Crash And Burn
Hyperide is a horizontal scrolling arcade-style endless runner designed like a poor man’s Jetpack Joyride. Players control a ship’s vertical movement with the goal of avoiding cheddar cheese looking asteroids, picking up stray astronauts (why are there so many astronauts just floating in space?), and collecting purple gems. However, although there are unlockables, the game does not keep track of a score of any kind so replay value is limited and gameplay is broken.
Even if the gameplay was entertaining, there are many general housekeeping issues that easily move this downloadable eShop title into the “barely playable” category. First, gameplay and control actually couldn’t be any simpler as the player only uses the analog stick to move up or down; the ship doesn’t shoot and the player doesn’t even control speed. With this said, it is very upsetting to realize the control is broken as the ship will uncontrollably dive bomb to the bottom of the screen randomly which causes instantly frustrating death. I actually thought something was wrong with my Pro Controller so I restarted the Switch and resynced but still had this issue. Even navigating the simple main menu is a hassle as it is difficult to distinguish what option is selected and the cursor is much too sensitive.
Instead of aiming for a high score, the game wants you to collect a ridiculously high amount of purple gems. These gems can then be spent to unlock additional stages and ships. While this system was addicting in Jetpack Joyride, the feature is moot here without a high score feature. Upon death, the cursor’s default position is set on the “continue” option but continuing costs a precious amount of purple gems. Thing is, there really is no different between “restarting” and “continuing” since the game doesn’t keep track of score. So why waste these gems, the only gameplay element that creates any type of replayability, on continuing from the point of death when restarting is free and essentially the same thing? Combine this fact with the sensitive cursor (I accidentally selected “continue” instead of “restart” many times) and players will face immediate and constant frustration.
The player can experience a type of bonus stage when entering a black hole. This black hole gives the player a chance at collecting a purple gem but it flies by so fast there is no chance to use to skill to collect it. In addition, the generic visuals are only matched by the even worse soundtrack.
With so much going wrong, it is a wonder how this game was even allowed on the Switch eShop. Not sure why anyone would want to spend a few bucks on Hyperide with its horribly broken controls, frustrating gameplay, and cheap presentation when games like Jetpack Joyride are infinitely better quality and free to play.
Not To Be Confused With: Hyperide Vector Raid (Switch)
Also Try: Schizoid (XBLA)
Play It Instead: classic Defender
By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com
Twitter: @ZackGaz