“Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet” is an Indie side scrolling adventure shooter in the styling of other dubbed MetroidVania games by Shadow Planet Productions, and Published by Feulcell Games for Xbox Live Arcade.
Functionality:
The game is a multi-directional shooter where the left stick controls the flight path, while the right stick controls shooting direction. Each of the face buttons, (X), (Y), (B), (A) act as hotkeys to which you assign one of the various weapons and accessories.
Each item has a specific use in the game, like getting you through a certain kind of obstacle or door. Many have multiple functions and can be fun to use in unorthodox ways, case and point, the claw. Others like the ray gun are simply for shooting baddies. Also the ray gun along with your ships armor are the only things in the game that upgrade. The gun gains more shots per use and the armor effectively adds thicker skin to your ship, so each level you go up means you can take one more hit. Increasing your armor also alters the way the ship looks, ending in a spiky bulked up flying fortress.
The ship you control responds well to commands making it easy to doge and dive around enemies you would rather not fight, which is great when you are going through that area for the tenth time.
Just like other games in the genera you start off exploring an area at a time fighting enemies and area bosses till you gain an item that allows you to proceed to the next area. These types of games are also known for a lot of backtracking due to areas that can’t be opened until a certain item is obtained at a later time. Shadow Planet has no shortage of this.
Presentation:
Shadow Planet is a absolute gorgeous game. Everything in the game moves and sways (And most of the time kills you) as though the whole world is alive. Each level has a different theme. You start off in a cave like area, filled with plants and animals. From there you explore a vast ocean filled with monstrous jelly fish, frozen ice caves with snowflakes of doom, and a Mechanical world. The latter being some of the more genius level designs to appear in recent gaming.
Each of the areas in the game are populated with uniquely appropriate creatures and dangers for you to face off against, all are as beautifully realized as the world they inhabit. Shadow Planet goes to great lengths to prove that you don’t need that third dimension to have spectacular graphics.
Atmosphere:
The games crazy art style helps set it apart, but the lack of any real soundtrack outside of very brief cut scenes is greatly missed, though the world itself is alive with sounds emanating from the flora and fauna. The vibrantly colorful world properly gives you the feeling of exploring a strange alien world.
Plot:
Plot is rather non-existent. You are an alien pilot set to work then a sun goes super nova like event occurs corrupting your planet. You must go in and rescue it by destroying a bunch of Bosses that somehow have to do with why the planet is corrupt. The majority of the plot is told at the beginning and by artifacts you collect throughout the game. Collecting enough nets you are given a very quick snippet of video, letting you in on a little bit more of the back story.
Legacy Rating:
Will this game last through time? There’s no doubt that Shadow Planet is a great game and I hope they make a dozen more. But when it comes down to it, it’s short and lacks the content of similar titles from the past. It’s hard to stack up against game like Super Metroid and Castlvania SOTN. But I think there is always room for one more and I hope many people get to enjoy it, and they keep well-crafted 2D games coming.
How does it compare to other games? The world of Shadow Planet feels utterly unique in character, but I can’t help but feel I’ve been here before. Aside from some basic element changes, it really feels like it could be in the same world as Metroid. The zany art style helps it. But the lack of music and story or any real change to the formula hinders its ability to completely set itself apart.
Buy or Not? For me it’s an obvious purchase. At roughly ten bucks I got more enjoyment out of it then I did from many games priced at sixty. It may be short but it’s sweet.
