Sky Racket (2019)

Short, sweet, and essentially a Sega Mega Drive shoot 'em up developed for modern audiences, Sky Racket is a fantastic throwback to 16-bit gaming. Emphasising mechanical mastery and pattern memorisation, the core design is philosophically in-line with the era it's throwing back to - a sight for sore eyes, considering so many indies never take their inspiration beyond the surface level. The main campaign admittedly could have benefited from more stages, but optional challenges and multiplayer do add replay value. With a title as strong as Sky Racket opening its gameography, Double Dash Studios has a bright future ahead of it.

Sky Racket is a game which combines two classic arcade genres: “Shoot’em Up” and “Brick Breakers”. The world has been taken over by the evil “Korgg” and it’s up to RacketBoy and RacketGirl to defeat enemies and save the world! It’s always good to play a mix of genres but did the combination leave me with a smile on my face or was it all just a loud and annoying racket?

Sky Racket is not perfect, but its innovative ideas and impressive execution begin to pave an exciting path for the Brazilian video game industry.

The most difficult part of reviewing Sky Racket is knowing which audience is going to be the most interested in the game. As mentioned before, while the boss fights are fun and full of stuff to dodge, the block sections of the game may be too slow-paced for the more dedicated shmup fans. With that being said, it is also possible that the people looking for a relaxing experience of Tennis and Break-Out might be taken off guard by the more demanding boss fights. Perhaps the safest conclusion, then, is that the game should appeal to an audience that has an overlapping interest in the diverse game-styles that Sky Racket skillfully mixes together.

Sky Racket is a wild, playful, delightful tour of a weird, imaginative galaxy that is certainly worth visiting.