 | | Originally an ancient Amiga game from the early '90s, Stardust feels ripe for the upgrade treatment |
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Geometry Wars comparisons prove tiresome these days, and dare I say, a little annoying, what with the relentless onslaught of wannabes that never, in fact,
do compare in the slightest. Even if Super Stardust HD ain't a beater of Bizarre Creations' Live Arcade classic, it sure is a fantastic game in its own right though, and unquestionably the closest the PS3 has come yet to matching such brilliance.
Available exclusively via the Playstation Network Store for the paltry sum of £4.99, it's - you guessed it - another top down old skool shoot 'em up of the bright neon "glowy" variety. That's right about where comparisons end with Geo Wars though, as Stardust zooms off in its own direction almost immediately and does a whole heap of new, and arguably more interesting things with itself.
 | | This here's the Gold Melter. It's ace. Joining it is the equally as cool Ice Splitter, and the admittedly slightly limp Rock Crusher |
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Take weaponry, for instance. You have three wildly different guns at your discretion here, all of which can be leveled-up as you see fit. This leveling-up boasts a huge range of noticeable differences though; spread increases, rate of fire improves, and all-out power shoots through the roof, resulting in some serious damage dealing capabilities at your disposal. The rub, however, is that concentrating solely on maxing out one particular gun will neglect the rest, resulting in a lesser-rounded ship unable to cope with the wildly varying types of environments and hazards on offer.
There are five very distinct and diverse planets in the game you see - each split into five sub-levels - with individual weapons proving useful at specific points, against particular enemies. This whole setup flavors the game with some surprising depth and strategy as a result, with you having to distribute your load-out accordingly. Thrown in with rotating power-ups, smart bombs, boss fights, the ability to boost, and of course those all-important score multipliers, and Stardust's sense of depth, er, multiplies itself. There's actually a fair bit to it.
 | | Visually, the game's great, with tons of flashy colours and a hell of a lot of action. So much so, it's almost hard to tell what the hell's going on at times |
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Oh, it's still a fast-paced, arcadey shooter above all else - one where twitch skills prove your single greatest weapon - but having played Geo Wars and Mutant Storm to death over the past year or two, I really appreciate all these additions to the age old formula. And if they weren't enough? There's also a bundled co-op mode here too, albeit offline-only. A tad shoe-horned in it may be, but I sure ain't complaining.
But how about the important stuff? Ya know, the look? The sound? The
feel? I've both good and bad to report here. The game handles beautifully with the Sixaxis, no doubts there. There's a speed, responsiveness and sheer satisfaction to this game only the best such shooters can boast, with the "Gold Melter" gun in particular an absolute riot to wield. Unloading this bad boy into a swarm of robotic UFOs as they squeal in agony before combusting in flames proves sheer bliss, as does melting down humongous screen-encapsulating asteroids in a shower of rock particles.
Graphics on the whole, are pretty darn impressive actually, blazing along at a rock solid 60 FPS at all times, despite the most insane amounts of action taking place on screen. In a way, there's almost
too much at times. The previously mentioned blowing away of rock formations - while boasting impressive destruction, debris and physics - can confuse on occasion. It's actually damn hard to tell which pieces of flying asteroid are mere window dressing, and which are actual rocks destined to take you out.
 | | Stardust boasts boss battles too, although there's only really three such enemies in total. Shit gets tough when they start double-teaming you though |
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Sound's the one area of
true disappointment though, with the game trying a wee bit too hard to do the whole cheesy electronic retro thang. Tunes ultimately grate more than anything, while sound effects prove nowt special either. The lack of custom soundtracks in PS3 land feels particularly conspicuous as a result, as I would have loved to have thrown on something a little deeper and less obnoxious to keep me company on marathon sessions.
Important though? Not really. On the whole this is another fab PS3 download game to sit alongside
Flow and friends, and one any sane owner of Sony's new machine should really snag if they're yet to do so.
Ya know, it finally feels like the system's starting to nail that same sense of community and conjugation we've been enjoying on Live all this time, and a large part of that's down to this game. The online leaderboards, comparing of scores with friends, and subsequent buzzing across e-taunts as you knock pals off the top 10 is all present and correct. More importantly? When I log on these days...
other players are actually there. A good sign, to be sure.
I'm glad to see much of the PS3 hate slowly subsiding as time goes by, as it pumps out more and more of the good stuff like this. Perhaps, finally, the haters are starting to accept the PS3 as part of our gaming lives. With Warhawk due next, along with a hell of a lot more to follow, so they should.
