Sky Force Anniversary

Developer: Infinite Dreams sp. z.o.o
Steam Release: Apr 2015
Hours Played: 25.6
Similar To: Eschatos / Full Blast / Revolution Ace / Wolflame
Rating: 5/5 Parsnips

GAMEPLAY

Sky Force Anniversary is a marvellous 2D shooter that should have a rightful place in all game libraries of all 2D shooter enthusiasts throughout the world. This is a vertical shooter that has you controlling an aircraft as you slowly travel up the screen obliterating such foes as planes, helicopters, tanks, boats and turrets of various kinds. You'll be picking up regular weapon upgrades dropped by enemies that have an immediate effect on firepower but also gold stars which act as currency to buy upgrades to your ship between runs. Job satisfaction is enormous, helped largely by numerous and highly absorbing explosions with the encouraging announcements of the voice-over who praises your efforts as you go. Think jumping into a sea of bubble wrap as you wallow and bask in the snap, crackle and pop. 
 

BALANCE & PACE

Each run lasts about five minutes and ends with a bullet-hell style boss-fight but there are many other things to focus on besides wanton destruction. For a start, each stage comes packed with four secondary objectives that can earn you up to four medals. You could: (1) kill 70% of enemies; (2) kill 100% of enemies; (3) rescue all people - by hovering over them for about 4 seconds or (4) complete a stage without taking damage. There is also a non-firing stage that focuses on collecting stars. Bear in mind though that Sky Force is one of those 2D shooters with RPG elements which means you start off with a pea-shooter for a weapon and constantly upgrade at the hangar to get ever stronger and more powerful.   
 

 

PRESENTATION & DESIGN

SFA is the modern day, evolutionary stage that the 1984 arcade game 1942 has arrived at... and it's done it with style and panache! It is a mobile port but, like Meltdown or Downwell, is an exceptionally good one that has made a flawless transition to the PC. The game runs as smooth as butter with movement and controls functioning perfectly. As opposed to a large amount of Japanese bullet-hell games that restrict the play area on widescreens, Sky Force utilises the full screen allowing you to roam more openly and freely. The soundtrack suits the game really well and the sound-effects enhance gameflow effectively. Check out the "Yee-ha" as you rescue your friends. Menu screens are zippy, quick and intuitive allowing easy access to the necessary information.   
  
 

PROGRESS SYSTEM

The game features nine unlockable levels positioned on a path at the level-select screen. You can play on normal, hard or insane difficulty for each stage which means there are 12 (3 difficulties x 4 objectives) secondary objectives for each. A stage displays all these 12 secondary objectives which light up from its greyed-out format into a gold medal once achieved. A stage also displays a high-score but with no indication as to which difficulty it was attained at. Progress then comes in the form of collecting stars, upgrading at the hangar and getting more powerful in order to get those medals. There is no online leaderboard for the stages which is a shame but there is a tournament mode at weekends which does have a high-score and global rank system.   
 

CONCLUSION

Like many mobile to PC ports, Sky Force unfortunately has the spectre (nay, some might say affliction) of those in-app purchases lingering in the background. This has the effect that the game involves a bit of a grind whereby gold needs to be farmed in order to buy upgrades. These will make you powerful enough to tackle those hard and insane settings at the later stages. Still, despite this, the game's three difficulty settings are weighted just right which means you can always cater the challenge to your current needs. Throw in the added allure of the shield and laser power-ups, activated at the click of a button - and you've got yourself a right-rollicking ride if not one of the best vertical-scrollers money can buy. All this - and the game ships you its mean soundtrack as well!