Battle Crust Reviews

Battle Crust is a nice call back to the shooter of the early sixteen-bit era. Instead of a constant barrage of bullets to dodge there is a more measured approach and a casual pace of play. It does not make the game a cake-walk but this type of design is ultimately more engaging in my view. I will play any type of shmup as long it is has solid fundamentals however for repeat playthroughs I've always preferred the more minimalist designs of the sixteen-bit era shooters. Wtih its' static but detailed backgrounds and catchy chip-tune music Battle Crust can be most closely compared to a Turbografx-16 Hucard game. Super Star Soldier comes to mind as the best parallel. The developer did a wonderful job of accurately recreating the feel of a shooter from that platform, which is not a common thing to achieve authentically. This would also be a good shooter for a entry-level player who does not want to feel instantly overwhelmed by the bullet barrage design of many modern examples of the genre, as long as you don't mind the visuals from a bygone era. That era represented my gaming prime so I have a special appreciation for the graphical presentation. Overall a well executed vertical shoot em up and recommended. The developers' more recent horizontal side-scroller is also very good; I'll be on the lookout for more from them in the future.

This game is a love letter to late 80's / early 90's vertically scrolling shmups from Japan. To borrow a wine-tasting analogy, I see definite notes of Irem's excellent 'Image Fight' in particular, but without some of the irritating quirks had by the original game. The end result is a bit like a 2020 Ford Mustang - looks retro but packed with pleasantly surprising additions, and easier to drive well (or so I'm told). A big thumbs up!

As a certified Shmup Fanatic I gotta say this game really satisfies. Good music, pretty sharp pixels and vibrant colors, tight game mechanics, and challenging but fair . Get It Now!

Not a terribly difficult game on Normal mode at least, but it is a SHMUP that caters to those familiar with Irem's works in the late 80s and early 90's. Not too expensive, and worth the purchase for those that would like a hidden gem packaged in a similar light as Irem SHMUPs. The best way I can describe it is R-Type charging mechanic meets vertical screen format.

So I finally got to play this game. A very excellent shoot em' up that's very challenging. Fans of this genre like me will love it. A lot of fun. :D

Really great soundtrack, perfectly competent if not adventurous pixel art, basic game system (you have a charge shot... that's about it). Plays fine but not super thrilling. Not a cake walk to beat on default settings. On the quality meter I'd put it just above some arcade shump no one ever goes to bat for, like, idk, Andro Dunos.

Since this game is not Steam Deck verified yet, I tested it out: it works great so far, no issues after playing a few levels. Nice responsive play and the default buttons are fine. Playfield size is ok for the screen, I have no visibility issues. This is a great game, loving what I've seen so far. Level and weapon design feel very Image Fight; not a common inspiration these days, but a welcome one.

This game is NOT a bullet hell shmup, that's a very big plus for taste. I am a fan of games like the Gradius series (esp. Salamander on the PCE and Gradius V on the PS2), R-Type or Musha Aleste. Battle Crust somehow fits to that list. This game was one of the few SHMUPS that I have really gotten fond of since a very long time.

First I want to say that the game is a solid shoot'em up. It feels like a vertical R-Type with a late 8-bit/early 16-bit feel to it. The gameplay feels like a good starting point for players who are just getting into the genre and don't want to have a wall of bullets thrown at their face. It also offers just enough difficulty in the later stages in normal mode to keep things interesting for novice players like myself. The hard difficulty is where players with a little more skill than myself will find their fun since normal mode is pretty much 1CC'able first time around for expert players. The music is also pretty darn good and really gives an older play like myself a warm and fuzzy sense of nostalgia when playing. The sound effects also sound like something straight from a classic shooter from the yester-years. Overall I think the sound and music for the game are spot on and go great with the aesthetics. Weapon variety in this game feels great and weapons don't feel thrown in just for the sake of choice. The play gets to choose from 3 charge attacks in the beginning. Each attack comes with pros. The Megashot, for example, stops your ship upon fire rather due to kickback, but grants you a huge damage boost. The weapon upgrades feel great and all have different damage levels along with utility that make certain situations more tolerable. The game is pretty bare when it comes to configurations. To put the game into TATE you have to set your monitor to landscape. This isn't a big issue, but people will find this annoying. The game also automatically scales to your current monitor resolution instead of allowing you to select it. The game itself runs fantastic. These are issues to be expected from a game made by a ridiculously small team with a micro budget. Overall this is a solid purchase for those looking to scratch that shmup itch.

"Battle Crust", like it says on the description, adheres to the 80's/90's style “traditional” shooter design in aesthetic and gameplay, which are less commonly seen nowadays compared to the more modern “bull hell” design of shooters. I've expressed my preference for the former in previous reviews here on Steam, so I'm always delighted when new ones show up that are well crafted. "Battle Crust" delivers on that front. “Vertical R-Type” has been the common description for it, which pretty apt. The controls are pretty simple, one button for regular shooting and one button for charge shots. In order to use the charge shot, you need to have collected at least one power up. It's straightforward enough where someone can pick up and play it very easily. In addition, adhering to the classic style shmup formula, there are multicolored powerups to collect that transform your standard pea shooter into an assortment of different weapons with strengths and weakness. The game does a good job of placing these accordingly, tailored to whatever is going on while you are playing. It's easy to recover you charge shot upon death, and you never feel like you have to rely on your weak default weapon for too long. You can also select from three different charge shots upon starting (and continuing), which have different properties, and change the flow of the game accordingly. The game is pretty well designed and telegraphed, so you never feel like your deaths are unfair. Skilled shump players, however, who habitually single credit Cave shooters and the like would likely find the challenge lacking except on hard maybe, and consider it a sour point. For others, it will be challenging enough (I'm just now getting to last stage on Easy on a credit, to give you an ideal of my skill level), and thus best suited for more casual players, beginners, or people nostalgic for classic shooters. The presentation is enough of a draw for groups outside of this to at least check it out though. And then there's the music, done by my personal favorite VGM composer Hyakutaro Tsukumo. Previously known for his works with the defunct company Technosoft ("Thunder Force V" chief among them), and more recently for his soundtracks to indie dev Dracue Software's run and gun mech games, such as "Gunhound EX" (also on Steam). Instead of employing his usual over-the-top modular synth rocking that defines lots of his works, he opted to compose the soundtrack with old school FM synthesis to match the classic theme of the game. Despite the retro, chiptune sound, the music still has a lot of the rock and roll grooves and melodic, bombastic highs common in Tsukumo's style. On the whole, it is very well done, and a soundtrack release is the only thing I'd like to see from this down the road, because I think it deserves one. The release itself is pretty spartan, since it was apparently self published by a sole Japanese developer, so it lacks things like achievements, and it has a few configuration oddities to navigate since they aren't in the game itself. Still, the game itself is solid, and definitely worth the value at 8 bucks.