"Sky Force Reloaded is a classic shoot ‘em up experience packed in gorgeous visuals and excellent gameplay. Enjoy flashy explosions, beautiful scenery and massive bosses in single player or local cooperative modes."
Sky Force Reloaded is a vertically scrolling shoot 'em up video game developed by the Polish game developer Infinite Dreams Inc., the sequel to Sky Force Anniversary and the 2nd title in the Sky Force series.
The original 2006 version of Sky Force Reloaded was initially released for Symbian, Pocket PC, and Palm WebOS and was later released for iOS (2009), Android (2010), and PSP (2011). The 2D graphics style of the first title was combined with some 3D polygon objects like destructible towers. The game received a remake for mobile devices in 2016, with PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One versions released in 2017, and also a Nintendo Switch version released in 2018. A version for touchscreens on Tesla cars was released in 2021.
Sky Force Reloaded also features original electronic soundtracks composed by Jacek Dojwa and Adam Skorupa. The soundtracks themselves are a total remix of the 2006 version, available on Steam as a free DLC once the game is bought.
Gameplay of Sky Force Reloaded let the player pilot one of 9 collectable Planes through 16 of the game's immersive Stages, battling various types of enemies including aircrafts, powerful turret defenses and colossal bosses at the end of stages, all of which have stunning graphics and go out with a spectacular bang. Players can collect stars from defeated enemies and use the currency to upgrade and unlock various aspects of the planes, as well as powerful Power-ups such as Laser, Energy Shield and Mega Bomb. Complete numerous objectives to increase your prestige and recruit unique Technicians to help aid you in battle. Players can choose to partake in weekend Tournaments against global players and friends, or invite another friend to play a local cooperative mode against the foes with double the firepower on PC/Console versions.
Purchase and Availability[]
Sky Force Reloaded are available for free on the App Store and Google Play for mobile devices, with advertisements and in-app purchases that grants exclusive items.
The game is available for purchase on consoles such as PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. As a PlayStation 4 game, it can also be ported to PlayStation 5, but some incompatibilities might occur.[1]
A version for PC is also available for purchase on Steam, as well as its free original soundtracks.
A version for touchscreens on Tesla cars are also available.
Gameplay[]
Sky Force Reloaded takes pride in its stunning graphics of both the foreground enemies and the background of the stages, while maintaining the arcade spirit of classic shoot 'em up games.
Planes and Upgrades[]
In Sky Force Reloaded, player controls one of 9 available Planes that shoot in a bottom to up pattern, capturing the arcade shoot 'em up atmosphere. The planes have a rapid-fire Main Cannon as the Main Weapon, as well as other armament systems such as the low fire rate but penetrating Wing Cannons and high-accuracy missiles. Planes also have manually activated power-ups such as the high damaging Laser ray, the Energy Shield that absorbs almost all enemy projectiles, and the formidable Mega Bomb that cleans the screen of most enemies and their harmful bullets with just a single use. The 9 unique planes can be unlocked by collecting enough aircraft parts, each with unique traits that fits different playstyles.
Using stars collected from stages, players can upgrade their planes such as health points and unlock new armaments such as the Magnet that attract stars, allowing for effectiveness in farming upgrades. Upgrades are shared between the 9 planes. Every upgrade tier has 10 blocks, and each tier achieved will greatly improve the ability of the weapon as well as the total firepower of the plane. Upgrading is crucial for combating against higher difficulties.
By completing various objectives (such as destroying lots of enemies or rescuing lots of survivors), player can recruit and bring unique Technicians into battle through the prestige system. These technicians bring their perks with them on board such as Burton Panic who activates his own power-ups when the plane is in danger, Slo Mo Chan who slows down all harmful projectiles to relieve pressure, and Hayes Core who helps breaking the high score records.
The Classic, fleshed out with its Laser Whip upgrade.
Rarely, players can collect Bonus Cards found in destructible crates that each improves different aspects of gameplay. Some examples include: a card (3) that have a chance to activate an Energy Shield that save your plane from a fatal blow, a series of cards that allow power-ups to be charged from dispensers spread throughout the stages, a card that allow passive regeneration over time, a card (24) that reworks the main weapon of the first The Classic plane and notably, a card (9) that grants the player the Main Weapon Supercharge ability to bring fourth a mighty surge of firepower to swiftly destroy even the most durable enemies. The Card Radar has a chance to help track down these cards if the player is having trouble finding them on their own.
Stages and Enemies[]
The game has a total of 16 unique stages: 13 main stages and 3 bonus ones (Prologue stage not included), which guides the player through a storyline. Each stage is unique with their own stunning backgrounds and enemy layouts, such as stage 5 with its notorious EMP missile. There are a surplus of types of enemies which resides in the stages: most common are the Prop Planes with low health but can collide with your plane to bring down both, the helicopter Gunships that shoots homing missiles, and the frequently seen Radial Cannons that discharge endless waves of high damage projectiles. In later stages, some enemies have projectiles so powerful that can even pierce through active Energy Shield. shattering the expectation of invulnerability. Stages also have friendly survivors that the player can rescue, with grant 1000 points each and are a requirement for medals (see below).
Stage 13's Energized Spider Railguns shattering an active Energy Shield with their rounds.
Most Stages have final bosses at the end of them, often controlled by the main antagonist Scarlett Mantis, which are so massive they take up most of the screen in their presence. These bosses carry a surplus number of armaments on board, some even have their own unique ones. Bosses often have multiple phases of attack that needs to be destroyed in order, as well as a colossal amount of hit points. Not only their appearances are spectacular, their explosions upon total annihilation also satisfy the eyes. Some stages have mini-bosses in place of bosses instead, while a couple of them has none at all.
Attacks of Araneae Lebes, the final boss of Stage 10.
Stages also have a medal system, that is the player has four objectives to complete in order to progress to new difficulty level and unlock the following stages. Higher difficulties bring a spike of tougher challenges such as increased enemies' health, fire rates and number, but also reward the player with extra stars, points and a higher chance of finding bonus cards and aircraft parts. The medals are:
| List of medals: |
|---|
| Destroy 70% of enemy forces. |
| Destroy 100% of enemy forces. |
| Collect 70% of stars (Stage 5 exclusive). |
| Collect 100% of stars (Stage 5 exclusive). |
| Rescue all people. |
| Stay untouched (no damage received). |
The scenes and quotes spoken by the characters within the Stages help drive forward the storyline of Sky Force Reloaded.
Player can also participate in weekend Tournaments: endless stages whose difficulty increases the longer the player survives. Here, other players or friends all around the world fight for the highest score record.
Versions[]
There are two known versions of Sky Force Reloaded: the widescreen version of PC and console and the vertical screen version of iOS and Android.
Widescreen: the player is able to see either the decorative parts of the far two sides of the screen (or clouds). Some graphics (notably the player's planes) and lighting on this version is better than the mobile version, possibly due to the paid price. Not just graphics, this version also have some differences: the famous destructive supercharge of the Octopus plane is exclusive here, but phase two of The Scarlet Heart boss is also more brutal since the Powerful Beam Cannon is still able to rotate while firing the laser beam and sweeping the entire screen with it, while it is way easier on the mobile version. Because these gaming devices cannot run while turned off unlike phones, upgrades on the plane are done instantly.
Vertical screen: aka mobile version, this version has a limited screen width, and the camera shift horizontally if the planes move from side to side. Due to this, mobile version player can miss dispensers or survivors if they are on the far sides of the screen. Octopus plane will only supercharge its Main Weapon like other planes, plus upgrades takes seconds to lots of minutes to complete (players can speed them up using stars). However, occasional rewards can be claim by watching an advertisement, with some other in-app purchases perks can be acquired such as remove unwanted ads, instant plane productions, etc. by navigating through the Loadout screen.
Some bonus cards are also slightly or entirely different between versions.