‘Jet Lancer’ Hurtles Through Gunfire With Precise High-Speed Movements

Jet Lancer won’t have you slowly threading your ship through enemy fire; you’ll be rushing through narrow windows between missiles and bullets.

Acrobatic combat is a big focus of this shmup. Rather than gently guide your ship through a hail of shots, you’ll be twisting and turning, applying gas and bursts from your thrusters to turn the ship around and send it flying in whatever direction leads you to safety. These blasts from your thrusters open up some ship-rending aerial maneuvers, letting you whip around in whatever direction you choose, and all while you can precisely slip between any projectile that comes your way.

If this gets a bit too hairy for you, the game offers an array of accessibility options that will allow you to adjust dodge windows, give yourself invincibility, and whatever else you might need to help you further enjoy all of the explosions and bullet dodging. If you’re looking to make the game’s many stages harder for yourself, you can also try New Game +, which adds new attack patterns and a more aggressive AI (but gives you new possible upgrades to give you a fighting chance).

Jet Lancer‘s aerial movements need to be witnessed to understand just how impressive they are. The game’s movement captures a powerful sense of momentum and danger in its combat, forcing you to weave through the tiniest spaces as you return fire. That constant floating on the edge of ruin makes the game difficult to put down, create a compelling need to push through dangers and see just how close you can skirt to death while still winning.

Jet Lancer is available now on the Nintendo Switch and Steam.

About The Author

Joel Couture

Joel has been covering indie games for various sites including IndieGames.com, Siliconera, Gamasutra, Warp Door, CG Magazine, and more over the past seven years, and has written book-length studies on Undertale and P.T.. Joel is constantly on the lookout for digital experiences that push the boundaries of what games can be, and seeks to delve into the creative process, meanings, and emotion labor that goes into the work of artists worldwide.

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