B.ARK

B.ARK is a fun and incredibly chaotic shooter, one best played with friends. The levels move quickly and throw a variety of enemies and bosses at you, despite some of the bosses feeling a bit repetitive. Still, the lovable cast of characters, the quirky concept, the ability to rescue your teammates, and the push for players to be competitive all fuse together to create a fun, if short-lived experience that I found well worth tackling over a night with friends.

B.ARK definitely looks like a promising shmup with its cartoon visuals and variety of animal chums but it falls apart at the seams when you compare it to its genre predecessors. It's still kind of fun at times, though, especially with its 4 player co-op component.

B.ARK is a fun (if awkwardly named) shooter that could use a bit more content and final polish. It's hard not to like the game for its colorful presentation and fun gameplay. But it's also hard to love it, knowing what it lacks at present. Make sure to grab Adventures of Pip first, but add B.ARK to your eShop wishlist.

B.ark shines. The traditional 2-D animation is stunning, and gameplay gives off that retro shoot ’em up feel with modern sensibilities. Some features go underutilized and crowd the screen, but that doesn’t take away how excited and diverse the gameplay is. This feels like a Saturday morning cartoon and offers multiple difficulty options and characters to approach the shmup experience no matter your skill level. B.ark happens to be as strong as its bite, and it shouldn’t be overlooked.

What can I say, when you throw some cute pups into a game you’ve got my attention...

However, it's not really for hardcore shmup fans looking for a more challenging and classic experience; much of its charm comes from passing out a few Joy-Con and shooting down giant mechanized starfish. Solid performance and good controls are pluses, even if a playthrough won't take you all that long. Those who are generally looking for a more laidback, multiplayer focused title won't be barking up the wrong tree if they give this one a spin.

Overall I really enjoyed B.ARK. I suspect the best way to play is with friends in local multiplayer, but it's a solid SHMUP even in single-player. When you throw in colorful art, an interesting premise, and decent replay value, you have a very solid game. I personally feel this is the best offering from Tic Toc Games yet, and I hope it’s a sign of things to come from the small team. Now, if you’ll all excuse me, I still need to beat the boss rush…

B.ARK is an interesting experiment in the well-known shoot 'em up genre. While offering a good challenge with numerous enemies attacking at the same time, its simple concepts make it accessible to players of all levels. However, the stages are very short, leaving a feeling that everything could be bigger and better.

I am not at all surprised with how B.ARK ended up being. I expected it to be great, and it ended up being great. It has a few issues here and there, namely the uneven difficulty curve and the occasional framerate drop, but all in all this is a great bullet hell shooter that will please newcomers and veterans alike. Especially with its gameplay being a hodgepodge of the greatest titles in the genre, its visuals being so freaking adorable, and its replayability hitting the right spot.