Solaroids

[h1] Featured in my Lost on Steam Feature! [/h1] Rather just check the video instead of read? Me too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bUdh2-PBNk I started a new short segment called "Lost on Steam" which features games that have few reviews for one reason or another. Definitely not necessarily negative, just games that slipped by people. This is one of the featured games this week! Solaroids: Prologue is a throwback to older games like Asteroids. It's an extremely fun and challenging arcade twin-stick shooter that should get your attention if you're into these older, retro-type games. The combat is smooth and controls easy to pick up. The challenge is definitely there with increasingly difficult waves of enemies each time you clear the sector. The weapon choices and upgrades / powerups kept me interested in moving forward the entire time without feeling stale. My one and only issue with the game, that may not even be an issue at all if you like challenge, is how the missiles and mines end up blending into the background of the game. This caused my death a NUMBER of times but it's generally my own fault because I would be moving too quickly through an area or some other such issue. All in all this is a great game especially when it's on sale for 4.99. tl;dr - Great throwback to old arcade games. Challenging and fun. Does not feel stale even after playing for an hour. An unboxing for video games! You can watch the highlights of this game and the two others featured this week here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bUdh2-PBNk

Fantastic reflex blaster, coin-op style. You know exactly what to do on your first go. Enjoying this game requires no nostalgia, And yet it is loaded with retro charm. Its simple, fast and exhilarating. Very Eager for full release, WELL worth early access.

Pretty fun little arcade shooter. You can play twin-stick or the same controls as the original Astroids game for more challenge. It's nice that each player can pick which type of control they like best. My son likes classic and I like twin stick, we had a blast playing local multiplayer. I'd say give this a go, well worth the money, graphics are great, music is great, sound effects also great, just a fun game to play.

This is a nice Asteroids homage. The controls take some getting used to but can be mastered after a while. I would recommend this game especially for local co-op sessions. You can play in split-screen mode with up to 4 players and toggle friendly fire as well as friendly collisions. Although still early access, this is a really well developed and overall recommendable game!

Nach rund zehn Stunden Spielzeit lässt sich zweifelsfrei sagen, daß Solaroids ein exzellenter Vertreter seines Genres ist. Bis dato sind mir keine Fehler im Spiel aufgefallen und sowohl die optische Präsentation als auch die technische Umsetzung sind erstklassig. Je nach eigenen Vorlieben lässt sich die Steuerung per Tastatur, Maus / Tastatur oder auf ein Gamepad legen. Die musikalische Untermalung passt perfekt zu dieser Art von Spiel und erinnert mich ein wenig an Imphenzia, was - für mich - ein zusätzlicher Pluspunkt ist. Welche Steuerungsart man auch bevorzugt, alles geht sehr präzise und intuitiv; seitliche Schubdüsen sorgen für einen maximalen Bewegungsspielraum. Weil es zu langweilig wäre, nur permanent mit der Standard-piu-piu-Waffe zu punkten, gibt es zusätzlich verschiedene Munitionstypen und zielsuchende Raketen sowie, sehr praktisch für den Notfall, unterschiedliche Waffentypen mit Explosionsradius. Alle Gegenstände werden zudem durch den Vorbeiflug beeinflusst und ändern, wenn man sie knapp verpasst, ihre Geschwindigkeit und Flugrichtung. Wie eine Spielrunde abläuft: Man beginnt im noch sehr beschaulichen Sonnensystem und geniesst die Ruhe vor dem Chaos. Es tauchen die ersten Asteroiden auf, die zerschossen werden möchten und dann mit etwas Glück nützliche Gegenstände freigeben, wie zum Beispiel eine höhere Schussfrequenz für alle Standardwaffen, ein zusätzliches "Leben" oder ein kleines, angedocktes Schiff, das fortan mitfeuert, wann immer man den Abzug betätigt. Reparaturen als Lebensretter: Sollte man es versäumen, das Schiff vor der totalen Zerstörung zu reparieren, steht man unter Umständen vor großen Problemen. Zwar gibt es mehrere "Leben", um mit einem frischen Raumgleiter weiter zu spielen, jedoch fehlen nun sämtliche Aufwertungen und gesammelte Waffen; Doch keine Panik, ein Blick auf die Minikarte verrät, wo sich das lebensnotwendige Zeug herumtreibt. Verschiedenfarbige Kreise zeigen an, wo sich Waffen und Schiffsverbesserungen gerade befinden, denn mit dem digitalen Tod wird einfach alles zusammengefasst und je Kategorie in den Weltraum gesprengt, abhängig von der zum Zeitpunkt der eigenen Zerstörung erreichten Fluggeschwindigkeit. (Puristen mögen behaupten, daß man im Weltraum nicht fliegen, sondern nur fallen kann; Ja, sie mögen Recht haben.) Auch sehr praktisch: Feindliche Schiffe und deren Munition können sich gegenseitig beschädigen und auch von Asteroiden getroffen werden bzw. diese vernichten. Zuweilen taucht ein stachelig wirkender Gesteinsbrocken auf, der zwar mit einer Menge interessanter Beute aufwartet, sich aber nach der Attacke auf ihn rächt, indem er angriffslustige Felsbrocken auf den nächstbesten Spieler hetzt. Von Mission zu Mission steigt der Schwierigkeitsgrad an, Verschnaufpausen sind rar. Fies: ab einer gewissen Stufe erscheinen kleinere und größere Minen, die zwar dezent blinken und piepen, jedoch vor dunklem Hintergrund fast unsichtbar sind. Glücklicherweise hilft ein Blick auf die Minikarte, um den hiesigen Fixstern zu orten und sich in seine Nähe zu begeben; bekanntlich hat die Dunkelheit in seiner Nähe keine Chance. Für wen eignet sich nun Solaroids: Definitiv für Liebhaber dieser Art von Spiel, für Nostalgiker, für "nur noch diese eine Runde"-Typen und, dank der motivierenden Jagd nach dem neuen Rekord, auch für Wettkampftypen. Täglich, wöchentlich und monatlich gilt es, sich möglichst gut zu platzieren. Was das bringt? Natürlich Ruhm und Ehre in der gesamten Galaxis, was denn sonst! - Großartiges Spiel, vorbehaltlos zu empfehlen. Der Suchtfaktor ist jedoch nicht zu unterschätzen. Nur noch diese eine Runde...

Solaroids is a fast, fun, solid iteration on a well-established formula, and gets a lot of things right: [list] [*] [b]Difficulty:[/b] It's easy enough for a kid to pick up, but with a reasonably high skill cap. For perspective: beating the initial 10 levels would be considered a "good" run, and would be maybe 2,000,000 points. The current global high score is nearly [b]600,000,000![/b] [*] [b]Controls:[/b] The controls feel just right, and there are multiple control schemes available depending on your preference. Personally I like the "twin stick shooter" style the best. [*] [b]Replayability:[/b] It's an arcade-style game that lacks a progression system, but the daily/weekly/monthly/global leaderboards are enough motivation to keep coming back for another game. [*] [b]Features:[/b] The set of features and content isn't extensive, but all of the gameplay elements it does have are polished (especially by Early Access standards) and cohesive. None of them seem extraneous or half-baked. [*] [b]Graphics:[/b] The display options are a nice touch. Options include original sprites, vector graphics, and CRT emulation that can be added to either mode. While not yet finished as of writing, the vector graphics mode is my personal favorite so far. It's also fun to just mix up the options between games to add some variety. [*] [b]Destructible ship components:[/b] Picking off turrets and missile launchers from enemy ships is satisfying, and also adds a bit of strategy: it gives you the option to prioritize disabling their weapons as quickly as possible rather than completely destroying them one at a time. [*] The game is clearly a labor of love, and the developer is responsive to player feedback. More on that later. [*] Finally, the game feels relaxing even though there's a lot going on at once. [/list] That last point is important. Part of the fun factor comes from feeling like there are really no cheap deaths; in other words, when you lose a game, you think [i]"I totally could have dodged that missile/cleared a path over there/shot down that ship first instead of chasing that powerup."[/i] This lends itself well to that "just one more quick game" feeling, rather than making you want to ragequit. To illustrate by contrast, I'm not a big fan of manic shooters (with a couple exceptions). Even though they're skill-based more than luck-based, and satisfying to win, the game of "stay on the one pixel on screen that isn't a bullet" makes deaths feel cheap. That means that after several tries, I'm more likely to give up in frustration rather than feeling like [i]"hey that was fun, I'll try that again soon."[/i] Solaroids feels more like the latter. Another noteworthy point is that the developer is very responsive. If you take a look at the issues and feature suggestions in the Steam discussions, you can see that the majority of them have been fixed and implemented with relatively quick turnaround time, and the game is noticeably better off for it. The aforementioned "twin stick shooter" style controls that I like, for example, appear to be largely based on player feedback. Solaroids doesn't forge any bold new innovations in the space shooter genre, but it doesn't have to, it's just fun. At $10 USD I think it's easily worth it at full price.

This is a great throw back with some modern twin stick controls you should try out, even if you're a hardcore fan of the classic. As always, its better with friends. we need more couch co-op like this.

I'm an instant fan. Plus I'm only out $5 (50% off sale). Back in the day I could spend a hell of a lot more quarters on the original in the same amount of time at the arcade. The multiple controls layout is also a nice touch. Apparently this is still an early access game but the only reason I can tell that is because it says so on the store page. Feels like a well polished, complete game to me. I'm not sure what else they could put in here to make it even better. Maybe a story mode or something? Maybe steal some tech from the future and make it 3D with full AI enemies and allies on a quantum processor PC? And it still only cost $5... Ok, maybe not the last bit, but this game is good. Take my money!