Soulgame Studio, the creator of Minishoot’ Adventures seems to have a handle on something that is woefully missing from many retro-inspired titles, and that’s direction. Far too often, when encountering games that want to “capture the feeling of the NES era,” it’s done in aesthetic alone, sometimes coupled with the obtuse handling of core principles. Yes, the games of the Famicom were certainly difficult and could be persnickety in response, but that wasn’t what made them success stories and nostalgic touchstones for many. It was the ability to be evocative, to create something that existed both on the screen and in the mind’s eye. Wildly, this new title in 2024 seems to have hit upon that with incredible success.

The story of Minishoot’ Adventures is told mostly without words, though some small bits of exposition crop up here and there. You are on a planet inhabited by sentient ships who exist and frolic in harmony all the livelong day until something evil shows up and mucks up the world. Most ships are abducted and frozen in some kind of crystalline prison, but you, small and plucky ship, are The Chosen One or something like that and manage to shoot yourself free. Armed only with the echoing voice of someone in your cockpit (and also your gun), you head off to beat back the dark forces, free your friends and probably do some other things.

On paper, this sounds like it might be something rather contrite and gimmicky. The idea is that it’s a standard exploration game: you have a bit of map at the beginning, and you slowly figure out where you’re supposed to be going through trial, error and unlocks. There are a couple different types of currency, one for leveling and one for additional power-ups/perks, and the only “real” objective is to defeat the bosses and free everyone. Incredibly standard adventure game archetype, but this one peppers in the approach twist. As the little ship, your weapon is solely your blaster, which is delivered through a twinstick approach. All the other enemies, as a result, are also ships with blasters of different breeds, and survival hinges on your ability to shoot and dodge in a very bullet hell sort of way.

I’ve had plenty of games that promise these sorts of experiences in the past, but the problem has always been execution. When you seek to mashup two different genres a la Game Dev Story, it generally becomes a mess. You rely too much on one point or the other: even The Binding of Isaac, arguably one of the best Zelda inspired clones, is all about the dungeon and not about actual exploration. Striking a balance is a torrid affair, and games either are too close to the inspiration, way too far out there to really see a parallel, or are just…bland.

Minishoot’ Adventures, shockingly, brings the heat in all categories to an incredible degree. The novelty of setting out and exploring the landscape starts at a high point and doesn’t decrease until you reach the end game. The map, which includes multiple biomes and deterrents, encourages players to forge a path with the tools they have, also giving hints and nods at secrets strewn throughout. When I first stumbled into a nook that looked like a normal wall save for a slight abnormality in the lines, I was ecstatic. Trying to shoot anything and everything to find hidden switches, secret caves or errant jewels for leveling was a perpetual hunt of joy and curiosity.

The game reveals itself gradually through additional tools and abilities that get added both through discovery and through purchase. These new concepts sometimes give you a couple of words to know what’s happening (“Max Energy +”), but sometimes you just need to figure it out for yourself. Booster energy lets you dash from and to fights, but also now lets you jump over small gaps. Upgraded blasters take care of cracks in the walls and boulders that conceal secrets. It encourages you to now go back and take a fresh look at previous areas because it’s different now: there’s something to discover with each upgrade to your character.

In that same vein, he leveling system also is properly implemented to help players progress in their own direction. The gems of experience that foes drop (and some random crystals on the map) allow you to upgrade specific stats like damage, speed, shooting range, and bullet speed. While each category caps out at a certain level, the game also allows you to downgrade for a full refund and reinvest wherever you think it might be helpful. So when I was getting hammered by the second boss, I made the call to reduce my range and max the damage to help cut down on my fighting time. It didn’t really work, but I loved that, on the fly, I could reconfigure my ship to try a new strategy instead of just “getting good.”

With a story told with sparse text and no dialogue, Minishoot’ Adventures does an incredible job of conveying emotion and ambition in finding my way forward. The tiny ship that is the protagonist will emit a series of chirps and sounds when it’s happy or upset, and the hearts that flow when you find another of your ship family and free them always gave me a dopamine rush of success. Yes, finding the other ships allows you to unlock even more advantages for the ease of game, but it was more about the concept of reuniting a unit and helping to make your village whole again. I didn’t need words to understand what was good, what was bad and what needed to happen. I was just driven by seeing elation from a bunch of sentient pew pews.

On the subject of combat, Minishoot’ Adventures hangs its hat on the reflexes and abilities of the player, and I have to say this: invest in a good controller. You do not want to try this with a keyboard and mouse situation, you absolutely want two joysticks to deliver the payload and access to those shoulder buttons once you unlock additional powers. The bullet density of the enemies is optimal, increasing and becoming more stressful the further you get in the game. Initially, I was perfectly happy to play on normal, feeling very smug as I dodged around shots from the minor and semi-elite enemies that cropped up everywhere. Even the first boss was a challenge, but not necessarily a “hard” challenge, more like an endurance mission.

That all changed after a certain point, and I really came to respect the positioning and calculations that went into the fighting and survival. At any point, players can increase or decrease the difficulty, but it doesn’t disperse any bullets or cut down on enemy HP. Rather, it slows down or speeds up enemy bullets, which still encourages you to get better at the central idea of the game instead of just easing off the gas. As someone who spent way too long with Castle of Shikigami and Mushihimesama, I felt I was better equipped than most, but I gratefully downshifted into easy when it came time for the later boss fights.

Enemy design in Minishoot’ Adventures is inspired, much like the landscape itself, and it was honestly incredible to see how many different interpretations of “ships that shoot at you” came forward. From tiny discs of ramming speed to triangles of bullet laden pain to hexagonal horror sprayers, there’s a bit of everything, and it’s fascinating to behold. There’s a tapestry of ideas and concepts that SoulGame Studio cobbled together, and it paints this vivid picture of a world stricken with blight and evil, but still fighting to glow with hope and promise. When I encountered the dreadnought that was the Desert Boss, I started grinning because I was several hours in and I was still getting surprised by new ideas. 

Lastly, the soundtrack is the frosted flower on top. You know how a piece of birthday cake tastes that much better when you get some of the design icing with it? The soundtrack is the accent that pushes the package from “great” to “spectacular,” crafting a soundscape that is both evocative and unique in homage and presence. The electronic aural adventure put me both in the seat of the little ship, but also watching down and rooting for the victory of this unusual protagonist. It’s got a charm in the sound that was distinctly retro future, and it kept the vibe going even as I ventured into the deserts, the tropical southern sea, the foreboding dungeons or returned to my beloved town. It made me think of The Last Starfighter, Mega Man, and, yes, The Legend of Zelda, but it was always its own music, never someone else’s.

Players looking to discover every single thing still will spend less than ten hours in Minishoot’ Adventures, and I firmly believe that speedrunners will be able to get the main game in under two hours, very likely less. But that’s another aspect I love about Minishoot’ Adventures: it never overstays its welcome. With excellent rendering and optimization, the map is seamless and you get in and out of dungeons without a lot of fanfare. You don’t need to spend 30+ hours to have a satisfying, thrilling and compelling journey that sits with you inbetween play sessions. Sometimes a game tells its tale over a long afternoon and that’s all you need.

For decades, I’ve chased the high that games of my childhood delivered, but I could never quite scratch the itch. But the combination of elements – the discovery, the combat, the upgrades and the world itself – made me excited to dive into Minishoot’ Adventures each and every time. It hits upon all that I love and does it with grace and aplomb, and I cannot recommend this game enough. A treasure in a modern world of titles, it doesn’t do retro through pixel graphics or bananas difficulty: it’s retro because it makes you feel like a kid again. 

 

Graphics: 9.5 Not a brick out of place, not a ship, tree or boulder that felt awkward, the world of Minishoot’ Adventures is crafted expertly to keep you immersed in this wonderful realm of sci-fi adventure and exploratory wonder.	Gameplay: 10 Rarely has the balance between action, adventure, advancement and challenge been struck in such a clear and supportive way, but there is an act happening here that keeps all balls in the air at all times and does so with zest.
Sound: 10 It’s not just the exciting score and dynamic soundtrack that keeps Minishoot’ Adventure at the forefront of my mind’s ear, but the blend of explosions, squeaks and beeps that make the world complete and continues to harken to an era where games were built from the ground up around four posts of sight, sound, play, and engagement.	Fun Factor: 10 Coming home from work: excited to play for a few minutes. Up before the kids: jazzed to explore another cavern. Downtime with the family: let’s show them what this time trial race looks like. When the opportunity presented itself, I was in the game, and that hasn’t happened in forever.
Final Verdict: 10

Minishoot’ Adventures is available now on PC.

Reviewed on PC.

A copy of Minishoot’ Adventures was provided by the publisher.