Get ready to travel back in time with PopSlinger. Where the music is motivating and it’ll have you grooving to the beat as you play the game. It’s a totally fun, arcade-style game with a classic look of the 90s and plenty of enemies to shoot at. The hero of the game is actually a woman! Ria is gonna be our character to play through each level, using her soda-powered weapon to destroy these colorful invaders. Don’t worry with a special hit of one button, you can get another heroine, a former Popslinger named Gin to appear and help take the villains down.
The game is fully colorful, filled with an animated and cartoony style appeal. Plus, if you remember playing some classic games on old consoles or arcade games, possibly think of Megaman X, or like a 2D style game that allows you to move forward only if you destroy every villain in that section of the game, that is what you have here. Plenty of waves to defeat enemies and new sections of a world to visit and help destroy these enemies. All you need is a never-ending, powerful weapon like the soda-shaped gun and you will be able to get closer to the goal, saving the world.
My First Impression
PopSlinger first reminded me of many classic arcade-style games, which I’ve played growing up and still do. Its music is just as stated in the description, very motivating, and brings the game to life! However, I’m not too much of a big fan of the gameplay. Where one must stop at every new wave or section of the game, till all the enemies are defeated. Even though it’s not a game style I’m fond of, but it still isn’t too bad since there are some interesting parts that live it up!
Actually, one of these parts is the new color pattern you must put together. The 4 of the same enemies destroyed in a row allow you to get help from Gin our friend to help you defeat these enemies. Something with a pattern of the colors by defeating enemies in a row of four. You’ll enable Gin to have a new power. She will either have your back, shooting at the location you summon her. However, this isn’t always helpful and can be just a waste of time if it’s not positioned correctly. Since she ends up shooting nothing most of the time. The other two depending on the colors you shoot in a row of enemies, you can get a bubble to protect you until it pops. Makes me think of Sonic in his bubble, one hit and it’s gone. The other and last one is where she is flying above you a bit and able to help shoot when you shoot. Double the soda-gun shooting power. This is possibly the best out of all the other options, which really does something for us, helping us defeat enemies way more than any other special ability.
I guess there was a reason I felt the game made me enjoy it a bit. As it came to life for me at the time when words appeared with each movement and when using the weapon. What words, well the ones you’d read in a comic book. I felt like I was playing each level as if it was in a comic strip. The background style even fits the part quite well. Plus, when the enemies come in through these dark transporting doorways, I just go ahead and POP them with my soda gun, which I’m loving the comic strip style visual effect and response with each movement.
Oh and the soda-gun comes in so many different flavors, with better shooting power! It all is obtained when defeating the enemies, especially the bosses. Who doesn’t like cola? Now it’s the powerful guy you use to shoot and help defeat enemies. The best part is you can go back and work on the worlds you’ve accomplished and do them a bit better now that you are equipped with some better weapons!
Oh and as mentioned before, that this game is filled with heroines; Two heroes that are female. It’s a nice change and still just as fun. There are no males and females, it’s just two women who are defeating the invaders coming to destroy the world, which we are trying to save. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind if it was men as the heroes or any other mix of the sexes, but it definitely a nice change and yet, still perfect for anyone to play.
Last of the goodness, with a simple movement of the control buttons, it’s not hard to forget how to play or how to play when picking it up at any part of the stage or level you enter. The character, Ria who we are playing is simple to move around and doesn’t really need much work to shoot or know how to shoot and get our friend to be in the game to aid us when we need her.
One thing I did have to ask myself. Are there been any negative features? I can’t say everything was perfect. Even if it’s based on a time period of excellent music and vibrant color as well as effects. I felt the blurry vision can be a little much and didn’t need to keep that design. Even if it’s related to an older style game, how it’s going back to the 80-90s style game design. I don’t think the blurry or fuzzy look had to stay.
Plus, for a control button that allows us to dodge the enemy, it doesn’t really work the way it should. Maybe when defeating the bosses, but the regular gameplay just doesn’t aid in any protection or help. Therefore, that is one button I tend to not use as often since it causes me to be defeated so much quicker. Yet, it doesn’t just stop there, Gin isn’t as helpful either. She can’t shoot far, like our weapon. it only shoots at a short distance.
So when we are looking forward to calling her to aid us, once we get the 4 colors of Villians destroyed in a row, well her abilities aren’t super helpful. For example, if you get the purple color enemies in a row, it doesn’t really help us when she’s shooting just in the air and not even near or by any of the villains; enemies in the game. It’s a bit of a waste and I guess I wish it could be improved some. SPlus she is shooting one way to the right, not even to the left. It is useful to help stop some coming from the left side, not all on the right of us.
When we use the yellow and get the 4 enemies in a row, we can use it to get a bubble. However, that bubble only lasts one time. Once it gets popped, we are totally doomed. We would be better off if Gin could give us a bubble that would protect us for 30 seconds or a minute than just when many are attacking at a time and one hit and it’s gone. What’s the point, we have such a short life span, we are defeated so easily.
The last is the color red, which is the only one I do like. It actually allows her to fly above us and help us shoot while we shoot. However, the one last problem is just as mentioned above, the short lifespan. our cards will end up fading fast in the beginning. You really need to be prepared to be destroyed sooner and it is great to achieve a larger lifespan sooner in the game, as it is a bit harder to move forward so easily. I guess it’s not a great game for those who want to be able to move through the levels quickly, they can be a bit hard, especially by the design of the weapon and life we have.
Arcade Fun from Start to Finish
Finally, what can I say? Well plenty, because it was a good game, just not that exciting or long-term entertaining. It’s missing a few things which could put it over the top. I feel it was a bit lacking in weapons, the use of our friend Gin, and even just the difficulty can be a bit much, especially with the final grading at the end. Maybe it’s me, cause I don’t mind games like these. However, it’s just something I wish could have added or changed just a little bit to make it stand out somewhat more and be even better than it is right now!
