Velocity Ultra Review – Vita’s Darling Shmup

Critical Urgency

So Velocity came out before as a Playstation Mini, tragically limited to the guidelines Sony set for the Minis platform, most notably file sizes. Now, the game is in glorious HD, natively on the Playstation Vita and boy is it amazing.

Seriously, if you’re a fan of shmups or classic arcade games at all, the game is a must-play. Gameplay is fast, responsive and rewarding but ultimately addicting. The game doesn’t seem to suffer from any performance hits,  it’s always buttery smooth.


The story is definitely not the focus of the game – as the game is in the vein of traditional shmups and arcade games. Still, what’s shown is just enough to keep you going and want to play more. The story is pretty much just saving survivors in with your ship, with all dialogue presented in static 2D panels.

Explosion

A lot of people may be turned off from the game for its pixelated art style. I know, another pixelated indie game in a sea of pixelated indies, but honestly those pixels shine in this game. Also, boy do pixelated games look nice on the Vita’s OLED, Velocity Ultra looks brilliant in motion on that screen. However, with that being said, I think the game’s pixel art could be a bit more defined.

Another thing about the game is its simply catchy and awesome soundtrack, which is composed by Joris De Man (of Killzone fame). In case you thought he was only good at doing suspenseful music for shooters like Killzone, he definitely shows his roots with the synthy tunes in Velocity Ultra. I found myself listening to the game’s soundtrack even when not playing it, it’s so damn catchy.

I can’t honestly tell you how many times I replayed levels trying to get better scores. The game is just so much fun to play, it’s very snappy and fast paced – perfect for quick sessions for all my fellow commuters.


About

Owner and Publisher at Niche Gamer and Nicchiban. Outlaw fighting for a better game industry.


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