Half way through the sentence where a reviewer described Minishoot’ Adventures as “The Legend of Zelda, only it’s a twin stick shooter” I’d already slammed the WANT button on the eShop. Yes, I know I could have bought it there and then (or at least pre-ordered it), but paying full price for any game, regardless of how good it is, just feels wrong. Often, I’ll put something on my wishlist and by the time it is in a sale I’ve totally lost all enthusiasm for it or, more frequently, totally forgotten what it was. But not this game. I checked the sales every week.
So I’ve finally managed to play it and it’s everything I wanted. You’re a little spaceship and you have to rescue other little spaceships and explore the world and the dungeons in it and fit baddies and big bosses, and get upgrades which improve your abilities or unlock new areas. There are some mazes, and puzzles, and somehow, somehow, despite the fact you shoot hundreds of bullets a minute and you look like something from Gradius, it’s still Zelda. Zelda with Geometry Wars gameplay. And it works.
The dungeons are fun and varied. The boss battles are a mix of wait-and-strike and bullet-hell. There are various sidequests, like finding engravings to expand the lore or racing a little fairy thing round a number of courses (where you can often cut corners, pleasingly), or collecting red crystals to use as currency to improve your shooting, speed or power. Getting every last item, trinket, and ticking off every last area on the map was addictive and I happily 100%ed the game.
More of this sort of thing, please!
