If you like games like Starfox, or the old Wing Commander games, you should definitely keep your eyes on the game Manticore: Galaxy on Fire. While it isn’t quite as polished as the aforementioned games, it is a nice addition in a genre that doesn’t have a lot of standouts. The game is simple enough and for players that aren’t looking for an overly complex spaceship simulation but want the fun of flying a cool ship and blowing up bad guys.
The game puts you in command of a fighter ship as a member of a group of space vigilantes called the Manticore, who make their way through the galaxy protecting people that can’t protect themselves. There is quite a large galaxy to explore, with major bosses that occupy each region for you to hunt down and collect their bounty. As you progress, you can purchase new ships and equipment that will allow you to tackle bigger and better enemies.
The controls are simple, but fun. You use the left stick of the controller to turn the ship left and right and pitch it up and down. You use the right stick to increase or decrease your throttle and push left and right to do barrel rolls in order to avoid incoming attacks.
The graphics are clean and make it easy to interpret where the action is happening, which can sometimes get quite chaotic with ships coming from all directions and many larger objects occupying the mission’s space like large capital ships and space stations.
You also get a team of other Manticore pilots that will assist you on your missions who are pretty well-written companion characters, each with their own personalities and unique ships. The missions are usually some variations on a theme of either hunting down enemy ships that come in increasing waves of difficulty or protecting something from waves of enemies that come in ever increasing waves of difficulty. Usually, at the end is a boss fight of some kind, where there is a stronger ship that takes a lot more beating and who has better weapons, making the fight more challenging than the rest.
One of the downsides that I experienced with the game was the sameness of the enemy AI. Other than the boss fights, it seemed that the regular enemy ships didn’t vary too much in their ability or their tactics, which made combat feel a little bit repetitive as you went through the game.
Overall, I enjoyed Manticore for what it was and especially appreciated it on the Switch as a nice change of pace from many of the other kinds of games that I have available to me when I’m on the road. While the missions can feel a little repetitive, there is enough of a story and a feeling of progression that it doesn’t get boring.
