RapStronaut is a game that starts without much explanation. You are Rap, a guy that, without context, is sent to space in order to collect items, pick up emeralds and evade pink clouds and blue cartoony helicopters. The gameplay, as I mentioned in the title, works as a watered down version of Jetpack Joyride. The screen advances and, by pressing the screen, you move up and down. The levels, in the beginning, are rather easy, and each one feels like a repetition of the last, but with a little tweak. These tweaks start piling up as the game goes on and you advance, the thing is: it has no balance.
You can play through the game, yes; but these little tweaks pile up so obviously that there’s no sense of progression. When you lose it’s mainly because the game put up too many stuff. There’s only one clear path you can follow, and as you progress that path gets narrower and narrower, because of the little tweaks piling up. You end up feeling like you lost not because you suck at the game, but because the game just gives you no option. There’s no feeling of progression because you don’t feel like you managed to go through a level, you feel like you managed to obey the game design 100%, and that is just not fun. It feels, in the later levels, more like a chore than a game.
There’s also an upgrade system, but it doesn’t make a difference. When purchasing, which is done with the emeralds you collect, the feeling is not one of investment, but one of waste. You feel like you just wasted a bunch of emeralds in something that barely affects gameplay. Is not even cosmetic. You can also collect Relics and Trophies: Relics by picking them up and Trophies by doing a certain thing during gameplay, like hitting obstacles, collecting stars and purchasing upgrades.
RapStronaut also counts with real rewards from a store named KadoSaku; unfortunately, this feature is only available in Indonesia.
Apparently the game is based in a YouTube celebrity which I couldn’t find. Maybe I’m too stupid, if any of you guys know him, let me know.
In conclusion: RapStronaut starts without context and for a while is entertaining, perhaps the first three levels. But when you realize you are playing the same thing over and over, with small tweaks, the game loses momentum. I can’t recommend, maybe if you are a fan of the Youtuber you’ll get more enjoyment out of it.
