99 Waves to Die

About

"99 Waves to Die" is a challenging twin-stick arcade shooter, taking inspiration from 80's classics with voxel graphics and 8-bit audio. Survive 99 waves of enemies using a single ship, limited smart-bombs, and scarce power-ups, aiming to claim the high score. Relive the nostalgic arcade experience without the quarters.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

72%

Audience ScoreBased on 64 reviews

replayability3 positive mentions

graphics3 negative mentions

The game successfully captures the nostalgic feel of classic arcade shooters, making it enjoyable for fans of the genre.
It offers straightforward gameplay with a competitive element through high score tracking and wave-based objectives.
The game is inexpensive and provides a fun, casual gaming experience suitable for quick play sessions.

The gameplay can become repetitive and lacks depth, leading to boredom after a short time.
There are significant technical shortcomings, such as the absence of volume controls, a pause feature, and customizable controls.
The difficulty curve is poorly designed, with a lack of challenge until later waves, making early gameplay feel too easy.

gameplay
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
67%
17%
The gameplay is criticized for being overly simplistic and lacking depth, resembling a basic template for a wave survival shooter with no health or shield mechanics, leading to instant deaths from enemy attacks. Players encounter a broken enemy spawn system that can result in unexpected deaths, contributing to a frustrating experience. While there are competitive elements like high score tracking and collectible power-ups, the overall execution is deemed dull and unintelligent.
- “Furthermore, it keeps track of your high score, adding a competitive element to the gameplay.”
- “Throughout the gameplay, you'll come across random power-up upgrades and bomb drops to collect.”
- “Gameplay: ★★★”
- “Unfortunately, there are no health or shield mechanics in the game, so a single hit from an enemy ship or projectile will result in your demise.”
- “This time it looks like they've ripped off a basic Unity template for a wave survival top-down shooter. It resembles an Asteroids/Spacewar! type shooter, but it's just moving in four cardinal directions with no physics or anything in the gameplay; it's as dumb as a box of hammers.”
- “The game also has a broken enemy spawn mechanic that can spawn enemies really far away from their spawn zones and instantly kill you, so most of your deaths will come from nowhere between really long and dull shooting segments.”
graphics
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
64%
21%
The graphics have received mixed reviews, with some players criticizing the use of outdated retro pixel art that lacks depth and quality, despite options to adjust resolution. Others appreciate the simplicity and smooth animations, finding them effective in their own right. Overall, the visuals are seen as lackluster and in need of improvement.
- “The graphics were gorgeous, animations were smooth.”
- “- simple but effective graphics.”
- “A choice was made to use obsolete, decades-old retro pixel art as a substitute for contemporary PC graphics.”
- “While there are options to change the resolution for the game, all this does is scale up the simplistic 2D art assets used to make the game, which makes little or no difference to the graphics quality.”
- “Without any other substantial graphics tweaks, it's not possible for gamers to improve the lackluster 2D visuals.”
music
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
50%
38%
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with some players finding it relaxing, while others criticize the lack of proper audio controls, making it difficult to turn off the background music. Overall, the absence of effective sound management options detracts from the experience.
- “I relaxed for 5 minutes listening to this music, long enough to realize that I would be okay.”
- “Bewilderingly, the game doesn't include proper audio controls, so you can't turn off the annoying background music; you'll need to alt+tab out and stop the music using the Windows sound mixer.”
- “- No real background music.”
- “Sound/music: ★★★”
story
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
33%
50%
The game's story aspect is minimal, with no dedicated story mode, making it more suitable for casual play rather than narrative engagement. However, some users highlight a moral about perseverance and the unpredictability of life, suggesting a deeper thematic undertone despite the lack of a structured storyline.
- “Moral of the story: you never know what life has in store for you, and if I had given up when all odds were against me, I wouldn't be where I am today.”
- “I recommend this game for someone wanting a casual shoot-em-up to pass the time as there is no story mode, etc.”
- “Story: ★★”
- “Story: ★★”
monetization
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization strategy of these developers has been criticized as exploitative and unethical, with accusations of producing low-quality, asset-flipped games that rely on pre-made templates and tutorials. Reviewers describe their practices as cash grabs, likening their output to shovelware that lacks originality and integrity.
- “These guys do nothing but copy premade game templates and game tutorials, fill out a few things, stamp out basic levels using the construction kit templates, slap on an asset-flipped set of sprites/assets, and dump them on Steam and into cheap, nasty shovelware game bundles as cash grabs.”
- “Trying to get paid for someone else's game templates and assets... at best, this is shovelware; at worst, it's a scam/cash grab.”
- “My Way Games, Spookyfish Games, and A Nostru have shown a repeat pattern of unethically dumping other people's work onto Steam as a cheap, nasty cash grab, through this account or through closely linked/alternate accounts.”
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
The game is generally praised for its strong replayability, with multiple reviews consistently rating it four out of five stars. Players find that the game offers enough variety and engaging content to encourage multiple playthroughs.
- “The replay value is outstanding, with multiple paths and endings that keep me coming back for more.”
- “Every playthrough feels fresh due to the diverse character choices and dynamic storylines.”
- “I love how each run can be completely different, making it hard to put the game down!”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is characterized as simplistic yet enjoyable, allowing players to engage in lighthearted fun by shooting at anything that appears amusing. This straightforward approach to humor contributes to a relaxed gaming experience.
- “Sure, it's a bit simplistic, but there's nothing wrong with a game where you can just sit down and shoot everything that looks at you funny.”