Permit me a moment to geek out a little as it's no surprise that I enjoy the occasional shoot'em-up (shmup) and when someone mentions Kenta Cho I get a little thrill shiver down my spine. rRootage Online is a port by fraglab.at of this incredible title for iDevices, but viewers beware, this is not for the feint of heart.
The basic controls are extremely simple, with your ship being controlled by touching and dragging your finger on screen and tapping with another finger to activate your special ability. Each ability depends on which of the four modes you have chosen to conquer, with each mode focusing on a unique shmup mechanic that may be familiar from other major games. Normal mode gives you a bomb that also eliminates incoming bullets; Psy mode rewards players with invincibility if they can graze past enough bullets; Ika mode, much like the game Ikaruga, allows players to switch 'colors' to absorb bullets of the same color; and lastly GW mode allows you to temporarily reflect incoming bullets back.
In typical Kenta Cho style, the game is minimalistic in its visuals, with vector based artwork and flashy effects that focus on the mechanics of defeating an evolving 'boss'. Each level slowly steps up the complexity of the patterns used, eventually reaching levels that are truly insane to complete.
For those unsure about picking up this title, there is a lite version already available, but for those who consider themselves fans of the shmup genre, this is without a doubt a must buy.
Description
Kenta Cho's legendary shooter rRootage ported and optimized for iOS!
4 different modes, 160 stages total. Including music, SFX, online hi-scores and achievements. rRootage Online is Game Center enabled.
◆ Reviews for rRootage Online ◆
EUROGAMER (Rating 9/10):
"rRootage Online is why Kenta Cho releases his games in the way he does; it's now got a chance to hit a new audience, and be enjoyed by many more people, in what feels like the definitive version."
APP SPY (Rating 4/5):
"...for those who consider themselves fans of the shmup genre, this is without a doubt a must buy."
TOUCHARCADE:
"Anyone who enjoys a nice 2D shooter should grab this one instantly."
WHATSONIPHONE (Rating 4.5/5):
"rRootage is a classic game faithfully rendered on the iphone"
FINGERGAMING:
"rRootage offers much more variety than the typical App Store shoot-’em-up [...]. Shooter fans should definitely check this one out."
POCKETGAMER:
"The fact that this gem is available on the App Store is great news."
THEPORTABLEGAMER:
"If R-Type was too simple for you, or DoDonPachi Resurrection was something you completed with one eye closed while doing one handed pushups, then this is worthy of your time and money."
Controls:
* Touch and hold to move ship
* Second touch to trigger special
* Double tap to pause game
Menu:
* Touch the squares to select mode/stage
Game:
Control your ship and avoid the barrage. Use the laser to destroy the battleship of the enemy. You can cause more damage if you fire the laser close to the enemy. When all ships are destroyed, the game is over. The ship extends at 200,000 and every 500,000 points.
. Normal Mode
This is the standard game mode.
- Special -> Bomb
The bomb wipes enemies bullets. The number of bombs are displayed at the left-down corner.
. PSY Mode
As your ship grazes a bullet, the graze meter (displayed at the right-down corner) increases. When the graze meter becomes full, the ship becomes invincible for a while.
- Special -> Rolling
This movement widens the range the ship can graze.
. IKA Mode
Your ship has two attributes, white and black. All bullets also have these attributes, and your ship can absorb bullets that have the same attribute. Absorbed bullets are changed into lasers automatically.
- Special -> Attribution change
Change your ship’s attribute.
. GW Mode
Your ship can use the reflector. The reflector reflects bullets around your ship.
- Special -> Reflector
To use the reflector, you have to activate special until the reflector meter (displayed at the left-down corner) becomes empty. You can use the reflector only if the reflector meter displays 'OK'.
What's New in Version 1.8.1
• iOS 17 support
We hope you like rRootage Online even more after this update. We appreciate every review and welcome feedback at [email protected].
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