Wings of Bluestar Review

Wings of Bluestar tells the story of trainee pilot Aya and veteran ace Zarak who are sent to investigate the resurgence of a threat against free space led by the remnants of a mysterious artificial intelligence. As they proceed through their mission, both protagonists will need to confront their past and learn more about themselves.

Wings of Bluestar is a 2D horizontal side-scrolling shmup (a.k.a. shoot’em up) where the goal is to reach the end of each level to destroy a boss and move on to the next level. Sounds simple enough, right? Well if you’re unfamiliar with the shmup genre, it’s a blood-pumping intense genre where your reflexes will be tested as enemies and their projectiles come from all sides.

When starting the game, you have the choice between both protagonists. Zarak is more of an offensive/tank kind of pilot with his ship whereas Aya is more on the defensive side of things. As you progress through each level and destroy enemies, you’ll be able to pick up power-ups to give you a fighting chance. You’ll pick up small balls that will position above and below you as additional firepower.

The big benefit of these little balls is that you can move them around to shoot in any direction so you can destroy enemy ships coming from all sides. You can also pick up power-ups for your main weapon as well. The big difference between both of the characters is that Aya can pick up a small shield positioned in front of her ship that will absorb enemy projectiles until its meter is depleted. Obviously, big lasers cannot be intercepted. Shield’s health meter can be replenished by picking up other S icons.

At first, you can either jump into Arcade Mode, Story Mode, or 2 Player Mode. There’s not much of a difference between the Arcade and Story side that the latter will feature cartoonish cutscenes to move the story along whereas in the latter, you jump from level to level. Although you can unlock a Boss Rush mode and other useless “modes” such as Gallery, Sound Tests, or Awards.

The biggest hindrance is the fact that your ship slows down if you continuously fire your weapons. While I do understand it adds a layer of challenge, the shmup genre is not the one for this. This genre requires constant full-speed movement to avoid the constant barrage of enemy projectiles but also continuous attacks to clear the screen of enemies.

Wings of Bluestar does look great. Everything looks highly colorful to easily distinguish enemies and their projectiles. The main gripe is that sometimes it’s hard to tell if an obstacle is in the background or forefront. While the former won’t be an issue, if you misjudge an obstacle that it’s in the forefront, you’re dead. The cutscenes are ok-ish looking; they look like they were designed by a high-school student using MS Paint. Some of the backgrounds look a bit pixelated as if the screen is zoomed in. The soundtrack is a great lo-fi-like score to help you focus on the task at hand. It’s definitely one of the better soundtracks of the last 6 months.

Wings of Bluestar is definitely one of the best shmups I’ve played. The game gives you two slightly different gameplay experiences (offensive vs defensive), it looks and sounds great, and overall the challenge is fair. Although it is a bit frustrating that continuously shooting slows you down, but once you get used to it, it makes things smooth as butter. It’s also one of the more approachable shmups. Whether you’re a long-time fan of the genre or tempted to dive into it, Wings of Bluestar is definitely a must-play. Also doesn’t hurt that it’s an easy 1000Gs.