Great Arcade Fun
Super Stardust HD is one of the very best downloadable games on Sony's PSN service, and while the series' first portable outing may not have been a success, Super Stardust Delta on the PS Vita is an astounding triumph. By iterating on the tried and tested formula developer Housemarque has took the franchises greatness to the next level.
If you are new to the franchise it won't take long to get the hang of, the left stick controls movement, the right stick controls aiming and the R/L triggers change weapon type. The control scheme is simple and beautifully effective. It is made all the better by the biggest major difference between Delta and the other Stardust games, the inclusion of only ice and fire enemies and weapons. While this may seem like the game has been dumbed down in reality it makes the game flow much faster and more manageable and the game is far better for it. Since this game is on Vita however there are some new controls schemes which utilise the front and back touch, as well as the sixaxis for special weapons, the most important thing to note about this is that they are entirely configurable and after one session using touch I immediately and easily switched all three to the face buttons.
The alternate controls are not the only Vita specific feature in Delta though, there are also a whole host of mini games, unfortunately they are all pretty bad. They aren't anything to get worked up over, just know that after a few tries and getting the trophy associated with them you are unlikely to try them again. The more positive Vita specific feature is the integration with Near. The Stardust games have always been known for having a great soundtrack and thankfully Delta is no different, by using Near the player can drop and collect songs from the soundtrack from other players around them. While in theory this may sound a bit dumb in practice it is a great little feature which keeps you coming back to both Near and Delta time and time again.
Also bound to get you returning to Delta over and over are the superbly integrated leaderboards. Every time you go to select a mode each one has its own friends leaderboard right there, displayed front and centre, and this is on top of a separate option on the main menu which displays global and more general scores. Trying to beat your friends and the general public on one of Delta's many many game modes is addictive and as fun as always. Thanks to a more gentle and forgiving difficulty curve this is even true to new players as the game now has a casual, normal and hardcore mode, each catering to separate players types and each with their own scoreboard.
All this would be moot if the game wasn't technically capable however and thankfully the team at Housemarque have gotten the game perfect. During my time playing I experienced no bugs, no freezes, no framerate dips and no other problems what so ever. Couple this with a solid 60FPS even when the screen is full of beautiful and crazy particle effects and I can safely say that Delta is one the stand out titles for the Vita visually. Thanks to the colours used the OLED screen even pops more than in any other game I've played. This really shows when you play through arcade mode as each of the five planets has very distinct colour schemes and you soon come to appreciate the amount of talent behind this game.
In the end though this is a fantastic game for a fantastic price and it utterly deserves your attention. I'd be surprised if it isn't the best selling PSN only Vita title for a long time and it will continue to draw in players long after they think they have finished with it. Do yourself a favour and make sure you get this fantastic game ASAP.
9/10