Gridrunner Revolution

Fans of Jeff Minter and Llamasoft will instantly feel at home with Gridrunner and know exactly what to expect. Newcomers are in for a real treat as they get to experience a Llamasoft game for the first time. Either way, you'll get a top notch shooter which is both addictive and massive fun to play. Full of Llamasoft's trademark bright neon visuals, pulsating sound, well-balanced gameplay and quirky humour, it's an absolute treat for any shoot em up fan. The game starts off deceptively easy and gradually grows trickier. Whilst later levels are certainly challenging, the gameplay feels well-balanced and never unfair. If you die, it's because you made a mistake, not because the game tricked you. The gameplay initially feels pretty simple and straightforward, but dig past the surface and you'll find a game full of depth, with some complex scoring mechanisms for high score chasers as well as more strategic elements. Only Jeff Minter could come up with the bizarre idea of "Sheepie Save", for example. When you are shot, you can pinball around off enemy ships or bullets and using this tactic, you can temporarily keep yourself alive. If you manage to catch a sheep before you disappear off the screen, you don't die and can carry on without losing a life. This bonkers idea adds a real strategic depth to the game and ramps up the tension as you desperately scramble to survive when you are hit. Minter is sometimes unfairly accused of re-writing the same game. This fundamentally misunderstands his games. Yes, he has written multiple titles called Gridrunner, but each version builds on its predecessor or reinvents it with lots of new elements. Gridrunner Revolution clearly shares a lot of DNA with both the original Vic/C64 versions titles and the (sadly no longer available) iOS game of the same name, but they all play very, very differently. And frankly, when the end product is this good, who cares?

Jeff Minter is a phenomenal coder and I adore his later games. This is no exception just make sure you have headphones on (for every llamasoft game really). Plays great on the Deck!

I guess I was hoping to have some of the original Gridrunner feel, but I am just not really feeling it in there at all. If you love trippy graphics and music--aka most Minter/Llamasoft games--then I guess this is an add to your collection. If you're hoping to lean into some OG Gridrunner feel, this doesn't seem to be it. I don't hate it, broadly speaking, at all, but I am still left kinda scratching my head. I also know I've not gotten that far into it, yet, either, so who knows. I'll keep plugging away when I find time, but then again, I may not. *shrug*

Woah dude

Absolutely amazing! Would recomend to anyone who can take a little bit of difficult shoot-em-up arcade games.

Been a fan of Gridrunner since the Commodore 64 days. For me, this game r0x0rs my s0xors so 1337 I'm 133c41ng t3ar5 you know it!