Ultra Mega Planet Battles

Ultra Mega Planet Battles is an arcade-style, space-based twin-stick shooter for one to four players. Choose a character and ship, then fight through eight campaign missions across the solar system. You can play alone or with up to three friends in local co-op or through Steam Remote Play.

Campaign and levels

The campaign includes vertical-scrolling, horizontal-scrolling and arena-style levels. Objectives vary: some levels require you to defeat a boss, while others are timed or ask you to complete objectives such as destroying the power cores of an enemy base. The game has three difficulty settings and also adjusts difficulty automatically based on the number of players.

Characters and ships

Choose from six characters, each with their own style, backstory and motivation for fighting the enemy. Four ships are available, and they convert to mechs in certain levels. Each starts with different values for Attack, Defence, Revive and Speed, and these attributes can be upgraded or downgraded during the campaign.

Ships also carry weapons and equipment that vary by level, including missiles, mines, speed boosts, shields and freeze rays. The Lab is where you adjust ship attributes and manufacture upgraded parts using Krytanium, collected from fallen enemies or by downgrading ship attributes.

Enemies and combat

The campaign features over 30 types of enemies and bosses. Some enemies are rapid fighters that lock onto a specific player; others are large, slow-moving creatures that drop special weapons which affect player controls or speed. You need to adapt your tactics to each enemy: some are impervious to basic weapons and can only be damaged by missiles and mines.

Play styles and presentation

Levels use three play styles: classic vertical shmup, horizontal shmup and arena. You can switch between a modern look and a classic 16-bit look when starting the game or during play from the pause menu. The game also features a synthwave soundtrack.