Twin-stick shooter for the Playstation Vita, available now on PSN, $9.99
Players: 1
Online Features: Leaderboards, DLC
Vita Extras: New touch-centric modes, all optional, as well as a new campaign and refined gameplay.
DLC Available: A "Blast Pack" with a ton of PS3 modes added as DLC to SSHD is available for $7.99, or bundled with the game for $14.99.
The original Super Stardust HD was a classic on PS3, definitely one of the best downloadable titles on the system to date...and now comes the Vita version, which refines the gameplay all around to make it the best portable shooter ever created.
I will now explain why this is.
Multiplayer Elements
As soon as you start up the game, you're treated to a host of updates as to what your friends are doing (Friend 00 has topped you in the leaderboards - Friend 01 has entered the leaderboards - You are now the worst ranked player in your friends - etc.) It also shows leaderboards for each gameplay mode with up/down ranking arrows to see if your friends are climing higher, or sinking lower. All in all, a very nice improvement over the PS3 network features.
Gorgeous Graphics & Controls
There is so much going on in the gameplay screen, that it would be fatal to the gameplay if (a) it didn't run at 60fps, and (b) if there was any slowdown/stuttering at all.
There is not a single moment of slowdown. Ever.
And the touch controls (which range from deploying weapons to small little extra minigames) can be relegated to buttons or ignored completely. Pure Mode allows you to enjoy the campaign of five planets w/5 levels each as you did the PS3 version, while Delta mode throws the extra touch controls in. There are separate leaderboards for each.
There was a PSP version that tried it's best, but mostly failed to deliver a great experience due to the controls. Now that we got some twin sticks on that Vita, the game handles like butter.
Refined Gameplay
The original SSHD had you switching between three weapons- the Gold Melter, Ice and Rock Crusher- so that if a big glacier appeared on screen, you would switch to ice. But mostly you could get away with using Rock Crusher 80% of the time.
Well, the Rock Crusher is gone from this game. Now you have two weapons simply labeled Fire (which is the same whip-like action of the Gold Melter) and Ice. It takes much, much longer to upgrade them to 100%, and they're much weaker to the opposite elements than before. And the game works much, much better as a result, since it's so much easier to read the battlefield faster (if it's blue, shoot ice at it; if red, shoot some fire).
New enemies include pink-lighted ones that only respond to players boosting into it, and the addition of glow dust around the map with every element destroyed adds to the player's bonus extra when collected. Collect enough and a new powerup appears on the field, such as Super Points, Super X, 1ups and bombs, and more.
Perfection.
This is reason enough to own a Vita, I kid you not. Go try the PS3 SSHD if you haven't already, add 20% more awesome, put it on a gorgeous screen and you got yourself one of the best shooters that has ever hit a portable, ever.
My eyes still burn from the amazing.
