Brighter Fighter review - A particularly gaudy 2D shmup

One gaming genre that probably doesn't need any further brightening up on mobile is the shoot-'em-up.

From Bullet Hell Monday to Aka to Blue, this is a genre that's made the hop from arcade to smartphone with a bonus bling injection.

Brighter Fighter begs to differ, however, with an especially colourful take on the humble blaster.

This is classic smartphone shmup fare. Your nimble little craft auto-moves and shoots to the right, and it's on you to touch and drag it around the screen to dodge incoming fire and to take out waves of enemy craft.

There are power-ups to collect, which enhance your blaster or shield your craft. You can also target static sections of the level or dropping bombs, both of which will take out multiple enemies in their blast radius.

Fly into a set of chevrons, meanwhile, and you'll boost forward to a fresh section. It's a pretty standard shooter, all things told.

I found the basic action a little lacking, however. There's a certain lack of punch to the weapons.

Part of that might be down to the sound. The effects are a little weedy and bleepy, while the lack of a driving soundtrack is curiously noticeable.

The main selling point here, though, is the art style. Visually speaking, Brighter Fighter is a real mish-mash of influences.

Your sleek craft and minimalist enemies feel like a turn-of-the-millennium shooter. But then you take your first insta-kill bullet and explode into a Splatoon-like spray of colours.

The backgrounds, meanwhile, seem to have some from an early '90s kids TV show - all angled lines and gaudy patterns.

It's a little confused, but undeniably distinctive. The worst parts of it are when the bland, featureless enemies - or even your own ship - disappear into the busy backgrounds. It's quite common to not see your cause of death.

Brighter Fighter lives up to its name. It's a simple shmup that injects a massive dose of colour into its traditional gameplay. But it lacks the gameplay punch and clarity to cut through its busy visuals.