Overview – developed by NYX Digital and published by Funbox Media, Martian Panic is an on-rails shooter where the player must battle wave after wave of Martian invaders. Set in a fictionalized 1950’s world, this rail gun shooter will take players all around the world to battle the alien menace. This title is available for Nintendo Switch, Windows PC and PlayStation platforms, with a link to each version of the game at the bottom of this review,
Disclaimer: before I get into the review, I would like to thank Funbox Media for providing the copy of Martian Panic used for this piece via the Keymailer service. The provision of this software has not influenced the contents of this review, all thoughts and opinions contained within are my own.
Now with the introductions out of the way, let’s get into the review. I will be skipping the story segment as there is a humorous storyline that unfolds during the course of the game, so I will be going straight into discussing the gameplay.
Gameplay – Martian Panic is an on-rails shooter, where up to three players are tasked with taking on 8 levels of arcade style shooting action. When starting a new game, the player can select from one of 6 different characters, including a kid obsessed with comic books, a travelling salesman and a high school cheerleader. After selecting their character, the player is able to select the stage they want to challenge and their selected difficulty level.
After all of these elements have been decided on, the player can jump into the action and start blasting the alien invaders. During the stages, the player will be armed with a pistol that can hold a total of 8 shots before needing to be reloaded. With this weapon in hand, the player can blast the alien invaders, racking up big points by building a combo of successful hits. But be careful as the aliens blast back, taking a life with each shot that hits the player.
It is also important to be careful of civilians, as they will be running around and trying to escape from the invaders. If the player is able to successfully rescue these civilians, they will provide rewards, including weapons, point bonuses and even extra lives. However, if the player accidentally hits the innocent people, a life will be lost. It is also possible to find power-ups and other items hidden inside trash bins and other containers, so blast the environment away.
During the course of the game, new enemies will be introduced, which will be stronger than the standard enemies needing multiple hits to take down. There will also be end of stage “boss battles” which will consist of the challenging battles, with a mini cutscene and a big fight to end the level. Once a level has been cleared, the next one will be unlocked for players to take on, introducing a new environment and story to explore.
As a rail gun title, the game uses forced gyro controls for this title when playing in docked or table top, which is the biggest issue with this title. Unfortunately, there is little in terms of refinement when it comes to the implementation of this. The cursor becomes unwieldy and it is not possible to aim the weapons effectively, leading to the cursor swinging from side to side, drifting across the screen and sometimes not responding at all.
There is also an unfortunate lack of polish with the gameplay, which can make it nearly impossible to beat the game on specific challenge levels. This is due to the way that enemies can act off screen, allowing them to hit the player before they are even visible. This significant fault can end a run on the highest difficulty in the blink of an eye, as there is only one credit and limited lives, wich will be lost due to this poor game design.
The last thing to discuss is the online ranking system, which allows players all over the world to compete for the highest score they can get. There is an individual high score leader board for each stage of the game, as well as the three difficulty settings and the number of players in action. There is also a monthly ranking system, allowing players to go for the top spot on a dedicated leaderboard that will refresh, for a new challenge each month.
Now with the gameplay covered, it is time to move onto the other aspects of this release, starting with the controls.
Controls – the controls for this release are the biggest flaw of it, which is an unfortunate thing. The game forces the player to use the gyro controls whenever the system is connected to the TV, or the Joy-Cons are removed. This makes it difficult to play due to the inaccuracies of the gyro technology, as the cursor will become uncooperative with the player. The game can be played with a thumbstick cursor, but only in handheld, which is a poor overall design choice.
Difficulty – there are three difficulty settings for this release, which will affect the way that the game will play out. They are Cadet, which gives maximum lives, makes enemies weaker and provides unlimited credits. Then we have Ranger which only provides 3 credits, fewer lives and enemies are standard power. Finally is Ace, which has only one credit, the fewest lives and the enemies are the stronger, which is almost impossible given the issues that this game has.
Presentation – visually this title looks good for a HD reworking of a Nintendo Wii release. The graphical style works well, with vibrant colors that suit the 1950s setting, but sadly it is marred by slowdown and framerate issues. The cutscenes don’t really add much, but they have a humorous element to them. The sound is a good fit for this title, with some rather solid voice acting that breaks up the action, the music is well composed and is a good accompaniment for this game.
Final Thoughts – when I first saw this title I was excited to play it as I am a fan of on-rail shooters, having played Light gun titles for a large portion of my life. However, that excitement quickly turned to disappointment, as I did not have the amount of fun that I would have hoped with this game. On the surface, the concept is fantastic, with a charming premise of a B-movie shooter that all the family can enjoy. But sadly it doesn’t extend any deeper than that.
The game is riddled with numerous flaws that all combine to make an experience that has the potential to be less fun the more you play. There is slow down that happens throughout, with poor game design choices that negatively impact the gameplay, like enemies attacking off screen. The difficulty spikes due to its flaws make the game almost impossible to play on any level above cadet, as the player will be killed by a combination of unfair enemy placement and poor controls.
I am unable to make a recommendation for this title, aside from a sale purchase or if you can pick up the special physical gun pack (with a code for the game in the box), as that may make it a little more comfortable to play. There was some promise here, as the system it originally released on had a long history of good rail shooters, but sadly this didn’t make the jump very well. It can be fun if you are playing with friends, or if you aren’t taking it seriously, but outside of that it is likely to disappoint.
In the end, I give Martian Panic a final score of 2/5. This is an on-rails shooter that had all the potential to be a home run, but is sadly more of a foul ball, due to the flaws that it suffers from, with poor gyro control being forced on the TV, optimisation issues and unpolished game design. If you do want to check it out for yourself, a link to each version of the game will be below.
Link to Nintendo Switch version (HERE)
Link to PlayStation version (HERE)
Link to Steam version (HERE)
W.Kohaku Media 