Sky Racket (Review)
By Rae
“Play as RacketBoy or RacketGirl, guardians chosen by the Capybara Goddess to save your galaxy from the paws of a destructive tyrant genius.
Unable to attack by yourself, you must strike enemies’ attacks back at them, turning the battlefield into an explosive space tennis battle. Fly your way through hordes of ducks, cat-sandwiches, fluffy bunnies, space-tennis-robots and even BANANAS in this unexpected and unique adventure to save the galaxy!”
It’s a description that just begs you to try the gameout – how on earth can you say no to the Capybara Goddess? I actually read itafter trying out the game, so I got the pleasant surprise of opening up SkyRacket with no idea what to expect, and being greeted by a deluge of magic,colour, and ridiculousness. I love nostalgic graphics and colourful games. Theyremind me of my childhood, and even now it’s an aesthetic you’ll commonly find insome of my favourite media and around my apartment. The game just looks so energeticand enjoyable from the beginning – I fell in love with looking at it.
Like many great indies, Double Dash Studios’ new release took root in a game jam, with the theme being “Arcade.” Sky Racket describes itself as a “shmup breaker” – a shoot-em-up spliced with the traditional block-breaker games most of us remember from the simpler days of gaming. For those unfamiliar, block-breaking games usually involved ricocheting a ball back and forth, like a one-sided game of tennis. You have items to break, and have to move quickly to keep bouncing the balls back and forth until the stage is cleared.
Sky Racket leaves a lot out in terms of story. You’ll get afew sentences here and there, and there’s a general storyline, but it’s pretty forgettableand not too detailed. Honestly, I’m not sure I’m bothered by that – as much asI love a good story, I’m more into mechanics when it comes to games like these.An awesome story is a great bonus, but it’s not what I’m looking for. I want toenjoy the physical action of playing.
Sky Racket’s main mechanics revolve around dodging andhitting, which is why sometimes it can get a little frustrating that thecharacters have surprisingly slow movement speed. Maybe I’m a little spoiled byfast-moving games, but I’m used to beat-em-ups and block-breaking games bothmoving at a quick pace. It’s part of the addictive joy of it all – you get intothe feel of fast movement and learn to be quicker and better each time. SkyRacket can sometimes get tiring when you see an attack you want to smack back,and react quickly, but are just physically unable to make it across the screen.
That flaw aside, I found the gameplay to be a good mixbetween cathartic and difficult. In the first couple levels I thought it mightbe too easy, but I was soon set straight when I saw the list of goalsafter each stage – clearing the stage is just one thing to do. The player willalso be tasked with various challenges, including destroying all the blocks ina stage (a task I still haven’t managed). As you increase in levels, more andmore chaos is thrown into the mix. Objects will come faster, and there will benew interactive complications – like cats that cling to you until you shakethem off, and bursts that completely distort your surroundings. It’s achallenge, but the fairly static stages help players to learn and improve ifit’s too challenging the first time.
Most of all, I loved the varied, colourful stages, andunique bosses (though I do have concerns about the giant banana withtentacles). It reminds me of all the things that called out to me from the shelvesduring my childhood, and that just always made me happy to look at. Paired withmusic that makes you want to dance in your chair, it’s a great callback to thenostalgic memories of arcade-style fun and classic games.
Overall, Sky Racket features a nice mesh of gameplay styles(even pinball!) and an excellent aesthetic, which makes it pretty enjoyable to justsit down and start playing – especially if you want an experience where you don’thave to pay attention to tons of intricate details and can focus on perfectingyour technique. There’s a lot of fun here, wrapped up in a gorgeous, smooth-playingpackage.