Minireview --



Ultratron --



If you played their game Titan Attacks, you sort of know what you're getting -- where Titan Attacks is a frenetic modernized Space Invaders with upgradeable ship/weapons, this is the same for Robotron 2084.



It's also a far better game, if only due to increased difficulty. Titan Attacks was too easy; I fully upgraded and 'beat' the game on my very first try. Ultratron took me three tries, though even with that said the game is better at dealing with those long games -- after you've fought all the bosses, you start fighting them two at a time, and then eventually three at a time! There are a wider variety of power-ups and play techniques as well. But dual stick shooters are 'my' genre... I think it would take most people a bit longer to beat.



Enemies are fast and furious, and the wide variety of bullets and mobs coming at you will definitely keep you on your toes and put you 'into the zone' if you want to do well. If anything, the tiny screen and tiny enemies are the worst part about the game... you really need to be focused because soon enough so many things are going on it's hard to tell what's happening unless you're completely focused -- I can't tell you how many times I tried to dodge a coin being sucked at me, or thought a pet droid was an enemy for a split second.



The game does powerups well -- you've got shields [up to 10 levels, very expensive at hight levels], bullet strength, coin vacuum strength, 3 different pets to level up, fixed turrets to level up, speed, grenades, emp... tons and tons of choice.



Pro-tip -- the two most important things to power up are your own shots, and your coin vacuum. Upgrading your vacuum as fast as possible not only ensures you make more money by missing less coins, but also means you don't need to wade into a mob trying to collect coins. So jump between those two until they are fully upgraded [takes a long time, shots have like 10 levels of upgrades!], then maybe switch to pets or speed depending on play style. Pets are nice because they'll also take a hit for you and you can then go recollect them, which is better than getting hit yourself... plus fully upgraded they're pretty vicious. Shields go up in price so fast it's only worth keeping 2 levels imo unless maybe it's a boss level [3 is nice]. Spend that coin on better upgrades.



I was really worried my first game by how small everything was... it seemed really crowded and claustrophobic at first, but once you're in the zone it isn't a problem. I think I got to stage 125 or so last night before I quit [it was 3am] and could have kept playing... unlike Titan Attacks, which just felt like 'more of the same' in many ways, this game did feel like it was getting more difficult by that point.



Glad I picked it up when it went on sale, definitely got my money's worth and will add it to my pick up and play folder.