Star Ghost | Wii U

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Star Ghost proves yet again that the Wii U’s lack of third party support is insignificant when you have top quality independent developers on-board.

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​by Rob
Holt

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​@acousticmagic

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Platform: Wii U
Developer: Squarehead Studios
Publisher: Squarehead Studios
Players: 1

Created by Rhys Lewis’ (formerly of Rare and Retro Studios) one man studio Squarehead, Star Ghost is a classic horizontal scrolling SHMUP (or shoot ‘em up for loathers of abbreviations) with one big difference; Donkey Kong Country’s barrel control mechanic.

The controls are some of the smartest, simplest we’ve seen in a SHMUP; left stick aims your guns, and the A button controls your thrusters, that's it. It’s the thrust mechanic that’ll throw veterans of the genre off at first (this SHMUP lover included), as the past dictates that you pump a button for the guns, not the flight path of your ship. Keeping the ship steady and aiming proved tricky at first, but half an hour in and we were hooked on this innovative new style.

Tasked with blasting everything in your path, you’ll control the titular Star Ghost through twelve star systems, each system in turn containing three to five stages. There are fish like creatures, giant centipedes, amoeba-like foes (with just a little nod to Metroid) and end-of-system bosses called sentinels to pulverise. Combine that with navigating tight jagged walls and asteroid fields and you’ve got one hell of a challenge.

As you fly through Star Ghost’s levels you’ll also notice the sheer amount of collectible items. These range from boosts to your guns’ fire rate, bullet spread, health and traction field to special power-ups like shield generators and score multipliers. Try to contain your glee when you pick up the vaporiser for the first time, disintegrating your enemies really is therapeutic! These pick ups expire quickly  though; so be sure to keep collecting them to keep your ship in prime condition. Even collecting troublesome viruses that disable your weapons has it’s rewards; keep Star Ghost steady for long enough and watch everything on screen explode!​

Upbeat, electronic music drives you forward on your quest.

The visuals are beautiful too, with the crisp bright colours of the enemies and pick-ups juxtaposing nicely with the dark backdrops of space. The way enemies and asteroids dissolve under the might of your guns is immensely satisfying and commendable, especially for a game built by one man (and off the back of initial iOS game Star Drift). The fact that these enemy patterns and terrains are procedurally generated makes the game even more impressive.

The music and audio are also splendid, with another Rare alumni, David Wise, providing the soundtrack. Upbeat, electronic music drives you forward on your quest - our personal favourite piece features at the end of each stage, and is reminiscent of the tunes from TV show The Weakest Link, something that brought a smile to our cynical faces. The sound effects from the guns and enemies works fantastically well in tandem with this (especially the laser power of the vaporiser!), add to that the warm yet sardonic voice over (“great run, Commander”) and you have an aural success.

The only issue we have with Star Ghost is the lack of online leaderboards, something that would add so much life to the game. For an arcade shooter to be missing that in this day and age is a real shame, but we’re sure we’ll get over it. There aren’t any other game modes either, but this really isn’t a big deal when the game provides such a steep difficulty curve and challenge.

If you’re looking for something new to play on your Wii U, then we strongly suggest you get yourself Star Ghost. £7.99 is a steal for the sheer amount of hours you’ll get out of it, blend that with the satisfying control scheme, gratifying guns and super duper soundtrack and you have a real treat.

Pros
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• Excellent, fresh gameplay mechanic for the genre
• Huge challenge
• Beautiful visuals
• Great music and voice acting
• Procedurally generated enemies and terrains

Cons

• No online leaderboards
• No other options outside the main game

8/10

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Have we left you wanting for more from Squarehead? Why not check out our developer interview.