For the longest time, I used to be satisfied that Geometry Wars: Retro Advanced 2 was the height of the twin-stick arcade style. It took what the unique XBLA sport did so nicely and perfected the components, delivering an expertise that was simple to know but tough to grasp.
Think about my shock, then, to find that not solely does Sektori effortlessly emulate the texture of GW2, however it additionally manages to surpass it in just about each means. Having launched on different platforms on the tail finish of 2025, this, my buddies, is the brand new benchmark for twin-stick arcade video games, and my favorite Change 2 launch of 2026 up to now.
Developed by Kimmo Lahtinen, who beforehand spent 13 years on the Sony-owned studio Housemarque (Resogun, Lifeless Nation), Sektori wears its inspiration on its sleeve. At its core, it’s fairly actually Geometry Wars: you navigate a top-down area, shoot a bunch of colored shapes, and attempt to keep alive lengthy sufficient to climb the net leaderboards. Nonetheless, a number of distinctive mechanics assist set it aside, making it some of the relentlessly addictive video games I’ve ever performed.
First up is the ‘strike’ transfer. Along with transferring with the left stick and taking pictures with the fitting, tapping ‘LB’ dashes your ship ahead, creating a big explosion that decimates close by enemies. Usually, executing this can require a cooldown of about 10 seconds earlier than you should use it once more, however timing and accuracy will let you chain collectively a number of strikes in a single go.
The secret is to purpose on the improve pick-ups that seem periodically within the area. Hit considered one of these together with your strike and it’ll fully bypass the cooldown interval, letting you utilize it many times till you run out of pick-ups. Chaining your strikes collectively is a good way to spice up your rating, however the multiplier will rapidly reset should you fail to take care of the chain.
Then we now have the pick-ups themselves. You may have a complete of six attributes you can enhance throughout your runs: velocity, rating, strike, defend, missile, and blaster – particularly in that order. In case you decide up one improve, you possibly can instantly activate it and enhance your velocity. Nonetheless, should you seize two, then you possibly can improve your rating – and so forth. So primarily, if you wish to enhance your blaster, you’ll must preserve enjoying till you decide up six upgrades earlier than activating it.
Every attribute could be improved a number of occasions, lending the sport an enormous factor of technique as you determine which of them you wish to deal with. Increase your shields is a good way to remain alive in opposition to boss encounters, however leaving your blaster at its lowest stage could make later phases tougher.
One other pick-up you’ll must control will cycle by letters to type particular phrases. Relying on the problem setting, these phrases are ‘Mirage’, ‘Sektori’, and ‘Revolution’. Decide up all of the letters and also you’ll enter a short lived ‘rainbow’ state, powering up your talents to the max whereas boosting your rating exponentially. It’s nicely value spending the time to finish every phrase, however you’ll wish to time your pick-ups nicely, because it’s doable to snap up a letter you’ve already collected.
And eventually, you’ve gotten improve playing cards. Earlier than every run, you’ll want to decide on a complete of eight decks from which to tug playing cards, and you may customise these as you acquire extra by unlocks. Whenever you seize a uncommon, yellow pick-up throughout gameplay, you’re offered with three randomised decks to open. Some playing cards do little or no, however uncommon ones can grant you respectable upgrades like defensive drones or the flexibility to shoot backwards.
There’s rather a lot to juggle, then, however whenever you’re within the warmth of battle, all of it comes collectively very well. All these further fine details are very important to reaching excessive scores, however essentially, they don’t get in the best way of the core gameplay: taking pictures enemies, surviving, and having a rattling good time doing it.
Oh, and did I point out that the sector truly morphs as you play? Sure, along with the hordes of enemies, the stage will fully change form each 15 seconds or so, so ensure you don’t get caught within the crimson areas because it’s about to shift.
If there’s one downside to all of this, nonetheless, it’s that the sport doesn’t do the very best job at explaining all of it. There’s a quick tutorial at first and a few instruction pages on the principle menu, however it took me a short time to grasp that grabbing a number of pick-ups would cycle by your upgrades. Equally, when the primary collection of playing cards popped up on-screen, I didn’t have a clue what was occurring. It doesn’t take lengthy to determine all of it out, however a bit extra steering from the sport itself can be good.
The principle marketing campaign mode has you’re employed by particular person phases, every of which ends with a formidable boss encounter. Whenever you first begin out, you’re pressured into ‘Expertise’ problem mode till you beat the primary stage, however make no mistake, this isn’t precisely simple.
The latter problem ranges, ‘Problem’ and ‘Revolution’, enhance the variety of enemies on display and the speed at which they seem. To stability issues out, nonetheless, your individual charge of fireplace can also be elevated.
In one other nod to Geometry Wars, there are six different modes to unlock as you play. These embody ‘Gates’, which disables your weapons and has you fly by obstacles to defeat enemies, and ‘Crash’, which solely permits you to use the strike capacity. Every mode has its personal world leaderboard, so there’s lots right here to sink your tooth into.
All of that is propped up by Sektori’s stellar presentation. Visually, it’s a bit darker and edgier than what you may see in a Geometry Wars sport, however it’s nonetheless a trippy expertise. Psychedelic patterns always swirl within the background, and the plethora of various colored enemies all floating across the display is a delight to behold. All of it runs at a rock-solid 60fps with not a single noticeable dropped body in each docked and handheld modes.
Equally, music performs an enormous function, with Tommi Lahtinen’s techno-based soundtrack bringing the motion to life fantastically. Actually, the sound design as an entire is great, with punchy weapon sound results, crunchy explosions whenever you execute a strike, and an anxiety-inducing alarm that blares out each time the phases change form.
Conclusion
Sektori is a triumph. Mixing the core gameplay of Geometry Wars with a number of participating new mechanics makes this some of the satisfying and addictive video games I’ve ever performed. It boasts immaculate presentation with beautiful visuals, a thumping soundtrack, and rock-solid 60fps gameplay.
A number of the new mechanics could take some getting used to, and Sektori may do a greater job at explaining them. As soon as you have acquired your head round all of it, although, it is unimaginable to place down. So far as twin-stick shooters go, Geometry Wars has been dethroned – there is a new king on the town.
