Minishoot’ Adventures may just be a Zelda game with twin-stick combat, but that description sells it short. It’s obvious SoulGame Studio has put an enormous amount of care and consideration into every detail, from upgrade frequency and enemy placement to boss behavior and world design. It takes all the right lessons from Nintendo’s beloved franchise and puts them to good use in a new package. Sure, the enemies might be forgettable visually and some of the upgrade paths might be a little slow, but this is a minimalist action-adventure game very much by design. It’s how that unique mix of formulas is combined that keeps Minishoot’ Adventures fun all the way until the credits roll and beyond.

So let's not overcomplicate it. Minishoot' Adventures is an outwardly straightforward game, but its straightforwardness is deceptive. As I was playing, a stupid question formed: given its conceptual obviousness and simple pleasures, why aren't there more games as good as this? It's a stupid question because it has an obvious answer: because it's incredibly difficult to make a good game and because what seems straightforward in retrospect almost never is in creation. Maybe Minishoot' Adventures isn't a "great" game, but it sure is a great time, and that's plenty.

It's pure fun, and I honestly can't ask for anything more from a game.