Game Type DX review

Once a light entrée of horizontally-scrolling shooting with a side of corporate criticism, Game Type DX resurrects the playful indie release and adds two additional game modes.

Microsoft is notorious for tampering with its console user interfaces. Back in 2011, an overhaul brought a deluge of advertisements to the forefront, while their entire Xbox Live Indie Games (or XBLIG) section was inexplicably pushed to the backdrop and hidden behind a tile ambiguously labeled, “Game Type”. For developers like Nathan Fouts, this meant that most Xbox 360 owners would not be aware of his efforts.

A former programmer for Insomniac Games, Fouts had already delivered a trio of quirky hits. From Weapon of Choice’s garish running-and-gunning, Shoot 1Up’s ability to control an entire squadron of ships, and Explosionade’s creative union of intense firefights and puzzles, he had generated a prodigious portfolio filled with offbeat action. But when Microsoft filled the Xbox 360 dashboard with a barrage of promos for television shows and movies, they pissed off the wrong developer.

Fout’s response filled the opening moments of 2011’s Game Type. Instead of being able to jump right into the horizontally scrolling shooter, players were forced to navigate through a mock interface that satirized bewildering Microsoft’s approach. Eleven years on, corporations haven’t gotten much smarter. The PlayStation 4/5 release of Game Type DX was repeatedly delayed because Sony didn’t get the joke. Instead, they ordered Mommy’s Best Games to retool the interface to make it look less like the old Xbox dashboard.

Even without any mention of “Microsoft”, “Xbox” or the distinctive green color of a bogus (“Media Ball”) logo, the parody has lost little of its power. Digital market curation is just as convoluted as ever, forcing players to sort through stacks of shoddy games made from stock Unity assets before uncovering a hidden gem. That said, it’s hard not to wish that Mommy’s Best Games updated their gag, targeting games that attempt to lure in players with titles that contain the words “hentai” or “anime”. Still, if you’re old enough to remember Kazuo Hirai’s E3 faceoff against a giant enemy crab or the Yaris advergame, Game Type DX just might inspire a nostalgic chuckle.

When you inevitably find Game Type DX’s hidden tile, you’ll encounter a trio of different play modes. “Original” lets you play the 2011 release, while “Parkour Remix!” offers new enemy arrangements as well as a tougher difficulty level. But the standout here is “Surprise!”, which lives up to its description by bombarding players with a collection of power-ups and power-downs. It makes for capricious scoring runs, where it’s entirely possible to collide with a succession of speed-up icons, eliminating your entire stock of lives in a few seconds. Or you can nab a few million-point bonuses to help secure a spot on the online leaderboards.

Whichever mode you tackle, Game Type DX’s core mechanics remain identical. You play as a character named Hoodie Girl who tackles waves of foes with two weapons. Her basic offensive is a three-way “slap shot”. It’s rather feeble, taking a few seconds of focused fire to destroy a Yaris-like car or a sham Trivial Pursuit wedge-wheel. When you do eliminate an enemy, each releases cash piles which are drawn in as soon as you release the fire button. Of course, pausing your output of firepower even for a fraction of a second feels counterintuitive.

Not only do the dollar stacks earn points, but they also fill the gauge for your “Kick Beam” weapon. More powerful than your standard gun, the beam quickly annihilates most adversaries. But the real benefit comes when you use the beam in tandem with your “Time Pulse” ability. This slows down enemy bullets, making navigating through clusters of projectiles possible. But it costs in-game money to use the Time Pulse in Game Type DX.  This establishes a cycle where you try to destroy as much as you can to keep the assist running. I’m sure there’s a metaphor for corporate greed in there, somewhere. But like the protagonist’s continual yelling of “Parkour!”, the meaning eludes me.

While the combination of skills is a respectable hook, it’s not quite compelling enough to hold your attention for too long. But at a six-dollar asking price, Game Type DX isn’t asking too much from PlayStation owners, in return for a few hours of frantic fun. This decent delight-to-dollar ratio is exactly why professionally curated indie games should be in the foreground of any digital storefront.

Game Type DX was played on PlayStation 4
with review code provided by the publisher.