So you’ve just picked up your spiffy new R1-spaceship and flying it on the way home to show off to your family when a star storm arises out of nowhere, knocking you unconscious while its sends your craft spinning far into the universe…great. When you awaken, you try to get your bearings as you look to the near star constellation to figure out where you are. Grave fear envelopes your body as you quickly realise that you are in the Tars space nebula and they do not appreciate visitors. You have a battle of survival ahead of you.
Reshoot R is a horizontal shooter that takes place across five different worlds each of which throws wave after wave of enemies in your direction before having to deal with an end level boss fight. From the very moment you take control of your spacecraft, the game looks and feels like a commercial grade game with high production values. The game’s graphics and animations are a stand out, featuring hundreds of colours and silky smooth 50Hz parallax scrolling. Throw in a great pumping soundtrack and high fidelity explosions and you have a title that stands out above its modern day peers.
Reshoot R only gives you one life. But as you collect speed and weapon power ups, not only does it enhance your ship capabilities but it also allows you to take multiple hits. The more power up collected, the more hits you can sustain with each hit you take knocking down your power up counter. This mechanic works quite well and ensures that you feel like you are playing something much more than an endless shooter.
Reshoot R’s shooting mechanism feels very good. Shooting complete attack waves will result in a bonus and blasting a large asteroid is quite satisfying, though potentially hazardous as it’s fracture shards come hurtling in your direction. The difficultly curve is well balanced with those of us casual players not having too much difficulty in getting through the first level or two.
Despite the fun arcade experience on offer, the first couple of levels feel a little repetitive when it comes to enemy waves. What is offered is good but you are kind of left wanting to see a little bit more after progressing through the first few minutes of the game rather than seeing the same enemies attack you time after time. As you move into the third level, the game kicks it up a notch on all levels. It starts to feel fresh and it’s hard not to be impressed with all the colours available on screen.
But perhaps the game’s most notable failing is its entry price point. The digital release of Reshoot R is priced at just under 30 Euros, and while the game is undoubtedly a very good release, the gaming experience on offer falls short at this price point and has detracted many from giving it a go. That’s a pity because its a game that deserves a broader audience.
Reshoot R is primarily developed by Richard Löwenstein. The game requirements include an Amiga 1200/4000/CD32, PAL Display while 2MB of CHIP/FAST RAM is recommended
Review Score
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7/10
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9/10
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8/10
Summary
A wonderfully polished arcade shooter that sets a benchmark for all other upcoming commercial Amiga titles when it comes to overall production values.