Let’s head back to the 70’s where giant robots have to save the Earth from invading forces. Or it’s just 70’s anime style. Either way, that’s Supercharged Robot VULKAISER!
Besides all that, I’m not really sure what to say about the story in Supercharged Robot VULKAISER. The Gogoh Army is trying to invade Earth and you must save it with your robot. Your robot is capable of fusing with other parts to change its powers, some of which are extremely useful and others… well aren’t so much.
Besides what basis of story there is, Supercharged Robot VULKAISER is a side-scrolling shoot ‘em up (shmup). At first you only have the base robot, however a couple times during the level, 1-3 options to transform will come up on screen. Each transformation has its own power – one gives you rockets, one lets you shoot out a bunch of lightning, and another is a drill. I’m not as big of a fan of the drill as it’s the hardest to use, but if you can master getting up close and personal with enemies the drill is very powerful.
Each form has a “super” move that you can use once each transformation. Yeah, it doesn’t regen between levels, at least not that I could find. Usefulness depends on the form, with some being best at clearing out hordes of enemies and others helping to wreck bosses. Otherwise, there is a charge meter that will let you use a mini-special each time you let go of the shoot button while it’s full.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that there’s a proper way to pause the game once you’re actually in a level. I say “proper” because you CAN pause it if you click out of the window, though this requires playing it in windowed mode. This can especially be awkward on controller, as it doesn’t give you any delay to get resituated to play again since it isn’t a proper pause. And while the game does have the option to play windowed or fullscreen, there doesn’t seem to actually be any way to adjust the resolution.
If you’re looking for a a quick shmup that can have some decent difficulty then check out Supercharged Robot Vulkaiser. With four difficulty modes to choose from, you’ll likely be challenging yourself for quite awhile. I was only playing on Easy and still having some difficulties, although I’m not really used to playing many shmups overall and I have issues with losing track of my character and just running headlong into bullets. The 70’s anime theme is also a nice touch, and while the story may seem a bit corny at times, what do you expect from the 70’s and a shmup overall where the main focus is the gameplay?
Supercharged Robot VULKAISER Review Score
4/5
You can purchase Supercharged Robot VULKAISER now on Steam.
I would like to thank NYU Media for providing me with a copy to use for review.
