Super Destronaut DX 2 review for PS5/4, Xbox One/Series X

The first Super Destronaut DX owed a lot to Space Invaders.

Actually, that?s understating things significantly: the first Super Destronaut DX was a Space Invaders clone, albeit with some prettier colours. Consequently, I wasn?t expecting a whole lot from Super Destronaut DX 2 — notwithstanding the same developer?s mildly interesting foray into FPS territory with Super Destronaut: Land Wars.

Not to spoil things, but my expectations were pretty much dead-on. Much like its predecessor, Super Destronaut DX 2 is also a Space Invaders clone that adds nothing to the original beyond some prettier graphics. And while I don?t want to downplay those graphics — because, in all honesty, this game looks very nice — there?s nothing here that wasn?t done about forty years ago.

There?s really nothing in Super Destronaut DX 2 that wasn?t present in the first game. Rows of aliens come at you, you shoot them all down, the end. This game tries to mix it up a little with some slightly harder levels, as well as mixing in levels where your bullets and/or time are limited, but that?s hardly a massive revelation. On top of that, the weapons here are incredibly simple, so you don?t even get the satisfaction of massive firepower as you blow up enemy spaceships.

As I?ve said before, you can usually judge the worth of a Ratalaika-published game by how long you keep playing it after its usually-very-easy-to-obtain Platinum pops. In the case of Super Destronaut DX 2, you get the Platinum after finishing 10 (out of 25 total) levels and hitting a fairly low score in each of the five arcade modes. Unless you?re the most dedicated Space Invaders fan ever, there?s really no reason to keep playing after that — and, really, there?s no reason to even pick it up in the first place.

Ratalaika Games provided us with a Super Destronaut DX 2 PS4/PS5 code for review purposes.