Galacticon from Flynn’s Arcade and Radin Games is a retro-styled 2D game that pays homage to the arcade games from the early 1980s. Check our Galacticon review!
Galacticon from Flynn’s Arcade and Radin Games is a retro-styled 2D game that will remind you of the arcade games from the early 1980s. The publisher and indie studio previously gave us Eternum EX on Nintendo’s console. In Galacticon, humans have used their biomechanical monstrosities to invade, exploit and enslave most species in the galaxy. Because of this, the Interstellar Council has gathered and determined that the only way to improve things is by exterminating this plague. To do this, they invoke the titular Galacticon, a half-god, half-machine creature.
You’ll take on an experience that has been inspired by the old-school 8-bit presentation of arcade cabinets from back in the early 1980s era. This means you’ll get to play infinite levels with a steady increase in difficulty as you aim to improve your score to add your name to the local and worldwide leaderboards – with the worldwide leaderboards being accessible by way of QR code reading. It features a fun gameplay loop that will keep you coming back for more as you try to destroy everything on your path. It reminds me of games such as Galaga, Defender, and Joust from way back in the day, which is definitely not a bad thing!
Since this game pays homage to the classic arcade cabinets of the 1980s, the controls are simple and to the point. You’ll take over controlling the Galacticon with the left analog stick or the D-Pad. To attack, you can use the B button, the ZL and ZR buttons, or press and hold down the X button for autofire. There’s also the option of activating alternative control schemes so that you can move left and right with the left analog stick and use the right one to move up and down, or use the left analog stick or the D-Pad to move left and right, and go up and down with the Y and B buttons. The choice is up to you!
Along with defeating the humans and their contraptions, you should also keep an eye out for the many species that they’ve captured! The more prisoners you rescue at the same time, the higher the overall bonus score you’ll get. Rescue a single one, and you’ll get 500 points. Rescue two at the same time, and you’ll get 2,000 points. Rescue three prisoners at once, and the bonus goes up to 4,500 points. But if you manage to rescue four prisoners at the same time, then you’ll get 8,000 bonus points!
On top of this, you can work on rescuing prisoners of the same species to boost the bonus score even more. Something to keep in mind is that even though humans are their common enemy that needs to be eradicated, there are some species that are enemies! The blue Verminian and the red Hydorian are enemies. The Zeroptian are neutral. If a Verminian is alone with Hydorians – or the other way around – that lone prisoner will be eradicated. If a Zeroptian notices that there are more Verminian or Hydorians in the group, then it will ally with them in order to survive.
Once you’ve managed to rescue all of the prisoners for a level, you’ll then have to fly towards the upper part of the screen so that you can fly back to your ship. On said journey, you’ll have to avoid and destroy the many asteroids on your path, avoid a ton of missiles, or destroy the enemies that will come for you from both sides of the screen as you collect glowing crystals to increase your score. You do need to be careful because if you’re hit by an asteroid or crash into an enemy… you will die! You could end up dying before reaching your ship, thus getting a game over that will have you start back all over again.
Galacticon does a great job of paying homage to the old-school 2D arcade cabinet games of the early 1980s on Nintendo Switch. The game’s look and feel, as well as its sounds, will certainly have you feeling a bit of nostalgia for the good old days! There are even some power-ups to collect that will boost your attack power, grant you a shield for a short period of time, increase your total time, or make every single enemy on the screen explode, which definitely feels very rewarding. Galacticon is out on Nintendo Switch on May 22 with a low price of only $4.99.
Disclaimer
This Galacticon review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy provided by Flynn’s Arcade.
