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| VIDEO: Head over to our videos page to check out all Super Stardust HD footage! |
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Those hoping for a Geometry Wars-like experience on their PS3s were somewhat let down by last year's Blast Factor, the PSN shooter available at launch. While it definitely looked pretty, that game suffered from inexact Sixaxis controls and, well, a basic lack of the balls-out excitement that Geometry Wars offered. Super Stardust HD, from the Finnish developer Housemarque, and the sequel to the Commodore Amiga game that you probably never heard of, is everything players were hoping for -- and then some.
On its surface, Super Stardust HD is a brilliant-looking game of Asteroids. As with Geometry Wars and games of its ilk, you pilot your ship on a confined grid (in this case, a sphere) and blast everything in sight as your screen gets more and more chaotic by the second. But where Super Stardust HD ultimately excels is in how deceptively deep it is. One of the main examples of this is in your weaponry. You have three different weapons -- a Rock Crusher (a typical blaster that becomes a spread weapon of sorts), a Gold Melter (a flamethrower, essentially), and an Ice Splitter (a high-powered weapon) -- and each of these can get upgraded quite dramatically as you go. As you shoot various asteroids, power-ups will be released, and these change from one weapon power-up to another every few seconds, meaning you have to be cognizant of when to pick up each one. Therein lies the strategy: Which power-ups should you collect and when? Do you want to power up the Gold Melter because you know you're going to face a barrage of small enemies and you're best with it in those situations? Or do you want to power up the Ice Splitter so that you're ready to blow through the following stage's massive 'icesteroids'? Or do you want to power up all three so you're prepared for whatever gets thrown at you? These are the sorts of decisions you have to make on the fly with each game you play, allowing for tons of replayability.
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| [Click the image above to check out all Super Stardust HD screens.] |
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Then there are the multiple levels, each with their own themes and sets of unique challenges, plus major boss battles at the end. Thankfully, you're also equipped with a boost attack that, while it needs to recharge each time you use it, becomes a fantastic tool for getting out of tricky situations. Plus, you can collect bombs to use to survive the absolute most difficult spots. Become good at using both and there isn't a situation you can't survive, making Super Stardust HD one of those games that can be truly mastered with time.
But at the end of the day, it's all about points. And one of the great aspects of Super Stardust HD is in how you accumulate those points -- it's not just based on how long you've managed to survive or how many enemies you've blasted; it has to also do with how quickly you've cleared areas, how you've used multipliers, and how many bonuses you've picked up along the way. There's a lot of strategy to the points, and the online rankings (especially amongst friends) are perhaps the most addictive aspect of the game.
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| [Click the image above to check out all Super Stardust HD screens. |
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Of course, what will attract people most to the game are the graphics, and simply put, they're gorgeous. Running in full 1080p, the PS3 puts on a spectacular fireworks show here that's second to none. The music is also first-rate, with an electronic score that perfectly complements the game's high intensity.
So is Super Stardust HD better than Geometry Wars? That is something that will likely come down to personal preference. I happen to much prefer Super Stardust for its diversity of gameplay -- multiple weapons, multiple stages, multiple ways to build up score -- and its better graphical and aural presentation. In my mind, it truly bests the Xbox 360 game, which is quite an accomplishment. At $7.99, Super Stardust HD is an amazing value, with tons of replayability hidden within its core. It's the best game PSN has to offer and the most fun I've had with the PS3 so far.
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