Astro Tripper

Seeing as there are hardly any reviews for this and Steam is reporting that reaction is "mixed", I thought I'd ought to throw my opinion in here. I bought it because I have memories of playing the demo for the original (Space Tripper) way back, and not ever being able to finish it beause it was so damn difficult. Guess what- it still is. And that's good. Some people have given it negative reviews saying that its frustrating and too difficult; I can't count that aginst it because that is exactly what I was expecting, and I think that due to the genre of game that it is, it should be expected. This is a hardcore arcade style game where you have to get through all in one go, theres no autosaves or any saftey net other than three lives- and if you lose a life you start that level over again, every time. Its pretty brutal like that. In Hard mode, there's not even barriers to the play area; if you stray too far away accidentally you'll die. Apart from the style differences between this and Space Tripper, there is one change that I've noticed that does make a big difference. In Astro Tripper, you can switch between two weapons- the blue one which fires a shot straight forward, and the red that shoots left and right of the direction you're facing. In the original, that red weapon also shot straight ahead as well, but at a weaker power (so that it would take two hits from the red gun to kill a standard enemy, but only one from the blue). The upshot of this is that at the frantic pace you have to play the game, not being able to accuratly fire ahead of you with the red weapon will cost you dearly, so you might not ever want to use anything other than the blue; the weapon switching becomes useless. This might just be me, but I think it's a valid point. Due to my experience playing the original demo for Space Tripper, I feel that's the only real criticism I can make in comparison (I should mention that I've not had any technical problems with it thus far), and also overall. Some people have mentioned inertia to be a problem stopping them from moving accuratly around the levels, but all I can say to that is that I have had that difficulty playing any Mario or Sonic games; it's nothing you shouldn't be able to get used to as a playstyle. Every level proceeds in a pattern, with important audio cues that let you know about changes in enemy spawns or imminent dangers. Once you've failed enough times to learn the levels, you'll progress and develop your skill and I find it a process that rewards your frustration in a cathartic manner. As far as I can see it's a perfectly decent arcade shoot-em-up that rewards perseverance. Summary: If you're someone with skill and experience who wants to beat a real challenge, this is a great game. People who aren't willing to give 100% effort to and endure a lot of trial-and-error, look elsewhere.