Minishoot’ Adventures was first released on Steam (PC) back in April of 2024. Last week, during the March 3rd Nintendo Indie World Showcase it shadow dropped on consoles. I’ve been playing the Nintendo Switch 2 version ever since.

“Minishoot’ Adventures is a bullet-filled adventure born from our desire to mix the joy of open-ended exploration with top-down shooter’s juicy game feel.”

-from Developer (SoulGame Studio)

In the past decade I’ve come across an infinite number of twin-stick shooters, but only a few of them have truly grabbed my full attention. I’ve always been obsessed with The Binding of Isaac and all of its updates ever since I first played it on my PlayStation 4 — which I never really thought of as a twin-stick shooter until now.

Two, more recent, space twin-stick shooters that I was a big fan of were Graceful Explosion Machine (Nintendo Switch) and Super Space Club (Steam/PC). These three space shooters all feature that “juicy game feel” that the developers at SoulGame were talking about. It’s all about space physics.

Everything In Between

Minishoot’ Adventures is not just another twin-stick space shooter. The more I play the more I notice the DNA from different game genres spliced into Minishoot’ Adventures gameplay loop. It implements some of the best features from my favorite game genres.

Metroidvania

At any point when I start to feel stuck in Minishoot’ Adventures, I come across some new area that was off limits before, or discover a new ability that slowly helps open up this massive world. Things begin to click and the map starts to expand, like in any Metroidvania. I can now move forward, but also explore previously unreachable areas from the early game.

Top-Down Zelda

Throughout Minishoot’ Adventures I continued to see the influences from classic top-down The Legend of Zelda games (like Link’s Awakening). I can even picture my tiny spacecraft as Link, running around searching for Princess Zelda. There are also parts in Minishoot’ Adventures where the music and sound effects are very inspired by the music of Hyrule. The world is littered with Zelda-like dungeons as well. Some are puzzles, others are full of danger, and some have races — and they all have secret areas to find.

Bullet Hell Boss Fights

I chose normal mode (vs easy or hard) from the very beginning. This keeps the boss battles and bullet hell sequences at a reasonable level. The floating bullets on-screen are never too cluttered or overwhelming. I have a chance to sit back and recognize patterns to pass through during battle.

There are many bullet hell games that just look impossible and don’t make any sense. When designed right it feels like time slows down and you can create a clear path to safety and victory.

RPG and Ship Build

The way the upgrade menu lets you upgrade and downgrade items is helpful. You are able to get a full refund when downgrading items, if you want to “re-roll” your spacecraft, or change things up for a particular area or boss fight. Many other RPGs may allow you to refund points, but at a cost. Here it’s more like equipping different weapons. Maybe you want to hit your enemies with more damage at a shorter range for a particular fight.

Anytime I unlock a new ability I’m able to explore more of the world. I felt all-powerful when I unlocked the surf ability, which allowed me to travel across the seas. Still, there were places I couldn’t go. There are limits and a need to unlock more abilities so they can work together.

Roguelite

One of my favorite genres lately has been the roguelite — which begins again after each death, but you become a little stronger each run. What I love about Minishoot’ Adventures roguelite element is how you quickly respawn at your base (or last checkpoint) after each death. Some roguelites have a secondary loop in between runs, which can be fun but sometimes tedious. In Minishoot’ Adventures I just want to get back into the action and try again.

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Minishoot’ Adventures has taken over my free time this past week, and will continue to do so until I reach the end — hopefully by the weekend. I’m hoping to collect all abilities and fully upgrade my spacecraft.

What’s amazing is how this game was first released nearly two years ago, and was just re-released on consoles and still feels amazing without any big updates or changes being made to the core game.

I want to keep talking about this game, but I need to get back to it so I can beat it and move onto other games, but I definitely recommend Minishoot’ Adventures to anyone who hasn’t played it yet.