Bezier: Second Edition

Genre: 2-Stick Shooter

Players: 1, Online Leaderboards

.

Review:

Bezier is a Two-Stick Shooter originally released on PC in 2014 and ported to Nintendo Switch in 2021. This is a game that takes the simple, straightforward 2-Stick Shooter gameplay of a game like Geometry Wars and combines it with a user-controlled upgrade system like what’s in the Gradius series.

The presentation here is mostly pretty good, with your ship and enemy ships taking on fairly simple shapes, against a starry background with grid lines. There are a few issues I have with the visuals here though. Firstly, the enemies explode impressively, breaking apart into pieces after being destroyed. The problem is that it is often difficult to tell the difference between these pieces and live enemy ships that can damage you. And secondly, while most of the enemies here consist of somewhat elegant natural-looking or geometric shapes, boss encounters are with what looks like a simply-drawn face, a look that feels very out-of-place with the rest of the spacey imagery.

The audio is also mostly good but with a few issues. The soundtrack here is excellent, with some fantastic electronica beats that fit in perfectly with the great action in this game. For some good examples, check out Love Her Dearly, Dwelt by a Church Yard, What You Will, and No Music in the Nightingale. However, much of this game has players playing through a voiced story that, while well-voiced, is absolutely non-sensical, blending a narrative about AI programs and a bunch of vaguely religious philosophizing. I feel like this stuff was written by someone who didn’t have English as a first language, and the voice actor tried to do the best he could with it while sticking to script.

As for the gameplay itself, this is mostly just a solid Two-Stick Shooter, and it even does a few interesting things in places that set it apart. While shooting stuff, players can collect pickups that can be used during the action to obtain a new upgrade, saving up for better ones much in the same way that players did in the Gradius series. In addition, the game plays a bit with gravity, having explosions push the player away, while having some enemies pull players in toward them with a gravity well. I can’t say I especially liked this latter gameplay element, but I do at least appreciate that the game is trying to do some things differently here.

While I’ve mentioned some nitpicks here and there, possibly my biggest gripe about this game is its price – at $20, it seems a bit too expensive for a game this simple. However, if you can catch it on a decent sale, I’d definitely encourage you to get Bezier: Second Edition, especially if you’re looking for a solid Two-Stick Shooter to add to your collection. This one has some minor flaws and some odd artistic choices, but overall it’s a game well worth playing.

tl;dr – Bezier is a Two-Stick Shooter that plays a bit like Geometry Wars combined with the ship upgrade system from Gradius. This game isn’t without its flaws, but overall it’s a solid 2-Stick Shooter with fun gameplay and a great soundtrack.

Grade: B

^{You can support eShopperReviews on Patreon! Please click HERE to become a Sponsor!}

^{This month’s sponsors are Lee, Andy Miller, Stov, u/wonderponder, Johannes, Ilya Zverev, Eli Goodman, and KC. Thank you for helping to keep the reviews coming!}