Sophstar Reviews

Sophstar is ranked in the 67th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
7 / 10.0
Dec 2, 2022

Sophstar is a casual shmup that is addictive and fun. With 6 game modes and 6 difficulty settings, this will keep you busy. What's more, the never-ending bullet hell will test your patience and reactions.

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70 / 100
Nov 7, 2022

With a good variety of gameplay, Sophstar is a traditional shoot'em up that has its personality. It still lacks more depth and ways, which affects the experience as a whole to reach its potential.

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7 / 10
Oct 27, 2022

That said, it's still a competently assembled title: smooth, clean, and enjoyable. What it lacks in gravity and bravado it makes up for in balanced scoring mechanics and an interesting teleportation twist. While its Cadet Mode is its brightest spark, the main campaign shoots for the stars but falls just short of reaching them.

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7.3 / 10.0
Oct 23, 2022

Sophstar is a good vertical shmup that's bursting with many unique controllable ships so it makes for quite a varied and fulfilling arcade shooting experience. It may have rather generic stages but its overall sense of non-stop action still puts it on my recommended list.

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4 / 5.0
Nov 25, 2022

Even with those gripes, however, there is nothing here that would stop me from recommending Sophstar to shmup fans. It takes a familiar genre, nails the fundamentals, and then builds upon those with unrivaled ship variety and its teleportation mechanic that is so core to the experience and blows the genre wide open to the extent that I’m not sure I want to ever play another shmup that doesn’t have this feature. If you’re not put off by the lack of progression and are up for the immense challenge presented by Sophstar, then I would encourage you to not let this little gem pass you by.

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Ken McKown
Top Critic
8 / 10.0
Nov 8, 2022

Sophstar is a fantastic game that feels like it was made by a team that loves shooters. Being someone who will play just about any one released, this one stands out among the pack with its unique teleport mechanic and addictive Cadet School mode. There is a lot here to enjoy and for less than $10 it is a no-brainer for fans of shooters. Don’t sleep on this team’s debut game, cannot wait to see what they deliver next.

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8.5 / 10.0
Nov 3, 2022

Sophstar respects the time-honored shoot 'em up formula while adding a lot of personality and interesting features, such as the variety of ships with unique attributes and teleportation. For those who want an adventure to get to know the genre better, this title is a great choice and will definitely sharpen your skills.

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9 / 10.0
Oct 28, 2022

Going through its Arcade Mode on different difficulties and using new ships is a genuine treat because each one feels distinct from the one before. While it's a bit annoying that sleep mode seems to regularly disconnect the game from its online servers, requiring a manual reconnection in the menu, there's little else about the game that is worth criticizing. Sophstar marks a stellar debut effort from developer Banana Bytes, and it's both an easy recommendation for vertical shooter fans and a title I'll be coming back to regularly.

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Nov 17, 2022

Essential Switch Shmup Action

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