YOU GOT FIGHTING GAME CHOCOLATE IN MY SHOOT’EM UP PEANUT BUTTER.
Talk about a fresh concept.
Describing Rival Megagun isn’t an easy task. The primary gameplay is a bullet hell shooter, but with a “rival” gunship on the other side of the vertically split screen also shooting enemies. The idea is to build up combos which then bank in a meter. By pressing the X button (on the Xbox) an attack can be fired at the rival gunship. When the meter fills the gunship can transform into a bigger, angrier gunship and enter the rival’s side of the screen. The aggressor is at the top of the screen while the defender maintains their original size, and the goal of the defender is to destroy the aggressor which will return them to their original size and put them back on their side of the screen.
PLATFORMS: PS4, SWITCH, XB1, PC
MSRP: $14.99
PRICE I’D PAY: $14.99
The goal of Rival Megagun is not to reach a stage end, but to destroy the rival. Each ship can take one hit before destruction, but certain enemies will drop items that offer repairs as well as bomb refills and combo increasers. In the campaign each rival only needs to be defeated once, while in multiplayer it is best of three.
Just like a fighting, game each ship works differently. They feature unique firing patterns, attacks against rivals, and a transformation that both looks different and offers four different attacks to destroy the rival ship. Each pilot also has unique dialog for the campaign and both failure and success sprites.
The campaign is fairly short, but since each pilot has their own story and that there are multiple difficulties there is plenty replay value. There are unlimited continues when death happens, but only three lives. When the lives are over the score resets, so anyone looking to get a high score needs to not die (not only great advice for this game but life in general).
If my wonderful description wasn’t enough there is luckily a very good tutorial that will teach all the mechanics.
Alongside single player is split screen versus and online battles.
Beyond just fantastic gameplay is amazing pixel artwork and a soundtrack that screams Super Nintendo era shooters and dare I say Mega Man X. There’s a neat animated intro as well. The dialog is well written and there are unlockable cards that expand on the lore of the game as well. There is no lack of detail in this game.
My only complain about Rival Megagun is that while playing the single player campaign, I could not defeat rivals without transforming. I should note that I am not great at shooters despite enjoying them, but the rivals easily dodged any standard attack I threw their way.
Anyone looking for a fun time with friends or a new breed of arcade shooter should pick up Rival Megagun and any fan of game music should definitely listen to Dominic Ninmark’s soundtrack. Stellar work all around.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
