Whenever I bring up video games up in conversation to a person over the age of 60, you can guarantee the phrase “back in my day…” will be used. Sometimes the good ol’ days had the right idea, and we need to build up o that idea to make it meet today’s generation of standards. Today on Kickstarter, I found an old classic brought back to life with a modern twist – Nova Drift.
Back in November of 1979  Asteroids had been released by Atari Inc. Judging by the similarities between Nova Drift and the Classic Asteroids, you can tell that sometimes you don’t have to reinvent the wheel to make an awesome game. Completly turning things around from their previous game release, Last Horizon (which can be found on Steam!) which made you defend against deadly space hazards and alien ships, Nova Drift puts you on the offensive and nothing can get in your way.
What is Nova Drift?
Imagine Asteroids with the availability to upgrade your ship with multiple modifications, not only fight asteroids but enemy ships, unlock different play modes and play in vibrant colours! (original Asteroids was black and white only).
While you may be thinking – “This seems like it would get repetitive pretty quick”. Well, my response to that would be you are absolutely…wrong. While I will admit, at first I thought the game would get old after a few rounds but I felt that each time I died I had the chance to try new upgrades which altered the way how I played each round. One round you play with a rail gun and stay far from enemy’s and the next you have a very close spread gun and have to be almost next to the enemy… you can pick and choose your play style each round!
As of now the game is currently supported for PC and Mac – but with enough support the developers have put thought into making it available for mobile devices.
How are the controls?
While you have the option to play with a Keyboard and Mouse, oddly enough I played with the mouse! The controls are really smooth – almost caught me off guard how well it felt with using a mouse to turn the ship and using both the left and right mouse button to shoot and use thrusters. I am unaware if they do have controller support but I can tell you that the controls on both the keyboard and mouse feel and perform perfectly.
Sample game soundtrack:
Who created this game?
Jeffrey. He was a video game artist and animator for 8 years before he left his corporate job, learned to code, and threw himself head first into solo game development, which he has now been doing for 3 years.
Few can make a game without a little help. Miles Tilmann, co-founder of Pixeljam,  has been composing the music and sound for Nova Drift as well as handling production.
Check out their Facebook page and click the links above to check out their Twitter accounts!
Conclusion
While I did not get as much time in the game as I would like as there is only 5 days left of the campaign I feel that I got a pretty good feel for the game. While the original concept of the game may be old, Nova Drift brings a new light to this arcade classic. The controls were solid, the game play was fun, the music fit the setting and the colour and look of the ships give the game a modern feel. I can easily say that I would recommend this game to anyone looking for an arcade classic with some basic RPG elements and customization brought into the game.
Not only was the game fun, but the developers also seem like an amazing couple of guys – Regardless of campaign success, pledging gets you beta access in June of 2017.
Challenge to backers – my high score was 10659, let me know in the comments below if you can beat my score!
Click HERE to check out their Kickstarter page!
