Bullet Hell Monday (2016)

Note: this was played on the iOS (very recent version). 1CC on Easy and 1CC on Normal!

Bullet Hell Monday is a title that's a little tough to appreciate at first, requiring an upgrade curve to get into the swing of it but with bite-sized stages that train up to an excellent 1CC challenge, it might just be worth the grind.

With zero story to speak of, the player is pulled right into the action, with a vertically scrolling shooter that has a handful of stages with specific achievement objectives. Clear the stage, clear it without getting hit, bomb a certain number of enemies, etc - these offer points for upgrading the ship, buying different shot types, and a separate point system for moving onto the next stage. The player must engage with the objective system to proceed but if they clear enough stages in the five Chapters they can unlock a full Challenge version that combines these segments into a full level, and eventually a Challenge-ALL that can give the player a chance to 1CC.

The player starts off with a pretty measly ship and a teeny shot with small range - there are freemium prices in the mobile version for unlocking more shot modes but I was cheap enough to stick with the Laser and Wide shot, which admittedly are a very good combo once upgraded. Players can add bombs, options, item magnetism, and shot power to eventually be good enough to play, but it can be frustrating to start with very little. There are ads (alas, the freemium) to give extra points in a pinch to get through the grind, but players are encouraged to practice stages as a form of grinding as there is a finesse to some difficult segments and learning the best way of utilizing what shot types are available to the player. Once fully unlocked, the Challenge-ALL is a fantastic run that builds up everything the player has trained for.

The visual style is minimalist, vector-based, but very colorful and pretty, making sure everywhere is nice and clear. Perhaps it was all the hexagon items but I felt like we were taking some inspiration from the Super Hexagon style of visuals. The music is somewhat generic but mixes in enough trace and high-energy tracks to stay in the head after repeated hours of play.

Overall Bullet Hell Monday is approachable and generally fun but could definitely use some "skips" to get people immediately in on the arcade action. There's a solid amount of challenge that's implemented well on mobile controls, and while asking for players to fully upgrade in order to get to that challenge is a task I was able to spend a week quickly moving through (with ads) and get the Challenge-ALL I seek.