Thank you to Digerati for this review code!

Lilac 0 is an arcade, bullet hell shoot ‘em up (shmup) developed by one person. Like most bullet hell shmups, you play as a character flying around the screen avoiding numerous enemy projectiles while trying to pound your own bullets into your targets. Levels can go on for a while, and you only have a few hit points before you die, so your most important goal is avoiding getting hit. Lilac 0 has the classic shooting that any fan of the genre would expect, but it also puts in a few different options in your arsenal.

You can hold down a button to scan your surroundings for enemies, and once it’s locked on to targets, releasing the button will unleash a series of attacks depending on how many weak points the enemy had. Some can only be attacked once, but enemies like bosses can be hit ten times or more. Additionally, your character can dash in any direction you choose to deal damage, kill orange enemies that can only be hurt by slicing through them with a dash, or remove projectiles coming towards you. If you ever find yourself trapped in a bad situation, dashing is your best option for repositioning. Some enemies can also be “overkilled”, where they briefly turn orange and can be dashed through for extra points.

Lilac 0 has some gorgeous, detailed pixel art and animations. Projectiles and enemy attacks are clearly telegraphed and give great visibility on what’s about to occur. Backgrounds are atmospheric and sell the mood of every location you visit, with great dithering providing extra depth that strikes a good balance between detail and visual clarity. The game uses a limited color palette (with extra palettes earned by playing) that provides a cohesive, dystopian aesthetic. I find the default palette to be the most refined and striking, with the others seeming less balanced or distinct. The intro cutscene also uses wireframe graphics and is reminiscent of early vectorized games. It has a CRT effect that applies vertical scanlines to increase the perceived detail of the pixel art, and also has a curve setting to mimic real CRT displays you'd have played shmups on back in the day.

Enemy designs are creative and fit the mechanoid theme present across the game, with each level having its own theme, and the enemies there also changing to match these themes. Level 1 is centered on the sky, so it has designs similar to planes or jets; Level 2 is focused on a city's highway and sewer, so it uses trucks, wheels, and insects; Level 3 takes place underwater, so the enemies are more aquatic in nature; and Level 4 is sort of a “nest”, so it focuses more on insect designs.

Music and sound effects also contribute to matching this retro aesthetic. The intro song reminds me of a modernized take on something like Star Fox, while the rest of the game’s OST is reminiscent of FM synthesized games most prominent on the Genesis. The music is catchy and doesn’t get repetitive despite restarts being a common theme of your average playthrough. Sound effects are mostly chiptune noises with some occasional realistic sound effects, like the metallic slash of your sword.

Controls were quite good on a controller, and I didn’t feel like they were unresponsive or imprecise. You can use the D-Pad or analog stick to maneuver your character, while A/B shoot and dash, and L1 is used for scanning for the targeted attack. You can weave your character through the tiniest of gaps in projectiles if you’re focused enough, so most failures feel like a challenge of skill rather than an unfair pattern or attack. That said, keyboard controls are a bit awkward and not what you’d ordinarily expect, with movement bound to the arrow keys and the different actions bound on X, C, and V. Additionally, although dashing is fun for both movement and combat options, it can sometimes be clunky and punish the player for doing what the game intends. When you dash through enemies, sometimes it will be slightly short and cause you to hit the next enemy in line if your momentum couldn’t carry you through it. Also, some projectiles (admittedly, only a few) cannot be destroyed with a dash, so you might occasionally find yourself dashing into guaranteed damage.

Morally, the game has a lot of explosive violence as you rip through your robotic opponents, and dashing can cause them to be cut into pieces if you kill them with the dash. There are no other concerns for this title.

Lilac 0 is a lovely shmup that I had a blast playing through. With beautiful visuals, a solid gameplay loop, and some good backing music and sound effects, it’s a cohesive package that punches far above its weight. It did only take me about 3-4 hours to beat, but if you’re not as quick to adapt to harder games or struggle with bullet hells, you’ll likely get more playtime out of this. And for a relatively low price, I can’t help but recommend it.