It’s always a treat to see two different literary genres get combined to make a whole new story. It’s even better when a game developer takes that combination and makes a really addictive game out of it. This is the case for the bullet hell shoot em’ up Jamestown+ for the Nintendo Switch.
Story
Usually most shmups don’t have a story or if they do it’s not that detailed, but Jamestown+ does actually have a story. Players take on the role of Sir Walter Raleigh, who is being sentenced to the Tower of London to be put to death. Sir Raleigh flees Earth and escapes to the English colony of Mars to not only find proof of his innocence by solving the mystery of the lost colony of Roanoke. As he makes it to Jamestown, one of the English colonies on Mars, Martian natives loyal to the Spaniard only known as the Conquistador attack the colony. Sir Raleigh is now on a quest not only to solve the mystery of Roanoke but to stop whatever plans the Conquistador has.
Now if some of the places like Roanoke and Jamestown and names like Walter Raleigh and John Smith (more on him in a bit) sound familiar that’s because it uses events and people from 17th century colonial America. Walter Raleigh and John Smith are of course English explorers and Roanoke is the colony that has its settlers disappear without a trace. If you couldn’t tell, the story uses historical people and events to create a historical fiction, but a sci-fi historical fiction. Though you don’t really find many bullet hell shmups that use 17th century Colonial America as inspiration, which is a really cool change of pace.
Gameplay
The gameplay for Jamestown+ is your typical bullet hell shmup action, ie shoot a ton of bright neon bullets at enemies while avoiding their waves of bright neon bullets. Simple, fast , frenzied, requiring precise hand/eye coordination on higher difficulties yet effective and addictively fun. Like most bullet hell shmups, Jamestown+ gives you a selection of various ship classes to choose from. Each ship has their own unique secondary fire that changes up your playstyle: for example beam fires a steady and powerful beam but at the cost of mobility, ghost let’s you place down a clone of yourself that is constantly firing and there are the Armada class ships like the Lazar and Grenadoe that allows players to customize the layout of the primary fire. Now imagine all of this but with four ships at once, as Jamestown+ let’s you team up with three other friends for the ultimate bullet hell experience.
Once your done playing through the story and want more, there’s two other modes to playthrough: Gauntlet mode and John Smith’s missions. Gauntlet mode has players go through all five chapters back to back with a limited amount of lives and credits. The higher the difficulty the less lives and credits are given. As for the John Smith missions, its a side story staring John Smith. More on him in a bit.
Graphics
Jamestown+ is a very unique looking shmup as it combines the ascetics of 17th century colonial America with sci-fi/steampunk and it all looks awesome. There’s a lot of detail in each of the levels that make it feel alive and organic. I’m a sucker for good pixel art and the art in Jamestown+ is really amazing, especially the Spaniard’s robots/mechs and the organic looking Martian wildlife. My favorite sprites were the pirate crabs in the John Smith chapters.
Sound/music
Just like the graphics, the music and sounds of Jamestown+ also received remastered versions. From what I have heard from the original game’s soundtrack, the music is amazing. The remastered music just makes it even better. Each chapter has their own theme which are already great, but as the level changes in each chapter, the music changes to reflect that section. Boss themes are just as good, really bringing up the tension as your trying to avoid enemy attacks.
Extras
Now Jamestown+ is an enhanced version of the original Jamestown that came out back in June 2011. Added to this version of Jamestown is the expansion Gunpowder, Treason and Plot. This gives players four new ships under the Treason class to pilot: ghost, gunpowder, treason and fortune. Also added into the game is the side story Tall Tales With John Smith: A Side Story in Two Acts. As I mentioned earlier John Smith is also another colonial historical figure in the game. In his side story he has grown bored standing guard at his post so he decides to get himself arrested by the Spanish in order to steal intel. But what he doesn’t account for is them sending him to the fabled Spanish prison, The Black Garrison, on the Martian moon of Phobos. While short (the side story is only two chapters long) it serves more awesome bullet hell goodness. I just wish there were more missions with him.
Simple, fast, frenzied, and addictively fun Jamestown+ is a great addition to the shmup collection. The combining of colonial America and sci-fi into a story was a weird choice but fun none the less. The gameplay is fast and addicting and becomes more frenzied when adding in three more people into the mix. The graphics are awesome looking and the soundtrack is great. If you’re looking for a shmup to get others addicted to, then Jamestown+ is the way to go.
