Radiantflux: Hyperfractal (Wii U) Review

Suddenly, it seems like Radiantflux: Hyperfractal is some sort hacking adventure game. A bizarre excitement builds at the prospect of fake spam emails to look over, retro-websites to browse and overly large download bars to wait for. However, while the game has all these things, it's all done only to the shallowest degree. There's one website to browse, which acts as both a hint system and a reward structure. There's a handful of amusing spam, and a few emails that make up a little bit of world-building - but nothing sufficient to call a story. The interest of the presentation quickly falls away as it's revealed to really deliver nothing more than a way to fire up the main game, and a handful of silly rewards as you progress. Essentially, Radiantflux: Hyperfractal is just a side-scrolling shooter after all, just one wrapped in a cheesy Windows 95-esque themed menu.

The main game itself is nothing exceptional. You control a small ship flying around a cylindrical environment, blasting enemies and dodging their fire. It's possible to race towards the enemies, but it's often better strategically to let them come to you.

A slight twist to the normal shooter formula is given by the weapon used - a ball that while held grants a wide spread of missiles. At regular intervals, releasing the ball is required, letting it bounce off enemies, and then catching it again. This acts as a 'recharge,' and bouncing it off more powerful enemies results in making it more powerful. Other than that, there doesn't seem to be a goal except survive and get the highest score possible.

High scores unlock new levels, as well as "downloadable" applications that provide a moment's diversion. The game initially seems quite hard, but after working out a few basic techniques, getting the required high scores doesn't take long. For most people, unlocking all five levels shouldn't take more than an hour. Entertainment past that point depends how driven people are to get the best score.

It's a shame, as the overall experience feels fragmented and incomplete. A little more effort put into the retro-computing environment to make it into a meta-game in itself, as well as more diversity in the shooters levels, might have raised this oddity into a mini-classic. As it stands, however, it feels like a random collection of projects the developer had lying around bundled into what it is, which is ultimately just a novel menu system. Players interested in the retro novelty but preferring RPGs to the shooter aspect might want to look into Kingsway instead.