Super Stardust Ultra

Hover mouse over screenshots for commentary.

July 2016

Super Stardust Ultra is basically a slightly upgraded version of the PS3 game Super Stardust HD, and is made by the fine folks that made Resogun and Super Stardust Delta. It's a twin stick shooter where you play on a spherical surface. Various asteroids and monsters enter the playfield and you try to explode them all. You have three main weapons, and each object is weak to one of those weapons. You can upgrade your weapons as you go along. At first you will play in order to survive the five levels in the game, but the replay value comes in attempting the harder difficulties and in trying to get a high score.

This version of the game comes with some bonus soundtracks, including an orchestral version of the music and the music that came in the original version of Stardust back in the 90s. I've included a video with all of the regular music, which doubles as a showcase for the entire game. It's a simple game but it's great fun!

	There are five stages, each with five sections. Each section end with a group of enemies you need to destroy.	The first level is pretty tame.
Those red circles mean that an asteroid is incoming.	You have a rechargeable boost that breaks through anything.	Each stage ends with a boss.
The bosses explode in spectacular fashion, especially for 2007.		Green bullets are good against rock, the red flame against gold, and the blue bullets against ice.
	No one can resist spinning the joystick with the gold melter equipped. No one.
		Even though those green rocks are weak against the rock crusher, I keep them at bay with the gold melter until I can deal with them with fewer distractions.
A chuck of gold a third the size of a planet. It's a shame it has to be destroyed.		This boss shoots lots of bullets and homing missiles.

That red hexagon will drop an asteroid and count down. If I get all of them quick enough a bunch of bonuses will appear.	That green chunk has a bunch of bonuses inside.
	Later on in the game it starts getting pretty hectic.
This is a bonus mode that is kind of like snake or those bikes from tron.
	In one game mode there are towers that blow up everything if you destroy them.	After you have your weapons fully upgraded you can deliver a lot of firepower.
Ahh, the elusive 10x multiplier. You have to play a long time without dying to get it.	That's actually a pretty good high score.	#171 isn't bad! Even for easy mode!

This is just before the credits roll, which I think would make for a good computer wallpaper.		Good grief.
		You can play multiplayer on one big screen or split-screen.
An inside joke for people who are familiar with E3 and PlayStation's public embarrassments.	BOOM!	Ba BOOM!