Side-scrolling shoot ‘em ups make up a genre that just never quits. It feels like we get a new one every couple of weeks or so, especially in recent years. Obviously, as with anything, there’s always going to be huge variation in quality with a genre that frequently sees new entries. So, what makes Galaxy Warfighter stand out from the crowd?Galaxy Warfighter is spread across one hundred levels. As you can probably tell, the goal is simple: reach the end of the level, destroying anything that gets in your way, and defeat the boss. Unfortunately, there isn’t any variety with the bosses — there are only four different bosses you face throughout the entire game, and they become just slightly more challenging with each battle.

One of the strangest decisions made by Galaxy Warfighter is its automatic fire. On one hand, this means that all you need to focus on is the oncoming fire. However, the downside of not controlling your fire is that it feels as though half of the gameplay experience has been eliminated. The challenge of balancing your fire with your evasion is where the fun comes in, and that’s not applicable here.The background doesn’t change at all as you move through a level — focusing on your ship, you don’t appear to be moving forward at all, but just moving up and down within the same stage. This, combined with the background music, which is the same repetitive track constantly, makes every level feel the exact same. Even though the gameplay can still be fun, one hundred levels of the same thing turns incredibly stale quickly. 

What Galaxy Warfighter does have in its favour is an upgrade system for your ship. As you gradually work your way through a level, your enemies will drop green coins that you automatically pick up. Then, from the main menu, select the option ‘upgrade ship’ and you can spend all your coins on what you want to upgrade. Your upgrades range from the more traditional, such as strengthening your armour, to getting drones to aid you on your mission. It’s very easy to get the coins, and you’ll know when you need to upgrade because you’ll get stuck on a level that seems more challenging than it needs to be, meaning it’s upgrade time. Once the upgrade is done, it’s back to the grind.Galaxy Warfighter is a small game with one hundred levels of content on offer for you to sink your teeth into. Unfortunately, there just isn’t enough variety in those levels to justify them all being there. Everything about Galaxy Warfighter grows repetitive, from the gameplay to the music. Luckily the upgrade system prevents it from being merely a mediocre game, but it never reaches its potential, and this is because it constantly retreads the same ground.