Cornflower Corbin Demo

Arcade shooters are still popular nowadays, especially because every now and again it’s much easier to just kick back and relax with a simple game that does not require you to understand complex stories or get to terms with complicated gameplay mechanics. On the other hand, their simplicity can also be detrimental most of the time, because they get repetitive and boring in a rush.

Cornflower Corbin is a retro shoot ‘em up in which you control a whale instead of a spaceship, and the goal is to survive an ocean full of dangerous traps and vicious enemies. Thankfully, the whale in question is equipped with powerful lasers that can destroy pretty much anything, provided you move quickly enough to aim the guns properly and hit your targets every time.

The story follows the whale as it tries to get the love of its life back after being kidnapped by the evil Mecha Shark, who is constantly sending henchmen to stop the whale from reaching him. To balance things out, the whale has an ace up its sleeve, given the fact that it can grow to huge sizes the more enemies it destroys. Thus, the goal is to keep shooting without hitting any obstacles or being hit by enemy bullets.

To keep things from getting too repetitive, the game generated the enemies randomly as you go along, so you do not have to worry about going through the adventure multiple times and getting bored in the process. Another thing you must worry about is the fact that being bigger is not necessarily better sometimes, because the whale also gets slower the bigger it is, not to mention the fact that it is also a bigger target for enemies to hit.

As far as the graphics are concerned, they could definitely be better, especially in the texture department. The backgrounds are a bit too barren most of the time as well, so you do not feel like you are advancing sometimes. Even so, the action should keep you distracted most of the time, which means that you do not get to observe the repetitive backdrops.

Cornflower Corbin kind of lacks depth in the gameplay department, in spite of the growth mechanics. However, it can still test your reflexes and put your patience to the test sometimes, so it’s worth a shot if you are a shmup enthusiast.