Everything old is new again. Call it nostalgia, call it not having learned history and therefore being doomed to repeat it, call it retro – that which has occurred will occur once more. In today's world of videogames and growing quantities of downloadable content, you can see the return of plenty of old titles, some have been gussied up and others have stayed true to what they were upon initial release, warts and all.
Lying somewhere between the original version and a gussied up one lies The Red Star. Originally released on PS2 in 2007, The Red Star has, as of this month, been ported to the PSP and now is due to be rele
ased on the iPhone at some point this spring. It is this last version, the iPhone one, that we got the chance to sit down and check out this past week.
First the old – the game itself is the exact same one that made its way to the PS2, no changes to the graphics, enemies, levels, etc. On the iPhone it all looked good enough – there was nothing there to blow us away, but nothing that left something to be desired either.
It is an action shooter, one based on the graphic novel of the same name, and where you get to control one of three characters (only two of which are available at the outset). The story takes place in a futuristic world, Russia and its satellite nations still exists as a Communist superpower, one known as the URRS (United Republics of the Red Star). Your job in the game is simple – destroy anyone and everything in your path. Sometimes those things are people and sometimes they are massive machines (bo
sses, if you will). Your main attacks here come from a gun and fists, though you do have a shield, and a couple of other tricks up your sleeve as well.
Article comments
1 - Ken Edwards
I picked up the PSP version, $15 was well worth it. Too bad hardly anybody knows about this game.
I am not sure about it on the iPhone though, considering the precision some of the more shmup-y parts are.