Rise & Shine

Brutal difficulty isn’t bad by itself, but Rise & Shine doesn’t balance it with a sense of satisfaction when you succeed

To summarize in a similar vein to Rise & Shine's humor: This game could have been a triumph, but then it took an arrow to the knee. The graphics make you think the gameplay cake is real, but the cake is a lie. All you'll find are Flappy Birds, a dead Princess Peach, and Marcus Fenix. But hey, at least you can kill the Duck Hunt dog, so that has to count for something. Oh, and this is the Dark Souls of video game humor. Take that for what you will.

Influenced by adventure-platform games of the past, Rise & Shine manages to enrich a classic gameplay formula with a tight mix of different genres, interesting combat depth, and varied puzzles. Shooting controls can be a bit uncomfortable on a gamepad, but this is the only gripe in a game that's objectively very well put together. Highly recommended to fans of Another World and Flashback as well as to those looking for a quirky and fun experience that doesn't overstay its welcome.

Despite its brevity ultimately doing some notable harm to it, Rise & Shine is still ultimately a solid platformer for the most part, one that has a lot of cute callbacks to classic video games while still having its own unique charm, along with some impressive graphics and nifty ideas sprinkled throughout.

When Rise & Shine‘s gameplay works, it works well, providing a fascinating take on the run and gun genre that I hope Super Awesome Hyper Dimensional Mega Team has a chance to refine and perfect at some point. If you can take the pounding, Rise & Shine might be worth a look.

Rise & Shine not only has great artwork, but it also feels great to play as well. The shooting is solid and feels polished. Its pace is a little more deliberate thanks to the gun & bullet modifiers that require a slight bit of thinking. Levels never felt stale because the way mechanics were incorporated always kept things sort of fresh and because of that it strongly adheres to replayability; which you might be doing since the experience is a short one.

Rise and Shine is a delightful title that pays homage to a lot of great franchises, and has solid gameplay. While the story elements could be better, this game is still entertaining until the end.

A solid, if uninspiring run ‘n gun title with some very nice visuals. The game's length and difficulty make it hard to recommend without reservation but if you are after something a little quirky you might enjoy your brief time with this.

When everything is put together, Rise and Shine is incohesive, and no aspect of it is compelling enough in its own right to make the game more than the sum of its parts. It probably isn't a waste of an afternoon to play Rise and Shine, but it's probably better to do anything else instead.

Rise & Shine is a very interesting game that knows how to properly mix run & gun, bullet hell, platforms, and puzzles, all on a trial and error basis, fostered by the unlimited lives that we will have. A game of beautiful technical invoice, which shines in its artistic section and with a solid gameplay although the changes in pace and difficulty weigh. If you like the genres that are combined here, this is your game, and if not, the fan service itself to the video game world will give you a chance.