Air Twister is a Arcade Rail-Shooter game was first released on 2022 for iOS and MacOS, and was later released on 2023 for PS5, PS4, XSX/S, XBONE, Switch, and PC.
It was developed by YS Net and published by ININ Games, and I believe it is a spiritual successor to SEGA's 80s arcade classic such as Space Harrier.
Before I begin reviewing the game, I wanted to talk about the classic era of SEGA arcade games that became a big thing for gaming in the 80s and 90s.
We adored the creator like Yu Suzuki, who is a mastermind behind his successful titles for SEGA arcade system boards such as After Burner, Outrun, Hang-On, Space Harrier, Virtua Racing, and of course Virtua Fighter was credited for popularising 3D graphics in video games, as well as the critical acclaimed series such as Shenmue was credited for pioneering systems features including quick-time event sequences and large open-world environments.I grew up playing these incredible games that defines my gaming childhood starting from sprite-scaling shooter to fast-paced racing then 3D fighting arena to open-world interactive adventure is what I loved about his classic masterpiece, so never forget my good old days at theme parks about putting a one pound per play on the arcade machines or having to own the game from the local shop to play these on home consoles.
As the years going forward when I'm starting to focus on newer platforms nowadays, I got interested in playing several of indie games that became a thing in mid-2000s and so forth especially most of the old-school inspired genres like beat-em-ups, shoot-em-ups, side-scrolling action, platforming, and etc.
I've began to explore these kinds of indie games off from the gaming news website and gaming content creator that covers the upcoming titles with the trailers and screenshots had attracted to those who are interested in playing old-school style titles which is why I've discovered the game called Air Twister, an arcade rail-shooter that just plays like the SEGA's 80s arcade classic that we know back in the childhood days, so despite being a spiritual successor to SEGA's Space Harrier which really got me to try out this game on my PS5 to see if this rail-shooter successor does captures a pure magic of Yu Suzuki's arcade-shooter hit or does it became a fully missed opportunity?
So without go further do, let's start the review.
Presentation
The game takes place in a fantasy world of floating islands which begins with the opening cutscenes of the vanguard's invasion forces where they attacking the entire homeland overwhelms the swan-riding defense force which prompting Princess Arch to take flight on a giant swan and sets her journey to fight against the invading forces and save the entire world.
To be honest, the story cutscenes is rather short which lasts just a less than the minute and also quite dull which really lacks the narrative of the plot to know what's going on in the game, so I understand the invasion had taken place but I wish they could have put more effort on the narrative side which they should have add the dialogue with it, so that we could understand the whole story.
I do like the design of the Princess Arch which kinda look like Sarah Bryant wearing Samus Aran's zero suit which I thought it look really suits her for fantasy sci-fi arcade game especially you see it on the front cover of the game cases is what I liked about this character.
I wanted to talk about the presentation settings which I really liked the style of pre-historic and futuristic environments in each stages starting from a calm-greenery paradise in garden to big water of ocean in aquarium then large pile of sand in desert to hot-air balloons in floating city which kinda gives me a vibes of SEGA's Rail-Shooter classics like Panzer Dragoon which was best known for its atmospheric stage design that made the game quite recognisable back in the old days, so I think Air Twister has the good amount of scenery and setups which YS Net really nails the stage presentation just feels like the old-school Dreamcast game that we never got it back then.
Overall, it has dull story cutscenes, but has fine character and good presentation settings.
Gameplay
In single-player regular mode, you take control of Princess Arch in 3rd-person perspective behind her navigating a continuous series of 12 stages while having ability to fly and shoot with her laser cannon, set in a surreal world composed of landscapes filled with floating objects, as your main goal is simply to destroy all enemies and bosses while remaining in constant motion in order to evade projectiles and obstacles.
You have health bar at the left-side top of the screen indicating player's health points, the scoring system on the middle-top of the screen which displays how many scores you gained during the gameplay, the star collectables displayed next to scoring system which shows how many stars you have collected which I will explain it for later on the review.
For the gameplay controls, you use the laser cannon with the cross or right trigger button to fire projectiles at the enemies and bosses to damage them, and you move Arch around with the left-stick control which not only you use it to move her around on-screen but also it auto-locks the enemies or bosses which displays the targeting symbols on their patterns allowing Arch to fire multiple of her blast projectiles by simply pressing the cross or right trigger button when targeting them in multiple spots resulting a higher damage, so these are the basic controls scheme which are straight-forward to play.
While flying throughout the stages, there are various of the enemies will fire out their flashy projectiles directly at you which damages your health, so you will need to dodge these things without taking damage.
I say the health system in the game feels really different because instead of taking a one-hit damage and had limited life remaining like from the Space Harrier it's more dependent on how many health point on the bar you had left, so if you had run out of your health point on the bar then the game is over, but you still have 2 continues left to carry on playing the game.
What's really important about playing the rail-shooter game is not only you had to complete the whole game by defeating various of bosses, but also focuses on scoring system which most of the arcade games were known for back then, so defeating multiples of enemies and bosses adds up your scoring points which resulting a higher ranking grades depending on how well your overall performance in each stages.
You are also rewarded with the collectable stars by defeating numerous of enemies and bosses during the playthroughs or you can claim the rewards by completing the various of event tasks which had a list of challenges with objectives on the main menu screen are also comes in handy too.
These collectable stars are used for adventure map which displays various of unlockables, so you will have upgradables such as increased health capacity, increased powerups such as slow-mo time and lock-on system as well as enhancing abilities such as attack power, faster movement speed, or temporary invincibility, and then you have various of weapons to select such as cannon and missile, so these of the upgrades improves upon your player's abilities making the game easier to defeat tough bosses in later stages.
So far, I did however being managed to enjoy the entire game which shares a 12 decent stages filled with so many enemies and obstacles to go through until you've reached the boss battle gets really impactful with the multiples of their attacking patterns you had to evade it while fighting back at them with your laser cannon is what I liked about the game.
I like how these enemies are lined-up together on-screen while firing many of their projectiles directly straight at your face prompting you to dodge these in circles, and you will spent time blasting many enemies on-screen to gain enough scoring points for higher ranking grades is what makes the SEGA's rail-shooter arcade classic so amazing in the mid-80s, so the Air Twister does have the same charm as it really deserves.
The boss battles in this game is actually fun to encounter such as flame serpent which is a eagle-like dragon throwing long-range of fireballs at you, bone dragons is a three of the undeaded creature also has long-range projectiles, mecha mosquito is a robotic-like creature with two large of lethal arms, clock congregation is a group of clock and candles throwing bunch of clocks around, monster manta ray is a floating sea creature firing with multiples of projectiles, concrete crab rangoon is basically giant enemy crab releasing projectiles of round-fiery ball, succulent squid is a large tentacle monster blasting a dark-laser projectiles, dimensional rift knight is a enormous knight with big arms has ability to use shield protection, mecha gorilla is a robot-like ape firing hordes of missiles and blasts laser around it, and of course the polygon of DOOM is a diamond-shaped machine blasts a wave of powerful projectiles.
These bosses are just as challenging which you will spent time mashing button to blast them in pieces till they been defeated is what makes the rail-shooter arcade like this so great to play, but for those who
are not a fan of the button mashing which unfortunately there are no rapid-fire options I'm afraid to say because unlike some of Space Harrier's home console ports did share with the rapid-fire options which is really cool features for SEGA's classic arcade game, this game can get tedious for some players who rather much go for a rapid-fire options unless some of you won't mind with the button mash.
Having the adventure maps are not only you can upgrade your player's abilities, but also you can unlock various of cool mini-games and other game modes to play like the arcade mode is a high difficulty game with no items and single life making it tougher to play which adds up a true arcade experience, turbo mode focuses on faster and more challenging version of the main game, fluffy mode is a 2D side-scrolling mini-game where players must dodge enemies without shooting, tap breaker is a mini-game where players tap numbered boxes in sequence against the clock, stardust mode is a timed wave-based mode where players must defeat enemies within the time limit, and lastly the boss rush is where players must face all bosses aiming for high-scores.
These game modes and mini-games is a great addition to this content just adds-up the overall fun factor of the game, and having to participate the event challenges and playing single-player mode to collect all stars to unlock stuff in adventure maps just adds-up replayability makes the game even worth replaying it again.
Overall, it has decent stages, fun boss battles, and various of game modes and mini-games.
Graphics
The graphics in this game is rather not bad visually despite originally developed for Apple's iOS and MacOS are being ported to PCs and Consoles, the environments in stages are simplistic in some settings like the floating objects of mushrooms and balloons, man-made structures, glossy looking ocean, multiples of roses and gardening areas, and landscape details are quite acceptable in some stages.
The usage of colors and lighting effects are quite bold with the sharp beams and neon lights which is fine, but the main criticism is that the enemy's projectiles goes everywhere on the screen can get really flashy during the playthroughs because having the bright looking enemy's projectiles like plasma and beams could be really difficult to spot where they shooting towards at you, so I wish they could have an options to reduce the high level of projectiles to make it easier to see the enemy's shooting patterns.
The model of the character, enemies, and bosses in the game is looking decent with solid animation and fluid design are just fine as it is.
I say the game's performance ran butter smooth for PC and Consoles with full resolution and plays on 60fps which you will have no problem playing the game on which PC and consoles you have, as long as you can enjoy the whole game without encountering any of frame-stuttering and dips meaning this game plays it well throughout the single playthrough.
Overall, it has acceptable environment design, fine colors and lighting effects, and smooth performance.
Music and Sounds
I say the soundtrack in the game is quite an interesting choice for arcade game like this because it was composed by Valensia, an Dutch rock artist being influenced by the likes of british rock band like Queen, had agreed with YS Net to create his music for the game.
It features 19 tracks in which some tracks are completely new, where as other tracks are new renditions of known compositions including his hit song "Gaia" from his self-titled first album.
I say the music is just so much sounds like Queen in the terms of rock opera style, so there are some of the songs that are pretty cool to listen such as "Gaia 2022", "Maia", "Phantom of the Opera 2022", "Aglaea 2022", "Michelle Mambo 2022", and "Princess Mystique".
The sound effects in the game are solid with projectiles clinging noises, roaring effects from the enemies and bosses, and environmental explosions.
Overall, it has great soundtrack and solid sound effects.
Special Features
Of course the game has tons of unlockables content from the adventure maps like several of game modes, mini-games, outfits, and weapons, then you had the event challenges to complete the tasks may reward you with collectable stars.
Overall, a good content.
Advantages
Decent gameplay
Fun game modes and mini-games
Acceptable visuals
Great soundtrack
Has plenty of unlockables
Disadvantages
Dull story cutscenes
Lack of rapid-fire options
Flashy enemy's projectiles
Final Verdict
Presentation 6.5/10 - dull story cutscenes, but has fine character and good presentation settings.
Gameplay 7.5/10 - decent stages, fun boss battles, and various of game modes and mini-games.
Graphics 7/10 - acceptable environment design, fine colors and lighting effects, and smooth performance.
Music and Sounds 8/10 - great soundtrack and solid sound effects.
Special Features 8/10 - has unlockable content and event challenges.
Overall 7/10 - Air Twister is a fine rail-shooter arcade that does the job right, so with fast-paced stages, frantic bosses, and many game modes and mini-games to play with is what makes this game a highlight of the arcade experience created by a same person who bought you his wonderful SEGA's arcade classics from the 80s and 90s we know and love.
I am happy to say that I get to play a good arcade title that SEGA could have given us a new Space Harrier game for modern platforms, so it's really good to see YS Net had created the spiritual successor plays really close to classic rail-shooter from the past which is why Air Twister is a decent alternatives for the arcade gaming fans will likely gonna enjoy this fast-paced game with fun single-player arcade action and has tons of replay values thanks to event challenges and unlockable content that keeps you busy with the game for hours of fun.
You can get it physically on PS5 and Switch for less than £20 off from online retail store, where as the digital releases for PS Store, Xbox Store, Nintendo eShop, and Steam which you can get it digitally for £20, so I say it is a recommendation for those who grew up with the arcade classics will likely to purchase this title, so please check it out.
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