Core Fighter Demo

Top-down shooters are no longer part of the modern landscape, given the new trends and the technological capabilities. Nostalgics can still rejoice at the sight of retro-inspired releases, mostly developed by indie studios trying to make a name for themselves. Artistic as they might be, not everyone manages to impress through ingenuity just because the third dimension is missing.

Core Fighter is a top-down arcade shooter which is about as straightforward as it can be, since all you have to do is move around and shoot the enemies that try to hinder your progress. You have the option to alter the experience along the way, by upgrading your ship and equipping it with better gear, but there’s not much variety to begin with.

As far as the story is concerned, there isn’t too much of it you get to experience, since everything is mostly oriented toward blasting enemies to dust. Before starting the career mode, however, you do have the option to choose between three different spaceships, namely light, medium, and heavy. The gameplay doesn’t change too much by picking a different ship, however, except for some minor speed and damage boosts.

From time to time, you can stumble into service stations that allow you to purchase stuff, including ammo and weapon upgrades. Not all of the upgrades are available from the beginning, however, but they can be unlocked by passing the levels and visiting certain computer terminals. Speaking of which, some of these terminals are used to disable force fields and unlock the way further.

Visually, the 2D engine is nothing to stand in awe of, but the color palette is way too bleak and boring, which makes the already tight environments that much more difficult to stand. The ships are not very different either, given the fact that they are rather small and unimpressive. As long as you concentrate on passing the stages and nothing else, however, everything should be fine.

When it’s all said and done, Core Fighter has nothing new to offer, nor does it manage to make the classic elements stand out in any way. Hence, while it is not exactly boring, it can be a bit too slow paced and repetitive, especially since you usually have to circle between disabling force fields and long corridors, which is made even more annoying by the uninspired controls.