In 2020, most Vita games are niche titles, indie or mobile ports. Even at its height, there was little in the way of clashing big-genre releases to inspire some "Mortal Kombat vs Street Fighter" angst, getting players talking and bragging. Imagine some fantasy time when two heavyweights could go toe-to-toe on the Vita?
Well, that time is/was the late '90s when the Mega Drive/Genesis fought pitched battles with SNES for fan attention, and for every game there was a bitter rival either across the two, or on the same platform. Transport that vibe to today, and the Vita gets a metallic clash of firepower and chrome in the twilight of its life thanks to two remarkable games.
That bitchy atmosphere is recreated in the guise of one late-era cancelled Mega Drive game, Ultracore (formerly
Project Hardcore, originally developed by Digital Illusions) from Strictly Limited and one modern-day, built for Mega Drive love-letter shooter from Bitmap Bureau in the form of
Xeno Crisis.
Two sci-fi-themed shooters, two different perspectives, two different development eras in gaming clashing on one small OLED screen... with lots of shooting. Its time for Ultracore vs Xeno Crisis.
Pick a game, pick a side
Hopefully, Vita owners will get both titles to support the developer's efforts. But, for now, imagine there can be only one. Will you go with the scrolling shooter action of Ultracore or the room-based perspective blasting of Xeno Crisis?
Pre-orders for the physical of Xeno Crisis are sold out, and Ultracore arrived too late to get the physical treatment. But, Ultracore arrives this week (next week in the EU) on PSN, while Xeno Crisis on PSN will match the September physical release.
Handily, thanks to their existence on other platforms, (Ultracore on PS4 and Switch, Xeno Crisis on Mega Drive, NEO GEO, Dreamcast, Switch and more) that battle can be fought out today, even if we don't get the usual day-and-date pre-match hype.
The Tale of the Tape
ULTRACORE
- Frantic Blast Processing gameplay
- Five large stages with challenging boss fights
- Collect new weapons and upgrade them
- Modern twin-stick controls
- Optional new synthwave soundtrack
XENO CRISIS
- Incredible pixel art from the legendary pixel artist, Henk Nieborg.
- Intense FM chiptune soundtrack by Savaged Regime, originally created for the YM2612!
- Two difficulty levels and three modes of play.
- Seven varied areas to traverse with many different enemies to tackle.
- An arsenal of 10 weapons to master.
- Upgrade system allows you to change your tactics each playthrough.
Here's my shiny fresh
review of Ultracore and you can read my
Switch review of Xeno Crisis here (we all know it'll feel and look better on a Vita)... But my view doesn't count for much. Which will win the battle of the Mega Drive on Vita Game Classic Face-Off!? Vote now...
