Wings of Bluestar review

Wings of Bluestar’s might not live up to the classics that inspired it, but it’s an agreeable STG thanks to brawny and adaptable weaponry.

Devoted shoot-em’-up fans will undoubtedly recognize Wings of Bluestar’s multitude of inspirations. Take flight across the game’s eight horizontally and occasionally vertically scrolling stages with Aya and you’ll soon gain a shield that resembles R-Type’s Force. When mounted on the front of your ship, the orb can absorb enemy shots, carving an opening in the walls of projectiles emitted by bosses. But should you find yourself surrounded by enemies and need additional firepower, the shield can be propelled forward, resulting in a powerful blast that can destroy almost anything caught in its path. Since this protective device gradually deteriorates, it’s consistently rousing to recycle the shield just before it disappears.

Power-ups are plentiful in Wings of Bluestar (almost excessively), and you’ll soon grab up to two turrets that attach to the sides of Aya’s ship. Echoing Capcom’s Forgotten Worlds, these can be rotated, offering protection from enemies that emerge from all sides of the screen. By using the Switch’s triggers or the right analog stick, you can change the direction of fire. But I found that I’d unintentionally reposition the turrets as I was holding the default fire button down. Fortunately, for those with uncooperative fingers, Bluestar’s controls can be reconfigured.

Alternatively, you can also tackle Bluestar’s stages as Zarak. His ship lacks the shield but supplements his beam weapon with a pair of lasers that rotate in opposite directions. At full power, Zarak’s output fills a lot of space and is capable of hitting ground targets protected by environmental structures.  In place of the shield attack, he has a chargeable beam. It’s incredibly powerful and will convert enemy bullets into scoring icons, but the game doesn’t explain that you have to hold a button down for several seconds to power it up.

But that’s not Bluestar’s only fault. There’s not much visual distinction between the harmless background objects and foreground elements that will destroy your ship with the slightest collision. While you can usually tell what’s dangerous by using the Zaxxon method (observing if your shots are canceled), there are moments when an overhead obstruction causes an unexpected death.

Sure, level memorization will teach you to steer clear of the ground and ceiling, but first-rate STGs don’t leave room for ambiguity. Similarly, reading the screen can be overly complicated with multiple bullet colors. In a co-op game, there can be five different projectile colors on-screen, which be frustrating. Perhaps to accommodate for this, the two-player game runs at a much slower pace. (For an additional game mode, start a co-op game with a single player as Aya. Attempting to protect a motionless Zarak by bullet canceling can add a bit of fun).

There’s also the issue of a wildly oscillating level of challenge. Bluestar’s first stage is a pushover; you’d have to be inattentive to lose one of your three lives, even on a higher difficulty setting. But the challenge quickly intensifies across subsequent levels that are filled with enemies and their projectiles. You’d think boss battles would intensify correspondingly. But many are pushovers that can be defeated in less than thirty seconds. I had to restrain myself from overusing Zarak’s beam weapon.

But for every misstep, Bluestar attempts to redeem itself. Sure, the optional storyline is a bit lackluster, but the game attempts to uplift Aya and Zarak’s stories with dialog options. Throughout the game, you’ll also be provided with opportunities to nab fleeing Risk Stars as well as portrait pieces. Each of these is used as currency to open up components like a boss rush mode, in-game achievements, a gallery, a sound test, and even extra credits for subsequent playthroughs. Many of these are surprisingly deep, with the gallery offering areas for sketches, concept drawings, and fan art. This kind of devotion to craft helps to make Bluestar’s blemishes a bit less conspicuous.

Wings of Bluestar was played on Switch with review code provided by the publisher.