Thank you Black Shell Media for sending us this game!

Many people hate bugs and love swatting them out of existence.  In Space Moth DX you’re a moth that gets to take out giant butterflies, dragonflies, beetles, frogs, mushrooms, and even hostile flowers.  Like many 2D shoot ‘em ups you’ll have to dodge the many projectiles hurled your way as you spew bullets or activate your laser beam.  For an added point bonus, if you shoot enemies with your bullets first and then hit them with your laser beam, you’ll drain their souls.  I had a hard enough time dodging bullets while using one attack method let alone combining them!

Besides bullets and the laser beam, you have a few bombs at your disposal as well.  The game has an option to automatically drop a bomb when you take damage.  Lives are limited and you can only get hit twice per life.  Fortunately, there’s only one area on the space moth’s body that takes damage but that applies to many of the bigger enemies and bosses as well. 

The bosses are huge and have many counter-attacks.  Luckily, upon beginning the boss battle, a temporary save state is activated.  However, if you die and utilize the save state, your current score will be reset.  If you can beat the game without activating a save state, you’ll unlock a new character to play as.

Getting to and defeating a boss was tricky enough for me even when using my save states!  There are three game modes: Practice, Arcade, and DX Mode.  The practice mode lets you start at the beginning of one of the three levels or at the boss of the first two.  The arcade is supposedly easier than the DX mode, but I honestly wasn’t able to tell the difference between the two.  The high score table is different for the two modes.  I can happily say that my initials are on the top of both of them.  Not many people will see them since this game is single-player.

The pixel art in Space Moth DX is unique and colorful with many layers.  Since you’re a moth, there are many aerial battles. However, later in the game you’ll have to pay attention to the beetles below the grass blades as well.  Scattered throughout the levels are various food items and power-ups.  Simply hovering over them is not enough as many need to be hit with your laser beam before being collected.  Gaining an extra bomb or life is worth the hassle though.

The sound effects and background music are retro sounding and go well with the old school feel of this Shoot ‘em up.  I was surprised to see that this game only took up 64MB on my hard drive.

Gamers who like bullet “heck” games should keep an eye out for Space Moth DX.  If you’re good at Shoot ‘em up games it may not hold your attention for long, but is still worth considering when it goes on sale.  The normal price is $7.99.  Other than some splatters, this game can be fun for players of all ages.