated game dev that hasn't ever even started to do your own game.
I did one playthrough and this game is really good. It's has two modes of play. One mode is a top down adventure style shooter and the other is a top down flying shooter. It has NES style graphics and sound and they are done well for the most part. Some stages do have some odd color schemes but it doesn't effect the overall enjoyment of the game. It gets chaotic at times when fighting the bosses during the flying modes with all the bullets on screen but it's doable. This one is worth a play.
Community reviews
—
0 reviews
Sign in to write a review.
No reviews yet. Be the first to review this game.
