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Super Stardust HD
PlayStation Network
Asteroids on Crack
3/5 stars
If you have ever said to yourself "boy, I really like Asteroids but wish it was much more colorful and crazily face-paced" then Super Stardust HD is your baby.
The game play is very simple to grasp but incredibly difficult to master. One ship, three weapons, three asteroid types and a handful of enemy types - plus bosses on each of the five worlds - and that's it. Each level (or planet) is divided into five phases - waves of asteroids and enemies - the final phase is always the boss.
A simple premise, but if you're not quick on the draw - especially if you have the difficulty ramped up - you will die - usually from a stupid stray asteroid or enemy that manages to sneak up on you. Sometimes the screen is filled up with so much stuff, it's easy to lose track of your ship - even when you're firing a barrage of your weapon of choice.
Speaking of weapons, the game has three - your have your typical "rock" shooter - average, dependable. Your "Gold Melter" which fires a jet of flame and, when powered up, can create a nigh-impenetrable shield around you provided you spin like the devil. Finally you have your "ice" cannon - good for head-on shooting and pesky ice asteroids. Asteroids that are destroyed drop weapon upgrades, points used for the multiplier and, if you're lucky, shields and even extra ships. You can also destroy ships that show up occasionally for bombs, which can help you out in a pinch.
The enemies don't throw too much at you - you have those that swarm you, chase you, shoot at you - later levels feature more aggressive forms of earlier enemies. Like wise the bosses aren't too difficult - in fact, they pretty just throw three different big guns at you - they give you two to fight in the later levels. The final boss is hilariously easy.
However, the addicting part of this game is, of course, reaching the high score. Strategically using boost, collecting multiple points multipliers and simply staying alive get you to high-score Nirvana. Of course, I was happy just to get through Arcade Mode on easy. I don't have as much invested in this as I did with Pac Man.
So while Super Stardust HD is fun in short spurts, I'm glad I snagged it for free because the fun is a bit short lived for my taste, no matter how pretty it looks. Plus, this is a game that can incite much rage when you're trying to get a 10x multiplier and are suddenly blown up by a random rock that comes out of nowhere while screaming at the game to give you a shield. Ah, it's not a game unless it makes you red in the face.
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