*=Video
^=Music
All Caps=Recommended
Hover mouse over screenshots for commentary.
October 2014
 Don't mess with [insert protagonist name]! |  Part of a side-view section. You need to rush through as quickly as possible and gather the purple gems. |  A typical results screen. You are rated on various aspects of the level. |
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 |  |  Taking down a larger than usual enemy. |
 |  George Costanza: "That's GOTTA hurt!" |  Briefly super powered to shoot three streams of bullets at once. |
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 How will you progress?! By teleporting, of course! |  " . . . and I'm mad." |  Later stages have you controlling two ships simultaneously. It's a bit brain bending. |
Velocity 2X
Velocity started out as a PlayStation Mini (a category of game few people have heard of) and was made into a full-fledged Vita game after it's success. Velocity 2X builds on the strengths of the first in pretty much every way.
The gameplay is a bit tricky to describe, but I'll try. The game is a top down flight game with the screen ever scrolling down. Your objective is to get through the stage as quickly as possible and rescue all hostages along the way. You can make the screen scroll faster by holding a button, but if you make things go too fast then you might get yourself killed. It's a constant internal battle to weigh the pros and cons of going fast.
In addition to shooting regular bullets and bombs, your jet has a special teleportation ability. By holding down the square button you can move a cursor to teleport wherever you'd like on the screen. You can also just touch the touchscreen to teleport if you prefer those controls.
But that is all standard fare for Velocity. Velocity 2X pulls a "Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past" and adds side-view sections. These actually work out really well. Your character runs through various areas with a gun and, surprise!, the ability to warp short distances. The gameplay feels very slick and it takes great skill to master each level.
This game is fairly easy if you are just trying to get through it, and most gamers could probably complete this task. However, more intrepid gamers who want to master each level by getting through quickly and rescuing all of the hostages will find plenty of challenge. Looking through my screenshots I noticed that I actually don't have too many from gameplay - probably because I was too focused on playing! Most of the screenshots are from the cutscenes between the levels. They look nice, but for the life of me I couldn't tell you what the story is about.