Gravitron 2

This is a game I keep coming back to after all the so called AAA games I have get overlooked.
Yes its damn hard - there's a steep learning curve but nothing good ever came easy - I'm no youngster with jittery fingers and cant say I'm great at playing games - but this is one of the best retro themed games I've ever played. It looks great on a big monitor, and would make a great cocktail cabinet.(It has a cocktail mode too!) The glowing neon look makes it look like a vector screen but in cool colours. At £2.99 its a giveaway - you'd be mad not to own this super game. You'll come back to its fiendish levels again and again..

Pro:
* precise controls
* interesting level design with lots of moving parts
* timeless stylized graphics (if you like that style)
* lots of challenge
* not unique, but a genre of games with not too many good competitors
* fleeing after blowing up the last reactor has some nice intensity. Leaving the planet last second is fun.
* inexpensive

Contra:
* lazer walls instantly kill you
* enemies hitting you make you bounce around in small corridors hitting all walls, losing all control, often ending up in cheap death
* I don't think it is possible to win this game with keyboard only controls. I play it with mouse and I see that unconventional control scheme necessary to win this game
* playing for a high score is a bit of an outdated concept. Nobody cares about scores.
* online high score is broken.
* no weapon or ship variety, only a single shooty gun

Classic Arcade Lander/Shooter - 100%
Even complete with Cocktail mode if you want to go Buck!

Brilliant game - more combat oriented than traditional thrust games maybe, but makes a nice complement to something like Thrust Legend. Great graphics, mouse controls take a bit of get used to but soon become second nature. Well worth a purchase.

This game is the closest thing to one of my favourite games of all time 'Thrust' on the Commodore 64. The only thing missing is the wonderful Rob Hubbard music. I wish you could play with a controller or remap the keys though as the default keys are playable, but not the most comfortable. Don't bother with the mouse it's way to sensitive and takes Jedi-like reflexes to use.

I hate this game until I tweaked with the controls and used a controller. It's got a steep learning curve now it's fun.

I just realised I've played 21 hours of this game (maybe more, I feel like Steam 'lost' the playing hours for several of my games over the years) and while looking to see what else existed from the same developer, I found this game has very few reviews and they are 'mixed'! Travesty!

I have been coming back to this game year after year - it's such a great 10 minute time-filler and finally progressing past that level that you have been stuck on for a couple of days is extremely satisfied (amplified by the adrenaline fuelled 60 seond escape timer at the end of each level).

Recommendation:try the demo, buy a controller, buy the game, enjoy coming back to it for years to come.

Tips - On my latest games machine I have had issues with fullscreen on my 1920x1080 TV and have had to play windowed at a lower resolution. It does not detract from the gameplay.

Gravitar is one of my favorite arcade classics, and when I searched for similar names on Steam I found this gem. The demo is short but it told me everything I needed to know and I spent the $5. Gravitron 2 is what I wanted in a more modern "Gravitar-like" game. The difficulty ramps up quickly but death isn't rage-inducing because I feel confident I can "git gudder". I'm not very far into the levels yet, and I'm sure they get crazy, but so far the game feels quite fair.

TIPS: If you have a gamepad I recommend you use that. On my Xbone controller I have A=boost, X=fire, L1=shield. It's important that you can easily boost & shield at the same time. Also start with "Standard" map pack. The default-selected map pack ("OfficialPack1") is harder.

It's a great game and the price is right. Give the free demo a try!

Difficult but fair, with a generous amount of diverse, well-designed levels. There's a video here (not mine) if you want a good idea of what the gameplay is like.


Here's a few important starting tips if you decide to buy this game (which you should):

- The default level pack on the main menu is "OfficialPack1." That is the expansion. Click once so that you are starting with the "Standard" pack, which are the levels from the initial release. Otherwise the game will seem very difficult to start with.

- Use your shield. It will deflect all standard bullets and is a lifesaver in tight areas. By default it is bound to the middle mouse button; I suggest rebinding it to a more reflex-friendly key like the spacebar, or use a controller. All controls can be rebound from the options menu, which is available after starting the game. You can also adjust the mouse sensitivity there.

- You can land on any flat surface, including walls and celings, and you will not take damage from landing at high speeds, as long as you are correctly aligned.


Gravitron 2 is a near-perfect game for me, with only one significant flaw: There are no online leaderboards. There were at one point, hosted on a third-party server, but that server is down for good. Steam leaderboards would be a major benefit, though there is little hope of that happening now.

Still, that lone drawback should absolutely not stop you from picking this one up. Don't bother waiting for a sale - it hasn't dropped in price since 2013 and likely won't ever again. Plus at $5 it's already a steal.

Only 19 reviews.
Overall mixed?
This game deserves better.
It was one of the first non-valve games i owned on steam and it was a very memorable expierence.
It is very difficult but if you like lunarlanderstyle gameplay this game is really awesome.
In my opinion totally underrated, I totally recommend it if you know how to map your mouse and keyboard controls to a game pad, because then the game gets really stellar.

As I write this review, the overall user reviews is MIXED. MIXED?!?!?! Are you fucking kidding me? This game is hard, you absolutely have to use a keyboard and not mouse or better yet a controller. The level design is superb, the sound effects amazing, retro feel/design and implentation is outstanding. So many classic games wrapped into one, do your self a favor and give it a try. It's $5, and it's a game that's challenging in a fair way, so you'll be back and glad you bought it.

Until Retrobooster, this was by far the best cave flyer available on the PC. It behooves every right-thinking gamer to give this a positive review here to get that "mixed" off of there, because it's a travesty of the highest order. The HIGHEST!

Although the half-hour negative reviews claiming it's "too hard" are pretty funny. Stay in school, kids.

The reviews currently say "mixed" which is INSANE. Those of you that wrote negative reviews are worthless.

Gravitron 2 is one of the 100 best video games ever made. It delightfully merges gameplay elements from Gravitar, Tempest and Choplifter! in one amazing package. I'm seeing people complain about the controls - these people are lazy and probably trying to use a mouse. It's got Asteroids-style controls, buttons for everything. So now it's Gravitar, Tempest, Choplifter! and Asteroids.

There's more levels than anyone will probably ever play. It looks gorgeous. It has a wonderful learning curve, things blow up nicely when they blow up and it is THE best retro arcade-style game on Steam. There are some levels where you need to think a bit and some where you can just go hogwild. It also has shields and the ability to get more fuel from the environment, so now it's Gravitar, Tempest, Choplifter!, Asteroids, Asteroids Deluxe and Scramble. I'll tell you exactly what it is: a goddamn masterpiece.

Althought I haven't got to finish this game, I've enjoyed played it. Even tho the controls are problematic and sometimes frustrating, it is still fun thanks to its gameplay mechanics and pleasant particle effects.

Fun classic physics game, but really hard. However, it's appealing enough to play for a while from time to time
Lost Gem!

Awesome game.
Only one thing : the bouncing effects, way too strong, if you happen to be hit in a corridor its becoming uncontrollable.
That doesn't make any sense...
and its very very annoying.

Best vector game I have ever played. I have the non steam version also and I have logged more hours that I can keep track of.

I've always enjoyed vector graphic style games. They just provide a classic look from those 1980s arcade games that I cherish the most. Gravitron 2 looks really promising and feels like a cross between Defender and Scramble, but the keyboard and mouse controls do not make this game friendly to play.

Very challenging, mostly due to how mouse control is handled.

Some tweaks to handling model would make the game much more enjoyable.

As it stands, it is a fun diversion very infrequently.

Like Lunar Lander, except there was a need to plaster it in fucking neon. It's harder, though, and what classic game offshoot would it be if it weren't hard?