So, Gyrostarr. It was my most anticipated game for WiiWare, but it turns out that Toki Tori and Dr. Mario are probably ahead of it in my mind. Likely Defend Your Castle too. Quick breakdown.
What I love:
-Conceptually, Gyrostarr is very interesting. If I could have it my way, then fusing the aesthetic of a futuristic racing game with the dynamics of a 2D shooter would be a field that many game developers would begin looking into. It's akin to an on-rails shooter, but faster in appearance (though not necessarily so in practical gameplay; for example--and sticking purely to games playable on Wii--Sin and Punishment is far more hectic despite visually "seeming" slower).
What I like:
-Multiple control schemes. This is becoming something of a standard for Wii, but that's not going to stop me from praising it. This is the kind of reality I want.
-Shooting powerups pushes them away from you. This gives incentive to not consistently shoot, which is a rarity for a game with unlimited ammo.
-Multiple ship colors. It's not much, but if I can control a pink ship, that's almost unanimously a positive thing!
-Grappling distant items is a rather neat idea that differentiates Gyrostarr somewhat.
What I don't like:
-Generic techno music. I love techno if it's done right, but this really, really isn't. D:
-Only a few music tracks. Actually, if I'm being honest, I'm not entirely sure there's more than one track--it sounds so painfully generic that either there's only one track or they're all so bland that I literally can't tell.
-Bonus levels, which are movement only (no shooting and no grappling, just collecting energy) and involve insane numbers of speed boosts, come up after every level. That's not much of a "bonus"; it's more like a staple feature. This in itself wouldn't be problematic, but it becomes such because 1) there's so much less to do in these levels, 2) Gyrostarr doesn't exactly have a movement system compelling enough to center full levels around it, and 3) it's impossible to die or get wounded. I think, at most, bonuses should be after every other level.
What I hate:
-30 FPS, or whatever horrid framerate this is running at--I wouldn't be surprised if it was lower, honestly. I realize that I'm not a "graphics whore" and so perhaps I'm being extreme, but for this sort of game I'd very happily take graphics on par with Mario Kart 64 if they could at least run at 60 FPS. Bonus levels especially, due to their number of speed boosts, look much jerkier than they should because of the framerate. If Gyrostarr 2 is ever made, which (despite my criticisms) I very much think it should be, 60 FPS should without question be High Voltage Software's first priority on the list of improvements.
-It's very difficult to identify when I've taken a hit. Enemy shots make no noticeable visible impact, nor is there a sound effect. This keeps me glancing at my health meter more often than I should be, just to check whether I've been shot at any point in the last couple minutes or not.
-The first level is awful and almost single-handedly killed any buzz I might have had. It gets better after that, but wow, what a hideously slow introduction.
-Way too easy. Way, way too easy. After ten levels (meaning ten normal levels and ten bonus levels, not five of each), I hadn't felt a speck of challenge--and, again, this is despite the fact that I can't even tell when I've taken damage. One might think that would make it slightly harder, but no, not at all. I mean, I'm not one of those types who basically wants everything to be Contra And Up on the scale of difficulty, but I at least need something. :/
So... yeah. Maybe it gets better later on, but after 58 minutes of play I'm really not feeling it yet. By level eight or so I only decided to push onward to level ten because I figured I might as well shoot for double digits, not because I was enjoying it as much as I thought I would. Eh.
