Score Rush is a fast-paced hell shooter that keeps you on the edge of your seat. The action starts off slow, allowing you to find your rhythm. Right before the first boss encounter the kid gloves come off, and the game becomes a bullet ride from hell.
Being a fan of Japanese hell shooters, I felt right at home as I was shooting and dodging bullets to save my life. The action is none-stop, throwing you into one battle after another with no save points or stage completion messages. This is one battle that isn’t going to stop until you finish off the bosses. That’s right; you’re in for a non-stop ride until the very end.
You start off with three lives and three bombs; there are no difficulty settings so you can’t wimp out on this one. Every enemy you kill will add to your ever-growing score, along with bomb usage and of course defeating bosses. Enemies will also drop small little red balls that act as sort of a power-up that will help increase your overall firepower.
There are nine bosses in total; they appear one right after another, sandwiched between waves of smaller enemy ships that must be destroyed first. When you are finally defeated, you can review your overall stats to see how well you performed. The status report will show how many bullets were fired, how many bullets actually hit, and how many bullets you dodged. Your total score will be displayed on an offline leader board at the startup menu.
Xona Games has developed a nice shooter that feels very commercial in deign. This is a rarity in indie developed games; some developers do not have the time or resources to achieve this level of development. The only thing that prevents Score Rush from being considered a full-fledge retail release is the lack of an online leader board, but to substitute for the lack of an online leader board (and co-op play), Xona Games did add the Share feature which is located in the main menu.
The Share feature allows you to send your high score to friends on your Xbox Live friends list. This allows you to rub their noses in your latest high score achievement.
It’s not easy to get a high score in Score Rush, especially if you are not familiar with Japanese hell shooters. However, if you’re a newcomer to this concept of shooter, you will still enjoy the challenges that await you.
The graphics in Score Rush are bright, colorful and very sharp; they keep your interest the entire game. The graphics almost have a classic approach to them, but on the other hand look very modern. The bomb effects (especially during the boss sequences) are very beautiful and some of the best I have ever seen in a shooter.
The music in Score Rush is composed by Dragon Music and it really sets the mood for the game. The music is an upbeat, rock ‘n roll sound track that keeps you pumped while you blow up alien scum.
Xona Games has developed a well-rounded shooter that is worth more than the asking price of 80MS Points. Do yourself a favor and buy this game.
James ‘Daripp3r’ Pittaro
Platform: Xbox 360 (Available on Xbox Live)
Developer: Xeno Games
Price: 80 MS Points
File Size: 20.9
| Review Score | |
|---|---|
| Graphics |   |
| Simple but done very well, Score Rush has wonderful explosions and colorful effects. | |
| Sound | |
| I love the rock music; it keeps jamming while you slaughter alien invaders. | |
| Gameplay | |
| Score Rush is a hell shooter that provides hours of shmup fun. | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| Score Rush is an excellent hell shooter; I just wish they had included an online leader board feature. If you love Japanese shooters, you need to add Score Rush to your collection. | |
#1
Thanks for the great review! There ARE difficulty modes, but only activate once you beat the game (i.e. they are harder modes for the hardcore gamer who wants more — I’m uploading a video on YouTube of my attempt to defeat difficulty mode #4, which is just insane). It’s also to provide a decent challenge for people who wish to play with 2 through 4 friends at the same time, which will likely make mincemeat out of the regular mode (although things will get hectic with all those fighters and options and bullets filling the screen — thankfully, I make sure the enemy bullets and your hitbox are always clearly visible no matter the chaos beneath, even from your own firepower). Online scoreboards are in the works, I hope to get them working for all 3 games on the service once and for all, without degrading gameplay quality. I am super happy with your review. I’m glad you like the bomb effect. I thought it was nice considering the time limitations I had on implementing it (I wanted to do much more, but was happy with the result, to my own surprise).
Thanks again! Onward!! 🙂
#2
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Matthew Doucette and Jason Doucette, PixelPerfectGaming. PixelPerfectGaming said: Score Rush (Review) Xbox 360 http://tinyurl.com/39amkn4 […]
#3
Great and honest review. Thanks! Glad you appreciated the gameplay. (This text field is hard to see btw!)