If you play JRPGs in any form, you’ve probably played or come across the Hyperdimension Neptunia series. From its initial release on the PS3, the Neptunia franchise has been subject to tons of sequels and several spin offs. Yet, Neptunia Shooter is unlike all others. What do we mean by this? Find out in our full review of Neptunia Shooter down below!

Neptunia Shooter makes its title very literal. Players assume the role—initially—of Neptune as she blasts her enemies to dust in space. As the player progresses through levels, they will encounter bosses who look like familiar Neptunia franchise characters. Defeat the boss and they will join Neptune and can be used with their various powers. Raise your high score, try to survive and make it to the end in one piece! That’s what you can expect from Neptune’s lastest outing in Neptunia Shooter!

Neptune is throwing away her sword and special abilities in-lieu of her new adventure. Going into space, Neptune must take her 8-Bit shmup skills and blast away baddies! Thankfully, Neptune won’t be alone and can rely on some friends to save space! Can Neptune and her pals fight in this new environment? Of course, they can; Neptune never turns down a challenge and she’s more than eager to try out her space shooting abilities in Neptunia Shooter!

Fans of the Hyperdimension Neptunia series have gotten a lot of titles to play with their favorite heroines. Most of these titles have been huge JRPG titles where players joined Neptune and the other residents of Gamindustri in saving their worlds by working together to defeat some evil force that threatens their peace. While these titles have been mixed in their reviews and sales, Neptunia titles have been loved by many and have garnered a huge following for years now. Today though, we aren’t talking about a new massive JRPG experience. Instead, we’re reviewing Neptunia Shooter which is literally about Neptune in space, shooting space jellies and bears…yeah…with that let’s continue with our full review of Neptunia Shooter for the PC!

As we mentioned before, Neptunia Shooter is a simple title. Players enter the shoes of Neptune and aren’t given any story or any warning. The moment you hit start, you begin shooting space baddies—styled after Neptune’s various enemies—and try to reach the end of each area. That’s right readers. Neptunia Shooter is a shoot ‘em up—shmup for short—and while it might seem strange, it actually works quite well in execution.

As Neptune or one of the other gaming goddesses, players will blast enemies and try to rank up high scores. With three lives to begin with, each hit reduces that number and losing them all means restarting the entire game from the beginning! Neptunia Shooter looks an 8-Bit but also has that feeling of an 8-Bit game, not forgiving and insanely hard but fun. Neptunia Shooter is extremely bare bones and that is where things take a slight turn for the worst.

Outside the impressive—and cute—visuals and music that scream 8-Bit era, Neptunia Shooter isn’t like the main games. Don’t expect a deep story of Neptune saving the day or reading the usual novel sized dialogue. Neptunia Shooter costs five dollars and is just as the name implies, a shooter. That might hurt fans of the series who expect almost all of the spin off Neptunia games to have a high level of detail and story. Neptunia Shooter tries to be retro and it does that well…at least for those who go into expecting as much.

Now, even if the fact that Neptunia Shooter isn’t the grandiose game you’d expect, let’s put this in your mind. As a shmup, Neptunia Shooter might be super simple—and we mean simple due to its few button design—but it works quite well. Shooting enemies and avoiding dizzying amounts of lasers feels solid and works quite well. Each of the characters you nab—six in total—allows you to use a different weapon form from lasers, pill bombs and the list goes on. It gives you just enough variety and due to its simple nature, Neptunia Shooter works as an old school type shmup game.

For $4.99, Neptunia Shooter is a very basic but fun shmup game. Despite it featuring some Neptunia themed characters and enemies, this spin off title is just meant to give fans a fun title to play without the usually giant plot/world of the main series. Overall, Neptunia Shooter isn’t going to be the best shmup game out there, yet it is a fun title nonetheless. With challenging levels, various characters and a solid OST/visual style, Neptunia Shooter isn’t hard to recommend to fans or just gamers who love shoot ‘em ups. If you go into Neptunia Shooter expecting a simple and fun 8-Bit themed game, you’ll love it. If you expect the same level of gameplay from the other mainstay Neptunia games, you’ll find Neptunia Shooter to be a bit of a letdown.

Neptunia Shooter is an extremely simple—yes, we know we’ve said that a lot—shmup and it works in that regard. Going back to the older days of gaming, Neptunia Shooter captures the simpler times of popping in a game, hitting start and blasting away enemies trying to hold on to your lives no matter the cost. That’s why there’s a charm to be seen while enjoying this silly spin off title. While fans might sigh that their beloved Neptunia game isn’t filled with tons of dialogue and JRPG action, fans might also enjoy the simplicity that Neptunia Shooter captures. Plus, that price tag of only five dollars makes it easy to recommend Neptunia Shooter just as a title to play for passing hours away when bored. Are you going to pick up Neptunia Shooter? Comment below to let us know! For all your gaming review needs and articles, be sure to keep stuck to our hive here at Honey’s Anime!