In a genre that often gets
overburdened trying to outdo itself, Strayfire sticks to the basics of
blasting away at everything you see and dodging bullets as it core.
Unfortunately, the game never seems to get much past that point, and thus it
leaves little reason to continue playing the game.
You control a single ship as
it flies through space shooting endlessly. There is only a single weapon
that you can posses, a sort of spread laser, though it does power up several
levels. You also will see missiles flying off your ship if you continue
to collect power-ups beyond the few you need to hit the highest level of your
weapon.
The only real innovation here
is that of a shield that you control manually. The shield has a limited
amount of energy that is quickly depleted when the shield is activated, but it
also will quickly recharge as you are not using the shield. The ship
also has energy that will deplete as you are struck by enemy bullets, but it
will slowly recharge as you continue through the game.
Overall, this feels like the
title that almost was. The game feels solidly produced, with wonderful
graphics on the explosions and the missile trails. However, the music
fails to captivate, and the lack of any real variety in the game leaves the
gamer yearning for something more.
