Fast Striker Review
Release Date: October 16th, 2018
Developer: NGDEVs/EastAsiaSoft
Platforms: PS4/Vita
Price: $7
Shmups should be considered a lost art. The days are in long gone where gamers would see a number of shmups in local arcades. This is definitely a niche title; Fast Striker fits right into this crazy genre. The game was originally released for Neo Geo MVS in 2010. But as of now, the game has made its way to the Vita and PS4. How does it stand up to other shmups?
Fast Striker’s biggest feature is the multiple game modes. There is novice for rookies like myself, original for that classic arcade experience, maniac for those experts and omak for anyone that thinks they can handle it. The game only has 6 stages but there is a nice big boss battle in every one.
The game was touted as one of the biggest megabit releases for Neo Geo. This is probably due to the rich 3d scrolling backgrounds and highly detailed enemies. Players collect points and depending on what difficulty mode they chose determines how the score works. Besides collecting stars there isn't much else to the game besides staying alive and killing enemies.
The ship has a shield and a nackip shield as well. Both of these have limited uses. The controls are tight and simple. But be warned this is bullet hell, tons of enemies and destruction everywhere. I found myself in a lot of tight spaces very quickly even on novice.
The ships have a few options besides the main weapon; there is a shield and a secondary weapon that shoots behind the ship. Each difficulty has a different main weapon for your ship and tapping X or holding players can change the firing mode.
Although the graphics have nice backgrounds, they look like something from 10 years ago and remind me of shmups on PS1 such as Gekioh. There just isn't enough detail. The music is a nice pulse pounding, high energy beat that goes well with the action.
This being said, I died a lot; the game is tough on novice. It also feels a little short and there isn't much substance to it. But on the Vita it could be good for shorts bursts maybe on the commute or on work breaks. The price is perfect at $7 for a game like this with crossbuy. A big thanks to the publisher for letting us review Fast Striker on the PS4.
Final Score
Pros:
Game is a shmup
Action never stops
Cons:
Too hard
Too short, not enough to keep people hooked