REVIEW: Crisis Wing


Title	Crisis Wing
Developer	Eastasiasoft Limited, Pieslice Productions
Publisher	Eastasiasoft
Release Date	September 22, 2021 (Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One) September 18, 2020 (PC)
Genre	Shoot ’em up
Platform	PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One
Age Rating	ESRB: Everyone
Official Website

What we have here is another indie shmup that is aiming to recapture the look and feel of an old school 16 bit shooter. If the name Toaplan rings a bell to you, then this is a game that will likely pique your interest. If the below screenshot looks cool to you, than you will likely enjoy this one.

With many old school shoot ’em ups, the story is very light, if there even is one. Crisis Wing‘s is an example of the latter: there is a very brief intro showing two ships flying and then you are brought to the title screen. The game gets right to the point and the main reason why you’re even there in the first place: to blow things up! You are given three lives and three bombs per life to get through the seven stages. And these stages are TOUGH. Enemies come in quick and the bullet patterns are unrelenting. You will need some quick reflexes and a good understanding of enemy patters if you want to stand a chance at getting through this one. There are unlimited continues, however continuing will re-spawn you at the last checkpoint. Thankfully the game is fairly generous with the checkpoints but there are some segments later on that can get particularly nasty and some players may hit a wall.

If you’re looking for an additional challenge, you can turn off instant re-spawn in the menu so that every time you lose a life you are sent back to a checkpoint. To help you overcome what the game throws at you, you can collect three main types of powerups that are color coded. You can upgrade them by collecting power ups matching the color of the weapon you currently have equipped. Doing so will increase firepower allowing them to deal more damage. Of course, losing a life means your weapon will be downgraded so you want to stay focused so you can maintain your current weapon.

As I mentioned before the game is graphically reminiscent of older 16 bit shooters, even going as far as imitating parallax scrolling in the backgrounds. The developers definitely seem to be fans of games like Tatsujin (Truxton) especially in the awesome bomb animation, which summons a giant green skull destroying everything on screen and is particularly devastating against bosses. If there is a problem with the visuals, it is worth noting that the enemy bullet patterns can sometimes blend in with your own attacks, especially as the red power-up bullets are the same color as the enemies’. The game’s music also feels evocative of the era it’s trying to emulate with plenty of heat pumping synth to get you ready for each wave of enemy ships.

Crisis Wing is very much a standard shooter, for better or worse. It works and works fairly well but there isn’t much to really make it “pop” even when compared to other shooters – even those of the era it’s trying to emulate. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, since sometimes a basic game hits different and can act as a nice palate cleanser to unwind with between major releases. Even at the reasonable $7.99 pricetag, there are other shooters you may want to spend your time playing and returning to over this one.