Aliens Go Home Run Is a Love Letter to Classic Arcade

Having been a fan of arcade classics such as Breakout, Space Invaders and others, I was looking forward to checking out indie developer ANIM-ACE’s new offering, Aliens Go Home Run. I was hoping it would deliver on my expectations, and I was pleasantly surprised.

Here’s everything you need to know.

Story

Our hero Sally, is an avid fan of baseball and thoroughly enjoys playing the sport. While participating in a match, she hits a home run so hard that the ball ends up in space, disturbing the home planet of a hostile alien race. Now out for revenge, the aliens are set to invade Earth, time for Sally to use that baseball bat for more than just a sport.

In terms of the story, it’s basic fun. It’s not often you hear sports can cause an alien invasion. Maybe the aliens should have talked it out instead?

Gameplay

You play as Sally and must use your baseball skills to destroy a series of coloured blocks to progress through levels while avoiding the aliens fire. Think of this as a blend of Breakout and Space Invaders used to great effect.

For each level, you have three chances to complete it, before you “strike out” or run out of time. You lose a chance whenever you are hit by alien fire.

Aliens come in all shapes and sizes and each has their own firing pattern to use against you, such as the usual downward fire to firing at an angle to catch you off guard. Destroying the aliens will grant you temporary breathing space to destroy blocks before they respawn, so keep on your toes.

After every five levels you’ll face off against a boss in a bullet hell fiasco, it’s a pretty standard affair where you have to beat the boss before you can progress.

The gameplay is a simple concept to grab so anyone will be able to pick up and play without much trouble. The game does get more challenging as you progress so be ready to use the slide to your advantage

Thankfully, Sally has some tricks up her sleeve to combat those tougher moments.

Moves and Power Ups

Along with her trusty baseball bat, Sally has a slide move which can be used to easily catch up with a baseball and to pass through enemy fire unharmed, using the bat and slide as a team is crucial to survive.

As you break blocks and defeat enemies, a baseball may fall from the area for you to pick up, which will grant you a power up to use at any time. It’s best that you don’t use the power up unless you need to, as when you pick up another, your power up will change.

These include an extra chance, multi ball and a bubble shield.

Music

The music for AGHR fits perfectly well into it’s arcade aesthetic, giving catchy upbeat chip-tunes as you play through the game. The perfect compliment for it’s genre.

Graphics

Graphically, it feels like you’ve been pulled into an arcade machine itself as the game features bright and colourful pixelated backgrounds. It seems some developers have forgotten that games were supposed to give a sense of fun in terms of graphical design. I’m happy that ANIM-ACE haven’t forgotten that.

Verdict

All in all, Aliens Go Home Run is an excellent game for fans of classic arcade and for those who want a 5 minute break from the real world.

A highly addicting fun game that takes familiar assets and gives them a breath of fresh air.

Aliens Go Home Run is developed by ANIM-ACE, and is out now on Steam.

Note: A copy of the game was provided by the developer for review.