Super Psy Penguin Reviews

Decently fun SHMUP, not bad for the price.

Nice little shootemup - great music and graphics. Reminds of monty-python in its humour - very British! Runs well on my system - i7 + gtx1050ti Very fun - not the best shootemup ever - but good value for money at this price.

In all this is an excellent indie shmup game. There are cool upgrades for your penguin and a lot of care has gone into the graphics and the music selections. I would venture so far as to say if shmups had sisters like the way we twin cities, Super Psy Penguin would be sistered with Tiamat's Drink. I would also say the game merits having kill-count and stage-completion Steam Achievements, at least no-less than that other game. (This is not to start a philosophical war with the devs if they are anti-achieves, just to say based on having played hundreds if not thousands of shmups in my day, that the quality is at least of that level).

A game involving a genetically enhanced cyborg penguin who uses ocean-related power-ups to help fight waves of invading aliens is a suitably bonkers theme for this retro-inspired shoot em up that proves to be a lot of fun. Sound is particularly good with some suitably creepy demonic effects and great music (including a choice of soundtracks). The action is decent-paced and fun, It offers a reasonable challenge for the average gamer and (most crucially of all) is good enjoyable to play. It's really captured that critical "just one more go" addictiveness. I genuinely kept thinking "i'll just have one more go, then I'll write that review"... and kept saying that until over an hour of "just one more go's" had passed! Gameplay mostly feels well-balanced and fair - if you die, it's (usually) your fault. It's well-paced, with nicely developed levels that gradually get trickier. It's not the hardest of games - a single afternoon's play saw me (hardly the most accomplished of gamers) beat it, but beating it twice unlocks Boss Rush and Survival mode and these (plus the challenge of beating your high score) will certainly keep me coming back to it when I fancy a quick blast. The biggest issue with Super Psy Penguin lies with the graphics. Whilst they are imaginative and reasonably varied, the colouring is quite dull. They don't really stand out against the backgrounds (particularly some of the moving backgrounds like Level 1's clouds) and this can make them very hard to see - something that can prove fatal in a game like this. Bottom line: Super Psy Penguin is a decent and fun retro-themed shooter. It's not going to trouble the acknowledged champs of the genre, but it's a long, long way from being the worst example of its kind and offers plenty of scope for enjoyment. It's probably going to struggle to attract attention in a crowded indie market, but at £3.99, it offers fair value for money, and a decent blast. If you do pick it up, you won't regret it. I certainly don't.