Super Stardust HD from 2007 is one of my all-timers, so anytime I see a game in that style I'll be sure to grab it as long as it doesn't look like complete junk. I love twin-stick shooters and there's something extra cool about having a rotating planet as your playfield.

Thankfully Zaxoid is not complete junk, in fact it's quite good. There are two game modes in it, your typical modern action roguelite mode and an arcade mode, but I can't really figure out the purpose of the arcade mode. It's like a stripped down action roguelite mode where you still collect gold and buy upgrades but only for your ship and not the city. And the store page says there's leaderboards in the game, but where? A high score mode with public leaderboards would be great and keep me coming back for play sessions every now and then.

The action roguelite mode is the meat of the game, and it's done rather well. There are two fail points, your ship and your city, so lose all the life of either and it's game over. When you accumulate enough gold you buy upgrades for one or the other. The ship has the usual stuff, better bullets, speed, larger collection area, etc. The city can see you buy turrets to help with defending itself, energy pods, a healing pad for your ship, and quite a bit more. What keeps this mode interesting is how many potential upgrades there are, which you unlock at a steady pace as you progress through the game. For ship and city combined there must be over 30 at a guess. Maybe even 50.

There's one area I find lacking though, and that's sound effects. There just aren't enough of them. Your ship will make a thrusting noise when you dash, but makes no noise when you move around. Shooting makes the same basic pulsing sound, and missiles have no sound. Hitting enemies doesn't make sounds except for bosses, and you roughly get the same explosion sound for every ship you destroy. A little goes a long way in bringing detail and color to a game, especially an arcade game where often every sound can also be a gameplay helper. Let me hear those missiles woosh!

A beautifully crafted indie gem here.

Anyone who enjoys twin stick shooters or VS type games such as Geometry Wars or Super Stardust on the Playstation will absolutely love this fast action shooter.

I mean I've got 7 hours in this beast since it launched just two days ago while working full time, that should say enough.


HIGHLY RECOMMEND! .. No true twin stick shooter fan should ignore this under-appreciated indie gem!

This game is the perfect blend of Arcade and RogueLite gameplay! It feels nostalgic and fresh at the same time. Controls are intuitive and easy to learn.

Zaxoid is delightfully difficult and worth the time and money!