If you're looking for a fun little rail shooter with Starblade and Star Fox elements, then Sky Squadron, by developer Trick Shot Development, is right up your shooting alley. This fast-paced title replaces the gore from games like House of the Dead and GunBlade and substitutes them with simple good old-fashion fun.

You're seated in the traditional first-person view looking out through a large domed glass inside a mechanical ship. As the camera shifts and pans about, you can see the towering city of the future.

Above ground, it has spires and towers, elevated highways, and significant bits drilled through the sides of mountains. Below appears laborers, slaving away at metal clasps like railroad workers chipping together the pieces of a larger structure.

Aiming High

I don't see many of the enemies as they seem to frantically weave in and out of my vision. Their shadows appear here and there, but no point is ever made of them. They don't have names or identification, but you can feel their presence and the architectural marvels they've created.

The story is relatively light but starts with a mysterious foe harvesting the natural resources of your homeland. You play Keith Koala, a brave fighter pilot who, along with his band of merry friends, seeks to investigate the occurrence.

With level after level of targets to shoot at, Sky Squadron is as close to a sophisticated shooting game as it can get and where you can sit back and let the action come to you. It's like riding a roller-coaster, cushioned on a layer of air, without the rough jerks and turbulent turns. Instead, the ride unfolds naturally.

Each level offers specific objectives: destroy x amount of this, gather x amount of that, etc. Getting a good shot off is as simple as lining the reticule on the flashing red targets and pressing the trigger.

Everything feels smooth, and no frantic movements or hand flailing are required. Instead, it's about accuracy and precision, not bloodshed. Using hand gestures also removes the pesky reloading sequence usually found in these games, and the constantly changing landscape makes it very hard to get bored.

Sky Squadron supports both VR and standard mode, so if you have a VR headset, you're in for a special treat. But due to being prone to motion sickness, I could only try the VR mode for a few levels before feeling a bit nauseous. So this review is based on the standard version. However, to get the best gaming experience, VR is the way to go.

The Skies the Limit

Graphically, the game is visually entertaining, with bright, vibrant use of colors and soft pastel strokes. The images that differentiate each level never outshine one another, and every agile movement of enemy ships doesn't call for more attention than needed. There is a fluid, organic quality at work here that fancy 3D effects can't compete with.

An especially nice touch is when you're getting shot at; fire can break out inside the cockpit. Instead of pressing a button to put out the flames, you'll have to move the controller to put them out repeatedly. So, while you're being fired upon from the outside, you'll also have to contend with the dangers from within your ship.

The witty one-liners are also funny and give off a positively relaxed vibe, primarily because of the developer's Australian humor and witty one-liners. The typical Aussie clichés are in the right places, and most of the gags pay off.

Sky Squadron will no doubt be popular and deserves that type of success. All the gameplay elements converge to make a lighthearted shooter that will entertain players for a surprisingly long time, despite the game being relative short.

Trick Shot Studios should be congratulated for designing a game with creative flare. They started with a good premise and built an entertaining game to fit around it. Well done, gentlemen.