Super Stardust Ultra Review
Developer Housemarque
Publisher Sony
Platform PS4
Release Date Out Now
Reviewed by Dan Sheehan
Super Stardust is a very good game which falls just short of being great. The main issue is that it is not that original anymore. If this was my first time playing a game in the Super Stardust series I am sure I would feel more strongly about it, but unfortunately because it is for the most part a polished up release of Super Stardust HD it never captured that initial magic that perhaps others playing for the first time will experience.
Visually I love the look of Stardust. The weapon fire lights up my TV screen with vivid greens, blues and orange to wonderful effect. The massive asteroids that land on-screen proceeded by the red circle to indicate the impact zone all look very impressive. I really enjoyed the feeling you get from shattering them with a constant barrage from your weaponry.
As asteroids and enemy ships swarm across the screen it can become very easy to be overwhelmed by the amount of action taking place onscreen. Stardust requires players to make decisions in a split second. Choosing whether to try and shoot through a tricky situation or use the boost feature to make a tactical retreat can mean the difference between life and death.
The difficulty level increases at a steady rate but starts out at a level that is inclusive to all comers, even a beginner is able to get a respectable high score. The one drawback to the scoring system is that it only counts the top one thousand scores. Anything after that will always show as being ranked one thousand and one, no matter how low the score. This little flaw initially led me to believe I was within one thousand places of the top spot. How wrong I was.
The original Super Stardust launched eight long years ago, and while this re-release has lost none of the fun it also hasn’t evolved much in that time either. It is in many ways the same basic game that Housemarque have now released for the third time.
If you like arcade shooters in the same vein as asteroids or geometry wars then this is definitely the game for you. However if you have played any of the older versions of this game then you won’t really find a lot of new content to get your money’s worth. On top of the arcade and endless modes, stardust comes with survivor, bomber and impact modes but they are all just variations on the survival theme.
The multiplayer mode now includes some new features such as blockade and interactive streaming. Like the other modes it is fun but just like everything else except the arcade mode, it becomes boring after a short time has passed.
The interactive streaming can be an interesting feature to try out. When streaming your game onto Twitch you can get your viewers to vote on whether to help you or hinder you as you play. The only drawback to this feature is that if you don’t have a big enough crew watching then it just turns into another round of the Endless mode.
In summary Super Stardust Ultra is an excellent arcade game and if you have never played it before then it is definitely worth having a go. If you are a fan and crave the safety of knowing what you are getting into then this also comes highly recommended. For those who are burnt out on Stardust HD I don’t think there is enough new content to really warrant the purchase.
SCORE 3/5
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