Since the first appearance of Snake on the Nokia 6110 in
1997 games on mobile phones have come a long way, lest we forget the underrated
Nokia N-Gage, these days it’s big business, the top grossing of which rake in millions
in revenue, with merchandise, TV shows and even movies based on the franchises,
some are now even making the jump to home consoles.
Jetpack Joyride, Fruit Ninja, and Plants vs. Zombies found
themselves crossing over to the home system market, with the latter even
getting its own console spin-off in the form of the Garden Warfare series,
franchises such as The Sims, Super Mario Bros, and Fortnite have also seen the
appeal of mobile gaming and gone the other way to appear on people’s pocket
devices.
With the release of the Nintendo Switch last year, we’ve
started to see a lot more mobile games appearing on Nintendo’s home/handheld
hybrid, the tech inside the system being primarily mobile orientated means
mobile-game developers are having an easier time of porting their titles
across, Gear Club Unlimited, Voez, Aqua Moto Racing Utopia, and Oceanhorn:
Monster of Uncharted Seas are already available to name but a few, and the
latest to join the ranks is Manticore: Galaxy on Fire, a 3D space shoot-em up
in the vain of the Star Fox series.
The first Galaxy on Fire title was released in 2006, winning
awards and spawning two sequels, numerous downloadable additional campaigns and
content, and even a spin-off MMO, Manticore: Galaxy on Fire sees the series
make the hyperjump to home systems, following the story from Galaxy on Fire 3, it
opens with your character finding himself adrift in the Neox Sector aboard a
badly damaged ship with space pirates baring down readying for the kill, that
is until the crew of the Manticore come to your rescue.
The Manticore is home to a mercenary group who help patch your
ship up, and in return you agree to join their ranks, as your proving your
worth however a planet hosting a major political conference is attacked and
destroyed, killing the many delegates and Manticore pilots who were providing
security on the planet at the time, it’s down to you and your new crewmates to
investigate what happened, navigating asteroid fields and exploring derelict
space-stations and ship wreckage for intel fragments and spare parts to
salvage, taking down the many ruthless criminals as you go.
During the three substantial acts of the game’s story you’ll
visit a variety of locations, each with differing mission objectives, some
might see you escorting an important vessel, defending a convoy against an
enemy onslaught, or simply taking down a group of baddies to lure out their
leader and work your way closer to revealing the mastermind behind the
planetary destruction, then take a breather and cruise around an area, scanning
for intel or blueprints to earn extra currency, ships and better weapons.
Through your time playing you’ll rank up your pilot level,
as well as gaining ship parts and currency, with a couple of successful missions
under your belt you’ll have enough to convert these into upgrades for your
craft, everything from increasing boost duration and weapon damage, to how much
punishment your shields or hull can withstand before it’s game over, new
secondary weapons are also awarded after some missions, giving you plenty of
choice when switching your loadout to best suit the enemies that lay ahead.
This is really something to pay attention to, each briefing
on the progression screen gives information about your current objective, and
in the case of any boss-targets, their weaknesses to any weapon types, failure
to equip something to take advantage of this can quickly turn any clash into a
real slog, getting the enemies’ shield depleted halfway only for them to
recharge it as you take care of their underlings is irritating, and a mistake I
luckily only made twice until I saw the error of my ways, never take a laser to
a plasma fight is what I say.
Taking the right tools for the job is essential in Manticore:
GoF, picking a scout category ship might mean a lower hull rating but increased
shield and energy for exploration and mild dogfights, but choosing a gunship
grants improved hull and shields with lesser energy for any acrobatics, ship
choice even makes the difference of device slots being applicable on certain
crafts, allowing for the addition of EMP pulses or cloaking to further bolster
your arsenal, it’s this level of micro-management that adds a greater depth to
the gameplay, as well as altering the many different zaps and explosions that
light up the screen as you battle.
Visually, space has never looked better, locations are
littered with little details, huge planets loom ominously over your tiny ship
as you fend off enemy attacks, weaving your way through station stanchions and
hugging asteroid surfaces for cover, enemy lasers and missile blasts reflecting
off metalwork as they detonate, the sphere of your shield glowing softly as it
deflects incoming fire, and the proceeding explosion as you about-face and
vaporise your pursuant, all this and a smooth 60fps makes for a great flying
experience.
Simultaneously this experience is aided by responsive and tight
controls, the left analogue steers your ship, with the right controlling the
boost, brakes and barrel-rolling, the rear triggers shoot and the secondary
triggers switch between the primary and secondary weapons, with later additional
capabilities being assigned to the ‘A’ and ‘B’ buttons, it’s quick to pick up
and you’ll soon find yourself strategically navigating massive satellite
installations, and deftly avoiding asteroids as you explore fields of space
debris and intricate science stations.
Each location really gives a great sense of scale, though
whilst exploring you’ll often hit invisible walls or be told on-screen that you’re about to leave the mission-area,
why you couldn’t just be warned of the area’s outer marker on-screen each time
seems a bit odd, or rather get yourself automatically turned around à la Star
Fox’s All-Range mode, but it’s a minor quibble to sacrifice a HUD clogging
mini-map for a more immersive and minimal viewpoint with a simple radar, targeting
reticule and energy bars.
Character’s faces pop up on screen when they spout dialogue
over the radios, wingmen update you with mission progress and exposition,
enemies taunt you and your crew, and moments of seriousness are punctuated by
your ship’s AI and its general dislike of organic lifeforms, between these
well-voiced communications, the pew pews of lasers, the warning alerts as an
opponent gets a weapon lock on you, and the subtle, yet dramatic music that
builds as the action heats up, all reinforces the visuals, creating an
atmospheric title that elevates itself way above its humble mobile beginnings.
In the absence of a Switch iteration of Star Fox, Manticore:
Galaxy on Fire has plenty to scratch that space-itch, the missions are just
varied enough to keep everything interesting, the level of customisation is
deep and invites the exploration required to unlock the many upgrades and ships
available to players, and though the script is a little bit cheesy and straight
out of the book of sci-fi clichés, and the enemy AI can be a little dumb at
times, it’s a solid package that goes to show what can be done when a developer
makes an effort with a mobile-port and doesn’t just take the cash-grab route.
Manticore: Galaxy On Fire is out now on Nintendo Switch