In this 2D side scrolling shooter, you play as a bug as you shoot down enemy insects in giant themed areas. Reminds me a little bit of Insector-X. Originally an Amiga shooter, now you can play it on most modern consoles (reviewed on Switch 2 here), with added features.
In the game, you can move in all directions and hold a button to rapid fire. When you collect flowers, you can power-up your ship. There is also a bar on the bottom of the screen that goes to different power-ups as you collect flowers. You can then press another button to pick that power-up similar to Gradius. Or at least I THINK that’s how it works. You also get power ups as you collect those flowers automatically and the game doesn’t really explain why, so it’s not clear to me. You’ll travel to bug’s eye view worlds like grassy flower fields, a pond, and a sewer pipe. You can also switch between modern graphics and the original Amiga ones on the fly, which is neat.
One thing I do like in the options screen is that you can choose to keep your power-ups after you die or not, and choose to either start where you left off or at a checkpoint when you get hit. I haven’t seen another shooter give you that option before. Unfortunately this game is super hard, even on the easiest setting, and you only get one hit before you die. And the colorful graphics make it hard to see enemies and bullets. Because of that I lost interest in this one pretty quickly.
Kid Factor:
Apidya’ Special is rated E for Everyone with an ESRB descriptor of Mild Fantasy Violence. Insects just explode when defeated. But one boss in the sewer is a dead rat with maggots coming out of it as the rat’s flesh rots and becomes bones. And in the beginning story, a woman has a bloody face after being attacked by mutant bugs. So a little more than just mild violence if you ask me. Because of this and the high challenge level, I’d say this one is best for older gamers only.
