hurdles in space and more

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HURDLES IN SPACE

DEATH PLANET (GAME BOY)

Does Death Planet remind you of something? Just the name itself? Okay, maybe this does ring a bell: You fly with your spaceship through a tunnel towards the center of a giant space station (“That’s no moon!”) to destroy it. Still no idea? Well, me neither. I mean conceptwise, who could have thought of that before? It’s not like there are any shiny robots with trashbin-looking companions in there or people living so far in the futre that 70s hairstyles are actually a thing again. Seriously, though: The story will not win any awards for its creativity. Which is fine, this is an action game after all. But why bother presenting us with a whole screen about a story of a galactic empire and a rebel alliance? The opening could just have been: “Death Planet. I know what you think of now, and it’s exactly right. So why not press any button and get on with it? Right! Still reading? Press a button NOW!”

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But where Death Planet really shines is thankfully the gameplay. This is a nice little 3D flight game where you have to avoid hurdles and different heights before crashing into them. A shadow on the ground and two notches at both sides of the screen will help you determine your position as looking at you ship from behind is not always the best way to progress. And boy this is fast: we’re racing through the Death St – I mean Planet with whopping 60fps. And things get difficult rather quickly after level 1. But the controls are thankfully precise. And inverted, like you’d expect from any flying game. If you don’t like it, you can also fly up and down by pressing A or B. And what else makes this game stand is the awesome soundtrack by Thomas Jansson. If for no other reason, his tunes alone will keep you wanting more and more. And the game is for free over at itch.io – here is the link. But you can also order a real cartridge for your trusty old Game Boy over at Catskullgames – you’ll find them here. Nice job everyone! (bk)

Finding the game too difficult? Then it‘s a good thing you‘ve got unlimited lives for these five levels. So the only thing standing between you and the ending is your ability to cope with frustration. Yay!