Developed by the Brazilian studio Double Dash Studios, Sky Racket is a fun and highly entertaining mix of bullet-hell genre along with retro Tennis. That’s right, and the genre works flawless!
According to developers, it’s the first Shmup Breaker, mixing shoot ’em up and block breaker. Although categories and genres don’t defy how good a game is, I personally think Sky Racket is as amazing in paper as in the final presentation.
The concept is simple: play as the RacketBoy or RacketGirl and travel across the galaxy facing challenges and ultimately defeating bosses. A small and curious story is available, but it’s more of a filler, as the main focus is mostly the challenges and overall gameplay modes.
Such as in traditional bullet-hell games, players avoid projectiles across the screen, but this time some of them can be shot back and in this particular case, with a racket. Not just any racket mind you, a special one powerful enough to hit those blocks as hard as possible. The gameplay is definitely fun, encouraging players into looking carefully for the right moment to hit the ball and at the correct angle.
The projectiles once hit, become your attack and can bounce all over the screen ricocheting. Those aren’t the only things you’ll be targeting, as there are plenty other things around. Temporary pets that players can rescues are able to accompany you and eventually release their ultimate power.
Other objects and cute animals can become your target for bonus points or simply increase your combo meter. Levels are filled with interactive objects and offer huge replayability. Each level offers up to 5 different challenges, which players can repeat after finishing it. They range from completing the level without taking damage, or collecting specific objects. These challenges definitely spice things up and increase the fun factor.
Bosses and enemies follow the patterns of being humoristic and funny. A giant space banana as a boss, or cat-burguers as flying foes. Not to mention those cute duckies teasing you! It’s definitely a fun and laid back game, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Despite the lack of difficulty settings, the challenge is on par with anyone looking for a casual or intense experience.
Mechanically the game has a solid performance with pretty good hitboxes, but not perfect. Full controller support is available and the keyboard works as well, but the mouse doesn’t, which I can’t really understand why...
The level design takes advantage of the replayability factor, focusing shorter levels, excellent for memorizing patterns and key areas for collectibles. Colors are always vibrant and quite pleasant. On some rare occasions the color palette is not the best in contrast to projectiles, but nothing seriously problematic. Cutscenes were designed as in a cartoon which is a fantastic theme for the game.
Local co-op mode is available, and let me say, it completely changes the pace of the game. You can tell Sky Racket was built to be played in cooperation with a friend. Particularly, that special friend who can match your pace. Definitely the perfect game for jolly cooperation on a rainy Sunday afternoon. Too bad it only supports local multiplayer...
With a fantastic soundtrack that aligns really well with the game and background effects, Sky Racket delivers a full bundle of fun and engaging gameplay, visuals, and highly addictive challenges!
