Satazius is a really old-school, high-octane shooter than fans of the horizontal-scrolling shoot-‘em-up are going to love. No game has reminded me this much of R-Type since… well, since R-Type. You pilot a lone ship against hoards of enemies (hmm, that sounds familiar) over large levels with boss battles, stationary and moving enemies, landscape to be avoided (and some of that moves too!), and power-ups aplenty to pick up. This is one fast and furious game, with beautiful (slightly retro) graphics, massive explosions, multi-layer parallax and some terrific designs for your enemies. The game is fairly old and only runs in 64-x480 resolution, but I still defy anyone to say it doesn’t look great. The sound effects are well up to scratch and the music is very good. Crucially, the controls respond quickly and smoothly (yes, even when playing on the keyboard). The game has different difficulty levels, with a setting for every level of player (I opt for Easy, as I’m hardly the world’s best shoot-‘em-up player…). There is enough challenge to keep anyone interested, but it’s not so ridiculously difficult as to be off-putting. (The difficulty levels are Easy, Normal, Hard and Insane.) Satazius also boasts a couple of interesting features; you choose your weapons beforehand; primary and 2 sub weapons (which can be toggled in-game) and a special weapon that you can only use once it’s fully charged. Each of these weapons can be powered up individually by collecting the relevant icons in the game that appear when you destroy certain enemies. As you go through the game, new weapons can be unlocked too. There is also a replay feature; so if you play a game that you’re particularly proud of, you can relive your moment of glory later (and perhaps prove to sceptical younger siblings that you really did it!?). With static and moving obstacles, and some obstacles that can be removed only for a short period of time, precise control and timing can be as important as your shooting prowess. I only had a couple of minor niggles about the game. I would have liked to be able to select my starting level rather than start at the beginning each time (unless this is a feature that can be unlocked later in the game… I enjoyed it but wouldn’t necessarily say that I was very good at it). Also, your ship always faces the same way – not a problem in terms of gameplay since you can get weapons that fire behind you as well, but it just looked a bit odd (which to be fair only really becomes something you notice in certain areas of the game, as you’re normally travelling in the direction you’re pointing anyway). All in all, if you’re a fan of old-school shooters, you’re going to absolutely love Satazius . It’s fast, furious, full of challenge and variety, and has some interesting features. A great blast from the past. Satazius was developed by Astro Port and published by Nyu Media . http://nyu-media.com/products/satazius/ PC Game Reviews and News
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PC Game Review – Satazius
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