Scoregasm

[i]Scoregasm[/i] is twin stick space shooter. A score attack-style combo system is combined with standard space arcade twin stick shooting to deliver a pretty fine indie arcade game. With plenty of levels to grind for secret exits and unique Challenge stages, this short game packs some solid replay value. Though the experience may be a bit too simplistic for hardcore players and there's some broken online support and graphics settings to deal with, this is altogether a decent casual arcade shooter. [i]Scoregasm[/i] has about as minimal of a plot as you can get: aliens in ships with lasers and bullets menace Earth; you, lone hero, are the only one who can stop them. Engage enemies in your ship outfitted with a standard gun and a short-range AoE burst to defeat waves of enemies across over eighty levels. Kill enemies in quick succession to earn temporary bonus abilities, and maintain your combo until the end of the level to unlock alternate, harder stages to continue through the campaign. Or tackle each of the 40+ base stages to unlock their respective Challenge modes, some of which really mix up the experience! This game isn't trying to reinvent the wheel when it comes to the twin stick space shooter genre. [i]Geometry Wars[/i] will stand out as particular inspiration for this title in both level design and attack patterns. Regardless, the fundamentals are solid: the ship controls responsively and enemy types and attacks are varied enough to keep the player engaged. While the campaign can be speedrun in as little as twenty minutes with a minimum length of fifteen levels, players will doubtlessly be drawn in for more as the mix of score attack gameplay and increased voluntary level difficulty will pose setbacks and encourage repeat play. Hardcore veterans of the genre may want to avoid this title, as the combat system is fairly easy to exploit thanks to the AoE attack. While the attack is somewhat balanced by having a limited number of rechargeable uses, it is still potent enough to nullify most immediate threats that most levels will pose. Therefore the bare minimum of surviving each level is very straightforward; meeting and maintaining the score quota to unlock harder levels is where the game's standard challenge is at. Admittedly, there is a tactical element to this conceit lying beneath the surface: kill a level's finite spawn of enemies too quickly and you'll find combos harder to maintain, since enemies spawn unpredictably and bullets dissipated in the AoE count toward combos as well. But in terms of core gameplay, [i]Scoregasm[/i] is built for casual play. There are also some technical issues to note. The game has an online leaderboard function that has been defunct for nearly a decade now. There are also some issues with the resolution scaling. The game runs in a default 800x600 window, though it can be maxed out at 1920x1080 and fullscreened. Still, increasing resolution seems to zoom in the level display, to the point where only 40% of the screen is visible at max resolution. While this would normally be a critical error, it doesn't affect the experience as much for this title: [i]Scoregasm[/i] is a lo-fi game that fits well into a small window. While the lack of the online leaderboard (which the developer promised to fix years ago...) is too bad, a decent core experience still remains. [i]Scoregasm[/i] is a smooth, catchy little indie space shooter. With a relatively low price tag and a whole bunch of levels to unlock and dig through, this is ideally built for short, casual play sessions. You can largely ignore the innuendo in the title, as it doesn't apply to the gameplay or the story aside from weird...sounds that play to signify high combos. Some technical faults could impair your ability to play this with the best graphics, though fortunately it's not really a game where that matters much. Come for the space shootin', stay for the naughtiness (or the level hunting). [i]Scoregasm[/i] gets a B-.