Astro Party EX review - "Clash of crafts… Spacecrafts!"

• A party game in space with spaceships!
• Only right turns are allowed as you fly around to blast your opponents
• Navigate arena blocks, hazards, and grab power-ups to be the last one flying

Space… the frontier less final than literally most of the ocean. We've explored more of space than we have of Earth's own water, and that's probably one of the main reasons we keep making stories about it. We have so many adventures that take place on distant planets pulled right from the depths of imagination and, of course, space itself.

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At one point or another, you've likely wondered what it'd be like to fly a spaceship past the stars and visit strange worlds. Of course, that's assuming you don't run into other spaceship pilots and have to duke it out in a place where gravity is a distant dream. That's the scenario Rusty Moyher is creating with Astro Party EX, a 2D battle game about spaceships (and their pilots) fighting it out. But we have to know whether it's a fight we want to join.

What is Astro Party EX?

Whenever you have "party" in the title of anything, regular rules concerning plot and narration are just so much confetti that is appreciated but not the main focus. In Astro Party EX, if there is a story, it's implied and may be theoretical at best. However, there are pieces, and I'm going to strive to put them together. It's the future where space travel is commonplace, and anyone has the potential to become a crackerjack pilot… even animals. Yes, this is a future where animals have evolved to the point where they can pilot their own spaceships. Still, with such a large pool of pilots, it's only natural to want to test your skills, and so these pilots compete in simulated space arenas where they can fly, manoeuvre, attack, defend, and float their way to pilot superiority. Your opponent may be a bunny, but they'll hop on those blasters in a second.

Astro Party EX to the MAX

Whenever you get into a spaceship, the bar is already set pretty high. While Astro Party EX isn't trying to send you to the stratosphere, it's definitely trying to take you to the upper levels. For a party game, the secret is having a core gimmick that's both simple and capable of causing maximum chaos. This is nailed here with the turning mechanic, or rather, the lack of a turning mechanic. Your ship can only turn right and will only turn as long as you're holding down one of two select buttons. That means that any time you're caught out in the open, you're a spinning duck that needs to keep cool if you want to land in a direction that will take you to safety.

This gimmick is complemented by other mechanics that aren't too many to memorise. You can boost, shoot, and dash in your ship, and that's all you need to know. What makes things more hectic and exciting is that everything can go so wrong or so right so quickly. You have limited ammo that takes time to reload, you only have two hits (one for the ship and one for the pilot), and when you're a pilot, you don't have to helplessly float around; you can still move and slash to defend yourself. As long as you can avoid danger, you can get your ship back and quickly turn the tables, leading to a mix of matches over in a matter of seconds to minutes of stalemates as you try to gain the upper hand.

And you certainly have many ways to gain the upper hand, namely through power-ups. These pixelated classics use weapons sparingly, with limited options such as lasers, spread shots, missiles, and bullet-hell bursts. You can also gain passive power-ups, like a shield for an additional hit or two futuristic joasts to turn your ship into a ramming machine. Then there are the levels themselves, each being several varieties of one of several worlds. There are breakable blocks and environmental dangers to keep you on your toes, or to use to your advantage. Despite the panic and chaos that are sure to occur, it is still possible to develop strategies.

Bailing on Astro Party EX

The main problem with party games, especially those that require controls (no matter how imprecise), is that they require a party to be effective. Astro Party EX is fun, but it depends heavily on RSVP. It offers both local and online play, but can host only up to four players. This leaves it heavily reliant on the online community, because who in real life can get four people together at the same time to play something everyone likes on one machine? No one, and anyone who says otherwise is a lying liar.

Another limitation is the lack of game modes; there are only three. Of those three, one requires a full party to be fun, while the other requires at least three. That leaves the final mode, which is essentially a Deathmatch, the classic mode, fun for a party of 2 to 20. Although if that's the only mode you have, and considering how quick matches are, it won't be long until you've played all of the scenarios. We must hope that this party can build a strong community.

Going to Astro Party EX

Astro Party EX is a 2D top-down party game about future animals flying around various space arenas, trying to shoot each other. It's simple, wacky, quick, fun, and surprisingly engaging once you accept the limited turning. What's harder to accept is the limited number of game modes and the dependence on an active player base, but there's still time to build it up. While that's happening, you can jump into your own cockpit to start your very own Astro Party… but without the ex.

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Astro Party EX