Hypership Out of Control isn’t really a new game. It came out towards the beginning of September. However it’s most recent update was advertised as one of the fourteen Uprising releases, so since it’s technically a part of the movement and it never received a full review, we find ourselves at this juncture.

Your ship has lost its Space Brakes and you have no way to slow down. In fact, your ship keeps going faster and faster. What’s a freaked-out space ace to do? Use their reflexes, dumb luck and possible skill to grab coins, blast through the weaker obstacles and mostly not crash, that’s what.

It may look like a top-down shoot-em-up with “retro” graphics and up to four player co-op, but don’t let that fool you. Hypership Out of Control is actually a shmup crossed with an (almost) endless runner. If you can survive long enough, you’ll eventually reach the next wave full of tighter spaces, more moving obstacles and sharper turns. And if you manage to make it to the end of the final wave you get to start all over again from the beginning with all of your points, lack of lives and speed intact. Basically, it doesn’t end until you run out of lives.

Even Hypership‘s most basic mode is a nerve-wracking affair. Your speed will increase incrementally until you hit your maximum velocity, giving you much less time to react. Crashing into an obstacle will slow you down (and kill you), but there’s also a power-up that will reduce your speed without all the mess. You should probably go for the second one. Of course, slowing yourself down isn’t the only bonus available to you. Others will protect you from one collision, destroy everything on the screen and more. The big laser that shoots through everything is a personal favorite.

But you’re probably wondering what this update was all about. For the most part it’s all a bunch of bug tweaks and gameplay fixes. However, the big addition is a new game mode to go along with all of the others. So once you beat each level to death, miraculously survive the “no maximum speed” mode and fight your way through Hardcore, you can then tackle each mode in reverse. You’re going to need a lot of luck to survive after painstakingly memorizing all of those obstacles and item placements.

So why should you check out Hypership Out of Control? You shouldn’t. You shouldn’t merely “check it out.” You should buy it. You should buy it because it’s clever, difficult, charming (in a retro sort of way) and damn fun.

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Things We Liked: Insanely harsh, but also incredibly fun. Lots of modes to tackle once you play one to death, with the added ability to do it all backwards. Fun-to-use power-ups that don’t nerf the game, but give you a fighting chance.

Things We Disliked: A few extra waves would be nice…

Target Audience: People who enjoy a good “tough” game. Endless runner fanatics. Retro fans.

(Hypership Out of Control – Developer/Publisher: Fun Infused Games. Available for Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Indie Games. Unfamiliar with CFD!’s review system? Read our newly revised explanation here.)