''Super Crate Box'' is a
shoot 'em up
Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs
) are a sub-genre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of charac ...
indie game by
Vlambeer
Vlambeer was a Dutch independent video game developer based in Utrecht. Founded in 2010, the studio was composed of Rami Ismail and Jan Willem Nijman, and closed down on its tenth anniversary after the two recognized they were moving in differe ...
. It was first released for
Microsoft Windows on 22 October 2010, and was followed with ports to
Mac OS X
macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and la ...
on 26 November 2010, to
iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...
on 4 January 2012, and to
PlayStation Vita on 3 October 2012. A
Commodore 64 demake of the game was developed by Paul Koller, with music by Mikkel Hastrup, and published by
RGCD as ''Super Bread Box'' on 22 October 2013.
Gameplay
''Super Crate Box''s core gameplay revolves around a 2D map. Enemies continually spawn from the top of the map, and come in three varieties: small, large and flying. A crate is always available in a random location on the map, and picking up a crate gives one of 14 weapons, selected at random. At all times, there is a fire pit at the bottom of the map. If an enemy reaches the bottom of the map and falls into the pit, it will respawn at the top of the map with the same health but moving considerably faster. Contact with an enemy results in immediate death.
The goal of the game is to survive as long as possible by using the different weapons obtained from crates to kill enemies. The number of crates that the player picks up before dying constitutes the score. By attaining certain numbers of crates in the game the player can unlock new weapons, game modes and cosmetic character skins.
There is a leaderboard available on the official website that tracks high scores for the various modes. The game supports joypad controls.
Development
Commodore 64 version
In 2012, ''Super Crate Box'' was ported to the
Commodore 64 home computer by Paul Koller. This conversion became available as a cartridge on 3 October 2013 under the title ''Super Bread Box''. The version features three new and exclusive Commodore 64-themed levels, in addition to the original three, as well as online high score tables, but lacks the SFMT and Ambush modes due to limitations of the hardware.
Reception
The PlayStation Vita and iOS versions received "generally favourable reviews", while the Switch version received "mixed" reviews, according to the
review aggregation
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
.
Mike Mason of ''Push Square'' said of the Vita version, "it's a twitch platformer-cum-shooter that preys on compulsion", and added, "If you dare to open the box on a lazy day, don't expect to close it again for an hour."
''
Edge
Edge or EDGE may refer to:
Technology Computing
* Edge computing, a network load-balancing system
* Edge device, an entry point to a computer network
* Adobe Edge, a graphical development application
* Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed ...
'' said of the iOS version, "The challenge is fierce; as your tally climbs above its previous best, the accompanying exclamation mark is a virtual eyebrow raised in surprise at your achievement."
Brad Nicholson of ''
TouchArcade
''TouchArcade'' is a mobile video game website that launched in 2008. Arnold Kim of ''MacRumors'' worked on the site and its editor-in-chief was Eli Hodapp from 2009 to 2019.
''TouchArcade'' has been recognized as one of the best mobile game ...
'' said of the same iOS version, "The hooks are in its constituent parts, which seamlessly blend into a cacophony of arcade action surrounding this pure purpose of play."
References
External links
*
*
*
{{Vlambeer
2010 video games
Action video games
Commodore 64 games
Freeware games
GameClub games
Indie video games
IOS games
MacOS games
Multiplayer and single-player video games
Nintendo Switch games
Ouya games
PlayStation Network games
PlayStation Vita games
Shoot 'em ups
Video games developed in the Netherlands
Vlambeer games
Windows games