Un-Hit Me With Your Rhythm Ship | Retro/Grade Review

<p><em>Retro&sol;Grade<&sol;em> is a surprising game to say the least&period; Following the various interviews and hype surrounding it&comma; we were in high anticipation for what 24 Caret Games had cooked up&period; What we found was an incredibly addictive and fast paced rhythm game&comma; with superb visuals&comma; an excellent soundtrack and heaps of content&period; <em>Retro&sol;Grade<&sol;em> combines its interesting premise with a competitive spirit&comma; constantly changing up its gameplay as you move from stage to stage&period; This PlayStation Network title is not to be missed&comma; whether you&&num;8217&semi;re using a Dualshock 3 or a plastic guitar&&num;8230&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;24085" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-24085" style&equals;"width&colon; 590px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;unhit-rhythm-ship-retrograde-review&sol;retrograde4&sol;" rel&equals;"attachment wp-att-24085"><img class&equals;"size-large wp-image-24085" title&equals;"Pretty&period;&period;&period;" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2012&sol;09&sol;06130147&sol;retrograde4-1024x576&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"590" height&equals;"331" &sol;><&sol;a><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-24085" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Be sure to calibrate your settings using the in-game menu&comma; compensating for potential input lag&excl;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>Setting itself apart from other rhythm games on the market&comma; <em>Retro&sol;Grade<&sol;em> possesses a unique concept&period; You play as Rick&comma; an average guy trying to make ends meet&comma; who finds himself saving the world as he tries to strike deals&period; The space time continuum has experienced some issues&comma; and you’ll need to repair the damage by re-doing your actions – <em>backwards<&sol;em>&period; The game&&num;8217&semi;s opening level sees you destroying the final boss&comma; congratulating you on your victory as the end credits roll&period; Time soon rewinds&comma; and you begin playing Rick&&num;8217&semi;s long journey from finish to start&period; Rather than mashing buttons to blast the enemies to smithereens&comma; you’re required to retract bullets you have previously fired&comma; whilst dodging the firepower that was headed your way some time back&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>As your own bullets come flying back at you&comma; a simple click of the X button at the right time will allow you to continue with no damage to the space time continuum&period; This initial set-up is simple&comma; but the game’s difficulty increases stage by stage&period; As soon as you’re required to dodge enemy bullets&comma; retract your own&comma; avoid gravity holes and weave between bullet-hell onslaughts&comma; you’ll rarely have room to breathe&period; Every graceful manoeuvre is accompanied by an appropriately retro synth soundtrack&comma; and this is going to keep your foot tapping and your timing tight&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>To aid him on this time bending quest&comma; Rick has a few tools up his sleeve&period; Power-ups that regenerate your health&comma; grant score bonuses&comma; and summon protective barriers will all make an appearance across the ten levels&period; And should you miss any of them&comma; Rick can rewind time at the push of a button—giving you a second shot at some of the particularly tricky sections&period; These score modifiers will keep you on the look-out&comma; and 24 Caret Games have included a leaderboard system for each of the six difficulty levels&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;24084" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-24084" style&equals;"width&colon; 590px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;unhit-rhythm-ship-retrograde-review&sol;retrograde2&sol;" rel&equals;"attachment wp-att-24084"><img class&equals;"size-large wp-image-24084" title&equals;"Difficulty&period;&period;&period;" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2012&sol;09&sol;06130202&sol;retrograde2-1024x576&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"590" height&equals;"331" &sol;><&sol;a><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-24084" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Mediumcore asks that you keep only three colors in mind&semi; X-treme asks that you&&num;8217&semi;re aware of five&excl;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>Even on its Mediumcore setting&comma; <em>Retro&sol;Grade<&sol;em> presents quite a challenge in its later stages&period; The game’s fast pace will often cause you to play on a subconscious level&comma; and you&&num;8217&semi;ll find yourself switching off&comma; mystified as to how the hell you managed to finish that insane sequence&period; It took us around an hour to finish the campaign&comma; but we immediately started a second&comma; and eventually third and fourth playthrough on harder difficulties&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The game’s Challenge Mode is where you&&num;8217&semi;ll spend most of your time&comma; however&period; Unlocking all the artwork&comma; new ships&comma; music and cheats is no easy feat&comma; and this particular segment adds a substantial amount to the game&period; The Challenge Mode puts you up against levels from the campaign in varying difficulties&comma; with certain conditions either affecting the stage&comma; or changing up the gameplay entirely&period; You&&num;8217&semi;re given some choice on which challenges you&&num;8217&semi;d like to take on first&comma; allowing more experienced players to skip the easy content and get started with the good stuff&period; Unfortunately&comma; this initial freedom is somewhat misleading&period; If you wish to unlock all the bonus content&comma; you&&num;8217&semi;ll need to play through the &&num;8220&semi;Casual&&num;8221&semi; level challenges also&period; For players trained on the higher difficulties&comma; going through these tracks can be a real chore&period; It would have perhaps been a better system to reward players with the lower tier unlockables&comma; after they had cleared the higher level challenges&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;24803" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-24803" style&equals;"width&colon; 590px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;unhit-rhythm-ship-retrograde-review&sol;retrodj&sol;" rel&equals;"attachment wp-att-24803"><img class&equals;"size-full wp-image-24803" title&equals;"DJ Retro" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2012&sol;09&sol;06123657&sol;retrodj-e1347370553557&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"590" height&equals;"331" &sol;><&sol;a><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-24803" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Use the turntables from the Extras menu to mix and mash the tracks you&&num;8217&semi;ve unlocked&excl;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p><em>Retro&sol;Grade<&sol;em> took us by surprise&period; PlayStation 3 owners have been treated to an excellent downloadable title that will satisfy the rhythm bug inside them&period; The pick up and play nature of this visually pleasing package is what will keep you returning&comma; well after you&&num;8217&semi;ve <em>made it back<&sol;em> <em>to the beginning<&sol;em>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;