Anime 2D dogfighter Jet Lancer launched this weekend on Steam and other platforms. Players are in for a wild time with gameplay similar to indie darling Luftrausers.
Jet Lancer takes a similar approach to Vlambeer’s 2D dogfighter, but somehow can be better. This new game, developed by Code Wakers, is a colorful 2D sprite shooter that lets players fly in a crazy, high velocity war.
Players can fight off other aviators and even fight giant robots. The anime game is vibrant, in your face, and has a superb soundtrack from Zack and Patrick of Fat Bard. The entire game is an exercise of excess to a beautiful, overzealous, and exciting play.
Lancer is Luftrausers dialled to 11
It’s almost a sin to call Lancer as a Luftrausers clone, even if it is. It has all the trademarks of the game – a 2D bullet hell with a crazy screenshake. Even then, the similarities between the two games end there.
Luftrausers is a developer exercise in minimalist aesthetics. The game has a two-tone style that evokes the feeling for age of the war it fights in. It’s fast-paced and beautiful to play, the exact reason why it is the indie darling fans know today. Lancer is anything but, in a good way.
Jet Lancer is everything Luftrausers is as a 2D dogfighter, but its color palette is exquisite. Developers Vladimir Fedyushkin and Nicolai Danielsen created a colorful world to play. The cities are marvelous, the skies are anything but bleak, and the explosions are superb.
Lancer to come with 30 missions and new game plus
Lancer comes with 30 missions in single-player, with a brutal new game plus. Apart from the visuals and the talking cat, the game also offers accessibility options.
According to the Steam listing, they “included anti-fatigue control toggles, adjustable dodge windows, an invincibility option, and the ability to disable screenshake and screen flashing.”
Accessibility options make a game more open to potential players of all walks of life. Newer indie games are starting to offer such accessibility due to the surge of gamers with their disabilities.
Players who want to play Lancer will experience an adrenaline rush, unlike no other. The game can be unforgiving, much like how all bullet shooters work. The atmosphere is fantastic, which is reminiscent of Gurren Lagann.
The rush feels like something plucked out of Neon Genesis Evangelion, but instead, players use a jet fighter instead of a robot. Jet Lancer is a stylish bullet hell dogfighter that empowers its players through great shooting and awesome music. If players enjoyed the likes of Luftrausers, players could enjoy this game and more.
Images courtesy of Armor Games Studios/Official Steam Listing