Back in 2010, the Wii’s Sin & Punishment: Star Successor inadvertently knowledgeable how, in numerous methods, the Space Harrier mannequin could possibly be revitalised in a up to date trend. In Air Twister, director Yu Suzuki, well-known for creating Space Harrier, Out Run, and After Burner (to not point out Shenmue), doesn’t try anyplace close to as many shakeups. Rather, it stays conventionally near the unique method and performance of Space Harrier, whereas housed in a contemporary graphical shell.
Originally designed and launched on Apple’s iOS in 2022, Air Twister lends itself higher to an analog stick and monitor than it does a thumb-obscured touchscreen. Playing as Princess Arch, you tour fantastical worlds, on rails, whereas both tapping for direct, stronger hearth, or tracing over enemies for a lock-on reticle and a homing volley. Both shot sorts share the identical button, so that you merely must cease tapping for the homing property to take impact. As pure an arcade expertise as one may want for, you keep away from incoming hearth, gun down as many enemies as attainable, after which take out an end-of-level boss.
Air Twister’s uncooked parts are pleasing sufficient. You shoot, dodge, utilise your weaponry with growing effectivity, and be taught to trace the purpose that incoming bullet trajectories begin to even out. Bosses are usually considerably samey bar the odd foreshadowed assault, and are, for essentially the most half, hampered in invention by each Princess Arch’s restricted talents and a scarcity of spark.
Air Twister’s improvements are largely exterior, having you accrue stars by way of factors. A playthrough includes 12 phases, though two of those are transient and albeit humdrum bonus rounds. The total recreation is roughly half-hour, and half of this is sufficient to amass a good preliminary star bounty. Princess Arch earns new clothes, hair colors, and face paint in your customisation particulars, however “Adventure Mode” and its monumental 2D map peppered with unlockable waypoints, is extra essential to in-game progress. Each unlock requires a special variety of stars, and gives helpful issues like well being will increase, weapon upgrades, and gadgets that can be utilized as soon as in the primary recreation. For instance, sure bracelets or tiaras can defend in opposition to spiked objects, and others will auto-activate a protect when well being is low.
While unlocking every thing will take an unlimited period of time, there are actually advantages to amassing a big assortment of offensive and defensive bonuses, and the additional alongside you get, the extra advantageous they turn into. There are additionally plenty of further modes like “Trial Ticket”, to try-before-you-buy new weaponry, and “Challenge” mode, the place you may unlock boss rushes, rating assaults, and unusual, barely pointless bonus video games the place you need to faucet a grid of numbers in opposition to a ticking clock.
Air Twister’s aesthetic is uncommon. With little visually to tie one stage to the following, roaming from mushroom-littered plains and futuristic metallic sub-worlds to large flower gardens, the one widespread theme is that it’s bizarre. It boasts a curious impact of creating one wonder if it’s graphically good for a Nintendo Switch, or unhealthy as an upscaled cell phone recreation. In handheld mode, it seems to be far superior owing to the lowered decision; however on a full-size monitor a few of these textures begin to look low cost, except sure phases that work higher on a bigger show.
In an interview with Polygon, Suzuki downplayed the notion that Air Twister is a non secular sequel to Space Harrier, which doesn’t make a substantial amount of sense contemplating the parity of its design. Suzuki cited the likes of Panzer Dragoon and Rez as influences, however the place these examples had both cohesive fantasy universes or summary aural ‘synesthesia’ themes, Air Twister is extra a hodgepodge of ideas: crabs and disembodied skeletal dragons right here, and large Grandfather clocks that fireside out little timepiece watches there.
One facet, attempt as we would, that we simply can’t get on with, is the soundtrack. Suzuki employed Dutch composer Valensia to attain the sport, coming off as a particularly restricted and repetitive cowl album of Queen’s best hits. With full vocal singing, they’re good items in their very own proper, however they don’t appear to suit right here, one way or the other. We’re certain some might like it, however we have been quickly pining to have the motion married to a basic online game rating.
Perhaps Air Twister’s largest shortcoming, is that it makes an attempt little new. Suzuki and his Ys Net staff may have drawn inspiration for myriad tasks showing between 1985 and the current day, however selected to not, and what labored properly as a cell phone rating assault recreation desperately calls for elaboration on dwelling console. Where Panzer Dragoon had 360-degree rotation, character evolutions, and a panorama that performed a big half within the recreation’s construction, and Rez a musical interaction, Air Twister simply has you circling the display screen and taking pictures formations. Protagonist Princess Arch has no true dynamism, both. She may have been made to navigate the panorama round her, probably evolving Space Harrier’s floor landing by having her run vertically alongside surrounding partitions, however as a substitute you may’t join her ft to a single object.
Going again to among the concepts current in Sin & Punishment 2, Air Twister has no fast dodge, which might have introduced one thing additional, no bombs or cost shot, no power-ups to acquire mid-game, or another ingenuities in its taking pictures association. Yes, you may unlock a number of new weapons which do extra to decrease the sport’s problem than increase its really feel, however to take action that you must preserve working by it to accrue stars for foreign money. Honestly, there’s not sufficient right here to encourage weeks of dedication until you’re determined to assert a excessive rating.
Stage Three options obstacles, having you progress left and proper round incoming partitions. Stage Eight has a cylinder with gaps to maneuver by, and Stage Nine has boulder plenty you may blast out lest you crash into them. These concepts are enjoyable, but agonisingly and bewilderingly fleeting. Shooting down formations is pleasing sufficient, however with a scarcity of urgency concerning the motion, it turns into repetitive and shortly boring. Most bosses require some type of both figure-eighting or skirting the sides of the display screen in an oblong movement, with just a few, like that of Stage Eleven, having just a few attention-grabbing assaults to evade. The recreation isn’t notably difficult till round Stage Five until you crank the issue settings, however even then the trajectory of incoming bullets might be barely irritating, as they’re simply misplaced in opposition to the avant-garde background pastiche.
Conclusion
While we have been determined to like Air Twister, it seems like an undernourished Space Harrier homage filled with missed alternative. For Sega followers who need little greater than a Space Harrier expertise in new garments, there’s little to complain about… besides possibly that soundtrack. But, whereas the additional modes develop the sport’s longevity and encourage a transparent, they really feel tacked on. It’s advantageous to return to for a fast blast from time to time, however sit with it for a day or two and its lack of inspiration begins to gnaw. The arcade hardcore are more than likely to reap the best rewards, however even then there could also be a nagging feeling of uncapitalised promise.
