Super Galaxy Squadron EX Turbo

I have a soft spot for games that started as one person's college project and somehow grew into something genuinely worth recommending years later, and Super Galaxy Squadron EX Turbo is exactly that story. What began as a Kickstarter-funded solo effort by developer Nick Clinkscales went through two rounds of revision, arriving at this Turbo edition as its most complete, most generous form. The pixel art got a near-total overhaul. Three extra ships were added, bringing the roster to seventeen. And then the developers patched in a health bar for the infamously brutal final boss years after launch, because they were still listening. That kind of attentiveness is rarer than it should be. The core is a top-down vertical shooter with six stages of Arcade Mode action, an Endless Mode for high-score chasing, and a Boss Rush that doubles as a skill lab. Each of the seventeen ships carries distinct stats across offense, defense, and speed, with its own primary weapon, secondary fire, and hyper attack charged by collecting blue drops from downed enemies. One ship swipes with an energy blade at close range; another peppers the screen with Vulcan rounds and homing missiles. The spread-shot versus focus-fire decision is always present, trading movement speed for concentrated damage. The EX Turbo edition adds two mechanics that quietly change how the whole thing feels: Overdrive, which ramps up firing rate and scoring potential through sustained aggression, and Focus, a limited slow-motion gauge that becomes a genuine resource to manage at higher difficulties rather than just a panic button for newcomers. Difficulty deserves its own paragraph here, because the game's reputation as accessible is both accurate and slightly misleading. Casual mode hands out health boosts periodically and gives you infinite lives, and it genuinely works as an on-ramp for people who have never touched a shmup. But the ladder climbs steeply, and the final boss, even after its post-launch rework, represents a real wall. Multiple reviewers across the years logged an hour or more on that single fight at mid-difficulty. The game knows what it is once the gloves come off, and Hardcore mode strips out checkpoints entirely for the crowd that wants their quarters eaten. The breadth is honest and well-implemented; just don't let Casual fool you into skipping the difficulty readjustment before Stage 6. The soundtrack, composed by Random Encounter, is the kind of retro synth and chiptune work that earns the "Great Soundtrack" tag without irony, loud, kinetic, reminiscent of the CD-era arcade cabinets this game clearly grew up loving. The pixel art is clean and readable, which matters more than it sounds: your hitbox is easier to track here than in most of the genre, a small mercy that pays off constantly in dense bullet patterns. Voiced cutscenes exist, lovingly mocked by the developers themselves as being "for the two people looking for a good story." They are charming and brief, and if you happen to be one of those two people, the pilot bios and star-system settings add a little texture worth reading. The original Super Galaxy Squadron is bundled in as well, so you can see exactly how much ground was covered between 2015 and now. The only honest gripes are structural: six stages is a short campaign, the controls have historically lacked rebinding, and the Endless Mode, while solid, can feel repetitive without modifier variety to shake things up. This is a tight, well-crafted package that knows its lane and stays in it.

Kai · Scout Team

Indie & narrative

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