Sidralgames' Hyperwired gives twin-stick shooting a fresh twist by making every firefight revolve around managing a physical power cord.

*Hyperwired.* Credit: SIDRALGAMES / SelectaPlay / Beep Japan Inc.

Sidralgames’ Hyperwired borrows Chibi-Robo!’s dangling power cord and builds an action game around it. The plug is a clever source of tension, forcing you to think about positioning in ways most arcade shooters never ask. It's a great idea that anchors the experience, even if the rest of the game doesn’t quite measure up to it.

Your ship trails an electrical plug that drives every decision in combat. Connecting to sockets scattered around each arena replenishes your energy and health, but doing so anchors you to the outlet and limits your movement to the length of your cable. Getting caught tethered while enemies rapidly encroach creates some wonderfully stressful moments. Every connection forces you to make a stand and protect your position. Energy management can absolutely be frustrating, especially when you know plugging in will leave you vulnerable, but that's exactly why the mechanic succeeds. If recharging were painless, the entire concept would collapse.

Rescuing stranded ships lets you build a fleet over the course of a run. This dovetails neatly into the outlet mechanic, as helping the vessels means leading them to a socket and plugging them in to heal or recharge. It adds another layer of risk and reward while making battles feel larger. It also brought back memories of one of my all-time favorite space shooter series, Ambrosia's Mac classic Escape Velocity.

Outside of that central concept, Hyperwired rarely finds equally compelling ideas. Collect temporary upgrades, experiment with modifiers, unlock additional ships, and slowly expand your options between runs. There are plenty of combinations to discover, but I rarely found them as engaging as navigating another dangerous room and fighting over wall sockets.

Hyperwired succeeds because its core idea is clever and fresh. I just wish more of the game felt as inventive, that it had a structure to match the strength of its concept. I love the plug, but not much else is very memorable.