Lightning Fighter Review

Bullet hell shoot em ups, or shmups as they're affectionately called, are terrific fun and even better stress relief at the end of a long day. Lightning Fighter serves this purpose perfectly even if it does struggle to stand out from the crowd.

Offering seven levels in all and 3 difficulty levels, it's all fairly standard stuff for this shmup. Surprisingly, on the lowest difficulty level, it's actually not that hard compared to other more famous shmups, it's fun though. The weapons are predictable too - comprised of a lock-on laser, a spread shot and missiles.

The real change of pace stems from the control system which switches on the fly from tilth based to touch based as and when you want it to. If you continue to hold your finger on the screen, tilt controls are disabled and you can control movement via your finger. This does have the unfortunate side effect of obscuring the action but it serves as the most precise control method. Tilting is useful on certain occasions though so it's nice to have, especially if you want to get out of a situation fast.

Besides the continuous firing of the regular weapons, there's also a charged attack move and a bomb attack. The bomb attack is particularly intriguing as it can also serve as a form of shield if you decide to conserve them instead.

Lightning Fighter's real strength stems from its control system rather than its level design. It's all pretty predictable making it a title that's only really worth a look if you've already played the likes of Espgaluda 2 et al. Still, it's nice to play a shmup more welcoming to newbies than the average title.