Super Stardust HD Review (PS3)

Age rating: 3+ (PEGI)

What is it?

An asteroids clone (high-def update of the Amiga classic Super Stardust)

Is it fun?

Yes.

Is it worth the money? £4.99 (from the UK Playstation Store)

Yes.

Why?

Ok, so I was amazed to find something I actually wanted to buy from the UK Playstation Store a few days ago. That something was Super Stardust HD. I’ve actually played the original Super Stardust AGA* on my Amiga A1200 back in 1996. I can say that I’ve had just as much fun with this updated version 11 years later (oooh, I feel old now).

Apart from the visuals and the music it’s still pretty much the same game. But then again, it’s asteroids so it’s a fairly one dimensional game in the first place. Blow-up asteroids, collect weapon power-ups, blow-up more asteroids and then battle the end of world boss. Repetitive, yes, but entertaining as well.

The fun in Super Stardust HD comes from all the wanton destruction. It is total and utter carnage right from the word go. You really have to concentrate – like an badger on red bull – the whole time in order to stay alive. The continual onslaught of asteroids and aliens is quite staggering and also mind numbing. All this in 1080p and without a hit of slow down. Yay. Bring it on!

Housemarque – Super Stardust HD’s developer – have also added a co-op mode into the mix which only suffices to double the carnage during the game. Hehe, fantastic. So grab a mate and give this mode a bash.

My only quibble with this HD version is that sometimes the eye candy (of which there is a lot) can make seeing the tiny, tiny asteroid shards a bit of pain. This frequently leads to you losing a very precious life. Irritating, but you learn to live with it. Oh, and it’s a tough little bugger of a game, so don’t expect to whiz through the 5 worlds on your first go.

In summary: It’s a cheapy-cheap, high-def, super pretty version of asteroids that contains a seriously intense gameplay experience.

Screenshots:

* You can download an mp4 of someone completing the whole game (57m 27s) from Recorded Amiga Games.

Update 4th Jul 07: Forgot to mention that the gameplay in Super Stardust takes place around a planet (i.e. curved play area), unlike Asteroids which has a flat play area. Oh, and I’d suggest changing the camera setting to “far” so you can see what the hell is going on, as the initial camera is set just too close to the action. Yep, that covers everything.

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