radiangames Joy Joy
I don’t particularly like twin-stick shooters, and I never cared for the granddaddy of the genre, Geometry Wars, because the action in that game was so hard to follow. Joy Joy, on the other hand, changes my mind. It has a great, unique visual style that’s still easy to read, and the action is fun without being overbearing. There’s also a diverse set of weapons to choose from, though it’s easy to pick a favorite and stick with it for the rest of the game. This is a short game, too. I like how there is actually a finite end to work towards instead of this being another “go until you can’t go no more” test of endurance, but… that end comes way too soon. While the enemies do get repetitive (and being able to collect all the weapons and upgrades in the first half of the game doesn’t help), the boss battles continue to be new and challenging. Two-player support is nice, as well, and so are the different difficulty levels and special challenges that, once beaten, unlock modifiers to change how the game is played.
Not my type of game, abstract graphics and bright colors are neat and all but just not the reason I play a game.