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RANDOMAX Review

RANDOMAX Review

 RANDOMAX is a top-down roguelite shoot-‘em-up developed by ASTRO PORT and published by Henteko Doujin and Sanuk Inc. From what I can see from their catalogue, they make retro-style arcade games usually involving mecha or anime girls… or both. RANDOMAX definitely involves mecha, anime girls, and clothing damage.

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When the galaxy is trouble... well, they're good enough.

It’s the year 2050 and an area known as the Sepulch Space Archipelago has been invaded by the “Randomax Pirates”, who quickly subjugate the peaceful islands and transform them into their evil playground. Not to fear though, as Erica and the ARGO EXPRESS shipping company have come with their massive amounts of misdelivered weapons to help three very eccentric women in saving the day (and offload their stock). The writing is decent but nothing too exciting. The interactions between the player characters and bosses can be a little amusing, but overall you’re encouraged to skip their banter to get right back into the action. The graphics are also pretty decent, evoking that classic arcade look and despite how insane things may get, you don’t lose yourself in the chaos. If it was clean pixel art, it would look worse in my opinion. I just hope you don’t mind seeing some partial nudity coming from the more buxom bosses.

Speaking of which, let’s talk about the gameplay. There are three characters you can play as to fight the pirates: The hot-blooded policewoman Cosmi and her trusty Blue Cosmic, the fighting robot idol Urara (she is her own ship), and the outcast aristocrat Dariha and her Barra 35T. They play quite differently, having their own starting weapons, stats, and bonuses that make them formidable pilots despite their quirks. Once you’ve chosen your heroine and selected your difficulty, you’ll be set off to destroy a lot of ships.

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The controls are quite easy to grasp, only needing a control stick and three buttons that correspond with your three weapons… which won’t be enough to take care of the hundreds of enemies and dozens of boss ships. That’s why you’ll find ARGO shops throughout levels that will give you new weapons and upgrades to make the fight a little easier. However, once you use up all the ammo in a weapon, it’s discarded and the previous weapon you used will take its place if you have any. You can’t actively switch what weapons you’re using either. It’s actually pretty fun figuring out how to use weapons effectively while also dodging the hundreds of bullets coming your way, and with over 70 types of guns, missiles, rockets, and other odd implements at your disposal, you better learn fast. Not all equipment is made for killing stuff. Some slow down time or put up shields. You also have access to a Special gauge, which grants random buffs once it's filled, and an Extend gauge, which powers up your weapons.

You will need to push yourself as even on Normal difficulty, it will be an uphill battle. It can get quite hectic with all the power-ups floating around, the enemies coming in to take you down, and the bullets flying everywhere. It’s not helped by the sudden anime cut-in as you max out the Extend gauge. Be warned: There are a lot of flashing lights and noise so you might become overwhelmed by the sheer amount of chaos displayed on screen at times.

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There are six stages, with each character also has an exclusive level, so that totals to nine stages to blast your way through. There are also six difficulty levels that offer new bosses and all three characters have their own ending, so there is some encouragement to replay the game other than a high score. However, I did notice that there are no meta-upgrades, only encountering new weapons to use and abuse, so it’s not really a roguelite. It’s… just a roguelike. Or an arcade game with roguelike elements. There are even continues, although you won’t be able to save replays or your high score if you do so. Still, a run should only take you around 30 minutes to beat.

As for any issues I ran into, it was mostly with the writing because, annoyingly, it had grammar mistakes and some incorrect punctuation.

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RANDOMAX is a fine shoot-‘em-up, but I don’t feel like coming back to it. It’s good for quick play sessions that can quickly turn into an intense bullet hell, but there isn’t anything I consider worth making me play more than three times. I wish there was co-op or something, but given the weapons, that might be a little too much. There is nothing wrong here, just nothing great either.

7.00/10 7

RANDOMAX (Reviewed on Windows)

This game is good, with a few negatives.

RANDOMAX is a nice shoot-‘em-up that leans into its chaos and makes for some fun and quick play sessions. However, there isn’t really anything that will make you play more than a few runs.

This game was supplied by the publisher or relevant PR company for the purposes of review
Dylan Pamintuan

Dylan Pamintuan

Staff Writer

An Australian-born guy whose trying to show everyone why games are awesome.

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