Play as a young squid that has been cursed and now must brace the mean seas to break the curse that fell upon you. In Radio Squid you play as the squid in this 2D monochrome pixel shooter.
General Gameplay
Radio Squid is a throwback of 2D action shooters where as a squid you go from level to level collecting coins, defeating enemies with your shot that can bounce off the walls, but can also hurt you in the process. The levels are divided into 4 different levels each containing 4 levels each with a boss battle at the end of each level. The Game Visuals for Radio Squid are extremely basic in its design. The game is created in an 8-bit style of pixels like what you would see in a Gameboy title. The game colors are also in a monochrome tone with there are basic colors that showcase the game. All the characters, enemies, bosses, and backgrounds are done in this 8-bit style and are easy to see on the screen. As the game is presented in monochrome style the game does not support a colorblind mode, however it is not needed for the game as the colors are quite easy to see on the screen. In our play testing, we did not run into any issues with the game graphics are they are very family friendly and appropriate for all ages. Audio in Radio Squid is also very 8-bit in its audio style. The game uses a midi style for the game sounds from the weapons fire, enemies defeated and for the background. The background music is some snazzy beats that follow the gameplay and fun to listen to when gaming. The game does not have spoken dialog so there is no spoken audio but text and text sounds when the characters are speaking. The game is presented 5.1 surround sound as well 2.0 stereo sound, and the Radio Squid sounds fine in either environment. In our play testing, we did not hear anything that would be offensive to any gamers in your gaming family and as with the visuals Radio Squid is very family friendly. Controls in Radio Squid are quite easy to pick up and play the game. The left thumb stick controls the squid, where the right one is used to shoot in that direction, there is also a button for using your bomb in the game. The controller setup is designed in a way for anyone to pick up and play the game without any trouble. In our play testing we found the controller setup very user and family friendly. As the game is a shooter, there is no need for a special controller to play Radio Squid.
“A charming shooter but difficult shooter. Radio Squid is a game that is for gamers looking for a simple but challenging shooter to pass the time with.”
Family Friendly
Radio Squid is a fun shooter for those looking for a simple but easy to control shooter. What is there not to like, a cute squid trying to get a curse taken off him by paying it off. Fun and easy levels, easy shooting mechanics, and great music. However one of the things that made the game a challenge was that once that you were defeated, that you would have to use the coins collected to revive yourself and then start again completing levels and trying to get to the end of the game, but if you run out of coins and not have enough to revive yourself then its game over. Now there are both health and shield power ups that you can collect during the levels but one wrong move and its back to the beginning of the level. Now veteran gamers may want a challenge like this where its all one and done, however for casual gamers that are looking for more of a relaxing or simple shooter this dynamic of the game may be a turn off. Now one thing is that most of the levels are short, there is only 24 levels to go through with a boss at the end of several levels so the game is short, a veteran gamer can get through the game in 1-2 hours with trial and error of the gameplay but for not so seasoned gamers the game in later levels can get real challenging. During our play testing, this was a major issue with the game as some of our gamers could not get passed the 2nd level and were getting frustrated with the game. Now as the game itself is about defeating enemies with your bullets from your squid, it is also about making sure that the bullets that you fire do not hit you as well in the process. This becomes trickier in later levels but again it is all about skill of how you play the game and get passed each area. In the end Radio Squid is a game more for more veteran gamers and not so much for newer shooter gamers in your gaming family. Outside of the concerns that we had with Radio Squid that we addressed in this section; we did foresee any issues with the game. In our special needs game testing, we did not have any issues wit the game visuals, audio, or controls. The game is very special needs gaming friendly.
Closing
Radio Squid is a charming shooter, easy design, great music and controller settings, but the game can get challenging really quick and is recommended for more veteran shooter fans out there.
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