Blazing Bit Games’ first game out is a high-definition shooter with RPG elements, innovative features, and attention paid to making Mactabilis as accessible as it can be without compromising gameplay .As such, it should be noted that this review is based on patch 1.5 and may not include every accessible feature the game has to offer.

Upon starting Mactabilis, the game may not look as high-def. as a game claiming to be “high-definition” could be thanks to the somewhat blurry appearance of fonts used in menus and screens, but these outside-of-gameplay screens add to the overall retro feel of the game and Blazing Bit cannot really be blamed for artistic liberties being taken in a lot of these cases - though, clearer is always better.

Where this can be held against them is where the first aspect of this being something of a role-playing game is concerned - the story; if a game is going to try and incorporate a story element into a game that could give or take it, it should be readable. The contrast of the fonts accomplishes this, but the font style employed doesn’t really benefit the incorporation of the story. The almost continuous rate at which the story is scrolled through is of detriment to this RPG element, as well.

The size of the font used as well as the contrast of the font benefit the way the story unfolds, as does a feature slower readers will be likely to take advantage of ,as well as though who just want to shoot things, which is the option to turn on or off the story element of Mactabilis. With hope, later patches of this game will add the ability to click through the story thus increasing accessibility.

Also on the questionable high-definition/RPG/innovation front is the ability to customize players’ ships; this can be done as easily as allowing players to purchase new weapons for their ships, combine multiple weapons which have been purchased in order to create new weapons, or flat-out create their own weapons. Blurriness of menus as well as icons does not lend itself to accessibility, though much of the same things as said previously can be said about making the players ship their own.

Where game saving options are concerned, Mactabilis auto-saves the player’s game after each completed level as well as allows players to manually save their game whenever they see fit to do so outside of gameplay. With levels averaging around five-minutes to complete, there is no ability to save mid-way through levels without making the game “too easy”.

Supported gameplay mediums include keyboard, mouse, and gamepad. Control schemes for keyboard and gamepad can be re-mapped as players see fit. Mouse users will be missing out on this option for the meantime. Mouse sensitivity options are also missing from the current build of Mactabilis, but with hope will be incorporated into a forthcoming game patch.

There is currently no option to slow down camera speed in Mactabilis which would increase playability dramatically for those with mobility-related impairments.

Mactabilis doesn’t play much different than most other shoot ‘em up-types when players begin to play the game, but that changes soon enough with the innovative addition of a foreground and a background to play through which makes the game less linear and more “play your way” than other shmups. This ability brings it’s own unique challenges to gameplay visually as players not only have one path to clear, but also the challenge of clearing a second if they choose to do so. Blazing Bit Games handles this situation quite well, and quite accessibly. In the options menu, players can either choose to play with the foreground/background blurred, or they can choose to play with the foreground/background colored. If it is chosen that they play with the foreground/background colored, the player is given the opportunity to select the color scheme best suited to them; one color is always red while the second color can be any number of different colors. Nicely done.

Another unique ability that is able to be employed by players in Mactabilis is the ability to slow time through the use of a stimulant control. It is hard to tell whether this is more useful or confusing.

Mactabilis also supports two-player local co-op gameplay, three difficulty settings with easy mode being “more forgiving” than the others, and replay ability which brings forth more challenging gameplay and bigger rewards, as well as a potentially increasingly more accessible future with Blazing Bit Games appearing to be a studio with interest in getting their first offering to as many players’ hands as possible.

At-a-glance

Visuals:
? In-game appears to be more “HD” than outside of gameplay - fonts used are high-contrast for the most part and are large enough to be read. Fonts throughout the game are blurry which adds to the retro feel of the game, though when “HD“ is thought to relate to clarity, blurry and HD don‘t mesh well. (-0.5points)
? Though the story element of the game can be turned on or off, the constant running of the story does leave slower readers wondering what the rest of the text they couldn’t keep up with might have been. Clicking through the story would be of benefit. (-0.5 point)
? Switching between foreground and background is an aspect of the game that special focus was paid to with players being able to choose between either a blurry foreground/background or a colored foreground/background which features red used as a primary color and a player-defined secondary color.
? Gameplay varies with some levels being more forgiving than others - those with color discrepancy issues may need to strategize to get by some levels more than others. (-0.5 point)
Recommended score of 8.5 out of 10

Hearing
? There are no hearing issues in the game - it can be played as easily strictly visually as it can with audio.
Recommended score of 10 out of 10

Mobility
? Keyboard and gamepad control schemes are able to be remapped.
? Mouse control scheme is not able to be remapped, nor can sensitivity be adjusted. (-1.33 points [1 for sensitivity, 0.33 for remap-ability])
? Camera speed cannot be adjusted. (-1 point)
Recommended score of 7.67 out of 10