This is a story driven 2-D horizontally scrolling shooter.  It features hand drawn looking graphics and tried and true gameplay.  It’s available on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.

There are several modes of play.  The main two are Story Mode and Arcade Mode.  Both are pretty much the same except in Story Mode you have to wade through about five minutes of text before you get to play each stage.  I’d rather do Arcade Mode.  You can also unlock a sound test, art gallery, and boss rush mode.  Gameplay reminds me a bit of R-Type, with some enemies’ projectiles reaching bullet hell levels of mayhem.  There are two different pilots you can choose from with different shot variations, and one or two can play at the same time. You can pick up power-ups to increase your shot spray and you can grab a shield to attach to the front of your ship like R-Type.  It can be used to absorb a few bullets or you can make it fire a one-time giant laser.

There are also ‘risk stars’ you can pick up.  These are used as currency after you play in the menu so you can unlock the different modes and buy artwork and songs.  Most importantly, you can also use them to buy more credits, which can make finishing the game easier.  As you play, try to pick up pieces of an illustration.  If you get them all and beat the stage, you’ll earn even more risk stars.

I like the fact that there are selectable difficulty modes, but even Easy is pretty tough.  The game says that when you fire shots, your ship slows down, but I think that’s just to mask the drastic slowdown I experienced while playing.  Sometimes the game just chugs.  Also, the hand drawn graphics make it hard to see what’s a background and what’s a wall you can crash into sometimes.  And the character designs are a bit amateurish.  Otherwise, it’s a perfectly serviceable shooter, but I can still think of better ones.

Kid Factor:

Wings of Bluestar is rated T for Teen with ESRB descriptors of Blood, Suggestive Themes, and Violence.  I didn’t notice any blood, spaceships just explode when you shoot them, and some of the female pilots wear tight uniforms, but that’s it.  Reading skill is helpful for the text, but not necessary just to play.  Younger gamers may find it too difficult, though.

Tags: Game Reviews