Ever wonder what a topdown Zelda game would be like if you crossed it with a twin-stick shooter? I had not, but somehow Minishoot Adventures is exactly that.

You play as a small ship that explores a corrupted world in an attempt to find your friends and defeat the darkness. This all sounds pretty heady but Minishoot Adventures is a lighthearted romp that will take most players between 8 and 12 hours to complete. The game takes place in an overworld with dungeons that allow for additional upgrades and powers that unlock further aspects of the map. Your character levels up based off of currency dropped by enemies which you can use to spec your ship at any time, increasing your damage, fire rate, movement speed as well as many others. Of special note you can respec your ship at any time without any penalty which makes it lovely to transition your build from a gauntlet that requires more speed to an arena battle against fierce enemies and vice versa. There are numerous difficulty options, both in terms of enemy aggression and also if your ship automatically fires at enemies (or not).

While the difficulty options are appreciated, the overall presentation really is the standout in this game. While twin-stick shooters are infamous for many bullets and particle effects flying across the screen, the art direction is so straightforward that I never felt overwhelmed at any point in this game. The enemy designs are also simple and straightforward to the point that I had internalized every basic enemy attack pattern within the first half the game. The music is delightfully atmospheric, with a special standout being the forest area which I could listen to on loop for hours.

As mentioned before enemy designs and attack patterns are very straightforward and memorable. There is not a single time I died in this game that I did not deserve it. The bosses are also top notch, the third and true final bosses being masterclasses in boss design.

With all of this polish in term of visual design and gameplay, there are some things that I wish would be changed. There are several optional sections in this game where your character races small sprites, which is a fine way to mix up gameplay. However, there is not an option to quickly restart the race if you fail early on and know that you cannot make up the gap. While none of these races were incredibly difficult, I found the lack of the quick restart for the races (and in the post game arenas) to be a complete oversight.

That one tiny annoyance is not enough to throw the slightest bit of shade on what is a truly radiant game. I truly hope that the devs make some kind of follow up as this genre mash up is so unique and works so well that a follow up begs to exist.