Dimension Tripper Neptune: TOP NEP takes the long-running Hyperdimension Neptunia cast and puts them in a new genre. We’ve seen the crew in side-scrolling shoot-em-ups and third-person shooters before, and TOP NEP places them in a Space Harrier-style adventure that is unlike anything else in the series. Sega’s Super Scale tech was used alongside Yu Suzuki’s genius to craft a timeless game that holds up over thirty years later, but we haven’t seen a lot of games like it on the market since. Sega itself has last touched the franchise with Planet Harriers in arcades and the original arcade game has been re-released, but there isn’t much out there to scratch that itch.
TOP NEP does that and evokes a bit of 3D World Runner with its bolder-colored checkerboard patterns, while keeping a vibrant look to everything that goes far beyond any mainline Space Harrier game. Rail shooters as a whole haven’t seen much in the way of progress since the Harrier series and TOP NEP aims to at least mix things up by taking advantage of its expansive universe. One great thing about using an existing IP for this kind of game is that Idea Factory can leverage the lore’s usage of partners to expand the traditional shooting gameplay while also changing up defense.
Most rail shooters don’t have much in the way of defense except for avoiding enemy fire. TOP NEP, however, gives players a sword to deflect attacks while also having a blaster to deal out damage. In a great move for overall player fun and accessibility, turbo fire is turned on for the blaster – allowing for a lot less wear and tear on the player and the controller. Having turbo may seem like a cheat, but players can still manually press buttons to shoot as well. Personally, I love that it’s included by default since that prevents me from having to use something like an 8bitdo pad to enable turbo and gives me the flexibility to just use a stock Xbox One pad to enjoy the experience.
Rail shooters can be a tough genre in general, but TOP NEP has been made with a focus on having fun and that’s evident from the moment you fire the game up. The overall look is bright and cheery and players can enjoy it like they would a Space Harrier game, while also getting some of the franchise’s traditional humor added to the presentation. The ever-present importance of teamwork is carried over to the game in a way that may seem odd for rail shooting veterans. The player can fill up a bar to summon a new ally with enough points being racked up and each has their own attack style with seemingly the same hitboxes. So whether a player uses a circle-shot blaster or a moon-shaped beam of light, it does the same overall damage and just changes up the look. The sight of having two or more characters on-screen to battle foes is a great one and helps add motivation to keep going and see which new characters you’ll unlock and finally see how many characters you can share the screen with.
The core shooting action is a ton of fun, the controls are smooth and make going from area to area easy and the level of difficulty is never too high. Players on normal mode can continue right where they left off – including during boss battles, so if you get 95% of the way through a boss battle, you don’t have to start from the beginning to beat him. You cash out some points and continue right where you left off. This is a fantastic incentive to keep playing the game and ensures that anyone who wants to beat the game can do so. It’s a short experience, but a memorable one and that’s a compliment given that the mainline games can suffer from a sameness that doesn’t make each entry memorable.
TOP NEP’s cast of bosses is amusing alongside stages that manage to both stand on their own in a lot of cases while still paying homage to classics. There’s a clear Super Mario Bros-style area that is a riot to play through as you take out bricks and blocks while large blue and not green pipes litter the landscape. In terms of crazy bosses, while the final boss is the biggest, nothing tops the Warechu. It throws CDs at the player alongside composite cables in one of the most surreal boss battles I’ve seen in a while. In some ways, it’s bizarre for the sake of being bizarre, but it all just works so well together that it’s impossible to not be entertained by the sheer spectacle of it all.
It plays like a dream and looks fantastic too. With a slick art style that mixes 8-bit pixel art with the colors of what one would expect from a modern game, the graphics click on every level they need to. The sprites all pop off the screen and every stage stands out visually as well. It helps that there are only five of them, but they all feel distinct thanks to themes and unique enemies throughout each. No matter how much chaos happens on-screen, there’s never any slowdown and even with going for a Super Scaler art style, it’s easy to judge depth with sprites impersonating a 3D depth of field.
The only aria TOP NEP falls short in is its soundtrack, which is good, but not amazing. For something that’s so clearly going for Space Harrier in every other way, the soundtrack sticks with chiptunes that are solid and enjoyable in the game itself. They don’t stick with the player at all after a session, however, which is disappointing. Still, for a small game meant as a blend of an homage to the past and a new entry in a now long-running series, it’s fun to listen to.
Closing Comments:
Dimension Tripper Neptune: TOP NEP is an easy recommendation for anyone who ever loved Space Harrier. It’s honestly more enjoyable than Space Harrier II was and delivers a fantastic modern interpretation of that kind of rail shooter with a level of color and polish that’s unmatched. It does feel too much like an homage at times, but stands out with things like allies helping on-screen and a completely insane premise that keeps things in-line with the main series while also working as a standalone product. It’s a visual treat and controls perfectly, but does suffer from a less-than-memorable soundtrack.
