Galaga. Ikaruga. R-Type. You've got to love 2D blasters, and it's a real shame that the genre's been so neglected in recent years.
Thankfully, Hudsonsoft have swooped in from Japan with Star Soldier R, the 12th(!) game in the long running series.
And first impressions suggest that this is a very good game indeed, with nicely rendered (if rather familiar) 2.5D polygon graphics and big explosions. Like all the Star Soldier games, R is a top-down shooter, with a horde of aliens to exterminate.
Unfortunately though, the fun proves to be rather short lived because, bizarrely, Star Soldier R consists of a measly two levels. Instead of a varied, multi-level campaign, Hudsonsoft have given us the dubious pleasure of a timeattack game instead, with the emphasis on achieving highscores and moving up the online leader board, where your prowess can be compared with other players worldwide.
This would be a fantastic idea if this was an extra feature released alongside a full, six or seven level campaign, but it's not - and we're left with what feels oddly like a playable demo.
Still, what's here is eminently playable for a day or two, and for 800 points it's not terrible value.
I only hope that Hudsonsoft will get round to releasing a full version, because Star Soldier R feels like the first third of what could be, given the chance, a minor genre classic.
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