Had a great time playing this, even after only a few levels it already felt natural to control. If you appreciate a retro aesthetic, this in particular reminds me of a modern take on a Genesis title in many ways, this game does it very well. The animations are satisfying, especially that badass flash shield animation, and the music here is just top notch as well! The soundtrack in particular brought me back to the days of 16-bit Capcom platformers like Mega Man. You need a rockin' soundtrack to complete the experience and this delivers.

As a whole package, this game surprised me way more than I had anticipated. There are all sorts of interesting design decisions here that break the standard order with these types of games and it really sets this one apart. For example, if you are playing on a controller as I was, you might expect your right stick to control which direction you fire, but you'll be surprised to find this is not the case. While movement around the screen with the left stick feels fluid and precise, the right stick direction actually changes the type of weapon you fire. Left and right fire the laser in either direction, but up and down give you access to entirely different modes of fire. This is something you need to experience to fully grasp, it's hard to explain the feel of it, but it makes weapon switching a total non issue. Often what happens in these games is that you have to worry about which powerup you acquire because it will end up overriding your current firing mode (like in Contra for example), but in this game you can instantly switch weapons without taking your hand off the stick. Love it!

They've also implemented a clever shield mechanic that buffs your health depending on the level of your weapons. Take a hit and your weapons revert back to level 1, but you get to stay in the game for longer. This puts a whole new level of importance on survival in a game like this and really ups the stakes without punishing you too hard.

Give this one a try, highly recommend!