Welcome to Rick Henderson!! No it’s not a highly liked celebrity or vacation getaway. It is in fact a video game, a shoot’em up, or “shmup” for short. If this is one of your favorite genres, then you’ll dig Rick Henderson and his fellow pilots.
This shooter caters to the fan base by cutting out everything you don’t need. There is NO story at all to this game. Instead, it gives you the necessary tools and mechanics needed to obtain that glorious high score! I do, however, recommend playing through the short tutorial mode once or more to understand the deep game play mechanics.
The atmosphere presented by the retro stylish 16-bit graphics is warm, shaken up by the 80’s synth music. It’s such a nice mix that can keep you playing for hours for the music alone. The randomization of the levels is genius, and it guarantees that every run will be different. Memorizing the enemy waves is no longer a valid tactic; instead, you will need to rely solely on your skill. Even the end bosses have variants, so there is no slacking off!
I really enjoyed this shooter, it gets down to business, and you better pay attention. The randomization of everything has a roguelike vibe to it that I have never experienced in this genre before. On top of that, the retro-inspired graphics and awesome soundtrack are great. I highly recommend this to any fan of shmups!
PROS
+ low price
+ randomization of everything
+ for hardcore fans
CONS
– steep learning curve
– no story
– difficulty might be too high for casual fans
Game Title: Rick Henderson
ESRB Rating: E for Everyone
MSRP: $7.99
Release Date: August 31, 2022
Obtained: code provided by developer/publisher for press purposes
Plays a little bit of everything but tends to favor Beat’em Ups, Shmups, RPG’s & FPS games. Also a huge fan of tacos!!