Around May last year, Velocity Ultra was available on PlayStation Plus at no extra cost, I didn't know anything about the game, but I did find out it was a remake of a mini's game that had been released previously, and this was the improved version that was native to Vita.
It took me 3 months to finally get around to playing the game. OH. MY. LAWD.
This game was great.
Then game is very simple in concept, but becomes quite a dynamic puzzle later on, when you have to use your memory and reflex skills to navigate at break neck speeds around the levels.
The purpose of the game is to clear a level, 100%. With enemies or bases to tackle whilst you go, but the main objective is to rescue the escape pods with humans inside. It's kinda like a classical version of Resogun, but with more a maze concept. (I should also note it's taken me 6 months to actually write this)
Playing the game, using the left stick to navigate and the right stick to fire the bomb 'special' weapon, shoulder buttons control speed, square button is the warp (or touchscreen when enabled) and the cross button fires normal weapons, circle also deals with the bombs but can be trick as you have to flick your ship into the direction you want to fire it, however the game might become easier if you learn to do it like this, I avoided it in favour of the simpler right stick method. The triangle button also allows a warp beacon, which is a fundamental feature of the game, that allows you to warp back to an earlier stage of the map to go down a different route for example.
The game is a test of your memory and reflexes, and does it particularly well, it's at it's best when it tests you with a huge level that you have to go back over yourself numerous times to complete the objectives, often you can't get through the level until you destroy the numbered nodes in order, which are also coloured, so imagine having to navigate a large map with 4 different colour nodes, with 9 nodes in each colour, along 3 different routes, the nodes usually power a force field that might be necessary to destroy to get to either something significant, or even to the end of the level. Going back and forth throughout the level reveals the map, and learning the level might take a few attempts but can often be only a few minutes, as you're racing against the clock, but it's better to learn the level first, sometimes they aren't too difficult and you can get a gold or perfect on your first run, but you'll often find yourself revisiting most levels at least once.
The game really want's you to aim for a perfect award, and that's really what it's about, though highscores are kinda pointless due to the limited content of the zone, unlike Resogun which is a longevity game that throws new things at you and is based on survival, the score system in Velocity ultra means when you approach a perfect score and do everything in a level, your position on the leaderboard might be 200 or 800 but only a mere point difference. The point system kinda feels like it's not necessary, but you need the points for the platinum so make sure you do it.
Speaking of trophies, the game offers a platinum, which is always nice to see, especially in a game which has a small price point and could be considered more of an indie game, which often don't all have platinum's. The game has plenty of content for a justifiable platinum, however some of the trophies are tedious or very hidden, and referring to a guide online is necessary.
The gameplay itself, whilst great, has a slight imbalance in it's controls, it's very hard to do well with the analogue sticks, you really have to stick to it to and hope you get it perfect, however with long periods of playtime, it only makes it harder to control the game. The other option which can be hit or miss is to have the touchscreen warp enabled, as useful as this can be, it can become a problem when playing the game as when using the analogue sticks your thumbs can touch the edge of the screen and warp you to an undesirable location. So choosing when to enable this feature might help with some levels, but due to that occasional problem, you might want to stick with the button warp, which requires a little more time, care and accuracy. As I also found you can accidentally warp into solid objects or just on the edge of them and become trapped.
The combat in the game is a little weak and unnecessary at times, that's not to say it's not wanted or needed, but it's a different angle from the memory side of the game, and it can break the balance which offers a little break to relax your brain, but you can ignore the enemies for the most part if you're not going for points, sometimes you will miss them as they are more of an obstacle than a threat to your health, as the smaller ones can fly through the zone and be out of sight before you know it, where the big ones often stick to moving in a pattern in large groups, and often get in the way and have to be destroyed. The levels with the enemies are usually the easiest to get a perfect score on. Though there is an enemy similar to the nodes, a turret, and this often appears on stages without enemies, and can offer a more balanced and simpler but in spread out and can be in crucial places of the map, they fit the game a little better but I wouldn't want to get rid of the other enemies, just make them more crucial to destroying them, otherwise they don't fit the rest of the game as well.
My experience with the game was weeks of obsessive playing, not going onto the next level until I perfect the last one, I actually got some perfect's quite easily, there are 50 levels so the difficult changes between each, but for the most part this is a fun, yet sometimes frustrating game, a bit unbalanced and controls can be iffy at times, but overall a fantastic game that suited the Vita well, as for the PS3 and Steam versions I can't comment. But the game is a must for anyone interested in shoot-em-ups, or especially if you own a Vita.
I highly recommend this game. 4/5
Check out the trailer here:
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