Rick Henderson. The man, the myth, the legend. Who is he and why does he have so many bad guys to fight is a complete mystery. In the game named after him, Rick invites players into the pilot’s seat for some cosmically reckless fun.
Created by Fat Pug Studios and published by the MVPS of gaming, eastasiasoft, Rick Henderson is another addition to the publishers long line of spaceship shooters that has been released. Rick Henderson is a bit of a different kind of spaceship shooter this time around, and what it does, it does extremely well.
The set-up
Rick Henderson is a game that doesn’t really have a story mode. Rick Henderson has three gameplay modes, but none is a traditional story mode with characters or a base story. Therefore, Rick Henderson and his motley crew of space mercenaries, are who you want them to be, whatever backstory you want them to have. Rick Henderson gets straight to the point. There are bad guys in ships and lots of bosses to fight. Jump into a ship of your choice and start blasting. A handy tutorial mode is included and is recommended as the tutorial explains not only the basics but also the little ideas in the game. The three modes include two Loop modes, on Normal or Hard, and a Boss Rush mode
Prepare for battle
Rick Henderson is a horizontal scrolling spaceship shooter. The game gives players three types of weapons regardless of which ship is chosen: bullet-based, energy-based, and missile. Each type of weapon works differently depending on the enemy. Energy weapons are great with shielded enemies, but not with armored enemies. Missiles can punch through armored enemies but are slow to reload. Switching between each weapon takes a second. It may not sound like much, but when a flurry of bullets is flying your way, every second is crucial between victory and defeat.
Each ship is equipped with a special ability. Rick’s ship has a hologram projector that can deduce enemas. The other ships have a warp function to teleport quickly, and an artillery strike that sends a siege of missiles at the enemy. Power-ups provide different weapons for each type. In one play through I came across a minigun for the bullet slot and a target laser for the energy slot. Players can increase their skills at the end of each boss fight, with special perks that can be chosen. Some deal more damage but less health, while others increase the ship’s mobility and shields. To increase the score and rank, players encounter ribbons and gems to increase the score and rank.
The last part of the gameplay mechanic is the Graze mechanic, which all ships can access. In the spirit of other spaceship shooters, daring players can get graze by bullets. This means flying close and dodging enemy bullet fire. Each successful dodge without getting hit builds up the gauge. When filled, the two supporting mercenaries and their ships dive in to provide additional firepower for a short time. Because of the more difficult places of Rick Henderson requires mastering the Graze mechanics as it can save players in no time.
Music to fly by
Rick Henderson sticks to the tried-and-true formulas of shmups and starship shooters, but takes it a step further by being an extremely fun experience that players will come back to again and again. The first impression that hits players is a solid soundtrack by composer Mlada Fronta, who brings a retro synthwave soundtrack that allows the situation to single-handedly fight an entire enemy fleet. In particular, the song is The Night Hunter, which is easily the best tune on the soundtrack and easily made my heart jump because it was perfect for the type of game Rick Henderson is.
Visually, the game is reminiscent of the classic era, playing shmups in arcades and 16-bit systems like the Genesis and Turbo Grafx-16, memorizing patterns and saving special weapons to achieve that satisfying victory. The levels themselves are sharp, filled with background images, such as planets and distant ships, but Rick Henderson also has a filter switch, which turns the game into a 1-bit game of red, white, and black. To play Rick Henderson really evokes a sense of old-school nostalgia in this way.
Nice old fashioned play
Operating and shooting feels fast but strategic, rewarding and impactful. Rich Henderson sticks to what he knows best, which is relentless action and a solid challenge. Bullets fill the screen and enemies constantly come forward, with some even coming from behind. Endless shell casings pour from the ship as wave after wave of enemy is brought down. The pulsating soundtrack heightens the experience by bringing out that one-man hero sensation. You, the player against these evil enemies in the cosmos.
After understanding the shooting mechanics in the tutorial, the unique gameplay setup Rick Henderson presents is amazing and distinctive, keeps me on my toes, keeps things chaotic yet sensible. Switching weapons and plowing through waves is a thrill, but using the Graze ability is even more rewarding. The game does offer a challenge, especially with the bosses. Every boss will not follow the same attack pattern. Each round introduces the same boss, but with different attacks. The first boss, a warship, can attack you with a flurry of small bullets and a primary laser cannon that clears the screen. On another playthrough, the ship may not use the laser cannon, but instead deploy smaller drones to destroy the player. Overall, Rick Henderson is a ton of fun.
Perhaps there are only two real drawbacks. There is a noticeable lack of sound effects with explosions and destruction, although this may be intentional to focus on the music. Second, a single player campaign would have been a nice addition to setting up the overall setup of Rick Henderson, what we are fighting against, and why. The game does provide quick profiles of each pilot, and Rick Henderson likes coffee himself, so there’s that.
Final Thoughts
Rick Henderson is a sharp, strong and solid fun spaceship shooter with a great soundtrack and great gameplay. While I wish there was more, what we have is unbelievably good. Rick Henderson wants to do what it was meant to do and that is to make an engaging and fun spaceship shooting game, and it succeeded. Grab a cup of coffee and have a good time Rick Henderson.
Rick Henderson is available for PlayStation 4/5, Steam, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S.
Rick Henderson was judged on a PlayStation 5 system thanks to a key generously provided to Mega Visions by eastasiasoft.
GOOD
GOOD
Rick Henderson sticks to a tried and true formula of starship shooting, but polishes that formula to become an enjoyable shmup with strong presentation.
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