Ultratron Review (PS4/Vita)

Hot off the back of Space Invaders inspired Titan Attacks comes Puppy Games’ take on the Robotron formula. We suspect that there other ‘inspired by’ games may not be far behind and this is no bad thing. 

Ultratron uses the graphical style that Puppy Games has become known for. The blocky robot like enemies, pixelated distortion and cyber voices are all in effect and the music is of a suitably high quality to build tension and complement the action.

With games which borrow so heavily from classics it’s all about the execution and Ultratron has a pretty good go at trying to recreate the Robotron feeling of blasting panic. It does take a while to get going but once you get towards the end of the second world it’s all very chaotic and there is never a shortage of things to blast.

The action is relentless and some suitable bosses are waiting at the end of each of the four sections which require destruction via blowing off various bits. There is a wide variety of enemy types from the standard drones to missile firing ones and robots that have shields or spread poison across the play area. Chances are you’ll just be blasting everything though in a desperate bid to survive.

You can collect money during each round and then use this to upgrade your little robot at the end. There are a whole host of upgrades ranging from more shields and bombs to little robot helper pets and tools like EMP blasts. It encourages a second play through to try and fully upgrade and the choices on offer certainly add to the core formula. 

For everything good the game does it sadly has a fair few bizarre design decisions that can really impact on the game. The first of these is that messages and information are displayed in the bottom left of the screen. This wouldn’t be an issue normally but sometimes they can take up around a quarter of the play area making it impossible to see what is going on - A crazy decision in a twitch blaster like this.

The colour scheme also causes numerous problems as enemies and bullets can simply blend into the background. This issue eased when we removed all the visual filters but it was still very difficult to see things at times. The screen is also far too cluttered with nonsense information and symbols. There is simply too much for most players to take in and distinguishing what is useful to you and what isn’t requires thought processing power of super hero like proportions.

 All the screen clutter and noise means feedback for things like when you get hit is also almost impossible to distinguish.  If you have all three helpers on the go with their different range arcs and messages popping up it is just chaos and not in a good way. There’s also a bit of a level up problem in that if you haven’t upped  your speed you’ll fight all the way to the last boss only to have it crush you in a few seconds because your robot is just too slow to move away from it.

Despite all this we actually quite enjoyed Ultratron. When it flows it’s really quite an enjoyable distraction and the style in quite endearing. There are some nice little touches like your robot helpers yelping when they get hit and there’s some good imagination on show.

Overall, Ultratron is a fun game but one with a few too many design floors to recommend it to everyone. If you are a fan of the style of Titan Attacks then you should enjoy this as well and it’s certainly the better game of the two. There may be numerous niggling irritations but there’s also an intense shooter here as well and very little else like it on PSN currently.

Overall 7/10

Titan Attacks Review (3DS)

Puppy Games has been making its neon-styled retro shooters for a while now and it always seemed only a matter of time before they took the step onto console. Titan Attacks was the first game to make the jump and serves up its own take on the Space Invaders theme.

Set across five worlds the player controls their tank at the bottom of the screen as enemies approach from the top. It may remind you of Space Invaders but aside from the obvious nods there is much more going on here than simply trying to produce a clone. The first thing to take into account is the scoring mechanic. A multiplier continually increases through the levels and when you take a hit it returns to zero.

 

You can also gain points and money by achieving skill shots. This occurs when you shoot an enemy and instead of it exploding it begins to fall to the ground. Shooting the careering vehicle may also see an alien jump out in a parachute, collecting these little guys will give you a further bonus, while letting them drift off the bottom of the screen will result in a penalty.

 

Any money you gain during a round can be spent before the next one starts. You’ll start off buying extra shields and smart bombs but the power-ups are extensive and you can add bits to your tank to fire rockets and lasers as well as giving yourself multiple shots or reducing the recharge time between firing. In truth, it can make the game a little easy towards the end but it’s always a fun way to spend a few minutes. The game also seems to have been slightly rebalanced to present more of a challenge in this 3DS version.

 

The game is set across five worlds, starting on Earth, moving onto the Moon, through Mars and Saturn before finishing on the alien home world. Every few levels you get a chance to get bonus points and prizes by shooting down special flying saucers and the end of each world sees you square off against a mother ship. The enemy types and patterns continually change and the later levels are hectic which helps to keep everything fresh and moving. The lack of 3D though is a bit of an issue as it makes the port seem less polished than it otherwise could have been.

 

There’s no denying this is a fun game while it lasts but there are a few things which hold it back from being a classic. Though the bosses a bit tougher now the game is still a little on the easy side and you'll likely blast through in a couple of the attempts. It’s certainly fun and you do get to start again on harder versions of the levels but we were expecting a bit more of a challenge. 

 

The second problem is the scoring mechanic isn’t really intricate enough to cause the massive adrenaline rushes you can get from other games. There’s very little you can do if you’ve been building a multiplier and get hit other than slowly build it up again. That’s fine for anyone who wants an enjoyable arcade shooter but for those looking for a game to master this will let you down.

 

Slight issues aside, the question that matters is are you going to enjoy playing the game? The answer to which is yes you will, it’s a blast with a fun style that cleverly evokes just enough of Space Invaders to hit the nostalgia button while producing something fresh. It won’t last you forever or put up that much of a challenge but for a fun few minutes of blasting it certainly ticks all the right boxes. It’s also especially suited to handhelds. Overall, this is a good if not great game that everyone will enjoy. It’s a promising start from Puppy Games and we look forward to their next project.

Overall 7/10

Titan Attacks Review (PS3/Vita)

Puppy Games has been making its neon-styled retro shooters for a while now and it always seemed only a matter of time before they took the step onto console. Titan Attacks is the first game to make the jump and serves up its own take on the Space Invaders theme.

Set across five worlds the player controls their tank at the bottom of the screen as enemies approach from the top. It may remind you of Space Invaders but aside from the obvious nods there is much more going on here than simply trying to produce a clone. The first thing to take into account is the scoring mechanic. A multiplier continually increases through the levels and when you take a hit it returns to zero.

You can also gain points and money by achieving skill shots. This occurs when you shoot an enemy and instead of it exploding it begins to fall to the ground. Shooting the careering vehicle may also see an alien jump out in a parachute, collecting these little guys will give you a further bonus, while letting them drift off the bottom of the screen will result in a penalty.

Any money you gain during a round can be spent before the next one starts. You’ll start off buying extra shields and smart bombs but the power-ups are extensive and you can add bits to your tank to fire rockets and lasers as well as giving yourself multiple shots or reducing the recharge time between firing. In truth, it can make the game a little easy towards the end but it’s always a fun way to spend a few minutes.

The game is set across five worlds, starting on Earth, moving onto the Moon, through Mars and Saturn before finishing on the alien home world. Every few levels you get a chance to get bonus points and prizes by shooting down special flying saucers and the end of each world sees you square off against a mother ship. The enemy types and patterns continually change and the later levels are hectic which helps to keep everything fresh and moving.

There’s no denying this is a fun game while it lasts but there are a few things which hold it back from being a classic. The first is that the game is simply too easy. We managed to blast all the way through it on our second attempt. It’s certainly fun and you do get to start again on harder versions of the levels but we were expecting a bit more of a challenge. 

The second problem is the scoring mechanic isn’t really intricate enough to cause the massive adrenaline rushes you can get from other games. There’s very little you can do if you’ve been building a multiplier and get hit other than slowly build it up again. That’s fine for anyone who wants an enjoyable arcade shooter but for those looking for a game to master this will let you down.

Slight issues aside, the question that matters is are you going to enjoy playing the game? The answer to which is yes you will, it’s a blast with a fun style that cleverly evokes just enough of Space Invaders to hit the nostalgia button while producing something fresh. It won’t last you forever or put up that much of a challenge but for a fun few minutes of blasting it certainly ticks all the right boxes. It’s also especially suited to the Vita. Overall, this is a good if not great game that everyone will enjoy. It’s a promising start from Puppy Games and we look forward to their next project. 

Overall 7/10