Space Cadet Demo

Old arcade games were designed to be challenging and fun at the same time, even if the underlying idea behind the gameplay was usually quite simple. However, the joy of destroying thousands of spaceships and saving the galaxy was just as real as in the latest Mass Effect sequel, in spite of the primitive graphics video games featured back then.

Space Cadet is designed to look and play like something you might have enjoyed on your Gameboy back in the day. In essence, it is a classic shoot ‘em up flick with spaceships and asteroids, which should take you back in time a little bit. On the other hand, the game itself is not very well made and it also comes with a hefty collection of annoyances you have to put up with.

The story is of no importance to the overall experience, and it is barely mentioned in the game anyway, since it doesn’t have an impact on the gameplay. In essence, evil aliens need to be destroyed and you are the only one who can do it, so you are kind of forced to do so. Shmups were never about the story in any case, so this is definitely not the game’s biggest problem, not by far.

The first thing you notice about the game is how difficult it is to stay alive, let alone shoot back at the enemies. Every ship fires a stream of bullets, and you have to react in a few milliseconds in order to be able to avoid them. But even so, there are usually many more other spaceships on the screen at the same time, which makes dodging an impossibility. Not only that, but your ship explodes after only a handful of shots.

Other than that, the rest of the gameplay is no realization either, given the fact that everything just repeats itself every once in a while, only with more enemies. Asteroids pose a threat as well, because you receive damage if you touch them. As far as the visual quality is concerned, the retro graphics are indeed pretty nostalgic, but they fail to make the rest of the experience pleasant.

All things considered, Space Cadet has too many flaws to be enjoyable for most people, which is why you shouldn’t expect an awful lot going in. However, if you are in the mood for an unfair challenge and you do not mind dying every couple of seconds, you can give this game a spin.