Thank you Hound Picked Games for sending us a review code! Dogfight - A Sausage Bomber Story is a cooperative shoot ‘em up that supports up to four players locally. Each of the pilots available has a meat-themed name such as Brad Wurst, Frank Furter, Becky Elbasa, and Tessa’ Lami. This game takes place ten years after the Sausage War and the world was enjoying peace and prosperity until the Vega Nation declared war on it. It’s up to your pilot(s) to take down the Vega Nation and restore peace. There are multiple difficulties including Sweet, Mild, Hot, and Atomic. You can also adjust the number of starting lives. The default is 3, and I maxed it out to 5 for my game stream. Between the Sweet difficulty setting and the five lives, I was able to complete all 9 levels in my 57-minute stream.

In total, there are nine missions and they each have a boss to contend with at the end of them. Before you get there, you’ll have to shoot down waves of planes, boats, submarines, helicopters, mechs, and other robot entities. The enemies will often drop medals and other power-ups to collect. The power-ups can increase your plane’s firepower, restore health, or add drone orbiting attack spheres. It’s safe to say it’s silly to leave a power-up behind. Instead of a hitbox, your plane has a health meter that gives you a chance to repair your carrier before being fully depleted. The ability to restore health is much appreciated. Boss battles have the same formula where you have to take down their multiple weak points before they are fully defeated. They often have powerful attacks that have some “tells” so you know when it’s time to move out of the way.

The graphics are vibrant and crisp. They are reminiscent of Flash web-based games. There’s a good variety of enemies and the bosses are pretty intimidating. Once you beat a boss, you can expect to fight them later as a mini-boss in a future level. The audio is pretty good with a lively soundtrack and appropriate sound effects. There is a soundtrack available on Steam for $3.99. As far as I can tell, there doesn’t seem to be a bundle deal for both the game and the soundtrack. The base game retails for $17.99 which is a bit pricey for an hour-long experience. Getting both the game and the sound track for $19.99 or less seems like a missed opportunity. Other than some cartoon violence, Dogfight - A Sausage Bomber Story is a family-friendly experience. The ability to play alongside four of your friends or family members is very appealing. Although this is a short game, there is some replay-ability by changing up the difficulty level, unlocking more weapons, or getting a better star rating on previously completed levels. If you enjoy shoot ‘em up games, Dogfight - A Sausage Bomber Story is worth checking out.