I think cute-em-ups were always at their best when they made slightly less sense than they should. Astro Burn understood that assignment, and after a month on Android, the shooter is now available on iOS too.

If the term’s new to you, it’s the old arcade shooter with the grimness swapped out for cartoons. Beyond the Pixels is pointing straight at Parodius and Pop’n TwinBee for inspiration, Konami’s 90s shooters where you could fly as a penguin or an octopus and nobody batted an eyelid. 

Here you’re Astro, a cat pilot with considerably more firepower than any cat should be trusted with, trying to blast her way home.

Each level is a fast run through laser grids and collapsing structures, with enemies coming at you from all over. Power-ups drop as you go and stack into increasingly silly combinations, but they’re temporary, so miss one and you’ll soon find yourself in trouble. Fill the meter and Astro lets loose a catnip-powered finishing move done up in full anime style.

Looking at the bosses makes me feel the studio really had some fun with them. Screen-filling mecha pandas are in there, and so are celestial goldfish firing star-shaped projectiles at you.

The catch with any bullet hell on a touchscreen is your own thumb sitting right over the bullets you’re meant to be dodging. When Astro Burn landed on Android, it came with rebuilt touch controls, which will come in handy on iOS too. I don’t see a mention of the Cat TV mode, but I sure hope it’s there.

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