Space Trash - A Mobile Game Review
By: Dylan Lepore | @dylanslegos
Space Trash is a randomized space protector game that's unorganized, confusing, and wants to sell you merch.
In Space Trash, you defend Earth from, well ... trash, and an assortment of anime and cartoon art styles with the sole mission of destroying the planet.
The story goes that you are a pilot controlling Earth's last hope, a device known as the ARC (Astronomic Refuse Collector) - an enormous energy shield that orbits Earth to protect it from incoming threats. Little do you know, it's not just trash hurtling down to Earth but otherworldly beings - some of which are friendly and can be used as power-ups.
You use your finger to circle the ARC around Earth or tap where you want the ARC to face on your screen. This is where the problems just only begin:
Firstly, your hand gets in the way of any story Space Trash is trying to convey. With so much happening on the screen and the text box constantly saying things, it is a distraction for those trying to play the game and those trying to engage in the game's story.
Secondly, Space Trash is a very random game in combat and style. While I give Space Trash kudos for keeping you on your feet and consistently amping up the difficulty, the game doesn't know what it wants to be with an art style that is all over the place. This may be something the developers at SharkEgg wanted to go for, calling Space Trash's tagline "Save Earth, Future-Retro style," but it ultimately falls flat and leaves me confused.
Thirdly, you get achievements, but it's not connected to Game Center, and there is no way to view all of the achievements you've earned in each game.
Fourthly, Space Trash is a game about getting the highest score; however, there is no way to track your score or compare it to anybody, similar to the game's achievements. Space Trash doesn't even tell you what your highest score is anywhere in the game.
The funny thing is in Space Trash's description on the app's storefront, SharkEgg wrote, "SpaceTrash Mission Control challenges you to post a screenshot of your highest score with the hashtag #ClearTheSpaceTrash and WIN a Space Trash T-Shirt!"
So, your highest score could be anything. Tweet away!
Fifthly, Space Trash's menu has three options: Play, Shop, and Credits. The credits are very detailed, and there is a link to pretty much every asset used in the game.
Then there is the mech shop, where everything is seemingly always on sale—selling things from shirts, hats, socks, mugs, phone cases, backpacks, hoodies, and more. I didn't want to believe it, but it seems more work went into Space Trash's merch shop than the actual game.
SharkEgg has created some good bones in Space Trash, but the whole game seems thrown together - it's miss-steps out way anything good you may find. Its merch shop and credits are too detailed for Space Trash's core gameplay not to be the same. Ultimately, in Space Trash's current state, it is just that ... trash you want out of this world.
3/10 - Awful
Super Blob Blaster
Release date: Apr 22, 2020
Platform(s): Apple and Android mobile devices
Published and Developed: SharkEgg
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