Story: An invasion is underway, but some brave souls need to fend off the attackers and protect colonists. Of course, one of those brave souls happens to be you, the pilot of a ship with skeletal weapons and upgrades. This puts you at a huge disadvantage, but this isn’t the time for cowardice, as your people need you and if the invaders are to be warded off, you’ll need to take action now. After an initial home defense, you will even take the fight to distant and exotic locales, but depending on your paths taken, who knows how this space opera will play out… 

Entertainment Value: Super Hydorah is a love letter to the horizontal shooters of the past, like Gradius, R-Type, Parodius, and countless others. As soon as you fire up the game, fans of this genre will have waves of warm nostalgia, as developer Locomalito has nailed the texture of these shooters. If you want an extra bump of old school flavor, you can even enable a CRT effect. While this is clearly a passionate tribute to the genre, it is also a razor sharp, masterful shooter in its own right. The controls are dead on, making sure that while you will indeed die often, you know it is your own fault, not a flaw within the controls. And since Super Hydorah is a hard as nails game at times, those precise controls are much needed. The premise is simple enough, start the level, shoot down your enemies, collect upgrades, and survive until the end, but of course, that is often easier said than done. You start off with minimal firepower, so it can feel like a big uphill battle, but as you progress, more and better options open up. As you unlock new arms, you can choose various primary weapons, secondary armaments, and assorted bombs to supplement your cause. And trust me, you will need all of those weapons and more if you want to conquer this game.

The levels are well designed, loaded with enemies, and even have a number of more natural hazards to avoid. So if you don’t pay attention to the details in the world around you, it could lead to a quick demise. Your enemies will sometimes leave behind capsules, which you can collect to improve your weapon, armor, or speed, so you can even out the odds somewhat. In addition to the normal enemies and hazards, you also have to square off with a wide scope of bosses, each of which is prepared to turn you in a smoldering husk. So learn the patterns, bring your best weapons, and hope you can overcome the odds. As you move forward in the game, you can choose your own path and to that end, you are also choosing how your story unfolds. This leads to more than one end sequence and of course, you can unlock secret, elite finales if you have the skills and knowledge. So if you manage to topple Super Hydorah, you can always return and chase down the other paths. You can take to the battle alone or enlist a co-op partner, which is always nice. A Robot Chase mode adds even more chances for fun with friends and to me, is a substantial inclusion here. This is a difficult game, but it is also a fair one and a well crafted shooter that never disappoints. If you’re up for a challenge, give Super Hydorah a shot.