by Amr (@siegarettes)

• Sky Racket
• Developer: Double Dash Studios
• Publisher: Dangen Entertainment
• PC

Charming and inventive, Sky Racket’s synthesis of cute-em-ups and Arkanoid immediately won me over. There’s still nothing quite like the arc of a tennis racket, or the escalating tension of long rally, and Sky Racket builds on both beautifully. The crack of a racket and shatter of barriers is satisfying enough on its own, but the game builds on these with inventive mechanics and level design that kept me dancing across the screen. 

To make its chaos manageable, Sky Racket eases up on the usual requirements of racket games. You’re free to move all over the screen, and outside of key moments, you no longer have to keep up a rally to stay alive. After years of being trained not to let a single ball through, it took some adjusting, but as Sky Racket ramps up the chaos the advantage of this system becomes clear. 

Instead of hitting every ball, I found myself weaving in and out of bullet patterns, looking for certain shots to reflect as retaliation. Each enemy attack has their own arc and properties. An attack could come as a burst of lasers, with one ball shaped shot that can bounce around the field, or a single shot that fires back at high speed and breaks on contact. A later stage has hidden enemies that burst out when exposed, then can be juggled and launched as projectiles. 

The beauty in this design comes from the way it forces you to intentionally put yourself in danger to attack. Instinct tells you to get out of the way of bullets, but Sky Racket forces you to get in their way if you want to more than survive. It fosters the same kind of aggressive play than modern shooters, especially bullet hell games, try to reward, giving you that feeling of threading the needle, but with a more welcoming approach. 

Sky Racket keeps the intensity of its shooter inspirations throughout. When I started, all I could do was survive, absorbed simply by dodging attacks, rallying bullets whenever a safe opportunity arose. By the end I’d learned to utilize the whole playfield, rolling right up to enemies’ faces, anticipating their patterns and positioning myself to return shots at just the right angle to hit certain enemies. It’s absolutely joyous to learn, and when I got used to one element there’d be something else to juggle to keep me engaged. 

Adding to that are the dynamic level designs. Instead of static screens of prearranged blocks, Sky Racket has worlds made up of a few “Sets”, continuous scrolling stages with blocks and enemies flying in to form new arrangements and patterns. Blocks might form a simple shield in front of a target enemy, or become impassable walls that force you to navigate advancing obstacles while being sniped at by enemies on the other side. There’s a non-stop sense of invention, and later stages keep adding upon it, incorporating variations on racquet sports or even pinball. 

Alongside the way you’ll recruit cute little buddies who can help you turn the tide–provided you don’t get hit and lose them along the way. Or bring a buddy and team up for some co-op play. And each set is capped off by the “Match Point” boss fights, which each play out dramatically, with their own unique touches to consider.

Sky Racket is so densely packed with ideas and charming moments that it feels like it could easily fit into an arcade. It runs short and sweet–I’m betting a practiced run could take about an hour, though it was challenging enough that it personally took me two hours just to get through the initial worlds, and nearly another two hours  to get through the last two world . And I didn’t remotely complete all the side objectives for each stage, which require some tricky play to achieve. 

Of course, the ultimate goal will be the elusive 1 Credit Clear, made possible by an unlockable arcade mode that challenges you to clear the whole game from start to finish, without the usual health restores between stages. Sky Racket’s just about perfectly paced for that goal, making it a game I can easily see myself returning to as I try to master it. Though that’s not without some caveats. 

If there’s one major flaw in Sky Racket, it’s that those final stages run too long. The last two boss fights in particular go for extended periods and make what should be intense rallies into a grind, especially given the long menu flourishes between retries. It’s made worse since they can be dramatically shortened by buddy abilities, but those will require you to return to the world map, move to their world to recruit them, then try again. And of course, not get hit, since a single shot will lose them. Less boss health, and the ability to restart a stage with the buddy you came in with would ease up the grind. You can use the game’s assist mode to instantly give yourself a buddy (or straight up put on god mode), but this is more of a sidestep than a solution, and isn’t available during arcade mode either. 

With that caveat aside, Sky Racket is easily one of the most enjoyable and charming games I’ve played this year. It takes a promising concept and runs with it, seeing through plenty of variations on the idea and packing them into a dense, tightly paced package. Every boss fight had me wide eyed with joy, and it’s only become more enjoyable as I’ve become familiar with it. A wonderful, joyous romp through vibrant skies and good vibes.