Super Stardust HD review (PlayStation 3)

Gameplay… that’s what it all boils down to. Part of the reason why we tend to look back at old classics with nostalgia is that we claimed that because of the lack of graphical prowess, game designers could concentrate on how the game played, and tweak it a lot more than they do in modern games. Obviously any game designer worth his salt isn’t going to ignore the game part of their game, so it merely falls down to the fact that more complex games require more complex tweaking. That said, could taking an old concept and adding a fresh breath of life to it theoretically get the best of both worlds?

Super Stardust is remembered fondly as a flashy asteroids style space shooter from the Amiga days which surprisingly enough involved blasting asteroids and enemy ships before they could either crash into you or shoot back (that would be the ships, not the asteroids). Super Stardust HD takes the original concept and adds its own spin to it, presenting it in the aforementioned High Definition we all know and love. Let’s cut right to the chase. Buy this game now; start downloading it and if you read slowly enough and study the screenshots in detail, if you’re lucky it may be with you by the time you finish this review.

5 planets

The game takes place over the top of 5 planets that are in danger of being destroyed by… can you guess? Yes, asteroids colliding with them, and certainly alien invaders coming to enslave the populace. Technically we don’t care about the story or the apparent penguin in charge (don’t ask), because this game is just a lot of pure fun. Rather than having a screen full of asteroids to shoot, flying off the edge and reappearing on the other side, you can literally circle the globe and use the 3d wraparound spherical playing field to your best ability. The left analogue stick controls your craft’s movement, while holding the right stick in a direction fires your currently selected weapon.

There are three ‘guns’ of sort, the rock blaster, gold melter and that icy shooty one. While you can upgrade these guns separately to be more powerful, faster at shooting or just expel more projectiles, the basic concept is that each type of asteroid has a weakness for a certain weapon that will make your job easier if you can recognise them and dispatch them accordingly. So it’s basically as simple as that… when asteroids appear, by approaching the planet’s orbit (useful to note that a red outline of where it is going to land will help you avoid being crushed straight away), shoot them into gradually smaller pieces until the fizzle out of existence all together.

Bombs, boosts and bosses

While it sounds relatively simple, the actual game is frantic and a constant stream of action. If the asteroids or enemy ships get too close for comfort, and you feel that you can’t escape, using a bomb is as simple as hitting R2, which practically wipes the screen of your targets. Useful, but normally the rest period is short lived as the remaining asteroids and enemies from the other side of the planet quickly approach to finish the job, assuming more don’t join the battle. While the bombs can be picked up with bonus icons along with points, weapon upgrades, extra lives and even a shield (basically an extra life that doesn’t require respawning) if you need a quick getaway, you can tap L2 for a boost. This zips you around to the other side of the planet quickly, getting you out of a tight spot, the proverbial frying pan, and hopefully not into the fire. Your boost meter (bottom left of the screen) gradually refills, allowing you to use it when necessary provided you don’t abuse it.

Every planet has five ‘phases’ which consist of a set number of asteroids and enemies, and when they are all defeated you can move on. A bar on the bottom of the screen demonstrates how many enemies are left when you are close to the end and serves to encourage you to slog your way through the current fight. Once the first four tiers are complete, you are thrust into a boss battle with a unique enemy that normally provides a decent enough challenge to enjoy each planet. Sure, they’re all basically doing that classic attack pattern thing, but this is hardly trying to revolutionise game design, and it’s a formula that works very well under the circumstances, especially when you realise that the firepower it is letting loose in the opposite direction can come around the planet and take you by surprise.

Multiplayer… we all love multiplayer

The game modes available start at Arcade mode (fight through the planets in one big task), Planet mode (choose an individual planet to defend), and Multiplayer Coop. Perhaps due to the mammoth amount of information that would need to be sent online, and the frantic split second gameplay, the coop is only available locally, i.e. with a friend playing on your PS3. You can choose a planet to tackle, much like the other modes, and the first mode that you finish each one in unlocks the next planet in all modes. Interestingly, coop isn’t split screen, instead opting to restrict the players to having to remain relatively close to each other, though the reward of being right next to your friendly ship is much enhanced firepower while you are in proximity.

Sharing bombs and lives, the coop is rather unforgiving to new players, but respawns everyone after each phase, even if all lives are expended. Overall it adds another aspect to the already pretty damn fun game, and out of all of the PSN games available right now, Super Stardust HD has leapt in place as my favourite to play in single or multiplayer. It is a shame that the online features are limited to a points leaderboard of each game mode, but forgiveable at the pittance of £4.99 that we must hand over for a go. No demo? Screw it, buy the thing as it’ll give you geometry wars beating action, and cheaper than a couple of beers. (At my local anyway).