How do you follow up the single greatest shooter ever made? It’s a tough position for anyone to be in, but Gridrunner++ was such a fantastic bit of shootiness that the sequel has to be utterly stunning in order not to be overshadowed by its predecessor. Gridrunner Revolution has some mighty large shoes to fill, and while it’s too early to tell if it can attain a similar “greatest ever” status (ask me again in a year), it’s certainly off to a great start.
Gridrunner Revolution is a single-screen arcade shooter in the classic style. There’s no story, no rationalization for all this destruction, and especially no real-world logic. There’s only the joy of pumping out ludicrous amounts of bullets into hundreds and hundreds of enemies, which is really all the justification anyone needs. The pulsing colors, chilled techno music, gorgeous bullet patterns warped by multiple gravity wells, and accessible gameplay are just icing on the cake.
The main game is divided into four difficulty levels named after curry spiciness, from Korma (easy) to Phaal (holy god death everywhere!). At the start only the first few levels of Korma are open, and they serve as a tutorial to get the player up to speed with the various gameplay mechanics. Shoot enemies (firing is automatic, no player input required), grab sheep to power up the ship and increase firepower, rotate the ship and get used to firing in any direction, and curve bullets like mad.
Each level has a sun in it, and pummeling it with bullets pops the sun open and turns it into a black hole. Suns send out rhythmic pulses of bullets, so taking them out quick gets the level off to a good start. The problem is the starting ship strength generally isn’t enough to open the sun, so you need to take out the first chain of enemies to earn a sheepie. The first sheepie is the most important, as it transforms the ship from being barely powerful enough to get by to capable of laying down a small amount of mayhem, so grabbing it is a major priority.
In addition to powering up the ship, sheepies also add to the bonus multiplier and, just as importantly, act as little fluffy life preservers. When the ship takes a hit a couple of things happen. First, the bonus multiplier gets cut in half, which is always sad to see. Meanwhile, the ship starts rotating madly as its ghost rises to the top of the screen before sinking off the bottom. It’s steerable, and you can bounce it off enemies and bullets to gain some extra time on screen, but if you manage to collect a sheepie then death is halted as the ship reforms. What this means is that life is easy, but score is hard.
Gridrunner Revolution isn’t the kind of white-knuckle ride where every second is a fight for life. It’s a score run, with the main challenge being less about survival and more about playing well. Anybody can bash their way through even the hardest difficulty, thanks to the generous respawn mechanism and level select, but scoring well is about playing well, and playing well is about having fun with gravity. In addition to the sheepie multiplier, there’s a second multiplier called Boost. Boost is earned by making pattern of bullets around the black hole, and it’s trickier than it seems.
In Korma mode, there’s only one gravity source. The initial sun is all you’ve got to deal with, and making lovely orbiting patterns is a breeze. The next difficulty, Madras, introduces a second gravity well, not as strong but still influential, and with it comes the ability to make much more intricate patterns for a higher Boost multiplier. Vindaloo (Hard) brings with it a repeller, and the sun doesn’t stop spitting bullets once it’s turned into a black hole, and finally Phaal cranks everything to 11.
Thankfully, you’re not sent unarmed to deal with all the madness. When the sun is shot open it drops an extra life, but there’s a twist. Each life is a different ship, complete with unique bullet patterns and characteristics. The Claw (yellow ship that bears more than a passing resemblance to whatever-it-is the player controls in another series Llamasoft has been associated with) has good spread in front and a nice solid shot from the back, and its bullets are easily effected by gravity. This makes it a great high-score ship, but its front shot isn’t as effective for opening the sun so it’s not that useful to start a level with. The Trekkie, on the other hand, has excellent concentrated forward and rear shots that are unaffected by gravity, making it great for clearing out a screen that’s suddenly got just a bit too cluttered in too many directions. There are 14 different ships to collect, but once one is destroyed by falling off the bottom of the screen it’s gone for the rest of that gaming session. Fortunately, you can change ships with the mouse wheel even when plummeting to your doom, so saving your weapon of choice is easy.
The entire game, in fact, is designed to be played with just one hand on the mouse. The ship moves smoothly by mouse control, left and right mouse buttons control rotation, and the wheel, as mentioned, changes ship type. The left hand is left free to deal with a beverage of choice (Llamasoft recommends tea), making for a game that, even at it’s most hectic, is still strangely relaxing. This helps make it far too easy to load the game up for another round, even after putting it up for the night.
Gridrunner Revolution is a fantastic arcade shooter that will sink into your brain, demanding more play time because it’s just so incredibly accessible. Every game is different thanks to the layout of the gravity sources, making each play unique as you look for the optimal place to not get killed while simultaneously maxing out the Boost meter. There are no patterns to learn, only behaviors to understand, making for a game that needs to be understood instead of memorized. Experimentation leads to addiction, which leads to seeing bullet patterns on the inside of your eyelids. Gridrunner Revolution easily earns its place in a series that’s been running for 27 years now, and that’s an impressive feat worth anyone’s time.
