I suck at scrolling shooters. While I love them, they don’t love me back. This is mainly the classics though. Titles like Last Resort (Neo Geo exclusive), Thunder Force III, U.N. Squadron, etc. They all eat my lunch and rub my face in the dirt. Even back in the day, my younger days is what I am trying to allude to here, they were still tough but not impossible. Today, I find myself enjoying scrolling shooters on mobile platforms like Android. One such title, Toon Shooters 2 Freelancers, has been keeping me playing through gamification enhancements that we could only dream of back in the 80’s and 90’s.

Mooff Games, the developer behind Toon Shooters 2, have an interesting title on their hands. For one, they suck at this whole In-App Purchasing thing – I am rarely even reminded that it is an option. Much like Tiny Rails you don’t really have to worry about being beaten over the head about spending real world money for in game items.

As I already said, I love scrolling shooters. There is just something about blasting anything and everything that appears on the screen that is stress relieving.

Toon Shooters 2 calls on bits and pieces of each of the classics mentioned already in unique ways. I was not just name dropping for the sake of SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

First, let’s cover the Last Resort similarities. The classic Neo Geo shooter featured a unique option in the first level – the ability to shoot the little tanks on the road below you. This always stuck with me for some reason. Probably because it was not something that was common with scrolling shooters back then – background items remained in the background and that was it. Not in Last Resort though, even the miniscule things like vehicles on the road were fodder for your weapons.

Toon Shooters 2 has similar aspects available in certain levels. One level is obviously a war-torn city scape, complete with abandoned vehicles littering the destroyed roads below. You can shoot those cars and sometimes receive the in-game currency for your troubles. Not all the time, but still enough to make it worth your time.

Thunder Force III offered players the ability to take on many of the levels in any order you wished. Like what Capcom did with the Mega Man franchise, Thunder Force III was not a linear title.

Mooff Games let players choose which level they want to take on. With one caveat. You must have already beaten that level. While not exactly like Thunder Force III, it is still similar.

The point of replaying various levels in Toon Shooters 2 is the grinding aspect. That brings us to the next game that provided inspiration.

U.N. Squadron by Capcom. Also known as Area 88 in some countries.

In U.N. Squadron you could earn money for upgrades by taking down the enemy. This meant doing your best to take down as many enemies as possible.

Also, U.N. Squadron has a life bar for your ship and multiple planes to bring into battle – depending on your play style (and available battle chest).

So does Toon Shooters 2 have a life bar for your ship and multiple ships to use – if you purchase them.

The weapons on each ship are upgradeable as well. You can even purchase options to fly alongside your ship in battle, like R-Type. My favorite so far is the dragon type add-on with a maxed-out plane.

As you play you earn experience points as well – eventually maxing out your ship. At that point, your ship comes into battle with upgraded weapons making the early parts of the stages a little easier.

There is even some Samurai Shodown style scaling of the screen when extremely large bosses enter the fray. That really struck me as cool for some reason. It helped set the mood that I was encountering something truly badass here.

All in all, Toon Shooters 2 is just a fun romp around an obvious cartoon-based world. The bosses are wild and sometimes weird.

There is also a ranking system. I am currently in the top 7,000 players in the United States, or instance. I doubt I will ever make the top 100 but it is a goal to shoot for.

I have been playing Toon Shooters 2 for a good three weeks now and it is finally starting to grow old for me. I have two ships maxed out, their health, weapons, and ammo along with their experience. I have about half of the available ships and most of the options purchased.

I have to say, this is a good 30 to 40 hours of play on this game. It quickly overtook my addiction to PUBG Mobile and replaced it. I found myself playing Toon Shooters 2 at every opportunity.

What else can be said. This game is great for retro fans and will bring back memories of other games often.

Toon Shooters 2 by Mooff Games
Platform: Android (Ascend XT2 used for review) and iPhone
Genre: Side Scrolling Shooter, Arcade
In-App Purchases: Yes, very benign stuff like additional coins
Rated: E for Everyone on Google Play and 9+ on iTunes
Available now on Google Play and the iTunes App Store.