The PS Vita is a beautiful machine with enough horsepower to run narrative-rich, visually sumptuous games. But simple, bite-sized titles seem more suited to the handheld device. TxK, a fast-paced, addictive retro shooter, is an ideal Vita game.
A reboot, or (as the developers say) “spiritual successor” of the classic self-described “tunnel shooter”, TxK is a third person (third-object?) shooter. Your vessel is travelling sideways, tethered to the edge of a gridded shape. Sometimes it looks like you’re at the rim of a pipe or a box; other times the shapes are more abstract. The object is to shoot incoming objects and avoid projectiles.
It’s presented with retro neon vector graphics that sparkle and move like psychedelic fireworks against a black backdrop. The hectic gameplay is accompanied by a pulsating rave/trance soundtrack that doesn’t let up, even after you’ve quit a game and returned to its home screen.
Save systems were uncommon in 1980s games, so it’s a relief to see one here. In fact, the saving here is both clever and fair: it lets you just pick up at the last level where you died, which brings dilemmas. Do you start at an earlier level, where you’ve accumulated lives and power-ups, or a later one, where you’re further into the game but have less lives?
There are fun power-ups, such as a bomb that briefly obliterates all enemies and a "jump" that lets you leap back from the playing field and shoot enemies from afar. The sprinkles of text and dialogue are odd and endearing. As well as funny one-liners written onscreen ("eat digital data!") there are digitised voices that praise good gameplay with abstract superlatives such as "pleasure" and "beauty". minotaurproject.co.uk
