Jets’n’Guns 2 Review: Shooting For The Stars (And Everything That Moves)

It’s been three years since Jets’n’Guns 2 blasted its way onto Steam and Nintendo Switch, earning heaps of praise for its silky smooth gameplay, impressive destructibility, and the vast array of weapons it put at players’ fingertips. Now, Czech developer Rake in Grass’s high-energy horizontal space shooter is available on PlayStation consoles, but was it worth the wait?

Shoot The Core!

Despite its glossy HD visuals, Jets’n’Guns 2 is an unapologetically old-school affair in the spirit of classic shooters like R-Type, Gradius, and Salamander. You play as the pilot of a nimble and heavily armed spaceship on a mission to save the universe from destruction. You’ll travel the galaxy, soaring from left to right as you battle waves of enemy ships, pew-pewing gun turrets, and meat-and-metal horrors before squaring off against monstrous bosses. Throughout your adventure, you’ll visit scenic locales such as pirate strongholds in asteroid fields, sprawling futuristic cities, the belly of high-tech enemy bases, and even a watery planet that would look right at home in Taito’s Darius franchise.

Unlike some shooters, you can’t mash the fire button in Jets’n’Guns 2 and expect to make it far. Instead, you’ll need to make use of an array of abilities. Your ship comes equipped with three front-facing weapon slots, all firing simultaneously with a press of the square button. Meanwhile, pressing X will unleash bombs to obliterate whatever’s below you. Bombs are unlimited and especially powerful. However, there is a brief cooldown period that you’ll need to consider, which you’ll need to consider during the game’s fierce boss encounters. Lastly, in addition to bombs, you’ll also get access to special anti-matter abilities. At first, they create an energy shield that can absorb a few shots, but later, you’ll get access to a whole host of powerful weapons as well. 

While it may be tempting to mash the fire button like there’s no tomorrow, given how many tools you have at your disposal, that’s ill-advised. Jets’n’Guns 2 features an overheating mechanic, so you’ll need to be somewhat judicious regarding which weapons you equip for each sortie to avoid generating too much heat. I’ve never been the biggest fan of this mechanic in shooters, but it adds some welcome strategy when approaching each mission in Jets’n’Guns 2 as you try to strike the perfect balance between your damage and heat outputs. 

Kitting Out Your Killing Machine

As you complete missions in Jets’n’Guns 2, you’ll amass gold to spend at the hangar. Here, you can purchase a dizzying array of new guns, bombs, missiles, anti-matter tools, and other upgrades to make your life in the cosmos easier to manage. These upgrades range from heatsinks to reduce overheating, reinforced hull plating to increase your ship’s vitality and more. However, there are only so many slots available, so you’ll have to choose wisely. I frequently sold off old hardware and changed my loadout between missions to better suit each encounter.

If you’re a fan of conventional shooters where you simply collect power-ups as they appear on the screen, Jets’n’Guns 2’s more granular approach to powering up your ship might be overwhelming at first. But stick with it because kitting out your flying death machine can be pretty damn satisfying. 

Rookie Flyboys Need Not Apply

Still, no matter how much money you dump into high-end hardware, you will find the odds stacked firmly against you in Jets’n’Guns 2. Much like the Euro shooters of old, popcorn enemies are a rarity. Even the lowliest of enemy vessels can be bullet sponges, requiring quite a bit of concentrated fire to bring down. As a result, I often found the best course of action to be to try and outmaneuver enemy ships before they could ram me rather than shoot them; a strategy which, admittedly, seems a bit silly in a game where the name literally advertises its love of firepower. 

As tough as it is to bring down common foes, bosses crank the dial to eleven. These absolute gluttons for punishment can absorb an ungodly amount of damage before going down, making them feel like a slog at times, though they’re never dull thanks to all the chaos they wreak across the screen, forcing you to keep your wits about you lest you want to end up finely-ground space dust. 

In addition to the dauntingly durable foes you’ll face, there were a few other issues that I feel kept Jets’n’Guns 2 from achieving shooter greatness. While the stages are gorgeous and full of striking details, they’re often too busy, making it a challenge to distinguish background elements from structures or enemies you can interact with. This lack of clarity, combined with the absolute bedlam unfolding on-screen and the often tiny projectiles hurtling towards your ship, can make Jets’nGuns 2 feel almost unfair at times. Your ship’s outsized hitbox and the game’s overly sensitive controls don’t help, either, as even a slight touch of the analog stick can send you careening toward a projectile when you only intended to move a smidge. Thankfully, I was able to adapt to these shortcomings, but they never felt quite right. 

Interstellar Production Values

When it comes to its production values, Jets’nGuns 2 is top-notch. Featuring vibrant colors, imaginative enemies, and detailed backgrounds, it really is a joy to behold and a remarkable feat when you consider it’s the product of a three-person studio. The game’s blisteringly fast, too, with the action unfolding at 120fps with zero dips in performance – even when the action’s at its most furious. 

In addition to the impressive visuals, Jets’nGuns 2 sports excellent sound design. From the satisfying sound of your bullets peppering enemy ships to the screams of tiny humans as they meet the business end of one of your bombs, the game’s sound effects deliver an aural assault that’s immensely gratifying. The same goes for the music, which delivers varied soundscapes that perfectly match the moment-to-moment gameplay. From shredding guitar riffs to pulsing electronic arrangements, there’s hardly a bad track in the bunch.

Conclusion

While I do feel its balancing could have used some work, and the overly busy visuals can sometimes make the action indecipherable, Jets’n’Guns 2 is tough to put down once it gets its hooks in you and you learn to look past its occasional shortcomings. With its excellent presentation and an upgrade system that encourages experimentation and careful planning, this one’s easy to recommend to shmup junkies looking for a challenge.

Final Verdict: 3.5/5

Available on: PlayStation 5 (reviewed), PlayStation 4, (previously released on Switch and PC); Publisher: Red Art Games; Developer: Rake In Grass; Players: 1-2; Released: August 25, 2023

Full disclosure: This review is based on a review copy of Jets’n’Guns 2 provided by the publisher.