Our review of Apidya’ Special, developed by Kaiko. Available now for Steam (reviewed), PS5, Xbox One, and Switch/2,

WHAT IS IT?

A buzzy remake of a long-forgotten Amiga shmup.

IS IT GOOD?

It’s pretty fun, with a nifty insect-themed aesthetic.

WHO SHOULD PLAY IT?

Flik, Princess Atta, Dot.

MEANT TO BEE

The Amiga 500’s unique system architecture has made it a devil to emulate on modern systems. As a result, many of its best titles – your SpeedBalls, WizKids, Rocketeers – remain more or less trapped on the dusty hardware somewhere in your dad’s storage unit. While remasters have, occasionally, surfaced, it’s a rare treat to see something as ancient and obscure as Apidya return in all its 24-bit glory.

A shump, or shoot-em-up, from the era that perfected the form, Apida (here, Apidya’ Special) sees players take control of a bee as it navigates five themed areas – a meadow, a pond, a sewer, a Gigeresque machine, and a boss rush – and does battle with thematically appropriate enemies.

The neat part of Apidya is its microcosmic scale, with enemies ranging from grasshoppers to butterflies to hungry bats. Like similarly animal-themed Amiga stablemate X-Out, this unique setting affords its designers some fun opportunities to play around, whether it’s diving underwater (yes, these bees can swim) to attack giant beetles, or navigating a bizarre bio-mechanical landscape of ED-209 robo-foes.

UNBEELIEVABLE

This ground-up remake (Kaiko proudly notes that zero emulation was involved) offers a nice, brief trip down memory lane for fans of this genre.

The sprites look great, the scrolling background does a great job of evoking its very different environments, and the highly adjustable difficulty makes it manageable. Wisely, pretty much everything, from number of continues to what happens when you continue, is adjustable. (I would not recommend trying the higher difficulty sessions, as some of the puzzle-like sections and navigational challenges can be a bit much.)

LET’S BEE FRIENDS

Apidya’s bosses are a particular highlight, offering an amusing range of giant foes, including some truly out there designs. (Trust me, you are not ready for the stage 3 boss.)

While the game can, played perfectly, be completed in less than an hour, players should expect to devote more than a few hours to the experience. Dying, learning, dying again – that’s how games like Apidya were meant to be played, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

***
Final score: 7/10 Hymenoptera.

Visit the official website for Apidya’ Special here.