A sequel that stands out

For those of you that have been following Indian indie developers, the name Lovely Planet is probably familiar. Then you also probably know that a sequel to the 2012 hit indie shooter just came out and boy is it fun.

Lovely Planet was a hit indie shooter back in 2012 thanks to its quirky and bright art design and cheerful soundtrack that masked an unimaginably brutal game. Quicktequila (the developer) has now come out with a sequel called Lovely Planet Arcade with a few twists. The biggest change is the inability to look up or down, kind of like a homage to DOOM, but cuter The same amazing soundtrack makes a comeback with Lovely Planet Arcade however the wow factor of the art style isn’t as impactful as the first time around. The gameplay gets a few crucial additions that not only helps it stand out from the previous title but really adds a lot of depth to the mechanics the player can exploit.

Some features like the addition of special enemies that slow down time upon being killed, or transport you to their location adds a whole new layer to your planning as you need to figure out what is a better route; running straight or getting an instant teleport across a few enemies. The game maintains its reputation of scaling in difficulty, as gamers will probably find themselves stuck at one point or the other every 4-5 levels. Even if you do manage to breeze through levels you’ll probably want to go back for more just to get that 3-star rating. Once again the game would really benefit from a global or at least friend’s leaderboard to compare times.

Lovely Planet Arcade is tons of fun, and for a mere '254 on Steam it’s a no brainer for fans of the original and those looking to try some ‘hardcore speedrunning and challenges’. While the game is nothing groundbreakng, it’s still quite a challenge to get through and is bound to keep almost anyone occupied for several hours.