Assault Android Cactus

I never thought I would complete this one. I started it for the Ultimate Head to Head Contest in 2018 and I dipped in and out of it over the next year. It’s a great game to just pick up and play for ten minutes here and there but only if you have a great disposition as the game does its utmost best to make you want to destroy your controller in a fit of rage.

Assault Android Cactus does have some kind of story that follows an Android called Cactus and her friends as they try to free themselves from the evil Medulla… or something. The whole story thing is just framing and an excuse to shoot loads of guns at loads of robots. It’s likely the closest I’ve come to experiencing this Bullet-Hell genre I’ve heard about.

The gameplay is simple and clean for the most part. You pick an android and use their guns to destroy all the robots in a level and then move on to the next one. You unlock different androids as you progress. In terms of the gameplay through, only three of them are any real use and they are Cactus, Holly and Starch as they have the best weapons in the game by some distance.

In terms of layout, there are 25 levels across 5 environments. There is a boss at the end of every section and you have to adopt specific strategies to beat them. Outside of the Campaign, there is Infinity Drive which is essentially an endless mode. This verges on being hazardous to your health as if you go on a deep run, it really takes its toll on your thumbs. There is also a Boss Rush Mode, which is unlocked after completing the campaign and gives you the opportunity to face all the bosses back to back.

Graphically, it plays into the cartoony nature of the game and there were no issues with environmental snags so that’s all good. Sound wise, if you end up replaying the same level over and over again, the background noise can get a little repetitive but the fact is there are so many robots that need killing, you won’t notice it 90% of the time. The menu music and game over music is quite cool and I didn’t get tired of it despite my extended play time with the game.

Achievements – 1,000 Points – 29 Achievements

Smashing through the campaign will earn you 5 achievements, one for each boss. There’s also a gimme for getting a chain of 100 kills which comes quite easily unless you deliberately try to not shoot things. There are also some special circumstantial achievements for the boss fights, which can be quite challenging, and also achievements tied to performing specific actions with specific androids so despite only three being good, you need to play with some of the others if you want all achievements.

Most of it is straightforward and will come with practice but there are a few things that don’t. Firstly getting a chain of 1,000 can only be done on a specific level with an special option enabled, There’s another level you need to play with three AIs to ensure you pick up the all the batteries in one level.

There are achievements tied to buying everything from the shop, which will take many level replays to get enough credits to get everything. This won’t be a problem if you are going for all the achievements and that’s due to the end-game challenges, of which there are three.

The first, and easiest challenge, is for completing Boss Rush Mode and it’s the easiest for two reasons. Firstly, it’s the shortest and secondly you can use powered up weapons without voiding the achievement.

The second is for getting to level 25 in Infinity Drive Mode. This is hard because it takes ages to get to level 25 and you have to fight the bosses on the way, which means quickly adjusting to different play styles. You need to beat the third boss to get to level 25 and it’s a total change of pace to take him out. I had to pause the game before fighting the third boss to give myself a mental break and calm down before going for the finish. This is where the thumb pain really starts to sink in and getting beyond level 20 and failing means that it should be your only attempt of the day unless you want to give yourself some major hand problems.

The last achievement is for getting S+ ranks in every mission in the game. An S+ rank is awarded for completing a level without dying and killing all robots in a continuous combo. This is obviously the ultimate challenge as it takes a lot of time and patience to get good enough at each level to get the S+ rank. In some levels, dying is the problem. In others, it’s keeping the combo going. This is where the game becomes incredibly frustrating and you’ll start questioning what killed you and more importantly, why that one enemy behind the pillar on the other side of the map isn’t trying to kill you when your combo breaks. And that’s without talking about the last boss which I must have tried about 50 times before I was afforded the perfect run to get the win. The problem with this fight becomes apparent as there are a few points where you are dependent on a specific power up dropping and when it doesn’t, you run the risk of losing the combo.

That said, getting to the end of this road was one of the most rewarding achievements I’ve earned in recent memory.

Downloadable Content – N/A

 

I got Assault Android Cactus through Games with Gold and I’m glad it was on there because I wouldn’t have played it otherwise. Despite the frustrating moments, the game is a lot of fun and a great game to just play if you have a spare 15 minutes here and there.