Sky Force Anniversary

Sky Force Anniversary may be a “re-creation” of a nearly 15-year-old game, but it looks and plays like it was custom made for this generation’s systems.Read More

Classic shoot 'em up gameplay is awesome when it's done correctly. The original Sky Force (available for mobile devices including PSP) was pretty cool so let's see how it evolved over the years.

You have to grind for upgrades and replay stages to ensure you've met the requirements to unlock the next, but Sky Force Anniversary keeps the action entertaining. Trying to acquire each of the medals on playthroughs feels different enough to prevent things from getting too repetitive, and there's always the challenge of trying to get them all in one go. If you want to test your skills then the additional difficulties that can be unlocked will scratch that itch, and there's also replayability in trying to improve your score. As enjoyable as this is, it's something that has already been done - ...

Sky Force Anniversary is a great modern shmup that unfortunately pads its content by pushing players to the max. Not only that, but there are implementations, such as the specialties, that feel arbitrary. Detractions aside, I liked the game quite a bit and the addition of co-op and Remote Play was a godsend. Sky Force Anniversary didn’t evolve the genre, but it created something moderately pleasant in our modern architecture.

Having never played any of the Sky Force games over the years, I confess I came to the review for the latest installment, Sky Force Anniversary on the Switch, with a blank slate. At first glance, there’s certainly a lot that is familiar – it’s a vertical-scrolling airplane shoot em up in which you eliminate waves of enemies while trying to avoid getting hit yourself. And after playing it for a while, I would say that Sky Force Anniversary is a competent entry in the well-trodden genre, one that will offer some addictive fun in the short term, while ultimately growing a bit repetitive after a f...