Super Stardust Delta

Introduction

First created by the Finnish developer Bloodhouse for the Amiga, Atari STE and PC, the Stardust series got started nearly 20 years ago. Inspired from Asteroids, the space theme of the game allows players to fly a spaceship through levels firing at everything in sight. Since that time, Bloodhouse merged with Terramarque to form Housemarque and started pushing out new versions of the game. One of the more recent versions, Super Stardust HD, hit the PlayStation 3 during 2007 and was used by Sony as a “welcome back” gift after the PlayStation Network hacking debacle during 2011.

The company also released a version for the PSP called Super Stardust Portable during late 2008. This version was considered something of a failure due to the lack of dual analog sticks on Sony’s old portable. Now that the PlayStation Vita offers dual analog functionality, Housemarque is back with Super Stardust Delta and is ready to enthrall Vita owners with fast-paced, tense shooting.

The Game Itself: Our Reviewer's Take

Combing the frantic pace of Geometry Wars with the general theme of Asteroids, the player controls a small, zippy spaceship that blasts away at a seemingly endless amount of enemies swarming the screen across 25 unique stages on five different planets. Rather than offering up three weapons to swap between as in Super Stardust HD, Housemarque focuses down to two weapons that can be alternated by using the right trigger. The blue weapon fires off a spread shot of ice particles and is most effective against blue-tinted enemies and space rocks. Similarly, the red laser beam is ideal for dispatching red-tinted enemies. During each level, the player has to constantly swap between these two weapons to use the most effective attacks against the A.I.

In regards to advanced offensive options, Housemarque brings back the standard bomb attack to wipe the screen clear of attackers in addition to introducing two new devastating weapons. The black hole weapon sucks all enemies and asteroids into a gaping abyss and homing missiles weapon targets a specific point on the screen. All of the special attacks are pulled from the same allotment during each level, thus you have to carefully choose the best attacks for the situations. It’s also easy to mistakenly launch a special attack if your fingers brush up against the rear touch panel. However, I still generally found the bomb to be the best all-around special attack. There’s also a boost function that allows the player to race out of tight situations and slice through space debris to a safer section of the planet.

While the regular game mode includes all the features such as special attacks, boost and touch screen controls, the player can opt out of all the fancy extras to the core arcade mode. Since it’s often difficult to jump between touchscreen actions and the main controls, many players will find the complete focus on the physical control scheme a welcome inclusion. I found the arcade control scheme preferable over the Vita’s extras, especially during the boss battles at the final level on each planet. Beyond the main levels, Housemarque has also included some silly mini-games after the player unlocks them when completing all five levels on a planet. Designed to put focus on the Vita’s new features, the mini-games utilize the SixAxis motion controls as well as both touch screens to mess around with asteroids.