HYPER METEOR Reviews

Fun game. I intend to spend more time in this one when I get a chance.

At some point, Hyper Meteor, the binary, colour based, kind of Asteroids inspired shooter where you didn’t shoot previously exclusive to the Playdate handheld got ported to PC, and I picked it up in a semi recent sale. Whilst I appreciated the design of the game when I played it as part of Playdate's Season 1, I always struggled with the control scheme because I found that using the crank to choose your direction of boost never felt particularly comfortable. It was serviceable, but not quite as precise as I wanted for a high score game like this. Fast forward to its big screen release, and suddenly it all makes way more sense. You’ve got direct directional control with the analogue stick, then you boost forwards, Asteroids style, using a face button. That’s it. Easy peasy. It’s still essentially a two tone game, seeing as the mission is always to collide with the weak points of enemies that are light in colour whilst avoiding parts that are dark, but there’s now a suite of palette unlockables, expanded game modes, and just some general tweaks that make a game designed for a tiny black and white screen still make sense on a 60 inch TV. This port has elevated a game I didn’t mind on Playdate to a game I *really* like on the Steam Deck, playing either handheld or blown up. There’s still not a massive precedent for Playdate games being brought to other machines - I can think of a few smaller titles I’ve seen appear either on Steam or on other digital store fronts like the eShop - but Hyper Meteor shows that certain games that perhaps didn’t quite ‘hit’ on Playdate due to feeling a little restricted by hardware, may excel when afforded the space of a modern port.

Hyper Meteor isn't just cute; it is a finely-crafted and well-balanced arcade experience.