Title: LUFTRAUSERS
Publisher: Devolver Digital
Developer: Vlambeer
Platform: Windows, Mac, PlayStation Vita (Reviewed), Linux, PS3
Release Date: March 18, 2014
After Super Crate Box and Ridiculous Fishing, I’ve been waiting eagerly for LUFTRAUSERS to release. The wait has been really excruciating. LUFTRAUSERS has finally bombarded our gaming devices. I’ve been playing the PS Vita and PS3 version of the game for the last week and there is way too much to love about it.
LUFTRAUSERS is a 2D game with a sepia look to it. It involves you launching in a fighter plane from a submarine into enemy territory where everyone and their grandmother starts attacking you as time passes. Your aim is to destroy as many enemies as possible and finish certain objectives that vary with your plane customizations. LUFTRAUSERS is an arcade game first and foremost and for the older readers, it reminds me a lot of B-Wings from the NES days with its customisations.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3EENoDfu0g]
The visuals in the game are really good. It may look simple at first but there as you play you will see the amount of care and detail that has been put into each enemy and every animation. Of course that’s assuming you last more than half a minute. You play different rounds of the game and try to complete objectives and level up with your score. This lets you unlock different parts for your plane. You can choose a weapon, body and engine for your plane and each different part comes with its own objectives. There are over 125 different combinations for your plane as the game progresses.
You control the plane with either the right trigger on the Vita to accelerate and d-pad or analog stick to move or without using the trigger. The controls take a bit of getting used to and each engine behaves differently so in some cases you wont be affected by gravity while others propel you faster than anything. You can also regenerate health by not shooting for some time and this time varies by plane customization again. In most cases you will be on fire very quickly so remember to release the shoot button.
Enemies range from small fighters to bigger aces and also a variety of ships. If you’ve defeated a lot of enemies, the battleships that are huge attack. Each weapon type is useful for different enemies although you will usually pick a favourite and stick with it for a long time. I stuck with the spread weapon that behaves like the Spread gun in Contra.
The music in the game is quite unique. It includes variations of one base track and the variations depend on your plane customization. This seems like a masterstroke at first but after a few hours of gameplay, it gets repetitive.
LUFTRAUSERS also continuously saves your game so you can quit at any point. This is essential in handheld games and I’m glad to be able to quit at any time while playing on the go. There are a couple of differences in the PS3 and Vita version of the game. The Vita version has a bit of a slowdown issue in some situations involving huge explosions and a lot of enemies. I also didn’t find a way to transfer my save file across. But the game is cross-buy which means you get both versions when you buy any one of them.
All in all, Vlambeer have once again created an addictive arcade game that you will be playing for a long time. I personally recommend the Vita version as it feels more suited to a handheld.
