Brutally hard retro space shooter

Gravitron 2 is an old school shoot-em-up, in the style of ancient 1980s game Thrust. First glances will remind you of Geometry Wars, which has defined retro-gaming cool in the last couple of years, but Gravitron 2’s gameplay is totally different.

On each level, you have to destroy any reactors present, and rescue stranded scientists if possible. Once the last reactor has been destroyed, you have 60 seconds to escape the atmosphere of the planet, or you’ll explode. You do this by maneuvering your ship around, which can rotate 360 degrees, shoot forwards, and has rear thrusters to add momentum against the pull of gravity. This means rather than zooming around, you´ll be carefully tapping your thrust, and rotating to dispatch enemies and reactors.

Rather than frantic shooting, Gravitron 2 is about pinpoint control. By pinpoint, we mean surgical accuracy. This game, while simple, is punishingly hard. The controls take some getting used to, but once you have, the physics are satisfying and the visuals certainly are really cool. You will breath a sigh of relief at completing any levels, as this is traditional old school unflinching difficulty.

The game looks sweet, everything is drawn with neon vectors, and the thrust and explosion effects are really pretty (though not as psychedelic as Geometry wars). The sound throughout is also very well done.

The difficulty will be what puts most people off, so do try the demo to see if you’re up to the brutal challenge Gravitron 2 offers. There is a kind of purity about this, but an easier difficulty setting would make this much more accessible.

We’d recommend trying out this well made piece of retro action, but warn that it will probably make you angry!