Spectra looks like F-Zero, but it isn’t a racing game. And it isn’t a music / rhythm game despite looking like Amplitude or Frequency.
Instead, it is a sort of action arcade game where you ride along a
neon-highlighted course to collect point markers while thumping electronic
music blares in the background. After
an extremely positive first impression, however, Spectra turns out to be sort
of shallow and lifeless. See our full
review for all of the details.Game Details
- Publisher: Gateway Interactive
- Developer: Gateway Interactive
- ESRB Rating: “E” for Everyone
- Genre: Action
- Pros: Amazingly great soundtrack; cool visuals
- Cons: Shallow gameplay; not enough graphical variety; extremely difficult
- MSRP: $7.49
Originally released in May 2015, Spectra’s original
publisher, Mastertronic, ran into financial troubles which led to the game
being removed from the Xbox One Store just a few months after launch. It was re-released as a self-published title
by developer Gateway Interactive in July 2016, however, so you can now buy it
again.
The gameplay in Spectra has you piloting a little craft down a two-lane procedurally generated “road”. There are yellow bits you have to collect in order to score points, big pink obstacles you have to avoid, and occasionally an orange boost pad that gives you a score multiplier. If you hit something, you lose the points from that score chain. Also, there are no borders on the track, so you can fall off, which ends your run. The idea is to score as many points as you can while surviving all the way to the end of each course.
That is easier said than done, though, because Spectra is
bloody difficult. The game actually
controls just fine, as all you’re doing is just steering with the analog stick,
but the course design is absolutely brutal and since they’re procedurally
generated you can’t really ever practice them.
The game is so fast and so intense that you have to have 100%
concentration just to survive, which leaves you exhausted by the end. Forget
about actively trying for high scores.
It also doesn’t help that the ten courses correspond to the ten songs on
the soundtrack and some of the songs are stupidly long. Shorter songs, and therefore shorter
courses, would have helped a ton here.
The real appeal of the Spectra, though, and what will likely
keep you coming back even if the gameplay loses its luster, is the fantastic
soundtrack. The chiptune music from
composer Chipzel is absolutely incredible.
Each of the ten tracks is distinct and catchy and memorable and you’ll
find yourself playing the game over and over again just to hear them.
The visuals also look very good, but some more variety would
have been nice. Every course has the
same exact theme.
All in all, Spectra is sort of a hard game to really put a
fine point on. The gameplay is
disappointingly shallow, but it can be addictive and the awesome soundtrack
will keep you coming back long after the gameplay wears thin. You could always just listen to the
soundtrack on YouTube, but the $7.49 asking price for the game is pretty darn
reasonable. Spectra won’t be for everyone,
but buy it if you’re looking for a few hours of challenge and some awesome
music.
Disclosure; A review code was provided by the publisher.
