Star Monkey

The Good
Intuitive upgrade system; Very high-quality graphics; Little graphical details, dynamic shadows

The Bad
Time-limit in the shareware version; Despite the game's title, it doesn't feature any monkeys

The Bottom Line
This is by far one of the BEST shareware game I have ever played. It not only emulates the classic vertical-scrolling shoot-em ups, but enhances the gameplay even further, by adding amazing real-time 3d graphics, and an intuitive ship enhancement system. Let me start with the graphics. Oh my god! They simply yell out: "Professional work!!" Everything is wonderfully modelled, from the player's ship to the background scenery. Even the smallest details are awesome, like the shadows. The shadows are completely dynamic. Shoot a laser and you'll see it produce shadows on nearby trees, all in real-time. That brings me to the next point, the ship enhancement system. As usual, with these kinds of games, when certain enemies are destroyed, an upgrade canister is dropped, giving you the ability to upgrade your ship's speed, laser quantity, laser type, other extras or even homing rockets. But instead of having different upgrade canisters for each enhancement, Small Rocket opt for the simpler method of only having one canister type. When you collect one, you can opt for a speed upgrade, or decide to wait for another canister to upgrade your laser quantity. Wait for yet another canister, and you can upgrade your laser type. More enhanced upgrades require more canisters. You quickly get the hangs of this system, which is good, because it may seem more complex than the 'different canister for each upgrade', but it is in fact much more fun! This game is of far greater quality than most of the commercial games being released today, both in graphics and gameplay. Couldn't recommend it more.