Super Stardust HD Review
The best downloadable shooter since Geometry Wars, period.
Posted by Robert Workman on Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Up until this point, the PlayStation Network lacked original games. Sure, the Gran Turismo HD pack was pretty sweet (especially considering it was free) and David Jaffe's Calling All Cars wasn't that bad. However, it lacked a "killer app" to lean on, similar to Bizarre Creations' Geometry Wars for the Xbox 360. That changed with the release of Super Stardust HD.
Think of Housemarque's downloadable shooter as a souped-up version of the Atari classic Asteroids. Players skim a ship across the surface of five different planets, fending off the forces of an evil professor as he attempts to take over the universe. This results in blasting all kinds of rivals, including several insect-like robots, bomb-carrying vessels and large stage-ending bosses. In addition, they destroy bothersome asteroids; like in the classic game, large asteroids break apart into smaller chunks that become harder to evade.
The player's spaceship carries three weapons, along with a limited supply of bombs. Each weapon comes in handy for tearing apart certain asteroids. The "Gold Melter", for instance, works like a flame thrower, able to decimate golden rocks in a matter of seconds. The "Ice Splitter" chips away at light blue space rocks quite effectively. For routine asteroids, however, the "Rock Crusher" gets the job done the best. All of these weapons can be upgraded over the course of the game through power-ups. Points and bombs can also be grabbed, but the player should watch out when they're trying to fetch them: collision with an enemy or an asteroid means certain death, unless they managed to pick up a shield.
Gameplay becomes incredibly addictive in a hurry. The left analog stick controls movement around the planet in a 360-degree fashion, while the right analog stick controls direction of fire. The R1 button switches off between weapon types and the R2 button sets off a bomb. It keeps players active enough as the screen fills up with aggressive foes and meteors to shoot out of the quadrant.
Super Stardust HD does remarkably well when it comes to its presentation. Although each stage roughly looks the same (with only slight differences with each of the planets), the asteroid animation looks superb in 1080p and the frame rate holds up for the most part. The weapon effects, clouds, enemy movement and explosions pack the screen with plenty of visual fireworks.
Along with a straight-to-the-point Arcade mode, Super Stardust HD also allows players to go through each of the five planets individually in Planet Mode. More planets would have been a nice touch, but these five include enough challenges. An online leaderboard updates high scores on-the-fly, so people can see how they match up against the community. Sure, a score of eight million might impress the locals, but it just can't hold its own against 115 million.
Two players can also team up in the enjoyable co-op mode, fending off the steady barrage of targets. Unfortunately, this particular part of the game can't be taken online, leaving those without a second SIXAXIS controller unable to enjoy it.
In spite of not having any online play or a bigger galaxy to cruise around, Super Stardust HD justifies its $7.99 price tag. Its visuals, gameplay and intricacy make it the best downloadable shooter available since Geometry Wars: Evolved – end of story.
Final Score: 9 (out of 10)
Final Score: 9/10
