The increasingly popular twin stick shooter genre, at least in terms of downloadable content, adds another game to its already abundant roster. Does Super Stardust HD rise to the cream of the crop or does it get lost in the crowd? Super Stardust HD does little to expand the arcade shooter genre, but it delivers on everything that it sets out to do. Beautiful visuals? Check. Fun, frenetic gameplay? Check. Challenging environments? Check.

Super Stardust HD puts players in the cockpit of a lone starfighter blasting away asteroids and enemies. The starfighter has three primary types of weapons at its disposal, which can be upgraded by collecting power-ups that float around the planet. The first weapon is called the Rock Crusher, which dispels bullets in a spread formation that increases in radius and in speed by accumulating the power-ups. The second weapon is called the Gold Melter, which shoots a continuous stream of fire. Gold Melter power-ups increase the length of the fire and the damage that it inflicts. The final primary weapon is the Ice Splitter. The Ice Splitter shoots two beams that can be powered up to increase their speed and damage. Each weapon works more effectively on certain asteroids, such as the Ice Splitter destroys an asteroid made of ice much faster than that of rock. The variety in types of asteroids makes the player have to switch between weapons in order to be successful and to take advantage of each weapons’ strengths. This helps add depth and strategy to the game. It may be possible to beat all of the planets using only one planet, but it will add difficulty to an already challenging game. The ship also has two secondary weapons. The ship is supplied with an unlimited amount of boosters that allows the ship to boost away from dangerous predicaments or through an asteroid without taking damage. The booster may be unlimited, but it needs to recharge after each use. The starfighter is also outfitted with bombs that send a shockwave cascading out from the ship. The bombs are a little sparse, so players are advised to save them for close encounters and last second rescues from sure destruction.

The two modes of play are arcade and planet mode. Arcade allows the player to play through all five planets and loops back to the first planet at an increased difficulty if all planets are passed. Each planet has five phases, the last being a boss battle. The planet mode lets players choose one of the five planets to play through in order to beat their high score or just to practice for a run at raising their high score in arcade mode. The high score lists are expansive and are easily manageable.

Super Stardust HD’s visual are beautiful and full of bright, vibrant colors. There is a lot going on most of the time and I never once saw the frame rate drop, which was remarkable. The explosions are striking, especially for a downloadable game. The game loads are short and far between, which is always welcomed. The sound is true to the arcade shooter experience. It is fast-paced, hard-hitting trance music that sets the mood and fits the game well.
A few areas that Super Stardust HD lacks in are the limited game modes, little variety in gameplay (both environments and enemies can become stale rather quickly), and it is rather short in length. However, Housemarque has countered those complaints with the addition of two expansion packs that cost $4.99 each. The solo expansion gives players four new modes of play and a remixed soundtrack. The co-op expansion pack adds two modes of co-op play, a ship editor, and a new soundtrack.

Overall, Super Stardust HD is an impressive twin stick shooter that brings a fast-paced, frantic arcade experience that seems to be aimed at pleasing hardcore. The increasing difficulty of the arcade mode and the implementation of multiple high score lists will appease the hardcore shooters that are looking for an old-school arcade experience. The $9.99 price tag is a good value, but the total package (stand-alone game and two expansion packs) may be a little pricey for some, $19.97. Now With Super Stardust HD joining the likes of Calling All Cars, flOw, Echochrome, and PixelJunk Monsters the PSN is finally starting to catch up to Microsoft’s XBLA. The PSN also looks to have the most promising exclusives coming this Fall including flOwer, PixelJunk Eden, Siren: Blood Curse, and Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty. The PSN’s rapidly growing roster is beginning to shape up rather nicely. Look out Microsoft, here comes Sony.