| Star Soldier R | |
| Developer: | Hudson Soft |
| Publisher: | Hudson Soft |
| Genre: | Scrolling shooter |
| Modes: | Single-player |
| Platforms: | WiiWare |
Star Soldier R is a futuristic scrolling shooter video game developed by Hudson Soft, and is the seventh installment in the Star Soldier series. The game features classic Star Soldier gameplay combined with 3D graphics.
Star Soldier R is one of several video games released exclusively as WiiWare through the Wii Shop Channel. It was released with the Japanese launch of WiiWare on March 25, 2008, in North America on May 19, and in Europe on May 20 with the European launch of WiiWare.[1] [2] [3]
Star Soldier R retains classic gameplay features from the Star Soldier series, such as the vertical-scrolling shooter style and three adjustable speeds for the player's ship.[4] Instead of a traditional progressive level structure, the game revolves around time attack-style gameplay, called Caravan mode, with players aiming to score as many points as possible in either two- or five-minute game modes in one of the game's levels. Unlike previous installments in the series, however, there are only two playable levels. Aside from regular scrolling-shooter gameplay, the game also has a Fast Shot mode which measures how quickly the player can press the fire button.[5] The game has two types of primary power-ups, in the form of red and blue capsules. Red power-up capsules enhance the offensive ability of the player's ship, eventually resulting in a five-way shot. Blue power-ups enhance the ship's "Force", a shield that protects the ship from enemy attacks and can be separated from the ship to attack enemies.
Star Soldier R received mixed reviews. IGN lauded the quality of the game's core design and top-down shooter gameplay, but criticized the time limitations and repetition with the levels as "thin and ultimately cheap for most gamers". 1UP.com praised the game as "fun and addictive", but noted that the price of 800 Wii points may be somewhat high for the casual gamer to accept. GameSpot also criticized the game for being too short, but described the gameplay as addictive and supported by an excellent control scheme. Eurogamer noted the game as targeting a narrow niche among gamers, saying that the game was more oriented to high-score seekers than a casual audience.