According to the press release I got for this game, the story goes that it was originally made to protest an update on the Xbox 360 menu that made it hard to find indie games after wading through all sorts of submenus and ads.  And supposedly this game caused them to fix that.  I don’t necessarily remember that particularly when I had my Xbox 360 hooked up.  But I know every time they did change the dashboard menu, it would make my 360 start up slower and slower.  I miss the days when I could just pop in a game and play.  And honestly, most video game system menus aren’t very good anyway.  But Game Type DX is a silly horizontally scrolling bullet hell shooter that you can now play on current systems, but reviewed on Switch here.

When you start Game Type DX, you’ll be in a faux video game dashboard menu and must find the game by wading through all sorts of tabs and ads.  Luckily if this gets too annoying, you can use the red arrows to guide you right to the game.  The actual game is a horizontally scrolling bullet hell shooter with a silly feel to it.  You play as “Hoodie Girl” and must shoot waves of photo stills of cats and crabs, as well as cartoony donuts and cars.  When you destroy an enemy, wads of cash will come out for you to collect for points.  When you release the fire button, the cash will automatically move toward you like a magnet.  You can also get other power ups that’ll increase your firepower as well.

You have three main attacks.  One is a spread shot that can be upgraded though power-ups.  Another is a charged straight beam shot.  And you can also stop time for a limited amount to help you avoid obstacles.  You’ll have to complete waves, or loops of enemies and sometimes a boss.  When you lose all your lives, you can post your score to a leaderboard.  There are different modes of play that up the difficulty and randomness from what I could tell.  I do like the silly nature of this game, but it’s just way too hard.

Kid Factor:

Game Type DX is rated E for Everyone with an ESRB descriptor of Mild Fantasy Violence.  If “Hoodie Girl” gets hit, she just turns into a green puff of smoke.  And the enemies are just clip art photo stills and cartoons that explode when defeated.  Reading skill is helpful for the text, but not necessary just to play.  Younger gamers may find it too difficult, though.

Tags: Game Reviews