Review: Sol Cresta

destructoid.com:

We’re now in the era where April Fools jokes can become real. And I’m into it. Especially when it’s a game from Platinum, most definitely when it’s Sol Cresta.

Sol Cresta (PC [reviewed], PS4, Switch)Developer: Platinum GamesPublisher: Platinum Games / HamsterReleased: February 22, 2022MSRP: $39.99 (base game) / $9.99 (dramatic DLC)

In case you missed this niche celebration: Platinum Games, with Hamster, brought back the old school Cresta shoot ’em up (shmup) series on modern platforms with a new true sequel. You’re looking at arcade mode (and dramatic mode via DLC, which I’ll get to later), with seven stages by default. Those stages are broken up by multiple subsections, which last up to five minutes each. Many of these portions do involve giant enemies, but a “rival” Proto Man-esque figure (with docking abilities) pops up from time to time to ground the big boss encounters. It gets even more creative from there as you move from stage to stage.

I played it on PC, which is my favorite home for shmups because of TATE-enabled monitors: which Sol Cresta supports. Advanced options are semi-slim, but sufficient for most shmup enthusiasts. There’s a toggle for scan lines, rotation (right or left 90 degrees) for TATE mode, windowed/full-screen, extra life/extend score (how many points you need to get an extra life) toggles, full controller remapping, and controller support.

Passive polish is really the key ingredient to Sol Cresta. While it’s not doing a whole lot that you haven’t seen before, Platinum Games managed to craft Sol Cresta in such a way that it looks and sounds like an above-average genre effort. While regular and charged shots are the core of what you’re going to be doing with your ship, the “splitting and docking”