GAME
OF THE
DAY
Black Paradox
Fast-paced rogue-lite shooter
With its neon palette, retro pixel art, and jagged synth soundtrack, Black Paradox is a side-scrolling shoot-’em-up that oozes ’80s cool.
You play as a bounty hunter flying through space in a jet-powered DeLorean. Your task: Take down the heads of the aptly named Hellraiser gang.
To get to them, you’ll have to blast through randomly generated waves of enemy ships, which makes each game a fresh hunt. The powerful weapons are also randomly generated, spanning familiar rail guns, lasers, and missiles to more creative options, like the super-fun Moroder gun (presumably named after disco legend Giorgio Moroder), which shoots a wave of devastating musical notes.
The ultimate secret weapon is the Black Paradox, a dark twin version of your ship that can deal a double dose of damage. That’s especially useful for pattern-oriented bosses, who compensate for their predictable moves with potent power and abilities.
Controlling your ship is as easy as dragging a finger across one side of the screen while tapping the other side to shoot. Holding a finger down to fire constantly is usually your best bet—there are a lot of enemies lurking about in the dark reaches of space—but you can also switch weapons with a simple swipe.
You’ll need to do that often—Black Paradox isn’t easy. Avoiding bullets is as important as blasting the bad guys; levels are often frenetic, filled with enemies coming from all directions.
But the game eases up the more you play. Each go, you earn in-game credits that can permanently upgrade your ship, making subsequent runs slightly easier. Death is just a temporary setback.
And though you’ll suffer plenty of those in your time with Black Paradox, they’re always worth it. Gorgeous, stylish, and demanding, the game is both a love letter to the decade it channels and a serious blast.