A shiny neon shoot ’em up

Do you enjoy chasing high scores? Irukandji, the new flashy shoot ’em up from Charlie’s Games is made just for that reason.

The game consists of one vertically scrolling level, which ends in a confrontation with a giant crab (of course!). The game is set underwater, and features the neon, glowing graphics seen in games like Geometry Wars. One level doesn’t sound much, but it’s a long one and can be pretty hardcore.

You have three lives, and of course can power-up as you progress finally gaining an almost unstoppable range of firepower. The enemies are many, really attractive and when they explode the screen is filled with psychedelic bursts of color.

The gameplay is slightly unusual, in the you have two fire buttons, one which aims left, and the other right. Hold both and you fire straight ahead. It’s only a small thing, but it is really useful and a welcome development. The boss fight is much harder than the rest of the game, and if you beat it, you can play the game with a second ship with slightly different abilities. It’s a pleasure to play through multiple times anyway, as it’s a great mix of visual candy and classic arcade gameplay.

The only issue with Irukandji is that it requires a powerful PC to run smoothly – otherwise you will get a lot of slowdown when the screen is full of enemies and explosions.

Despite needing a fast PC to run well, Irukandji is still a really slick and addictive shooter, that will please fans of the genre.