Laugh ’em up Shoot ’em up.
There is nothing wrong with genuine silliness or even being a little bit delirious. After all, we could all use need a moment of wackiness to de-stress and depressurize from everyday life. In the shoot-’em-up (shmup) genre, players are often tasked with saving the world from impending doom, fighting through deadly enemies and mammoth, difficult bosses. It’s a continuous cycle of war and violence in most shmups, to the point where it can get tiresome seeing the same scenarios. Q-YO Blaster from Team Robot Blackhat and Forever Entertainment is takes a different approach. It’s colorful. It’s absurd. It’s loony. But most importantly, it’s fun.
Yadda yadda shoot things…
The plot of Q-YO Blaster is all over the place. There may be a world to save or a universe to protect…or there may be neither. You pilot a ship, but you may play as a space princess or a hamster with a rocket strapped to its back. One moment you’ll be fighting in an elaborate land and the next, you’ll be blasting baddies in a bedroom that feels like Andy’s Room in Toy Story. There isn’t exactly a clear point as to who or what you are fighting, or why you are shooting everything. Heck, there isn’t even an explanation as to what a Q-YO Blaster actually is. None of this really matters though. Through its colorful visuals, Q-YO Blaster wants you to sit back, relax, and have a good time randomly shooting at a bunch of things.
Visually, Q-YO Blaster is very finely polished and made to look like an arcade game from 1994. The graphics are vibrant and there is a lot of attention to detail to appreciate. It’s strange and bizarre world is depicted in a fun, fantastical way, almost like looking through the lens of a kaleidoscope – everything is illustrated in a wonderfully colored art style. Even minor graphical touches such as the CRT Vision evoke the comfort and familiarity of playing a game at your local arcade. Its design is bursting with imagination, a refreshing change of pace for the genre. Flying hamsters, floating heads equipped with lasers, and spaceships shaped like sharks are only a handful of the absurd enemies you can expect to encounter. Fortunately, Q-YO Blaster is every bit as fun to play as it is to look at.
Gameplay is the most important aspect of any shmup, and in Q-YO Blaster, it is exceptional. At onset, you are given a choice between a number of teams. Each team has specific benefits such as endurance and being able to dole out extra damage. After a choice is made, you can then choose a playable character, which can range from anything from androids to talking sharks. As a horizontal shmup expect to engage the enemy from left to right and moving up and down to avoid heavy fire. The more attacks you land on an opponent, the stronger your primary weapons become. When the special attack bar is maximum power, you can unleash a massive volley of energy that instantly destroys anything in its path. Each enemy encounter requires its own strategy, and the same can be said for the plethora of bosses that populate Q-YO Blaster’s world. Across its 10 distinct levels, cartoon-ish bosses such as giant alien skulls and alien cricks riding on bicycles will stop at nothing to impede your progress. Bosses are no pushovers and require patience and persistence to truly overcome. Q-YO Blaster is not without its shortcomings though.
A quick shot…
For as fun as the experience is, Q-YO Blaster is a tad on the short side. Don’t expect much in replay value either; a Boss Rush Mode, is the extent of Q-YO Blaster ‘s post-game offerings. It’s a real shame when you consider what a joy the game is to play. It doesn’t hinder or make it any less a great addition to any Switch owners’ library, but like any great roller-coaster ride, the thrill is over way too soon.
Conslusion
Q-YO Blaster‘s biggest strength is its simplicity and high entertainment value – the game is pure fun, plain and simple. There is no clear guidance as to what you are fighting or why, but the overall experience hearkens back to a more effortless time in gaming. Everything from the presentation and soundtrack to its fast and fluid gameplay all become a synchronized ballet of laser fire and explosions. Its zany enemies and kooky bosses will undoubtedly ut a smile on your face. Its cartoon-ish imagination and visual splendor are wildly enjoyable. Q-YO Blaster doesn’t reinvent the shmup genre or innovate the formula, but it is a fun time to play, and that is immeasurably rewarding.
Q-YO Blaster is available on Steam and the Nintendo Switch eShop for $9.99.
Q-YO Blaster was reviewed on the Nintendo Switch thanks to a key generously supplied by Forever Entertainment.
