Sixty Second Shooter Prime Reviewed
By Marcus Estrada
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When it comes to independent games I like to think I’m somewhat on top of releases. Of course, there’s just such a massive amount of them that a lot passes right by. Sixty Second Shooter was one of those games when it first hit the Chrome Web Store of all places. After that, it took a detour to Sony land via PlayStation Mobile. Most recently it has arrived on Xbox One as Sixty Second Shooter Prime alongside some additional features. Of course, if you’re like me this will be your first run-in with the game. As such, everything is “new”!
Sixty Second Shooter Prime is, well, a top-down shooter. You play as a tiny triangular ship that must rack up as many points as possible over the span of sixty seconds. During this minute players utilize twin-stick shooter controls (one analog stick for movement and the other for shooting) to avoid and/or destroy enemies. Every level is fairly small and has an exit somewhere on it. Once you reach the exit you’re immediately transported to the next level with enemies still in hot pursuit.
Surviving for just a minute may not seem that difficult at first but it really is. Your ship is speedy but so too are the enemies constantly swarming it. Shoot a gigantic cube and many smaller cubes will appear and all chase after you. Some enemies are incredibly tough to destroy and as such its best to run. Stages do toss out power-ups and these can save players. For example, one power-up slows time allowing you to weave through a cluster of enemies and destroy a bunch of them along the way. Other times it is smart to simply lure clusters of ships toward a bomb and then catch them all in its radius.
One of the interesting aspects of this game is its visuals. The aesthetic is purposefully minimal, with geometric vector designs for enemies, power-ups, and stage barriers. It feels somewhat like Geometry Wars in that respect but is lacking in the cacophonous color scheme. In a way this helps to keep from being distracted by visuals, but on the other hand it feels a bit plain on Xbox One hardware. Thankfully, the soundtrack picks up where the visuals leave off. High intensity music keeps players on edge and also just happens to be a lot of fun to listen to.
The incredibly fast gameplay hooked me right away. Sure, Sixty Second Shooter Prime doesn’t have the graphical muscle Xbox One owners might expect but so what? When you’ve got simple and engaging gameplay it doesn’t matter how many polygons a game can fit on screen. It has all the trimmings of a classic arcade game wherein you want to keep playing on and on and on. Heading to tougher levels and increasing your score is engaging. Give Sixty Second Shooter Prime a try and you’ll find it hard not to say “just one more round.”
[divider][facebook][tweet][Google][pinterest][follow id=”Cliqist” size=”large” count=”true” ] [author image=”http://cliqist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/marcus.jpg” ]Marcus is a fellow with a love for video games, horror, and Japanese food. When he’s not writing about games for a multitude of sites, he’s usually still playing one. One day when he became fed up with the way sites would ignore niche titles he decided to start his own site by the name of Pixel Pacas. Writing about video games is something he hopes to continue doing for many years to come. Some of Marcus’s favorite games include Silent Hill 2, Killer7, and The Sims. [/author]
