A skill-based spectacle of the classics of old with a dash of retro charm and a heaping injection of kick butt adrenaline. Master drift and upgrade your fighter to become the top pilot in the galaxy, or team up with up to three of your comrades and decimate the enemy.

• Solaroids: Prologue Steam, Official Site has the same basic gameplay as the classic Asteroids with a focus on surviving as long as you can, while you face new threats as the game gets longer. YouTube videos require cookies, you must accept their cookies to view.
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Solaroids: Prologue is a twin stick “SHMUP” (Shoot ’em up) inspired by the 1979 arcade shooter Asteroidsand its 1992 clone Maelstrom. True to its inspiration, Solaroidsbrings forth the classic asteroids experience and advances the concept well to become something unique and creative.

The game features a decent amount of customization and gameplay options, in terms of settings and style. For those who like options, you can play with either a keyboard or controller, and use up to four controllers supported for local co-op.

From the intro screen, you’re presented with two options: Campaign and Free Play.

Campaign mode begins with Wave One, allowing the player to get into the swing of the game. As the player defeats enemies, the wave indicator in the bottom center of the screen will continue to fill until an alarm sounds, and the screen begins to flash red around the edge. At the end of each wave, a final boss will spawn with increasingly powerful weapons and greater numbers of enemy defenders. Wonderfully, players can upgrade by flying after and catching upgrade modules with their ship. These can range from better weapons, ship modules, points boosts, repair utilities, and so forth.

The first wave consists of small alien warships, consisting of a simple square shape. As the player progresses, more powerful and diverse enemies and upgrades appear. For example, the below screenshot shows a player battling a “space centipede”, being chased by player-seeking killer asteroids (the pointy rocks on the left), while using a rapid fire weapon upgrade and two modules which add additional ship weapons to the side of the player ship.

Earlier, I talked about the co-op feature, so let’s dive in to that. Each player flies independently, but the group can select either “Split Screen” (shown below) to fly off in their own direction and pursue enemies independently or “Shared Screen” (all players sharing one single screen, as above) to work together. It really depends how you like to play!

Co-op can be customized considerably. Friendly fire can be turned on and off, as can friendly collisions. In both single player and co-op, you can change the background, set the level of parallax and change various gameplay mechanics. I have a fond memory of my wife and I flying in a straight line looking for enemies, and slamming into each other head on 😉 You can choose to shoot through each other…or at each other, to get to the enemy. PS: Some enemies explode, violently, on death. Be ready to fly fast and hard to survive.

The game features a scoreboard, which allows you to track your score against the world – as well as yourself. You begin with three lives, and your score is reset if you exhaust your lives. Minimize how many times you explode in order to compete for the highest score. There are power ups which increase your score and add boosts and bonuses. Enemies have a chance of dropping a repair upgrade, which you must catch if you notice your ship is a little…on fire. As you play, you’ll encounter limited use collectible upgrades like homing missiles, plasma explosives which cause an area of effect explosion around your ship, and a more powerful area attack which can destroy most of the smaller enemies in a single blast.

At the end of the tenth wave, the game goes into “infinity” and now you must survive as long as you can against the full might of the alien armada. This could mean fighting a handful of battle stations, centipedes, floating mines, and more, all at once. You can also jump right into this with Free Play. It’s deadly. Keep an eye on your health, ammo and upgrades. Your ship will start burning. You’ll want to get repaired, fast.

Solaroids: Prologue is a true pleasure to play. It never gets old, repetitive or boring, especially with friends. Each experience is a little different and you can sense the love and passion the developer has put into the game. Chad Yates is well grounded and wonderful, the ingredients you need in a successful indie developer.

For those who love arcade style games and want to play something with excellent replay value that is well suited for casual play, I highly recommend Solaroids: Prologue.

Rating: 9/10

Developer: Chad Yates (DynF/X Digital)
Publisher: Chad Yates (DynF/X Digital)
Webstore Links:
Steam

Factsheet

Developer:
DynF/X Digital
Based in Moscow, Idaho

Release date:
October 2016

Platforms:
Steam Early Access (PC/Mac/Linux)
Xbox One (In Development)
Nintendo Switch (In Development)
Playstation 4 (In Development)
iOS (In Development)
Android (In Development)

Website:
solaroids.com/earlyaccess

Description

A re-imagined version of the classic Asteroids® as a single or local multiplayer shooter. Dodge and strafe your way to victory against insurmountable odds. Compete on the global Leaderboards using either modern 'Twin-stick' or classic 'Tank' controls, and see how you stand up to the best pilots.

History

Features

• Classic [i]Asteroids®[/i] style game play with options for Twin-stick style controls
• Huge wrapping arena
• Wide assortment of power-ups and threats unlocked throughout the levels
• Forward and reverse thrusters
• Primary, secondary, and defensive weapons
• Customize primary and secondary player ship colors
• Reticle indicating location of items of interest including enemies and players
• Damage system based off physical, mechanical, and electrical properties
• Campaign mode providing a gentile introduction and progression through the levels
• Free Play mode providing instant and insanely intense action
• Up to 4 local players
• Join at any time
• Unlimited credits (configurable)
• Cooperative or not - you decide (configurable)
• Separate local and global leaderboards for both First Credit and Any Credit high scores
• Achievements
• 4K+ resolution support
• 60Hz-240Hz+ support
• Original soundtrack with support for Steam music
• Configurable controls: Classic, Hybrid (single-stick), Modern (twin-stick)
• Supports common controllers: Xbox 360/One, Dualshock 3/4, Keyboard

Videos

Solaroids: Prologue - Trailer 2YouTube

Solaroids: Prologue - Current Feature Highlights (Fall 2018)YouTube

Images

Logo & Icon

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Additional Links

About DynF/X Digital

Solaroids: Prologue

Boilerplate
DynF/X Digital produces digital content. Dyn as in dynamic, F/X as in effects, whether it is animation, music, web-design, video games, or other digital media, DynF/X Digital was formed from the love of the use of computer software to produce creative content.

More information
More information on DynF/X Digital, our logo & relevant media are available here.

Solaroids: Prologue Credits

Chad Yates
Producer - Artist - Music - Design - Programming

J. P. Lacerda
Brazilian Portuguese

Solaroids Prologue

Lei Huang
Chinese (simplified)

Tim Bakkum
Dutch

Clément Santangelo
French

Thomas Rühl
German

Lorenzo Padula
Italian

Pawel Zatryb
Polish

Alexander Ashikhin
Russian

Ivan Andrijasevic
Serbian

Juan Pablo Campaya
Spanish

Stefan Persson
Swedish

Contact

Inquiries
cyates@dynfxdigital.com

Twitter
twitter.com/DynFXDigital

Facebook
facebook.com/pages/Dyn-FX-Digital/117608195079285

Web
dynfxdigital.com

presskit() by Rami Ismail (Vlambeer) - also thanks to these fine folks