Nintendo Switch – Ace of the Luftwaffe Squadron #59

Very good but wish it was harder right from the beginning…

Aces of the Luftwaffe Squadron – Nintendo Switch – Released: 11/17/17 – $14.99

Short Review (Review copy provided by Handy Games)

I like playing this game but it took me a while to get to it due to having to run through the game multiple times due to different difficulties. One is unlocked by having to beat the game at least once which is always an issue for me since that means playing the game that I may or may not like more than once just to try out a different mode. Aces is on the I wouldn’t want to run it again in single player mode side of games. I enjoyed the game but wasn’t able to run with anyone completely only in short bursts. My nephew wasn’t good at all at this game since it didn’t understand that we control multiple planes at once so when he lost one he would get upset. My cousin was just not good at the game so even on easy it was a pain to play with her. That doesn’t mean Aces is a bad game it is fun but I found it really easy since I really like playing SHMUPs so this game was a bit of a drag. It wasn’t until I loved the hardest mode that it felt like a challenge which was great but like I said I ran through the game already. I understand why they did this to make the game longer than it is but I don’t like when games do this. Just give me the hardest mode so if I do die so be it or make it that you only need to do a handful of the tutorial stages. I would recommend this to someone who is new to SHMUPs and want something on the easy side that gets to SHMUP level but never something like Ikuraga or DoDonPachi which are some of my favorite SHMUPs because of their brutal nature. 

Icon for you lovely people:

Story

Surprisingly this game has a story and interesting characters. A bit weird since it is broken down into sections but each chapter isn’t really connected. It is more so X happens and we are going to go fix said issue. The characters on the other hand I wish were a bit more fleshed out since they are really cool and interesting. Mark, the main character is Arnold Schwarzenegger, Steve is the comic relief, John is the kill joy and Melissa is the woman that knows her stuff. They all are pretty cool but none are really expanded on beyond the short cutscenes. This is an area I wish was a bit better because even though Mark is a straight up clone of Arnold, he is on the funny side and light hearted leader.

Gameplay

It is a standard SHMUP. You are always moving forward with the goal of blasting everything in sight. The game does have an upgrade path for characters that require special drops to level up a skill tree. This can be a bit rough since each character has their own and you don’t know what anything does until you are in game due to not being able to quickly drop into a testing stage. The game has an issue with loading as well…. sometimes it can be really long and other times it is snappy. This can happen with the same stage so not sure what is going on so I don’t recommend this as a quick let me play one stage and come back to it. 

Personal Experience

I enjoyed the game but like I said it isn’t fun to do more than once in my opinion. The game is already pretty long requiring around 8-10 hours depending on if you plan on skipping everything or taking your time to do everything. For anyone who wants to run through the game at the hardest would mean having to run through it again so another 8-10 hours so a game that should only take a once play through requires two to be fully in the heat of a SHMUP. Now that is just my opinion but that also makes it 100% worth it if you plan on playing the game with more than once person since now you have a reason to play again and not just alone. 

Final Thoughts

I would say it is worth it for the first time if you are just looking for a casually SHMUP but if you are on the side like I am of knowing SHMUPs already I would hold off. It is good for once through by wait until $10 to purchase. It is a fun time from beginning to end the first time but it was a bit of a drag doing it again. The bosses are also massive and unique much like other SHMUPs you will see some crazy stuff so those alone are worth the play through. 

UPDATE: 5/30/18

I would give this game a 7 out of 10!

Trailer:

 

End Credits

Busy this week at work but thankfully Pedro has my back with the multiple reviews this week. Next week I have off so it will be our full week of reviews either from me or Pedro but I do believe he is going away for a few days. We are also looking into other consoles so give your opinions about that and what consoles you would like to see more of. I personally own all consoles but don’t buy that many games due to not being able to play that much when I am home. This is why the Switch was the perfect console for me and whenever Rainway comes it means I will be able to play my PC games at work.

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