When I first found Nightbird Trigger X, I half expected a hyped up megaman clone that would have me blasting through baddies while saving the world from some misguided scientist. Our hero dawns a long flowing red scarf, a laser gun for an arm, and goes by the codename Nightbird Trigger X. All signs point to a pretty epic experience.
Nightbird Trigger X is a collaboration between Japanese game developers Kuma the Bear and COLOPL. Although the English name does catch the eye, I think the Japanese name, “一瞬のスキマX”or “Split Second Opening X” does a much better job describing what exactly you are getting yourself into.
Ok, so what is Nightbird?
Although the game does little to actually explain what in futuristic Tokyo is going on, what we can assume is that our “hero” is hacking into some cyber world and must shoot all of the orbs to make it past the firewall. It is a simple enough concept, with even simpler gameplay. You do not aim. You do not move. You simply wait for an opening, and tap to shoot.
At the start of each level, you are given 50 seconds to shoot through all of the orbs. Once you successfully blast an orb, a bridge will appear and you will move on to the next orb and a new set of fast moving obstacles. These obstacles range from moving blocks to arrows that will direct your laser in different directions.
Nightbird does occasionally do a great job of using these obstacles to create some truly interesting and challenging puzzles. However, these are far and few between; mostly you’ll get mundane and simple puzzles. You will find that the majority of the “puzzles” are simply fast moving blocks. Not terribly creative or difficult to figure out.
That being said, just because there seems to be a lack of creativity does not mean that the game is lacking in challenge. Nightbird Trigger X starts out painfully simple, but eventually builds upon itself to become one swear-word-inducing frustration of a game. After failing a level due to seemingly impossible obstacles, I found myself throwing down my iPod, pacing around the room for a bit, and then just picking it right back up again for one more try. It is tough, but it is through Nightbird’s difficulty that the game’s charm really shines.
Nightbird looks nice I guess….
As for visuals and design, Nightbird Trigger X plays smoothly and looks great. You can tell that the developers put a great deal of time into the puzzle’s visuals and mechanics. It is a shame that the game moves so fast, you barely get a moment to appreciate the complexity, and then it’s gone.
Repetitive, restrictive, and expensive?
Oh boy sign me up!
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