Old arcade games are one of my favorite things to play. When I was younger there was a pizza place my dad and I would visit. Inside they had an arcade cabinet, that had Pac-Man and Galaga. There were others in there but they weren’t my favorites. I always enjoyed playing Galaga with my dad. Beating each other’s high score while waiting on pizza. Ah! Those were the days. Galaga was one of my favorite arcade classics. It’s simple, colorful, and has easy controls and it also has great level pacing.
Teslapunk has most definitely taken the Galaga “formula”, while managing to still be it’s own thing. It is colorful, it is simple to understand, and the controls are super easy. With Teslapunk the ships are bigger, there are bullet storms, and there are bosses as well as different ways to shoot your bullets. It’s definitely a bit more advanced, and I feel like if you have never played a classic arcade shooter then you might have more of a challenge. Teslapunk is different from Galaga but not by much. Although I don’t usually enjoy rip-offs of Galaga, I quite enjoyed this one. Even If it has some flaws.
In Teslapunk there is a story. You are fighting aliens that are invading the planet. Shoot them to stop the invasion. Very simple story. This game is very easy to get into, even though it does offer some challenge. Enemy ships need more than one bullet to be destroyed. There are two different ways your ship shoots. The first is a normal spray of bullets, you can hold the right trigger or you can tap it to shoot. Then you have a laser! I really like the laser as it makes things a bit easier. You hold down the right bumper for however long you want, it does run out eventually though, and you can still move your ship while firing!
So, on the left of the screen is three power cells. When enemy ships are defeated they drop these blue filled looking boxes that fill the power cells. When you have two of them filled up you can hold the B button and it will get rid of all the enemy bullets on the screen and give you a more powerful laser for a few seconds. It’s very useful when you have a screen full of bullets. After a couple of levels you get bosses. I do not like bosses.
One of the bosses you meet early on, just sucks. It’s a giant triangle and it moves very awkwardly. It does follow a pattern though, making this a bit easier. The boss fight does have other enemy ships as well, but not enough to make getting your more powerful laser an easy task. It was definitely a challenge. Something I feel I should mention is that since this game is an arcade shooter it does follow a formula. Basically you have three lives and then you’re out. I’m definitely not a fan of the boss fights, because that’s where I lost all my lives.
In Galaga, the only music was the level start music. Teslapunk has a great up-beat mood setting soundtrack. It really fits with the look and feel of the game. Now the art-style of Teslapunk, while I like it, the colors blend too well. The background of the space you are fighting in can sometimes get confusing. You start losing track of bullets, or the background just makes it harder to see them. It’s still a pretty crisp and clean art style though! I really did enjoy the game, even when it got more difficult. If you are looking for an arcade shooter that has similarities to Galaga, but has an added challenge look no further.
REVIEW CODE: A complimentary Nintendo Wii U code was provided to Brash Games for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to editor@brashgames.co.uk.
Subscribe to our mailing list
Get the latest game reviews, news, features, and more straight to your inbox