There's side-scrolling shooters then there's bullet hell. Galaga, Gradius, and Scramble fall into the first catagory, but then there's a community of masochists who need something more, which is why games like Ikaruga and Touhou exists. Stardust Galaxy Warriors Stellar Climax tries to bridge these communities through a smooth difficulty curve and the ability for 4 people to play together.

The main campaign takes you through the story complete with upgrades, saves, and everything. Or you can op into the gaunlet if you don't want to worry about upgrades and just play your favorite levels (with a wide variety of difficulty options). There's also melee attacks that encourage you to get up close and personal along with the usual powerups and special moves. The challenge mode adds a holiday compaign, bosh rush mode, and a handful of other unique twists. Bullets, enemies, and characters are easy to distinguish, but some obstacles such as asteroids are hard to seperate from the background.

The dynamic and exciting soundtrack by Matias Lehtoranta is great and compelled me to keep beating each level so I could hear the next stage. If you like the classic arcade space shooter genre, Stardust Galaxy Warriors Stellar Climax is easy to recommend.