Super Stardust HD is a dual-stick shooter where the player’s objective is to shoot things and not have their ship be destroyed. It’s a simple concept, but there’s a lot going on, and not all that is going on is accessible.

As with most indie games sound doesn’t play a role in gameplay, and players without hearing might even be a step ahead of the rest of us as they won’t have to turn the volume down in order to enjoy the game.

The mobility of Super Stardust HD is a bit different as it is both limiting and freeing; The limiting aspect of the controls are that the only buttons on the controller which can be used are the shoulder buttons (R1, R2, L1, L2) – the D-pad is irrelevant as are the face buttons (cross, circle, triangle, square). This makes playing the game with only one hand using the standard Dualshock controller a bit different, though it is a bit more comfortable than it would be otherwise. Either this is a great mistake or a brilliantly accessible plan.
The remap-able greatness doesn’t stop there as what would be a dual-stick shooter by default can be mapped to become a single stick shooter; The default steering control is the left stick, and 360 degree shooting control is on the right stick. Thanks to the complete remap-ability of the sticks, what would be a dual-stick shooter can easily become a single stick shooter which not only benefits those with mobility impairments, but also those with visual impairments by making it less necessary to concentrate on all parts of the sometimes very busy game screen, and makes it more of a “watch where you’re going” experience. Though this does have its drawbacks as while playing with steering and shooting mapped to the same stick it is impossible to remain stationary and blast away.

Super Stardust HD is a high-definition game – after all, it is in the title, but visibility is sometimes indefinite. Weapons are colored to match the asteroids which they are best used to destroy. Power-ups to regenerated shields, bombs, weapons, and so on are based on color coordination, and really, there is just too much focus on color in this game for a gamer with color issues to be happy with. The possibility of red/green interaction is quite possible, too as there doesn’t seem to be a dividing line between anything, there’s just color.
The screen does get busy, as was mentioned previously, and sometimes buy is too busy. Explosions are pretty, but when in the middle of one, players might find themselves short a life without even knowing it. If it helps, the ship remains in the center of the screen at all times making it seem as if the world around is moving and not the ship itself.
Text is of both respectable size and contrast, but due to the font used, text isn’t the most easily read.

At a glance

Hearing:

~Sound is unnecessary to gameplay.
Recommended score of 10 out of 10

Mobility:

~Sticks are completely interchangeable – shooting and steering controls can be mapped to either stick or the same stick.
~Shoulder buttons are somewhat remap-able providing only two possible configurations. Face and D-pad buttons cannot be used. (-0.5 point)
~Two difficulty settings to choose from.
~No failure-limiter so players can see the entire game that they paid for. (-1 point)
~No auto-targeting button. (No points deducted as the game wouldn’t really benefit from the feature)
Recommended score of 8.5 out of 10

Visual:

~Near/far camera option in options menu.
~Gameplay screen is very busy at times. (-0.5 point)
~Color plays far too large a role in this game; Color discrepancy issues a plenty – may not be the best game for color-blind individuals. (-1 point)
~Text is large enough and of high enough contrast to be easily seen, but the font-style used isn’t the best for readability though it can be done.
Recommended score of 8.5 out of 10