Solid Concept, Couple Glaring Issues – Galaxy Dash: Race to the Outer Run Review

Okay, first off is that for a game whose obvious method of generating revenue is micro-transactions, this game has a surprisingly solid and fun game concept. You woosh around on a three-lane track, swiping your way from lane to lane and blasting enemies and obstacles, all while collecting gems and cargo that let you upgrade your ship. Of course, as usual with these sorts of games, if you're impatient, you can just buy gems and "power cores" and cash your way to all the cool stuff. What caught me pleasantly off guard was the game's relatively fair pace. Ordinarily in games of this model, you hit a point where the next upgrade or goal requires so much grinding that the only reasonable way to make progress is to drop cash (which is stupid; the point of a game is to PLAY the game, not to WIN the game, so when the only way to win is to spend money, and when doing so skips all the gameplay, you're left with an exercise in buying yourself a trophy). In Galaxy Dash, however, I've been playing for days and I've not yet hit that point. Sure, there are the obscenely-priced ships and crewmembers, but as I've upgraded my ship and my crew, they've given me not only better tools in the game itself, but also bonuses to my score and my gem income, which makes those goals actually seem reachable. It certainly has made acquiring the next big upgrade a regularly-paced exercise and not just mindless grinding. Plus, the game itself isn't mindless grinding either; it's fast-paced and usually very entertaining. The controls are decent (though they could be better; my gripes in a moment), the graphics are colorful and vibrant, and overall the game plays like somebody actually put a lot of effort into making a decent runner-style game. Certain gameplay mechanics—like a lack of post-hit invincibility—are harsh, and can turn a single mistake into a game over, but that just adds to the classic arcade charm... usually. Galaxy Dash isn't without flaws, but for once I feel like the flaws are genuine oversights and not deliberately in place to psych me into spending money. First off is the controls. As I mentioned, they're not bad, but you have to tap-and-hold to fire, while you have to swipe to shift lanes. Doing everything with one finger is sluggish at best and completely unresponsive at worst. During the more hectic portions of the game I feel completely out of control of my ship and as a result I often feel like a promising run was stolen from me by poor controls. I'd like to see an option with virtual buttons for shifting lanes and firing; I think that would dramatically improve the experience. Another major issue is the camera. The camera view always seems to be lagging behind your movement, and when you're going any direction other than straight, you just can't see around the corner and you have all of half a second to recognize and react to obstacles. As I mentioned above, there's no post-hit invulnerability, so a cluster of obstacles/enemies rounding a sharp bend can mean instant game over, and there's just nothing you can do. It isn't even slightly fair. The most obvious solution is to attach the camera to the front of the ship, but I think it might also be withing this game's idiom to maybe give you an "incoming" warning like an exclamation mark or something to let you know you're about to smash into something. Either solution would work. My final gripe is with the weapon systems. As you traverse this constantly bending, windy track, the laser beams that are your primary defense against obstacles—in particular the mines that, depending on placement, you MUST shoot if you are to avoid damage—will only ever shoot straight forward. And by straight forward, I mean that if you are rounding a right turn, your lasers will fire uselessly off to the left, leaving you defenseless against the obstacles and enemies veering around the bend. I don't understand why the lasers don't follow the track, where the enemies are. I get that you don't want players to just sit in a lane and fire endlessly, so give the lasers limited range and let them be useful. It says something that despite these gripes I still have this game on my iPad; it's fun and I don't feel like I'm wasting my time like I do with so many others using this business model. I'm hoping that these guys are watching these reviews because by fixing these few issues, they could turn this game from a passable time-waster into a solid game experience that would fit snugly on Steam or the console arcades; I'd absolutely buy the upgrade if they did.
Review by Arcane the Woof on Galaxy Dash: Race to the Outer Run.