Arcade shooters are a perfect fit for mobile gaming, as brief sessions focused on scoring the highest possible points total are perfectly suited to pick up and play gameplay. App Store developers certainly agree, and despite the multitude of solid entries in the genre, there are only a certain amount of ways that the core dual stick shooter formula can be dressed up to seem unique and fun, and not simply going back over well-trodden territory. Hyper Blaster, the result of one man development team Combopunk, has attempted to create its own identity, through eccentric and colorful graphics and some new control mechanics that distinguish itself from the fluidity of other two stick shooters, while encapsulating the nostalgic joy of '90s arcade titles when it launches on August 18th.
At first glance, the voxel graphics may not be a particularly fresh sight for anyone remotely familiar with the App Store, and with the game launching for free, it's perfectly understandable for free-to-play cynics to cite titles such as Crossy Road [Free] and how Hyper Blaster may just be another off the production line. However, looks are deceiving - Combopunk has pledged that the game will only have one in app purchase to remove adverts, and otherwise will be a freely accessible arcade shooter. Furthermore, the mechanic of having to move your avatar with one linear jump across the map (rather than free analog movement that normal dual stick shooters offer) could lead to a different dimension of ...