Hyper-5 Demo: Seek Out The Demo Now If You're A Shmup Fan

The Hyper-5 demo is one of the most polished looking demos I’ve played in a while. Granted, a demo is usually 80% (made up stat) of the full game, so it should be of a high standard anyway, but the quality here was surprisingly good. 

As the titular craft, you follow up on a distress call, wiping out a wave of enemies and collecting staple power-ups and upgrades through repeat plays. First impressions of the gameplay didn’t match the same enthusiasm as the presentation as it’s all a bit slow, but through repeat plays, your ship can be upgraded, such as its handling and firepower.

Immediate comparisons? Perhaps R-Type and the more recent Natsuki Chronicles. The Hyper-5 demo probably has more in common with the latter due to the replayability of unlocking new goodies. Sometimes it’s a bit of trial and error to find the loadout that best compliments your style. While the heavy weapons are great for damage, they’re slow. Likewise, the spray type weapons target everything on the screen, including behind you, but are a bit weak.

Bear in mind this is only a demo and limited to my free time and shoot ’em up skills. I didn’t see everything in my outing. However, I did see enough to wishlist this one almost immediately. Side-scrolling shmups are perhaps my favourite – the aforementioned R-Type being on a pedestal. Considering the gorgeous visuals and cinematics, the only thing missing for me was the speed, but I’m confident that through progression, that’ll improve.

This is just a quick write-up as Hyper-5 is currently available as a demo, and I encourage you to play that rather than read my opinion on something where I’ve only scratched the surface. There’s a link to Hyper Productions title below: