Metascore
64

Mixed or average reviews - based on 25 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 25
  2. Negative: 3 out of 25
  1. Feb 22, 2017
    80
    Rise & Shine is a good action-platformer though its main shortcoming is how short the game can be. Once you get the hang of things the game can be finished in a few hours, but if you’re looking for a challenge the game’s difficulty spikes about a third of the way in and it just gets harder from there. If you're up for a challenge, this is one to check out.
  2. Jan 20, 2017
    80
    Rise & Shine mix effectively classical mechanics from past arcade shooters, platform and puzzle games. It may affect the pace of the game, but manages to reach their goal on the basis of respawn and infinite lives.
  3. Jan 18, 2017
    80
    Regardless of its few flaws, Rise and Shine is a fun, vibrant arcade shooter that should please fans of the genre and remain accessible enough for newcomers. Its light-hearted approach, humour and gunplay make for a enjoyable fast paced experience that is filled with smirks.
  4. Jan 12, 2017
    80
    Quotation forthcoming.
  5. Jan 12, 2017
    80
    Influenced by adventure-platform games of the past, Rise & Shine manages to enrich a classic gameplay formula with a tight mix of different genres, interesting combat depth, and varied puzzles. Shooting controls can be a bit uncomfortable on a gamepad, but this is the only gripe in a game that's objectively very well put together. Highly recommended to fans of Another World and Flashback as well as to those looking for a quirky and fun experience that doesn't overstay its welcome.
  6. Jan 19, 2017
    78
    Despite its short duration, Rise & Shine is a remarkable indie action/shooter. Don't be misled from the beautiful graphics however, since it offers a brutal challenge and surely it is not appropriate for the impatient gamers.
  7. Jan 15, 2017
    75
    Rise & Shine really shines for some time, with an inspiring mix of puzzle and classic action, while delivering awesome 2d graphic design. Unfortunately, the short length and brutal difficulty peaks prevent it from reaching the heights it might had achieved.
  8. Jan 12, 2017
    75
    Rise & Shine reminds us of the visual style and of the gameplay of Metal Slug series. It’s hard, fulfilling and funny, but it suffers also from a lack of game contents.
  9. Jan 12, 2017
    75
    Rise & Shine's gameplay is fun and challenging, but the game has a really short length as well. Being a cheap indie game, it's definitely worth a try.
  10. Feb 10, 2017
    70
    Rise and Shine is visually solid and the gunplay is brutal. But the fact that it tries to combine many elements of action platformer games into one product actually makes it slow-paced and repetitive.
  11. Jan 12, 2017
    70
    Despite its winning concept, all the comic homages, and the solidly executed gameplay, Rise & Shine goes out on a decidedly abrupt and anticlimactic note.
  12. CD-Action
    Mar 6, 2017
    65
    The game looks amazing and is overall very charming, but it seems it lost half of its content along the way, because it ends before it manages to fulfill its potential. I also felt that the designers couldn’t agree on how combat should play out, so it got stuck somewhere between tactical and frenetic. [03/2017, p.62]
  13. Jan 29, 2017
    65
    Rise & Shine tries to constantly use nods to other games, which is really repetitive sometimes. Good ideas on many occasions, but poorly performed in multiple times during its short duration.
  14. Feb 14, 2017
    60
    Rise & Shine is a colorful platformer with an imaginative style of fighting. Anyway, it will annoy you more than entertain. It is too difficult and the gaming campaign has literally ephemeral life.
  15. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Feb 6, 2017
    60
    At first sight gorgeous and sophisticated platformer game, then you realize half of the game is made by unfair and frustrating gameplay. Although it lasts only three hours, you will get angry like it was a much longer title. [Issue #271]
  16. Jan 28, 2017
    60
    In a different era we would gladly pay some quarters to play for a couple of times in an arcade machine. In this era though Rise & Shine is quite forgettable. It may have one interesting gimmick, found in the manipulation of bullets, but it’s seriously underused and is combined with mediocre action, save for two well-crafter boss fights.
  17. Jan 21, 2017
    60
    Rise & Shine is always beautiful and sometimes funny, but most certainly tiresome. Proper balancing of the difficulty level to make every moment satisfying is not an easy task and the developers from Super Mega Team mostly failed in this regard.
  18. Jan 13, 2017
    60
    At its best, Rise and Shine is a marvelous reinvention of shooter mechanics wrapped up in puzzle-heavy stages that require some serious grey matter to think through. But most of the time? Rise and Shine’s charm can’t save it from its sadomasochistic formula.
  19. 60
    Rise & Shine is a run and gun 2D shooter that struggles to find its footing in game play and tone. Small issues can be found throughout the experience, but the difficulty and level design, in both variety and beauty, makes the experience worth a few hours of your time.
  20. 60
    Rise & Shine has a lot of interesting ideas to keep players on their toes. It’s just a shame that some of the fun turns sour due to repeated puzzles and poor gun accuracy.
  21. Feb 22, 2017
    55
    Rise & Shine's cute look lulls you into thinking that this is going to be an awesome game. Hand-drawn backgrounds and characters look great, the animation is smooth, and the attention to detail is everywhere. But the controls are insufferable: it's difficult to target your enemies while playing on gamepad, and good luck dashing and jumping with a keyboard.
  22. Jan 29, 2017
    55
    A side-scrolling shooter with fantastic art design which slows down half way through and abruptly ends after two hours of gameplay.
  23. Jan 13, 2017
    49
    Rise & Shine is a great looking game that elicits a few chuckles and grins, but doesn’t have the gameplay chops to stand up to the big names in the genre.
  24. Mar 30, 2017
    45
    When it comes down to it, Rise & Shine is unable to create an engaging experience by itself, with mechanics that are not utilized to the best extent. Worse, the game feels like a chore to play, as I felt that I had to rely predominantly on luck in order to advance through much of the game. For all the strength of its graphics and introductory stages, Rise & Shine is unable to create a compelling experience worth playing.
  25. Jan 13, 2017
    40
    The graphics make you think the gameplay cake is real, but the cake is a lie. All you'll find are Flappy Birds, a dead Princess Peach, and Marcus Fenix. But hey, at least you can kill the Duck Hunt dog, so that has to count for something. Oh, and this is the Dark Souls of video game humor. Take that for what you will.
User Score
6.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 40 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 40
  2. Negative: 12 out of 40
  1. Jan 13, 2017
    9
    I have huge problem with the Editors that Write reviews. In general, not for this one only. This is a game that does what it promisesI have huge problem with the Editors that Write reviews. In general, not for this one only. This is a game that does what it promises excellent. It has no flaws, no bugs, no problems. Beautiful scenery. Excellent sound, amazing gameplay. So.... I'm a bit troubled that the reviews on the other side are mediocre.
    And this is a 'trend' nowadays. We have for example a game that has 60% bugs like bloodborne, but we tend to praise (the sun) it because of its other excellent features. Such a game, because of its complexity gets best reviews and 10's. Although I found it frustrating, rather unpolished graphically, with a lot of framedrops and clunky controls. I liked it, but I'm just trying to make a point here. Press Reviewers have double standards. And this is just Sad. Rise and shine has ZERO problems, plays excellent, it is FUN and unique. A very nice game. So they have to really search and find that 'they don't like this method of controls' or 'the script' or 'the story' or something VAGUE that is not objective but rather subjective. So the reviews in my opinion are not accurate.
    Graphics : It reminds of Metal Slug , and as we know this is the best game out there in that category so I'd say graphically it is very very well done.
    Sound : Not a problem there.
    Gameplay : Solid, playful, challenging, unique, great.
    Difiiculty : Medium - Medium high. Super meat boy was far more challenging
    Story : Sometimes funny, sometimes confusing, but really, what is the story of Metal slug? do you even remember? does it really matter?
    Length: 14 chapters , some bosses, fun overall 4 hours max for an experienced player.

    So... Dear fellas, I see nothing wrong with this game BUT I see everything wrong with your aspirations and your subjectivity. Get your things together and try to write better reviews for the people. This is a game that doesn't take its self seriously so why you take it seriously like it had to have an epic tale or atmosphere? In its category it is the best, so probably a 9 rather than a 7 (unless you can name a better game that does the same gameplay).

    Peace out. Games used to be fun. Don't turn it in to a 'business' or try to act like a professional. This is plain SAD.
    Full Review »
  2. Jan 13, 2017
    9
    Rise & Shine combines arcade shooting, bullet hell and puzzle platforming to create a unique game experience in a beautiful drawn game worldRise & Shine combines arcade shooting, bullet hell and puzzle platforming to create a unique game experience in a beautiful drawn game world with a nice story, humor and a lot of easter eggs.

    You play as a boy named Rise who got a living gun (named Shine) from the fallen legendary hero, who looks quite similar to Link (The Legend of Zelda). And now it is your job to save Gamearth from the Space Grunt invasion. On your way you will meet many different characters and it’s clear that some of them are inspired by other famous video game characters. Starting with small things like the Flappy Bird flying in the air to… guess who’s the King of Gamearth? It’s a me, M…King of Gamearth! Yeah, the game intentionally copied some video game characters but changed small details in their appearance and, of course, gave them other names (obviously due to copyright).

    The whole game makes fun of many game clichés, stereotypes and surreal things in games like respawns, flying objects and others. The dialogues offer some jokes, and there is even black humor in the game (some dead bodies hanging next to other decorations on a tree).

    The gameplay is a mix of shooting and solving puzzles. One moment you are jumping around, dashing left and right, shooting your enemies and hiding behind objects, the other moment you are staying still, thinking how to solve a puzzle and then leading your bullet on its way to a lever or button or an enemy’s head, making a mess all over the floor. But the real action comes when you have to do both at the same time. Shooting some drones that are defending a boss and then staying still and controlling the movement of your bullet while this boss is throwing grenades at you.
    The game offer you to choose from different ammo types and types of shooting and you have to choose the right combination for each moment. Killing some grunts? Take the usual bullets and do it! Choose the electric shots for taking out mechanical enemies. Homing missiles to solve most puzzles and the grenade to boom up places you can’t reach with direct shots.
    I really enjoyed every moment of the gameplay but you have to get used to the dead angle of your gun not letting you shoot any way you want.

    The game has controller support but I gave up playing it with the gamepad after I met my first enemies. I think it’s impossible to win this game by playing it with a controller. You constantly have to aim very precisely and I could do it only with my mouse. (Maybe some people want a real “challenge”. Plug in your controller and play.) The game is quite difficult, even though you have unlimited respawns and ammo and I died quite a lot before I understood what I had to do in specific moments. But after your first playthrough you can try to play on a harder difficulty level, in case the game was too easy for you.

    I really like the art style of the game and it made a big accent to it. Wherever you go you will meet new unique drawings, pieces of landscape and other stuff. While playing I even died sometimes, because I was busy looking at that lovely world (and looking out for easter eggs. By the way, I think the most unnoticeable of them were references to Solid Snake and Black Mesa). Each piece of the story telling is made of different pictures with speech bubbles. For some unknown reason the game does not offer voice dialogues, so we have to read the whole story bubble by bubble, like a comic book. At least the music is pleasant and doesn’t distract you from reading and understanding the plot. But the story as a whole is very captivating and making you want more of it.

    Sometimes you can find secrets (a round target) by doing things that you could miss sometimes, e.g. shooting the ghosts flying out of dead grunts or killing a duck, which is flying by while you are under attack. But I don’t know if you need these secrets for something other than the achievement.

    Let’s sum up.
    Positive:
    + interesting combined gameplay
    + awesome art works and level design
    + many easter eggs
    + video game humor
    + captivating story
    + controller support

    Negative:
    - no voice dialogues
    - shooting has a dead angle

    This is a great game and I had much fun with the gameplay and while reading the story. I also enjoyed the whole game design, easter eggs and how the game made fun of video game stereotypes. This is something everybody should try!

    9/10
    Full Review »
  3. Jan 23, 2017
    8
    The game is very good, in every new scene is always something different is not always the same. The system of shooting if a little scarce mustThe game is very good, in every new scene is always something different is not always the same. The system of shooting if a little scarce must be better and something that if I like is like this story told in the form of comic strip. It's a 7 or 8 solid Full Review »