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SUPER HYDORAH
review | SWITCH
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Publisher: Abylite Studios.
Developer: Locomalito. Released: November 2018. Genre: Horizontal-scrolling shoot 'em up. Other versions: VITA; PS4; XONE; PC. Posted 20th July 2026. By Tom Clare © 2026 |
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Fans of Gradius will love Super Hydorah: Locomalito’s title is a love letter to the classic shooter. Its modest technical output is more than made up for by imaginative level design and refined gameplay. The experience is all the more endearing for the feeling that you could be playing an authentic Mega Drive or Super Nintendo game.
Super Hydorah places players at the helm of a compact, nippy ship as Delta Lance fights the Metropian race waging war in the Omnios star system. It’s a breeze to get into, a side-scrolling shooter action that’s simplicity itself. ‘B’ to fire, which in tandem handles secondary weapons, ‘A’ for a special move, and you’re good to go. Simple, but as you might expect from a game whose origins can be traced to tough blasters from the 1980s, rarely easy. Rather than opting for 5-6 key stages, SH delivers a somewhat non-linear trajectory of 21 levels, several of which are optional. These consist mainly of short, sharp stages, with the odd key area presenting multiple scenes and boss fights.
Super Hydorah is rammed with awesome boss battles, and a host of environment-specific hazards
There are relatively few bells and whistles, but it’s a rewarding journey, one that tasks players with honing their ship-handling skills and considering tactical opportunities afforded by the variety of loadouts present amid the many and varied scenarios. Its pace is fairly leisurely when compared to contemporary shmups, but it doesn’t lack for excitement, and purists will enjoy its commitment to quality level design over visual pyrotechnics. Each level beaten gifts players a new primary, secondary, or special weapon, and as well as offering split routes, each stage harbours a secret that completists will enjoy routing out. Ship handling is precise and uncomplicated, just as it should be; hit boxes leave little to grumble about, whilst weapon power-ups and tokens for shield, speed and extra special attacks provide a helpful range of boosters.
The game excels in two key areas: level design and bosses. Varied, creative environments are the order of the day, with stages not only throwing up an unpredictable array of enemies, but also a range of hazardous surroundings. Whilst the first couple of stages are reasonably orthodox, it isn’t long before you’re visiting some truly exciting locations. There’s the ‘Temple of Dunarys’ with its billowing sandstorms making for tricky flying conditions, and ‘Verminest’, with its spooky skeletons and swarms of space insects. The mammoth ‘Galactic Inferno’ plonks players in the midst of an epic space battle, with allied and enemy ships alike engaging in destructive combat, making for some amazingly atmospheric, detailed backgrounds. Throughout this stage, players face three separate boss encounters, culminating in a fabulous, three-phase battle with a ship’s Warcore.
The game excels in two key areas: level design and bosses. Varied, creative environments are the order of the day, with stages not only throwing up an unpredictable array of enemies, but also a range of hazardous surroundings. Whilst the first couple of stages are reasonably orthodox, it isn’t long before you’re visiting some truly exciting locations. There’s the ‘Temple of Dunarys’ with its billowing sandstorms making for tricky flying conditions, and ‘Verminest’, with its spooky skeletons and swarms of space insects. The mammoth ‘Galactic Inferno’ plonks players in the midst of an epic space battle, with allied and enemy ships alike engaging in destructive combat, making for some amazingly atmospheric, detailed backgrounds. Throughout this stage, players face three separate boss encounters, culminating in a fabulous, three-phase battle with a ship’s Warcore.
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‘Charybdis’, perhaps the game’s hardest individual stage, is a throbbing biological mass jam-packed with homing enemies, dangerous shifting surroundings, cramped spaces, and a monstrous boss to cap things off. The coolest level from a design point of view is undoubtedly ‘Path of Scylla’. A gloriously devious slice of design, the player operates in an air pocket between two bodies of water, which begin to contract and retract with varying degrees of speed and severity. These tidal patterns task players with finding safe areas to prevent the ship from being crushed. The range of locations is truly excellent, not only in the visual sense, but in terms of the challenges you’ll meet.
The bosses are brilliant, too. Consistently challenging and satisfying to battle, but offering enough wriggle room that players can strategise to beat them, and they rarely employ cheap or overwhelming tactics. Lab Conga is the best: this slippery mechanical contraption moves like a snake through a rectangular maze, tasking players to find points along the maze walls to shield themselves from incoming fire and avoid being overrun by the boss. Moon Patrol tasks players with seeking safety behind rock formations to shelter from homing missiles, whilst Ice Driller hops around firing cascading blocks of ice. Gas Core, a rotating foe, only sustains damage through hits to its core, and like a few of the tougher bosses, demands you exercise patience in waiting for an opportunity to strike. There’s an impressive 35 bosses: even the late gauntlet level sees the player tackling half a dozen brand new opponents, and there are very few duds. Every boss, and every stage, feels like a wholly new, fresh challenge.
The bosses are brilliant, too. Consistently challenging and satisfying to battle, but offering enough wriggle room that players can strategise to beat them, and they rarely employ cheap or overwhelming tactics. Lab Conga is the best: this slippery mechanical contraption moves like a snake through a rectangular maze, tasking players to find points along the maze walls to shield themselves from incoming fire and avoid being overrun by the boss. Moon Patrol tasks players with seeking safety behind rock formations to shelter from homing missiles, whilst Ice Driller hops around firing cascading blocks of ice. Gas Core, a rotating foe, only sustains damage through hits to its core, and like a few of the tougher bosses, demands you exercise patience in waiting for an opportunity to strike. There’s an impressive 35 bosses: even the late gauntlet level sees the player tackling half a dozen brand new opponents, and there are very few duds. Every boss, and every stage, feels like a wholly new, fresh challenge.
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Super Hydorah looks like it could run on a 16-bit system, and I mean this in the most positive sense. It’s incredibly authentic, to the point where even the cut-scenes recreate nineties sprite-scaling effects uncannily. Bosses animate with articulation, whilst standard foes look tidy, smooth, and perfectly-realised. There’s real beauty to its design, nothing out of place, with subtle but attractive lighting beckoning players deeper into the ominous biomechanical structures. The more you play, the more you notice little details, whilst that precision in design ensures well-balanced, replayable levels.
Unlimited continues will help beginners reach the end, whilst a harder difficulty setting with just one health bar offers the kind of gruelling challenge genre veterans will appreciate. Earning the True Hero ending will require plenty of practice and a great deal of skill, as you’ll need to complete the game without dropping any continues, and locating all the secrets, some of which are invisible, which isn’t ideal. Most players will enjoy 5-7 hours of gameplay, a decent yield for a shmup, with the added bonus of local cooperative play allowing players to share in this quality adventure. It’s a pity levels can’t be replayed within a campaign, as a level select option and some scoring challenges relating to individual stages might have coaxed even more play from the package.
Unlimited continues will help beginners reach the end, whilst a harder difficulty setting with just one health bar offers the kind of gruelling challenge genre veterans will appreciate. Earning the True Hero ending will require plenty of practice and a great deal of skill, as you’ll need to complete the game without dropping any continues, and locating all the secrets, some of which are invisible, which isn’t ideal. Most players will enjoy 5-7 hours of gameplay, a decent yield for a shmup, with the added bonus of local cooperative play allowing players to share in this quality adventure. It’s a pity levels can’t be replayed within a campaign, as a level select option and some scoring challenges relating to individual stages might have coaxed even more play from the package.
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The dual tides of the Path of Scylla make for a truly one-of-a-kind level
Super Hydorah may not be the most eye-catching example of its genre, but it’s a game you’ll appreciate more and more with extended play. Whilst some of the levels are a little short, the array of interesting levels, engaging bosses and fun weaponry combinations will ensure there’s plenty of fun to be had. As retro revivalists go, this is one of the better options on the market, and one of the most authentic.
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VERDICT
"It may not look much at first glance, but Super Hydorah is an excellent tribute to Gradius. Creative level design, great bosses and a fun two-player option ensure a recommendation for this retro revivalist." OVERALL: 7/10 |
OTHER EXCITING SIDE-SCROLLING SHOOTERS REVIEWED
Gate of Thunder (1992, PC Engine CD)
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Darius Gaiden (1996, Saturn)
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