Stellar 2D

About

Stellar 2D is a retro-style space arcade game with fast-paced, casual gameplay. Choose from three player ships and face off against 15 enemy ships and five bosses, each with unique attack modes. Collect power-ups, health, and traps to aid you in your battles and gain experience by destroying enemies to level up.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

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

32%

Audience ScoreBased on 362 reviews

music7 positive mentions

graphics17 negative mentions

The game is very cheap, making it accessible for players looking for a low-cost option.
Some players found humor in the game's flaws, describing it as 'so bad it's good'.
The game includes trading cards, allowing players to potentially profit from their purchase.

The game suffers from numerous bugs, including a main menu that can become unresponsive.
Gameplay is frustrating due to poorly designed mechanics, such as hard-to-see enemy projectiles and confusing power-ups.
The graphics and sound design are subpar, with many elements feeling unpolished and amateurish.

graphics
48 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
54%
35%
The graphics of the game have received overwhelmingly negative feedback, with many users describing them as low-quality, poorly designed, and reminiscent of outdated titles. Complaints include clunky visuals that detract from gameplay, a lack of coherence in design, and technical issues such as blurry graphics and unresponsive controls. While a few users noted some redeeming qualities, such as ship design, the general consensus is that the graphics significantly hinder the overall experience.
- “The graphics look great even on the lowest settings and each quest feels like a proper adventure, not just fetch some feathers or kill ten wolves because they look scary.”
- “Best game ever 20/10 perfect graphics”
- “Great graphics and themeset.”
- “Extremely poor audiovisuals, meant to be flashy but just obstructs the action.”
- “The graphics are so bad I can't believe they were being displayed on my computer.”
- “The graphics look like it's from a 1995 PC game, the sound design is dreadful and the controls are extremely floaty.”
gameplay
44 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
59%
27%
The gameplay has been widely criticized for being clunky, dull, and poorly designed, with many players expressing frustration over unresponsive controls and uninspired mechanics. While some find it challenging and mildly amusing, the overall consensus is that it lacks the depth and polish expected from a shoot 'em up, often feeling like a rushed cash grab. Many reviewers suggest that the game fails to deliver a satisfying experience, with numerous design flaws and a lack of engaging content.
- “It's a fun game, with great mechanics and fun gameplay.”
- “As for gameplay, it's actually kinda challenging, for me at least, and it gets very frantic further in but is fun in its own way.”
- “The amount of health the enemies have makes the gameplay fast-paced and mildly amusing compared to the average shoot ‘em up.”
- “The gameplay is so dull that I regret even buying this for 0.13€, even though I sold cards for more.”
- “Blurry graphics in the intro, absolutely dreadful feeling controls, boring uninspired gameplay and just a general feeling of a sloppily put together cash grab.”
- “The game doesn't offer much at all in terms of gameplay, and what it does do, it does very poorly compared to games similar to it.”
music
30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
60%
17%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players finding it decent and fitting for the genre, while others describe it as generic and uninteresting. Many users note issues with volume controls and sound balancing, which detracts from the overall experience. Despite the criticisms, a few players appreciate the title screen music and express a desire for a more extensive soundtrack.
- “The title screen music is pretty good.”
- “The music is nice and makes me feel like I'm in an arcade space battle.”
- “The only thing I liked about this game is the music and the fact there are trading cards.”
- “The music is just a simple piece again, like those other spaceship games.”
- “The music is just not interesting.”
- “I turned the music off, pressed play, and was forced to look at unskippable static screens while some music was playing and some voice mumbled incoherently.”
story
29 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
76%
14%
The game's story is widely criticized for being poorly executed and lacking depth, with many players finding it unengaging and difficult to follow due to dark visuals and unskippable cutscenes. While there is a basic premise involving an invasion, the narrative fails to progress meaningfully throughout the gameplay, leading to a general disinterest among players. Overall, the storytelling aspect is seen as a significant weakness, detracting from the overall experience.
- “The graphics look great even on the lowest settings and each quest feels like a proper adventure, not just fetch some feathers or kill ten wolves because they look scary.”
- “The story has an amazing tale about a guy who is a dragonborne and has to fight Darth Vader before he gets to Montana to launch his Death Star 1.4 beta prototype.”
- “In the beginning of the game, there is a person who gives you a story saying something about a battle.”
- “There's a story before you play the game that it's about an invasion, but after that you'll stop caring about it since the game doesn't care about it either and doesn't bother to progress through it by going through levels.”
- “From lack of story (the story is you have to free Astral 3 from some evil spaceship invasion) to unskippable cutscenes, this game may just be the worst there is.”
- “Really don't understand why there even should be a story, this 'story sequence' did not make sense and you could not even understand what this guy was saying at all; it should be removed.”
humor
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is a mixed bag, with some players finding it genuinely funny due to its intentional absurdities and grammar mistakes, while others criticize it as a poor attempt at humor. Many reviews highlight the game's comedic elements, such as the upgrade system and the intentionally bad intro, suggesting that it can provide hours of amusement despite its flaws. Overall, the humor seems to resonate more with those who appreciate its unintentional comedic aspects rather than a well-crafted comedic experience.
- “Quite funny :d”
- “I can spend hours playing that game, because it's so funny.”
- “There's hilarious grammar issues like how the main menu says 'star game', and when you get 'horizontal freezed'.”
grinding
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game largely unfulfilling, as much of the time is spent farming trading cards for minimal profit, which detracts from the overall gameplay experience. While some reviews highlight the humorous side of card farming, many express frustration over the time investment versus the rewards.
- “Spent probably five minutes actually playing this (including time spent in the menu and watching the cutscenes etc.), the rest is from farming the trading cards.”
- “Farming and selling the cards give you about 10-15 cent profit which isn't worth the time.”
- “I understand that the positive reviews are purely humorous, or related to the card-farming aspect... but I really want to get this one to show a clear 'negative'.”
stability
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The stability of the game has been widely criticized, with users reporting frequent freezes and significant bugs that hinder gameplay. Many feel that the game was released without adequate testing, leading to a frustrating experience, particularly when critical moments, like defeating a boss, result in abrupt interruptions and unclear transitions. Overall, players express disappointment in the game's stability, labeling it as one of the most buggy experiences available on Steam.
- “For instance, the vertical/horizontal freezes and inability to shoot last far too long in my opinion.”
- “There should always be thorough testing with any release to ensure the game is fully playable. Every developer needs to get out of the mindset of 'release it now; if it's buggy and doesn't work, we can just patch it later'... no.”
- “When the boss was killed, I would expect the game to slow down a bit and maybe have some proper level/story progression, but instead, the screen suddenly freezes and you are rewarded with a message that says 'this is a demo' - 'the main menu will be loaded in a few seconds.' That was when I began to laugh really hard.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization aspect of the game is criticized for feeling like a rushed cash grab, lacking depth and authenticity, which leads players to believe the developers are not genuinely invested in the title.
- “While there's no way the dev is making anything off this title, it still feels like nothing more than something thrown together overnight as a quick, cheap cash grab.”
- “It has no soul to it whatsoever, and otherwise feels literally like a cash grab in every way.”
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The optimization of the game's sprites has been criticized, as they do not appear to be well-suited for the viewable area of the game screen, potentially affecting the overall visual experience.
- “The sprites on the map do not seem optimized for the game's viewable area.”
- “The game suffers from significant frame drops, especially in crowded areas.”
- “Loading times are excessively long, making the experience frustrating.”