Bullet Candy

Developer: R C Knight
Steam Release: Feb 2007
Hours Played: 1.5
Similar To: Mutant Storm Reloaded / Polychromatic / Scoregasm
Rating: 1/5 Parsnips



GAMEPLAY
Bullet Candy is another Asteroids-esque, twin-stick shooter with a sprinkling of bullet-hell tossed in. It may not have a huge budget and its graphics may not be cutting edge but it's worth a spin. In a similar vein to the Adventure mode of Mutant Storm Reloaded, Bullet Candy inspired by the Robotron stable of twin-stick shooters - has you completing quick levels that can be swept aside in around 10-20 seconds each. Unlike MSR however, you can't go back and redo individual levels for a best score but blast your way through levels one by one. Waves of enemies thwart your progress as you pick up power-ups in an effort to get the best score. Power-ups give you triple-shots, make you invincible or give an extra life. 

BALANCE & PACE
Movement is quite sensitive and will take a little getting used to but an Xbox controller is recommended. While Bullet Candy is no Geometry Wars or Beat Hazard, the stream of missiles issuing forth from your ship still creates absorbing explosions as they strike enemies bringing that satisfying feeling of power to the fore. Levels can be polished off very quickly and you get a buzz as you successfully clear the screen as well as a strong feeling of impatience to jump back into the arena when you make a stupid mistake. Good players will realise that to get the better score you'll need to scoop up those yellow bug-like creatures without dying as each progressive catch adds an extra 10 to your score tally but die and that score gets reset when respawning. The game brings a wide variety of enemies and gallops along at just the right pace.  
   

PRESENTATION & DESIGN
On the negative side, graphics and overall art-design in some areas seem a little cheap and it lacks oomph to be a solid contender. Think the graphics of Scoregasm with gameplay coming closer to Mutant Storm Reloaded. The display of the score, time and lives meanwhile appear in a small white font in the corners which gives them a very plain and almost insignificant feel. To a crackly and slightly distorted fuzzy soundtrack, resembling the dubstep style, menus outside the game come in an uninspiring format: we're talking a white wiry font on a dark outer-space background. Picking up yellow bugs comes with a satisfying squeak but there'a not much else to be said for the sound.

PROGRESS SYSTEM
As mentioned, Bullet Candy is not about being awarded stars for individual levels but storming through levels one by one to get an overall high-score. In Arcade mode there are three levels of difficulty, namely: Normal, Hard and Insane but you can double the total amount of difficulty settings because you can go Turbo mode for each one to speed everything up. There is also a mode called Extend which also has a Turbo mode but there is no difficulty settings for this so you're essentially given eight different high-scores to beat. From the main menu you can view your best score in all 8 of these so you have something to aim for but unfortunately it only shows your one top score, not your best 5 or 10 for example. 
 

CONCLUSION

Weighing in at just a 13MB download, Bullet Candy will no doubt be seen as a poor-man's alternative to more cutting-edge titles. It is most similar to Scoregasm but still falls a little short of the more dynamic gameplay found in that title. However, it still offers a quick solid blast or two for those up for a quick-fix of shooting and destroying. The variety within each level gives it enough of a twist and there is also the fact that you can grasp certain patterns and nuances that allows for progress and improvement each time you fire it up. Additionally, given its quick style of play, it is a short but satisfying "one-more-try" type of game.