Galactic Rush is a simple, yet challenging, endless runner game for Windows Phone 8. The game is from the developers behind Bunny Beyond and has you guiding an astronaut and aliens through various outer space themed obstacle courses.
Galactic Rush has three levels of play, upgradeable power-ups and a handful of characters to unlock. Gaming controls are a collection of screen gestures that are easy to pick up but can be a little on the sensitive side. Overall, Galactic Rush is an entertaining, casual game for Windows Phone 8.
Game Layout
When you first launch Galactic Rush, you’ll be presented with a short animation on the game’s storyline.
The storyline for Galactic Rush has you attending a Galactic Convention where someone has forgotten the snacks. The leadership is looking for the fastest attendee to run out and grab the snacks. A debate ensues and a competition begins to see who is the fastest in the universe.
You can watch the storyline play out or tap the screen to skip things all together and jump to the main menu.
Galactic Rush’s main menu has options to view the opening scene again, check out the help section, access the settings, rate the game and view the About Screen. Settings cover the typical sound, music and vibration options.
When you jump into the game you have a secondary menu that gives you access to:
- Stargazer: Choose your gaming level. The moon level is available with the free version of Galactic Rush with the other two levels available with the Pro version ($1.49 in-app purchase).
- Hall of Fame: Here is where you can view your gaming achievements and share your scores. You’ll need to log into your Facebook account to compare scores with your Facebook friends.
- Lounge: Where you can choose which character you want to race. You begin the game racing the human astronaut and additional characters/aliens can be unlocked through the gaming store.
- Laboratory: This is your gaming store where you can buy upgrades or unlock additional characters with the coin you earn during game play. You also have in-app purchase opportunities to buy gaming currency to get a jump on things.
- Launch: This is where you go to launch game play.
Game Play
Game play is simple, run your character as far as you can. Series of screen gestures control your character such as swiping up to jump, double tap to accelerate or swipe down to duck.
Controls were simple to pick up but at times, I had trouble getting the screen gesture to register correctly. I would swipe up at the screen and it would register as a tap, sending the character into a roll. This is not good if you are trying to jump over a cavern or rock formation.
In the upper right corner, you will find your score and DNA collected (used in the store or used as a second wind). As you make your run, you will need to jump your character over rock formations, caverns, and other dangers. To keep you on your toes, every now and then dangers will appear out of nowhere. Such as anvils falling from the sky or a giant Sasquatch will run across the screen. You’ll need to speed up or jump to avoid getting squished by either.
As you run, you will find blue globs floating around. You can collect these biogels to spend in the gaming store.
Should you hit a rock, fall into a cavern, get stomped on by a giant or hit by a flaming obstacle the game is over. You can get a second wind by using a DNA module and resume game play where you bit the dust. If you opt out of using a DNA module, your scoring summary will appear.
Worth a try?
Galactic Rush is a fun game for Windows Phone 8 that has a casual feel. It is an entertaining option for short bits of time but I’m not sure if it could hold up to longer gaming periods.
While the help screens are nicely drawn-up, it could use a little more detail. Such as explaining what the little symbol is in the upper left corner of the gaming screen (Warp Distance generator?).
The controls are easy to pick up on and the game throws plenty of curve balls your way to keep things interesting. The odd responsiveness of the gestures is really the only downside to game play and hopefully it can be fine-tuned with the next update.
I did like how the game changes up the obstacle course on every game. You could face a series of rock formations out the gate or a series of anvils falling from the sky. The game engine does a nice job of keeping you guessing as to what danger is around the corner.
All in all, Galactic Rush is a nice gaming title for Windows Phone 8. Graphics are nicely drawn-up, game play easy to pick up but challenging as well.
Galactic Rush is a free game that is available for Windows Phone 8 (including low-memory devices) and includes the first gaming level. You can upgrade to the Pro version ($1.49 in-app purchase) to unlock the additional gaming levels.
You can find Galactic Rush here in the Windows Phone Store.
