This game is designed to be tedious and grindy. It looks like Tyrian, but it's nothing like it. Where Tyrian has dozens of fast paced exciting levels, which always allow for plenty of customization inbetween, this game has 5 zones. And you're encouraged to warp out if you can't finish a zone without dying, to keep the crystal you just grinded. (which doesn't unlock the next zone) So get ready for grinding through the same zone over and over and over. Also you can only repair your ship (which you need to do all the time) at a special hub that's in another zone. And it's also the merchant, and you can't access your inventory at the merchant. So get ready for warping there and back again, over and over and over. This is all by design, btw. The dev insists that this is the desired balance of the economy and ship progression. The visuals are lovely, the music is fine, but the game itself is awful. (also arcade sticks don't work out of the box, you need JoyToKey)

Tyrian but with less secrets and things to unlock. For $15 I was expecting a lot more.

When I saw DreadStar, I got a warm nostalgic feeling of DOS gaming (maybe because of the Tyrian?). I downloaded the demo, tried it for a few minutes and bought it instantly. The game doesn't just look fine but it also plays great! The game is hard but fair and every upgrade really makes you feel stronger which is the best thing of DreadStar. Even if you will get beaten often and replay some levels for extra gems, you'll be progressing all along. [b]Beautiful pixel art, nice music, SHMUP full of action and progression, low price...what are you waiting for?[/b]

DreadStar is a French indie shoot-'em-up clearly inspired by Tyrian, with a pretty decent soundtrack. Unfortunately, the dev's idea of Tyrian's RPG-like progression was to only have six stages and a painful difficulty hump near the start, such that you end up having to grind the first level a lot in order to get anywhere, and once you get past the difficulty hump, completing the remaining stages and higher difficulties are all easy. This is not helped by the fact the hardest level is the 4th out of 6, with the last two being very easy in comparison. Meh, not recommended, especially for the price, since most of the game length is made up of grinding rather than content or gitting gud. Play Tyrian or Raptor or Jets'n'Guns or something instead.

Excellent game. Great take on one of the oldest genres. The upgrade system definitely lessens any sense of grind and repetition that goes hand in hand with shoot-em-ups. Also, the music is spot on. Overall, a tight game that feels just right difficulty wise.

I haven't finished the game in all the difficulties yet but i am having a lot of fun so far. It really feels aimed at gamers that love retro experiences but with the added RPG stuff that helps getting through it (unlike old shmups which were just brutally hard). Here's a list of pros and cons of what i liked and disliked about the game: [b][h3]Pros[/h3][/b] [list] [*]Awesome soundtrack! [*]The retro design is very 90s and bosses look really nice. [*]The game is fun and customizing the ships is great... [*]The skill ups and better equipment really help with getting through the game. [/list] [b][h3]Cons[/h3][/b] [list] [*]The game is hard at the start. [*]Some things aren't explained well like the fact you can warp out of a sector anytime. [*]Some items could be a bit better. [/list] Overall a very solid experience and one i really recommend if you like retro and fun pixel art games!

Well, I beat all the missions on easy, medium and hard. Pros: - I liked the art. It has a pretty nice pixel art. It emulates old games very well. - The music is good. - The gameplay is pretty easy when you buy better equipment. - The game isn't boring to be honest. It did entertain me a good bit after I got my ship better equipped. - I think it has personality in his art, music, and the way it approaches some functions like regen armors, shields, etc. - The story presentation is nice. Cons: - I didn't like the sound effects. They don't sound well. - Too short. Only 6 missions. UPDATE: I really think that it can be a good thing if you are like me and you have too many games. I like to play short games once in a while. - The shop has little content, but can be enough. - Shields with damage bonuses kind of sucks, a lot. They drain like nothing. UPDATE: I was using high firing rate weapons like the laser beam and 2 multiguns, so they depleted very fast. I tried with other weapons and it ...

Great pixel art, loving the soundtrack. Really nice job on a challenging shoot 'em up. If you grew up playing games like Raptor: Call of the Shadows, you'll enjoy this.

As someone who started out on an Amiga 500, this game was love at first sight (and sound). It brought on powerful nostalgia that left me with a big stupid grin on my face. Everything from the intro cutscene to the wonderful music spoke to my adolescent self. The fact that the 4:3 ratio was a design feature was a stand up and cheer moment for me. It also brought back the memory that I absolutely, unequivocally, suck at these games. It's led to more than one rage quit. Yet I always come back because this game has soul. That, and maybe I just like to suffer. To those sweet, sweet chiptunes.

I'll update this here soon but this is one of the coolest SHMUP's I've played this year. Music is fantastic & pixel art is sexy. Like a game from the 90's it's truly punishing but with modernized features & replay value. Could use more polish, more music and maybe a little more balancing to difficulty. Very excited for the future!