Luftrausers - Review

The other day I found myself really wanting to play a handheld game, I decided to check out PS Vita titles.  One title I had missed was Vlambeer's 'Luftrausers' published by Devolver Digital.  Watching the trailer I felt quite nostalgic due to the style and gameplay.  With my debit card in hand, I decided to purchase it.


Years ago I would never have entertained protein bars, it just seemed pointless unless you worked out a lot or were pretty athletic (I didn't tick any of those boxes and don't really now either, maybe a half tick).  I got into them over the last year or two as I was trying to increase my protein intake.  There are many out there that taste like cardboard and are as tough as it as well. One brand that I found to be really good was Nature Valley.  They are still tough, and a little hard to swallow but it tastes pretty good and feels like an achievement eating one.  Playing Luftrausers I found myself asking was this the perfect protein bar?

Story

The story is straight and to the point, you are a pilot during the war and while it isn't directly stated, it seems like your enemy is the Nazis.  Your mission, survive, or die a lot and hope to eventually survive long enough to get a high score or unlock new parts for your plane.

Overall there isn't a story, and the game makes no qualms about it, which is fine because this kind of game is all about the gameplay.

Visuals

When I first saw the visuals in Luftrausers it reminded me of my days with the GameBoy.  Just a couple of colours used to create an amazing looking world.  Obviously, Luftrausers is made with much more modern technology, the edges on ships and planes are softer and it is more colourful.  That being said it's look is quite retro and very cool.

Overall some really cool looking visuals that were fresh, but retro enough to remind me of my childhood.

Music

The soundtrack is a little more advanced than chiptune but shares some similarities.  It has distinct war sound and at points had me thinking about some of the original Command and Conquer games. The soundtrack is composed by Finish composer Jukio Kallio, who has an eclectic mix of work including videos game including Minit, Evil Factory and PixelJunk Monsters 2.

The soundtrack is short running slightly over the twenty-minute mark, but that does mean it's bad quite the contrary.  My favorite tracks were; 'Luftrauser', 'Heavyrauser', 'Laserrausers' and 'Devil From The Deep'.  Overall a great soundtrack that works well with the game.

Gameplay 

Luftrausers certainly falls into the category of 'easy to learn, hard to master'.  Training lasts all of about sixty seconds before you are thrown into the thick of it.  The plane is controlled with one analog stick and one button for shooting.  Essentially you can fly the plane up and then let your self fall with style to avoid and attack enemies.  The game is tough but there is one saving grace, stop shooting for a few seconds and your health regenerates.

There are so many parts to unlock for your plane, everything from lasers to nuclear hulls, to propellers that shoot bullets.  There are a ton of combinations, each of which changes the name of your plane.  On top of that, each part has missions attached to them pushing you to try and use everything. The balance of the plane completely changes depending on the parts used meaning you can't just stick them on you have learned to adjust the way you control your plane.

Even with the simplicity of the controls and the mass amount of plane parts the game is tough.  Each enemy you kill increases the difficulty until it gets to a point where you are screwed.  But if that isn't enough of challenge don't worry there is a hard mode.

Overall the gameplay is great, grueling and highly rewarding if you don't enjoy a little pain this game might not be for you.

Final Thoughts

So, after fifteen hours of playing how did I feel?  Tried, tested, and ready for more.  There is no story but the game doesn't require it.  The visuals are amazing, the soundtrack is awesome and while the gameplay is tough it is also quite rewarding.  Overall this one gets 4 out 5

Minit - Review

Anyone who has read some of my previous posts knows that I'm a fan of Limited Run Games.  They basically release limited runs of games that are normally only available as digital downloads.  Recently they advertised that they were running a new title Minit.  The game is made by Devolver Digital, the dark minds that brought us Hotline Miami, Not A Hero and Mother Russia Bleeds.  Starfish Nolls and I decided to play it together this weekend so the review is a combined effort, hope you like it.


Yay, it eats a lot of chocolate eggs and potentially get diabetes Sunday!  We both still like chocolate eggs but wonder how much of our excitement and enjoyment comes from the nostalgia of having them as kids. Nolls particularly loved the simple black and white pixellated look of the game and that it features Tamagotchi style characters - something else she loved as a kid. Playing Minit we both wondered did it appeal simply because of nostalgia, or if there was something of substance here.

Story

So the story...mmm there is a lot to say.  Basically, you are a duck Tamagotchi, Q*Bert looking character called Minit, they head to the beach and finds a cursed sword that causes you to die every sixty seconds, proving once again nothing in life is free.  The aim is to try to remove the curse and help a few of the people/creature things around you.


Overall, the character interactions are fun but the story itself is extremely lacking and even a little more would have made the game significantly more engaging.

Visuals

The only colours used in Minit are black white, and variants on them and it looks like a game from the eighties.  But that's not a negative, in fact, despite these limitations Minit offers some great visuals.  This is why games from the early eighties which looked like this are timeless.


Overall the visuals are pleasantly simple, the pixelated starfish, seahorses, scorpions and other creatures in the world look great, as well as a submarine and spooky old house having fascinating appearances. The use of simple black and white is simply great.  In our opinion, the visuals are one of the strongest parts of the game.


Music


The soundtrack is both fun, whimsical and never gets old listening to it.  The soundtrack is composed by Finish composer Jukio Kallio.  He has created music for multiple games including Nuclear Throne, Dave The Diver and Luftrausers.


The soundtrack runs little over thirty minutes and has some great tracks including, 'Minit's Awakening', 'Sabasaba Desert', 'New Home', 'Jukebox: Speed Metal', and 'Sharp Business'.


Overall the music is perfectly suited to the game and helps keep you calm when you're struggling to figure something out.

Gameplay


The controls are simple but the gameplay itself is often far from it.  There are two buttons, attack and die.  You will die a lot, but this is actually all part of the game.  Every sixty seconds Minit will die and respawn at his closest home.  Dying as often as you do encourages you to learn the simplest way to get somewhere and figure out puzzles quickly.  Playing the game with someone else certainly make it more fun and helps point out things one of you may have missed. Nolls, used to Circle on the Playstation controller being a 'Back' button, frequently killed herself in the early stages of the game, but it was never annoying, just funny. We'd definitely recommend this as a two-player experience.


There are many things essential to complete the game but there are a lot of extra things too meaning there is a lot of replayability and you are even offered a plus game once you have completed it.  There was one thing that stumped the two of us and we couldn't figure out how to proceed further.  Right on the edge of the screen, there is an almost impossible to see bush and behind it is the water can.  It seemed awkward to find for the sake of it and once we got it plowed through everything else.  It may seem like a small complaint but seemed a little out of keeping with the rest of the game, as we had to look up a walkthrough for that solution but otherwise figured out and stumbled upon all of the essential things, and many optional ones too.


Overall there was some great gameplay and we enjoyed our time with Minit.




Final Thoughts

So, after three hours of playing how did we both feel?  Not bad.  The story was lacking which was a shame - it felt like there was an intriguing concept there, but it was never revealed.  The visuals and music were perfect.  The gameplay has a lot to offer, utilizing simple concepts well and with the exception of one or two annoying parts, it was fun.  We both enjoyed Minit but feel it never quite lived up to its full potential, so this one gets a 3 out of 5 (although a replay might bring it up to 4).