White Space (El Blanco's Archive):blog

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Lucy in the Sky with Blasters - Space Tripper 4.9/5

     Absolutely f-ing brilliant. I don't know if I really need to go
on. Can I end this post now and go back to playing Space Tripper?



No? Alright. I decided to post this directly after burning my brain out
on adrenaline playing this blessed beast. From the page "Inspired by
the Williams arcade classic, Defender...". Defender what? As far as
I'm concerned, Williams can take Defender and stuff it. You fly left,
you fly right, you consult your radar and you blast everything in
sight. That's about it as far as similarities to Defender go. This game
takes the concept of the Shmup and takes it to an entirely different
level. Now, admittedly, this review is a few years too late. Space
Tripper was released in 2001 but I have yet to see a game to match
this. I'm afraid that the developer, Pom Pom Games, may have peaked
early with this, their first release. Their followup game,
Mutant Storm, seems a much weaker effort.

     In Space Tripper, you pilot a lone craft through 4 worlds and 14
levels. Each world has its own style and own set of tactics that you
must apply to succeed. You start pretty much good to go as the game has
very limited powerups. I found that this is probably one of the purest
shmups ever. There are no speed increases, no outrageous "blow
everything up to save my ass" bombs, nothing. Only your basic strait
shot and a spreadshot. You alternate between these two with the push of
a button. In later levels, you will achieve a zen-like state where
you become one with your weapons and wield them like different
techniques with a sword. Broard slashes for hoards of enemies and
straight thrusts for quick kills. Every so often an enemy drops a
powerup that buffs up one of those two guns depending on which you are
using at that moment. The result is a serious of quick binary choices
that can radically alter the game experience. Build up the straight
shot too much early on and you will die later in the game. Learn your
lesson and work on the spread shot? Then you will be too weak in the
final world.

     Control is crisp, responsive and superb. Use joypad or keyboard.
It's fully configurable with only three buttons needed: shoot, turn
around and switch weapon. Done. Well actually not, there are certain
subtleties to the control system that need to be understood to do well.
The fire button is the primary one of these. If you hit the button too
slow, you shoot slow. If you hit it too fast, you shoot slow. You have
to find a certain rhythm that results in the fastest possible rate of
fire and you have to hold it no matter how frenetic the game gets.

     Graphics are beautiful. While not the absolute best I have ever
seen in a shmup (deduct .1) they are among the best. Everything is
suitably abstract and looks like the 80s arcade art style come to life
using 21st century technology.

     Sound is arcade perfect. One of the atmospherics that made 80s
arcade games to memorable was the crazy sounds the machines made.
Modern sounds just don't have the punch older games did.
Somehow, Pom Pom figured it out and came up with a killer soundkit for
this game. My only complaint centers around the third world's explosion
sounds. A little dry and loud for my taste but other than that spot on
perfect. Pom Pom didn't bother wasting your time with music and it's
totally fine. When was the last time you hummed the tune from Joust?
What about the background music from PacMan? That's right there was
none in those old games and you never missed it, you'll also not miss
it in Space Tripper.

     The levels require a certain amount of strategy and you get a
definite feel of accomplishment when you finish each one. By the 4th
world, I always find that my adrenaline is pumping like coke at a
Chuck E. Cheese soda
fountain. The final levels are easily among the best levels in any game
anywhere. You HAVE to switch weapons, you HAVE to be fast, you HAVE to
not die. It makes you use all your skills and punishes the 7 sins.

     If you start to get prideful for killing another wave, the next
one will swat you down. If you start to feel envy towards the enemy for
its strength, it will swat you down. If you desire powerups without
caution, it will swat you down. If you lust after the visuals, it will
swat you down. If you loose your cool (the final levels require the
patience of the consumate professional), it will swat you down. If you
go for points and get greedy, it will swat you down. And if you are
slow like a sloth, IT WILL SWAT YOU DOWN. Space Tripper requires
discipline and practice and will reward you for it. It is always fair
and never cheats. Let me make it clear by saying it this way, if you
die, it is your fault. Pilot error does apply.

     Price? 15 bucks. Go buy it and play it. You will probably never
play another shmup as good as this. Period.