Your eyes may have glossed right over Sky Gunner when you looked at next week’s PS Plus update. That’s understandable, as big-ticket titles Mister Mosquito and Secret Agent Clank were always going to attract greater attention. But don’t write off this PS2 gem from PixelArts, as it’s absolutely worth your time.
Published by Sony in Japan, this is another one of those classics that the platform holder didn’t bother to localise, and it was actually left up to Atlus to bring overseas. It only ever released in North America, so it’ll be making its European debut on PS5 and PS4, a bit like tactics title Jeanne d’Arc earlier in the year.
In essence, this is an arcade dogfighting game, but it’s set against a gorgeous steampunk backdrop, that’s styled a little bit like a Ghibli movie. The characters are cute and colourful, and the world’s got a kind of French nouveau artistry to it which sings under the limitations of the PS2’s hardware. It’s a gorgeous and chaotic game in motion, which is only let down by a very poor frame rate.