Horizon Shift '81 Reviews

Horizon Shift '81 is ranked in the 75th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
8 / 10
Sep 3, 2024

Overall, Horizon Shift ’81 is a great time. A fast-paced shooter that oozes enthusiasm and passion, in addition to the appropriate level of respect for the games of years gone by. Oh, and the soundtrack is just banging. Some proper techno goodness that’ll get your blood pumping for those boss fights.

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8 / 10
Mar 5, 2019

Horizon Shift '81 is simple, stellar fun. The arcade shooter inspired gameplay puts a fun twist on the classic genre that provides hours of pure, flashy entertainment. Boss fights bring a fun, modern twist to the game, but could have used some sound effects in order to make them even stronger. Overall, if you've got a Switch and have the itch for some old-school arcade blast-em-up fun, Horizon Shift '81 is a great way to feed that craving.

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7 / 10
Jan 27, 2019

Horizon Shift '81 is certain to appeal to enthusiasts of 1980s-style space shooters: everything in this game is a tribute to that style and era, with plenty of hallmarks duly following the genre's conventions. While not very friendly to the beginner crowd, Horizon Shift 81 could only improve if it had a multiplayer component and an online option, as it is it will set to captivate the more niche crowd of arcade-based retro shooters.

Review in Portuguese | Read full review

Renan Fontes
Top Critic
8 / 10
Mar 20, 2019

Although Horizon Shift '81 deliberately models itself after the shoot 'em ups of yore, it never once lets itself get lost in its own homage.

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Jan 21, 2019

Old-school gaming fans will find a lot to love about Horizon Shift '81 as it feels like a long-lost static shooting arcade treasure.

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8 / 10.0
Dec 20, 2018

Trying to describe everything that happens in the game gets to be quite a laundry list but here’s an attempt at a summary...

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9 / 10
Dec 21, 2018

A very unique, must-have Shoot-em-up that's intense and addictive.

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