Thank you Adult Swim Games for sending us this game to review!

Gamearth is a peaceful planet that’s now under attack from the Nextgen aliens.  A legendary hero that looks very similar to Link bestows a mysterious gun called Shine to a young kid named Rise.  It’s now up to Rise & Shine to save the planet!

Shine isn’t your ordinary gun, as it can talk and grant its owner the ability to respawn when they die.  There are various add-ons and bullet types available for it as well.  For example, there are electrical bullets that wreak havoc on electronic devices.  One cool ability is the remote control option that lets you direct where you want the bullets to go.  Enemies won’t just sit around and wait for you to control a bullet; be prepared to act quickly and time your attacks with precision.

While Rise & Shine is a beautifully drawn 2D platformer, there’s a fair amount of puzzles to solve.  Besides dodging and controlling bullets, you’ll have to shoot and think your way out of locked rooms as well as disabling menacing bosses.  Many of your attacks are timed so accuracy is crucial.  As cool as Shine is, it does have an ammo limit and will need to be reloaded frequently.  You won’t survive long if you think you can run out in the open and fire a spray of bullets haphazardly.  Many areas have rocks and you can hide behind them for cover.  Use them!  When things die in this game blood and gibs splatter all over the place.  

Checkpoints are used and you cannot save whenever you like.  Upon completing the game, an Iron Man option becomes available where you have to complete the game in one life as your save file gets deleted if you die.  Completing the game can be done in as little as two hours if you’re good or several more if you’re a glutton for punishment.

Rise & Shine is not an easy game as you will die often and be forced to learn where to walk safely to avoid various traps and land mines.   Relying on a steady hand is also necessary to guide the bullets where they need to go to take down bosses.      

While the beautiful graphics got my attention, the story isn’t very original with the simple premise of kicking the aliens off of your planet to save it.  The dialogue is witty and I appreciated the homages paid to various games like Duck Hunt and some series including Half-Life, Portal, The Legend of Zelda, and Mario.  

If you enjoy puzzle platformer games and don’t mind dying a bunch of times, then you’ll probably enjoy Rise & Shine.   Despite the gorgeous visuals, the rest of the game is mediocre and extremely short.  The sound effects are great, but they drown out the forgettable background music.  Because of the frustration and length of the game, I recommend holding off for a sale before buying this one.