Overview – developed and published by Idea Factory International, Neptunia Shooter is a side-scrolling bullet hell spin-off for the Neptunia franchise. As Neptune, blast through six 8-bit space scenes where they battle deadly Dogoos, while rescuing her friends who have been turned evil by an unknown force. This game is available exclusively for the Steam service, with a link to the game available at the bottom of this review.
Disclaimer: before I get into the review, I would like to thank Idea Factory International for providing the copy of Neptunia Shooter 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. As there is little if any story for this game, I will be moving straight into covering the gameplay.
Gameplay – Neptunia Shooter is an 8-bit style bullet hell shooter, where the player controls the protagonist Neptune as she flies through a mysterious space dimension. The game consists of 6 challenging stages, called a PARSEC, which are filled with Dogoo that will appear from all four directions. The Dogoo are split into different colors, with each of them having their own unique attacks and bullet patterns that they need to dodge.
The player must carefully dodge and weave through the hail of bullets, as the Dogoo will attack if they are allowed to stay on screen. Some will fire single shots at the Nep, but others will have more scattered patters, which can fill the screen pretty quickly. There will also be dangerous grey Dogoo, which are invulnerable and cannot be destroyed by the player shots. At the end of each stage, the player will encounter one of Nep’s friends, but something is off.
Neptune’s friends have been turned evil by an unknown force, appearing at the end of each stage and they will often be accompanied by Dogoo. These evil versions of Nep’s usual companions have unique attacks, with some of them being directly based on their personalities. This includes Compa, the medic that will attack by shooting syringes, as well as throwing pills which fall from the sky in randomised patterns.
The boss battles are challenging, with the varied attacks and hail of bullets that will fill the screen. Bosses will also have additional obstacles aside from bullets, including Dogoo shields, mini Dogoo blasts and even Dogoo pillars that they must dodge. If the player can survive the battle and defeat the boss, they will no longer be evil and join Neptune in her adventure. this is where the character switch system comes into play.
As each of the bosses are defeated, they will join the team and can be switched between freely. Five additional characters can be recruited, with Neptunes friends Compa and IF, alongside the other Goddesses Vert, Noire and Blanc. Each of the characters have unique attacks, including Compa throwing pills in an arc, IF firing behind the player and Noire shooting balloons vertically. All of the different attacks keep the action exciting and varied.
The game is not the longest with only 6 stages, but the difficulty of the game makes it last much longer. At the start of the game, players only have three lives, with any damage taking away one of the limited lives and a game over if all lives are lost. There is no ability to continue in this game, meaning a game over sends the player back to the start of the game. But additional lives can be earned at set score milestones during play.
When either the game is cleared by defeating the final boss, or by getting a game over, the player will be able to add their name to the leaderboards. All scores are recorded on a global ranking, allowing players to compete with others across the world for the top spot during play. This adds a good amount of replay value, especially for a budget game that can be cleared in less than 15 minutes. There is a lot of fun in a small but cost effective package.
Now with the gameplay covered, it is time to cover the other aspects of this release, starting with the controls.
Controls – Neptunia Shooter uses a very simple three button game system, with a shot button and two character switch buttons. The shots have auto fire, allowing the player to just hold the bitton down and fire in a continuous manner. This makes it easy to pick up and play, as well as offering support for a variety of controls through steam input. Due to the inclusion of the steam input system, it makes the game more accessible and playable on Steam Deck.
Difficulty – there is a rather high difficulty curve to this game, as it is a bullet hell, there will be an almost endless barrage of bullets at times. This makes it rather tough to avoid damage, and lead to a quick game over. It will take a few attempts, but after some practice it is possible to get through all the stages. The key to succeeding and beating the challenges of Neptunia Shooter is memory, by learning each of the stages and the enemy attack patterns.
Presentation – Neptunia Shooter uses a retro styled 8-Bit style, with a classic sprite style to the characters enemies and simple background colors for the stars. All of the assets feel like a game that was released during the time, with no issues in terms of visual performance or lag. The colors pop off the screen and there is a cuteness to the sprite work. Then there is the sound, which uses chiptune beeps and melodies to create something that feels authentic to the style.
Final Thoughts – this is an older game, having released in 2019 but I never saw it as it was only a tiny piece of the Nep library. So when I got the opportunity to give it a go, I was happy to try it, and I had a really good time with this game. There is a lot of content in a game that was made announced as an april fools joke, then made into a real game, all for the price of five bucks. I enjoy bullet hell games, and this was a great little challenge.
The game is pretty tough and it took several attempts to get through it, but its so quick that each run felt like a breeze to play through. I don’t think there are any flaws with the game, aside from the high difficulty, which may put some players off. But it is worth giving the game a shot, as it is extremely cheap to buy. So I am happy to recommend this game to everyone that is a fan of Neptunia, or enjoys bullet hell. They even sell it as DLC for Neptunia ReVerse on PS5.
In the end, I give the Steam version of Neptunia Shooter a final score of 5/5. This is a compact and challenging bullet hell shooter, that feels like it was plucked right out of the 8-Bit era, with colorful spritwork, melodic chiptune and lots of fun in a small yet inexpensive package. If you want to check this release for yourself, a link to the game will be below.
Link to Steam version (HERE)
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