From reading the product description and glancing over screenshots, you may think you know what you’re in for with S. Prysm Destroyer. It appears to be something we’ve seen countless times before, taking the form of a side-scrolling run ‘n gun mech shooter not unlike Contra, favouring low poly PS1 era visuals instead of pixel art. The only thing to set alarm bells ringing is the supersized HUD, intended to resemble the mech’s cockpit. It soon transpires that it’s the least of the game’s problems. There’s more to this shooter than meets the eye, but chances are you won’t like what you see.
At some point when playing, you’re going to be hit with a couple of realisations that likely were not apparent when perusing the digital storefront page. The first of these occurs upon dying for the first time. You’re only given one life to see this shooter through to the end. There are no continues, checkpoints, stage restarts or anything of the sort. This is because the focus is on obtaining a high score by staying alive as long as possible, maxing out the combo metre to beat your previous best. As such, this is less of a standard arcade-style shooter, with a story and bosses, and more of an open-ended online score chaser, complete with global leaderboards.
The second realisation will come after dusting yourself off and retrying a few times. There are only four short levels on offer, playing on a loop. Backdrops change colour to simulate day and night, and the robotic dinosaur adversaries within become tougher, but the level layouts remain the same. If it wasn’t for the fact that you’re running ‘n gunning, and not flying, it could almost pass as a modern take on the early SEGA Master System shooter Transbot. This looping level structure is more problematic, as it doesn’t do much to help with variety. It certainly doesn’t help the game’s cheap feel, with the PS1-style visuals having washed out colours and technical issues such as polygon clipping.
The concept of a score chaser with online leaderboards and looping levels is fine. Appealing, even. However, the fact that only one life is given really lingers in the mind, forever knowing a minor mistake – such as getting caught by a concealed flame thrower – will see you thrown back to the title screen, even if you’re ten minutes into a game. ‘Getting good’ is a slightly odd proposition as you’ll always have a rough idea of what’s coming, with the only major thing changing being the number of enemies patrolling the floating platforms. It’s very different from the classics of yore, which featured unique levels, checkpoints, and boss battles with attack patterns to learn. Here, you’re mostly running to the right while holding down the fire button, occasionally stopping to deal with turrets and leaping over hazards with the jetpack. There isn’t all that much to it.
Simplicity, like the game’s concept, is fine. The thing is, S. Prysm Destroyer is only ever fun in small doses. Every level has a ridiculously OTT power-up, such as a flame sword with a reach that spreads the entire screen, and using these proficiently to drive up the score is reasonably entertaining. As soon as these wear off, you’re back to the humdrum of mindless shooting.
Accounting for much of the score seen below are the serviceable basics. It moves at a reasonable pace and the controls are more than adequate, with the jetpack requiring a degree of skill. You probably won’t be entering the online leaderboards without investing an hour or so, so it isn’t entirely throwaway either. The small budget definitely impacted the amount of variety though, which ultimately hurts the experience in the long run. We can excuse the cheap feel due to the low price point; there’s just no excusing the laziness found elsewhere.
MaidsWithGuns’ S. Prysm Destroyer is out 19th March on consoles. Published by eastasiasoft. A PC version is also available.