Deathrun TV is a twin-stick shooter with a lot of it. But it’s a twin stick created by Laser Dog Games, a micro studio with a knack for making games that feel really good. Whether it’s ALONE’s inverted controls, which transport you into its racing world with unexpected power, or the smooth back-and-forth of the team’s recent iOS charmer Catchee, it also features one of the greatest theme songs of all time, which is A piece of gear where knowing the details matter.
This is great for double sticks, because at their best, these games are detail. That lovely pause when you get a new item in Deathrun TV: it’s a perfect detail for sure. But so does the flashing red rectangle when you enter a new level. Deathrun TV is the spiritual successor to Smash TV, as it’s a two-stick setup in an extremely violent game show where you race between arena blasting monsters. But those flashing red rectangles are a message to Twin Stick fans, where the lineage goes back even further, back to a game where Smash TV is the spiritual successor! It’s a robot, baby!
It does. Not only does the Robotron solidify the dual-stick control, it also introduces a fascinating wrinkle: in addition to everything you have to kill, there is something you have to protect. In Robotron, these are the wandering members of the last human family in the world. In Deathrun TV, they are blindfolded innocents thrown into the arena in their jumpsuits. Navigate monsters and bullet hell with gunfire and destroy your enemies, but also collect these blindfolded little ones. Not only will they daisy-chain behind you like a schoolboy forming a crocodile on a trip to the local library, they’ll reward you if you can safely lead them to one of the many exit points scattered throughout the levels : Maybe a faster move, or a small sword drone flying around and slashing people. Money in the bank!
That said, the focus remains on blasting the enemy. Deathrun TV broadly trades in two different levels – tight arenas or long-threaded environments. In both cases, you have to stay alive until the exit switch is available. Trigger it in time and you’ll get an air horn that means success – on to the next horror! Wait, the world starts exploding around you. I think. I mean, I’m always trying to trigger it on time, so who knows.
In both level types, enemies spawn and swarm with ferocity. Some enemies rush at you, some trigger bullet hell, some just wander around. Environmental hazards increase as you work between studios for games, and there are rampages, buzzes, and gaps in production. But again, giving you extra like pads – which viewers like to count as points here – and random weapon drops. All of these nice things do exactly what nice things in a double stick should do: they exist to trick you into making mistakes and overextending.
You’ll run into bosses as you move between studios, but the truth is, even basic enemies can weaken your heart if you’re not careful. Deathrun TV isn’t completely top-down, so occasionally you’ll be killed by something you don’t see, but in such a busy game, it’s all part of the fun. real.
Anyway, to balance it out, all weapons are unlocked as you go, from pistols and uzis to flamethrowers. You’re holding one in each hand, which means there’s a lot of synergy to find, but I’d also recommend going to the unsurprisingly rich accessibility menu and choosing the one-tap-fire option for both weapons, giving you the freedom to think The grenade still has that dash.
I can go on. Character dress up. load. Simple arcade mode. A room where you can wander between unlocks. The development team clearly recorded great audio. Deathrun TV is a nifty twin stick made of cute little pieces. All parts are important. I think Eugene Jarvis would be very proud.
