It’s been nearly a year since the initial XBLIG release of FunInfused Games’ Hypership Out of Control, and our subsequent review. Since then, developer Kris Steele has gone on to spearhead not one, but two successful indie game promotions in the form of the Winter and Summer Uprisings. And now, as he ventures to branch out from the Xbox Indie Games platform he has given us an update to the reflex-driven shmup of old by enlisting the help of Third Party Ninjas to bring the game to mobile devices everywhere.
Gameplay
To briefly recap, in Hypership Out of Control you play as a spaceship with no brakes, careening ever faster up the screen towards perils unknown, attempting to collect coins, because I’d totally steer into coins if my brakes were out.
Whereas the original was released for the Xbox, with all the amenities it provides (namely, a controller), it’s pretty obvious when moving from console to touch devices that old controls are going to go out the window. In this case, pad movement and a shoot button were ditched entirely in favor of autoshot and finger tracking movement. The view of the game also changed from the xbox’s standard 16:9 ratio, to a portrait view. The levels have changed along with this, being redesigned to fit the thinner screen width and longer field of view. This radical change in controls and level design leads to a vastly different play experience. Where before you were concerned with the horizontal speed of the ship, now the game is all about your reflexes in noticing oncoming peril and being able to trace a line with your finger to safety in time.
The autoshot change is another difference I feel was made for the better. You can get away with holding down a button on a controller to shoot, but with the switch to touch controls being able to focus purely on what’s coming down the way is already brain reflex overload. Besides that, I still love the fact that the ship’s bullets exist off the visible screen space, allowing you to use collision noises as further cues to what’s ahead to avoid. It’s a little thing most probably don’t consciously notice, but in reflex based games, having information as far down the line to read as possible is the most important thing.
All the old modes are still here for your enjoyment: Normal, Super Speed, Coin Down and Hardcore, along with reverse courses for each. But what’s more important here, is that the iOS version of the game has online leaderboard support built right in, with a board for every mode. You’ll also find official Achievement support in the iOS version, for those who are so inclined.
The upshot of all the changes, is that I find myself enjoying this new iOS port of Hypership much more than I ever did the XBLIG version. It’s portable so I can take it along with me when I need a quick gaming fix, and the changes in controls and playstyle lend themselves to a more fun experience overall. My only gripe would be how hard it is to maintain a good finger slide surface on my iPad when after cleaning it tends to be more of a skid surface, but I can hardly blame FunInfused Games for that!
Audio/Visual
The original Hypership had a serviceable pixel art aesthetic, along with an above average chiptune soundtrack. This time around, Kris employed the efforts of EWorkProxy to update the graphics. The changes are subtle, but I think eminently worthwhile. In fact, I doubt this game would work quite as well as it does if it were any style besides pixel art. They just transitioned so well to the new platform.
Though the music is unchanged, (along with that disturbing laugh when you die) the audio continues to hold up. And although attempting to keep a rhythm while playing this game could easily get you killed, you’ll probably go back to tapping your toes as you go, just as before.
Summary
In my opinion when Hypership Out of Control made the leap from console to mobile it became less of a shmup and more of a touch reflex arcade game, and as a result is a far better experience for it. This is a game that was born to be leaderboarded, and its previous home on the Xbox Lives Indie Game channel meant this aspect was unfortunately missing. There are already some pretty hardcore scores listed in the iOS Game Center. Scores which I doubt I could ever approach, but still, every time I pick up my iPad that little Hypership icon peers back at me, demanding one more shot. And I oblige. I think that says everything you need to know to get that you can’t go wrong with this purchase for an iOS device.
Besides, Kris Steele has to buy a yacht because he owes me a ride.