Visually, Space Cycler
has a lot going on for it. The game is rendered in 3D with a quirky and cute
cartoonish art style that makes me think of Saturday morning cartoons when I
was younger. The space backdrops are what you’d expect from this kind of game,
and the textures are nice. Enemies and bosses are pretty detailed and all of
them have their own unique appearances and behavior patterns, while your ships
have distinctive aesthetics based on the primary weapon type. There’s a lot of
fun and exciting explosions to witness, and it’s easy to spot the incoming
enemy bullets and attacks, which tells you when you need to move to dodge them.
Space Cycler is full
of bright and vibrant colors, and the animation is smooth and fluid with no lag
on my iPhone 8 Plus. The upbeat music is quirky and charming, fitting with the
rest of the game’s eccentric nature. The sounds are also fun and fit the
typical space ship noises that you’d expect from cartoons.
You can play Space
Cycler solo or with a friend in the local co-op mode, so one device is between
two people. There are five planets to fly and fight your way through, but you
unlock them in chronological order. So to get to the second planet, you must clear
out the first one, and so forth. Each planet counts as the main stage, but
there are multiple waves for all of the planets, including challenging boss
fights. Once you unlock a world, you can start new games from there, rather
than starting from the first world. However, your score won’t be as high this
way, so keep that in mind.
There are three space
ships that you can choose from in Space Cycler, though only the first one,
Bullet, is available at first. To unlock the other two styles, you must reach a
certain point threshold. Each ship has a different primary weapon type and
unique ultimate attack. You earn points by defeating enemies, as well as
collecting the stars that they leave behind. The more you get, the better.
Fallen foes can also leave power-ups behind, which you want to collect to
upgrade your weapon, giving it more firepower.
Controls in Space
Cycler are simple and allow for one-handed play. A slider towards the bottom of
the screen lets you move your ship clockwise or counterclockwise on the screen,
with the enemies coming in from the middle of the circle. When you move, your
ship automatically shoots its primary weapon, so you don’t need to worry about
a separate attack button.
For the most part, the
sensitivity on the slider should be decent enough for most people. However, I
wish that there was an option to adjust sensitivity, since you can either move
too fast or too slow during more intense fights, like with bosses. I felt that
sometimes my ship moved too slowly, or I zoomed across the circle and end up
hitting something else I didn’t notice. Perhaps I just need more practice, but
I feel like adjusting the sensitivity would help out most people.
The co-op mode is a
neat feature, as it lets two people play on a single device. This is probably
better on an iPad than an iPhone, but it works on both. The second player can
just tap to jump in, choose their ship, and then you’re both off. You can save
your partner from the verge of death, but watch out! It’s entirely possible to
collide on the battlefield, so you need to be careful and coordinate with each
other appropriately to defeat the enemies.
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