Shoot-em-up fans take note; Sky Force Anniversary is pretty
easily the best shmup available on Xbox One right now. Take one part innovative upgrade system with
fantastic replay value, toss in some Japanese-style bullet hell gameplay, and
top off with fantastic presentation and you have the makings of a truly
fantastic and innovative shmup. Some
genre purists might not like that it deviates from the standard progression and
item usage mechanics most games in the genre use, but I love that it is a fresh
and new and mostly unique experience.
Well, as fresh and new as an anniversary edition of a game originally
released for mobile devices 2004 can be, but it is all new to me, and I’m sure
many players, on Xbox One in 2016! See
all of the details in our full Xbox One Sky Force Anniversary review. Game Details
- Publisher: Infinite Dreams
- Developer: Infinite Dreams
- ESRB Rating: “E10” for Everyone 10+
- Genre: Shoot-em-up
- Pros: Awesome progression system; solid gameplay; nice presentation; unlockable difficulty levels; co-op
- Cons: Bombs and shields as consumables
- MSRP: $10
Sky Force Anniversary is a more contemporary shoot-em-up
closer in style and tone to Capcom’s 1942 than the craziness of most Japanese
shooters. While there are laser beams
and shields here and there, you’re just a fairly normal plane fighting against
other fairly normal planes, helicopters, and battleships. There isn’t much of a story to speak of
aside from a rival captain that pops up now and then to antagonize you by
spouting nonsense, but nothing is explained.
Shmups don’t really need a story, though. Just go shoot stuff.
And shooting stuff is something Sky Force Anniversary does
extremely well. It is a top-down
vertical shooter but with a ton of unique mechanics. In a scene more akin to a Metroidvania platformer than a
shoot-em-up, you start the game with a fully powered plane with maxed out
weapons only to die and lose it all.
You then start the real game where your plane has no upgrades or
power-ups and you have to earn it all back again.
The upgrade system uses stars that you collect by defeating
enemies. By earning enough stars you
can buy permanent upgrades to your health and main gun but also buy and upgrade
wing cannons, missiles, and a magnet that automatically collects stars for you,
as well as shields, lasers, and bombs.
The only thing I’m not really a fan of is that the laser, shields, and
bombs are actually consumables you have to buy with stars before you start a
mission. Considering that all of the
other upgrades are much more vital to survival than these, the consumables
aren’t really worth buying until fairly late in the game, so don’t count on
having a mega bomb security blanket to clear the screen like you do in most
games.
It can take a long, long time to buy many of the upgrades,
but in a clever mechanic the game actually starts paying out faster the more
you play it. Each level has medals you
can earn by completing specific tasks like saving stranded soldiers or killing
100% of the enemies. By earning all of
the medals on a mission, you unlock a harder difficulty level for that mission
that has multiplier bonuses that help you earn stars faster. To beat the harder difficulty levels,
however, you’ll probably need to buy more upgrades, so it becomes a fun cycle
of replaying levels, buying upgrades, playing new levels, buying upgrades, etc.
until you’ve seen it all.
Some folks might not like having to replay the same levels
over and over again to slowly upgrade their ship, but I don’t have any issue
with it. The levels are generally
fairly short – only a few minutes each – so replaying them isn’t a
problem. Plus, the gameplay is really,
really, genuinely fun so replaying levels is fine. I also have to say I really like the gentle step up in challenge
when you move up to a new difficulty level.
Even on Insane difficulty Sky Force Anniversary’s levels are very
manageable. Sure, they throw more
bullets at you and some boss encounters definitely have a bullet hell feel to
them, but it never gets too crazy.
The presentation is also noteworthy because it is nice and clean and fairly polished all around. During gameplay it is easy to see what is going on at all times and it doesn’t suffer from the issue many shmups have where the bullets all just sort of blend together and you can’t see anything. You can always tell your bullets apart from enemy bullets and enemies are always clearly visible and don’t get lost in the background. The game also runs at a steady framerate and never, ever dips. I also really like the sound overall even though it isn’t spectacular. Just good solid sound effects and a decent soundtrack.
Put all of this together and you have a fairly unique
and accessible shoot-em-up that is the best shmup on Xbox One right now. It takes various bits and pieces from other
titles in the genre and puts them into one polished package that can appeal to
hardcore genre fans as well as newcomers, which is something that not every
shmup can claim. The best part is that
it is priced at just $10 which makes it pretty much a no-brainer if you have
any interest whatsoever in the genre. The
game also has co-op, which just sweetens the deal even more. I highly recommend Sky Force
Anniversary. It’s awesome.
Disclosure: Review code provided by publisher.
