Sol Cresta

Platinum's modernisation of the classic shoot 'em up form has delivered something thrilling, distinct ‒ and in need of a bit of a polish

Sol Cresta is a fantastic shoot ‘em up that should keep fans of the genre entertained for a long time. Die-hard shooter fans won’t be disappointed.

Impressive efforts with a few noticeable problems holding them back. Won't astound everyone, but is worth your time and cash.

If you're a fan of this now very old series, you might find Sol Cresta's mould appealing. It's certainly fun to improve, win shields, and prolong your survival by grabbing back lost ships; and to be able to whip your craft into formation and quickly destroy bosses with a countdown of powerful ordnance - and the audio is sublime. At the same time, with all of its interesting ideas, one can't help but feel that there are elements here that need more polish and careful implementation. There are very few memorable boss attacks, and while some stage junctures are somewhat shrewd, others come off as ill-conceived or uninspired. By no means is that to say it's unenjoyable - there is a definite groove within its visual mess that becomes clearer over time as you chip away at the interesting core gameplay - but the fact of the matter is that Sol Cresta is up against a wealth of extremely steep competition, and to stand out it needs to be hitting the all-important notes with greater finesse.

Sol Cresta can be a little annoying with its mechanics for anyone who is willing to take the time to get good at it. There are way better scrolling shooters already on Nintendo Switch and the one thing that makes this one notable is the pedigree behind it. At the very least, the music is pure fire and energy - some of Koshiro's best work to date.

Sol Cresta is not a bad bullet-hell shooter at all, but it’s far from being the most interesting I’ve played in a while. Its visuals and soundtrack did not wow me, and while it had one very interesting gameplay feature, it wasn’t exactly a new one: other games in the franchise have had them in the past. It felt less of a modern revival of an arcade franchise and just a new version of a 90s title which was locked in someone’s storage for the past 25 years.

Behind Sol Cresta hides the desire for redemption of a Platinum Games wounded in pride since the days of Star Fox Zero. A Shoot 'em up with ancient inspirations but aware of coming into the world in 2022, capable of introducing a great variety of innovative and ingenious mechanics but which exaggerates with the amount of its contents, which become almost suffocating.

An excellent shmup that blends the classic gameplay from the original Cresta games with a modern design philosophy, full of bright ideas, fast action and pure PlatinumGames style.

An impossibly ugly attempt at a faux retro 2D shooter that thankfully plays better than it looks, but still feels like a mostly wasted opportunity.

If you’re an old-school arcade shooter fan the Nintendo Switch was already bordering on a dream console...