Velocity Ultra by developer Futurlabs is a well-celebrated game already, having been quite popular on its original release on the Playstation Vita thanks to its interesting gameplay mechanics, fast pace and cool if not complicated graphics. The game is now being released on Steam by Curve Studios and I managed to get hold of a Steam code to see if this game had survived well on the trip between platforms.

For those of you who haven’t heard of the game, Velocity Ultra is a top-down space game that has you boosting, flying and teleporting your way around levels rescuing survivors while destroying hostile ships and security turrets with laser gun and bombs. The teleporting feature is used to move between areas that would usually be blocked off and although you can’t get hurt from banging into walls (which is unique in itself), the screen does move along with you and doesn’t stop if you do so try not to get crushed by the moving screen!

Now I’ve never had a Vita, so I’ve never played the original game but Ultra doesn’t seem to have suffered for the move. The graphics are crisp, the movement fluid and fast, the music great and the levels nicely challenging. The game starts with a launcher window that lets you choose windowed or fullscreen modes as well as having a tab to show the key bindings for each action, which I assume you can change. There’s also a diagram to show the button bindings for a controller which I think must be the better way to play the game. I didn’t do too badly with my keyboard and trackpad though and found myself unable to resist playing just one more level. Once you get into a rhythm the levels go amazingly smoothly and it’s this that keeps the game interesting. Just as it did the original from what I’ve heard.

Velocity Ultra will be available on Steam from December 12^th.