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Where things get complicated, and nuanced, is in everything layered on top of that. You’ll have to constantly keep an eye on your shield, as once things get intense it will deplete on you quickly. In Arcade mode if you’re able to keep from being hit for a given period of time it will replenish but that often puts you at odds with your score multiplier which you’ll typically want to keep high, but to do so demands that you’re constantly taking out enemies. Technique will often play a vital role in latter boss fights as well, since mastery of changing direction at just the right time is a key to survival as that temporarily makes you invulnerable. The feeling of aggressively coming at a boss and turning repeatedly at just the right time to nullify their return fire is quite satisfying. As you beat each stage in Arcade mode that will then unlock the Survival and Boss modes as well, with Survival demanding that you last X minutes (good luck on the last level making it 4 minutes), and Boss Mode focusing just on your taking down each stage’s Guardian, just for the most part with no power-ups to raise the stakes. Of course global online leaderboards will help you tally your success for all of this as well. While I would say this is all by the game’s design, it being arcade-like, I’d say about the only criticism I can come up with is how completely different every run you have is. Perhaps where it would be more of a criticism would be in Survival mode where which power-ups you randomly get drastically affect how long you’ll last. You’ll need skill and a strategy to be successful, no doubt, but when you feel like you’re running a string of shield power-ups that is unusually generous it can seem a bit too random. There are times when in Arcade mode you just happen to trigger the Guardian at the same time a major bonus appears which you’ll then lose while you can’t move, and this is annoying, but perhaps not as significant. I think it would be more fair if anything that appeared in this window would either stay stuck in place or even automatically awarded. You instantly losing it kind of blows since it is out of your control. Overall, Hyper Sentinel is a real treat for fans of retro gaming as it celebrates so many things, including the look, the absolutely excellent music, and a challenging style of play that will never go out of style. The fact that time was spent to layer in modern graphical touches that look incredible but don’t overshadow the retro look is very much appreciated and the sheer volume of insanity regularly on-screen more than demonstrates this game couldn’t have been possible back in the day. If you’re a retro gaming fanatic, or appreciate a good and challenging arcade-style shooter, Hyper Sentinel is highly recommended.
Justin Nation, Score:Nindie Choice! [8.0]