Super Space Club

For as much as I love classic shoot ‘em ups from thirty and fourty years ago, I have to admit that I’m not much of an Asteroids fan. Don’t get me wrong, I love the concept and can appreciate the changes it brought to the genre, but there’s just something about the way it plays that leaves me lost in space. Not even Atari’s recent upgraded version was enough to change my mind, as Asteroids ranks as my least favorite of the Recharged series. But all that was before I played Super Space Club, the debut release from GrahamOfLegend. This is a game that takes the Asteroids formula and tweaks it just enough to not only keep me invested for hours on end, but finally make me come around on the classic game. Get your applications ready, because this is my review of Super Space Club.

As a new member of the Super Space Club, there are a few things you need to know. For starters, this is a shoot ‘em up where you blast off into the most dangerous parts of space in order to blow up bad guys and collect a rare material known as stardust. These enemies usually patrol areas filled with asteroids, but don’t worry, because unlike the classic Atari arcade game, these rocks won’t destroy the ship (or blow up into smaller pieces). In fact, you’ll often need to use the asteroids to your advantage, both as a place to avoid enemy fire and as a projectile you can ram into other ships.

That’s one of the first signs that Super Space Club is not going to be your typical Asteroids rip-off, despite the fact that it controls much like the classic shoot ‘em up from the late 1970s. Where that game was more about methodical survival and strategically planning your shots, this is a fast-paced action game where chaos is firmly in control. Without the fear of ramming into asteroids, that gives the player the freedom to whip through the space rocks with reckless abandon, doing everything you can to get the upper-hand in a space war where you are ridiculously out-numbered. If you’re going to collect that valuable stardust, then you’re going to take chances and be aggressive.

Super Space Club is smart when it comes to the gameplay. You’ll quickly discover that your gun and shield are connected, so you lose a little bit of health every time you shoot at an enemy ship. Don’t worry, you’ll quickly gain it back, but having the weapons and shield linked will keep you from just holding down the fire button. What I like about this setup is that boosting around the level does not take any energy, so even if your shield is fully depleted and you’re waiting for the meter to fill back up, you’re never going to be a sitting duck. As long as you can still fly around the level, you’ve still got a chance to defeat the aliens.

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On top of acting as a high-score, you also want to collect the stardust in order to open up the new forms of customization. Whenever you jump into a game, you’re always given a choice between the pilot, the ship and the form of firepower. While we’ll start out with the basic versions of each of those options, we’ll quickly earn enough stardust to buy different types of weapons, new heroes and differently-shaped spaceships. Each section has five options in total, so a lot of your time will be spent going to asteroid belts in order to collect that sweet, sweet stardust.

While that could have become a repetitive grind, the developers were smart about giving you an incentive to keep going. You’ll blast off into each run with three different missions to accomplish, most of which revolve around taking down a certain amount of enemies, surviving a set number of waves, bumping into asteroids, collecting stardust and so on so forth. Some of these missions will make you play as a specific character or destroy a set number of enemies using one type of gun, sometimes both at the same time. As silly as it sounds, this gimmick worked on me. Every time I was ready to log off, I looked at the challenges and was inspired to play one more game, which quickly became ten more games.

Let’s not speed past unlocking the different pilots, because there are definitely pros and cons to each character. The most obvious is how each pilot has a unique ability that can get them out of a tough situation. Our starter hero, Xander, will hide himself behind a temporary shield, while Roscoe and Sasha can slow down time and teleport past the enemies. You’ll also find that the ships have different pros and cons, such as some that are slow and steady and others that are fast and weak. The game gives you a nice variety of ways to customize and take control of the action.

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That said, I discovered that I found my preferred combination early on and then stuck with it throughout the rest of the game. While the missions may incentivize players to try out the different pilots, ships and guns, you’ll quickly switch back to your favorites after the challenge is over. This is especially true when it comes to the weapons. The game may offer five different types of firepower to unlock, but only two of them are worth using. I found myself using the homing missiles in pretty much 95% of the games I played, since it was by far the most effective means of defeating the bad guys.

Unfortunately, even with the missions, there is a real sense of repetition in Super Space Club. Part of the problem is that the waves of enemies aren’t randomized, so you always know what to expect from one level to the next. It also doesn’t help that the variety of enemies is a bit lacking. For a simplistic action game like this to work, you need a lot of different types of bad guys to go up against, preferably with each using a unique form of attack. That’s not the case here. While there are definitely different types of ships to shoot out, the selection of bad guys doesn’t feel as extensive or interesting as other shooters.

I’m also torn on the graphics, which are a bit on the small side. On one hand, I do like the simplicity of the design, giving you a large battlefield to zip around. This often leads to some truly epic battles, especially in the later levels. On the other hand, the tiny characters can sometimes make the playfield seem empty and boring. I don’t know if the levels needed more obstacles or a lot more enemies, but there’s something holding them back from being as exciting as they could have been. In some ways this game feels restrained, which seems at odds with the gameplay. If anything, this game should be even more over-the-top.

Disappointments aside, there’s no denying that Super Space Club is a fun shoot ‘em up that genre fans will enjoy. It’s also a great debut release from GrahamOfLegend, who demonstrates here that they know how to hook players early on and keep them gaming. There are a lot of smart decisions made here, and I can’t wait to see what the developer comes up with next. When everything is said and done, Super Space Club is was Asteroids: Recharged should have been.