Galactivore

Galactivore is a very charming retro action game with all the right ingredients. Fun, violent animations, secrets to find, a crazy storyline, big bosses, weapons to unlock, and very catchy music.
If you're into Mega Man, Ninja Gaiden, and other vintage shooty platformers, this is for you. There are some hard levels and you need to be prepared to fail a little and do some practice and level retries, especially towards the end. But if you stick to it, you get a real sense of reward, because this game has that distinct feeling of achievement as you keep playing and your skills improve.
Some tips:
Go back and look for armor and health upgrades. These can really help in the last stage which can be quite tough otherwise. You can see on the map screen which levels still have something to pick up. Sometimes you need an ammo type from a later stage to get to the upgrade, so make sure to return and look around when you've got a few ammo types. When you replay a previously finished stage you don't have to fight the boss again.
Learn what the special items do and don't be afraid to use them. Some situations become vastly more managable with the correct special item.
In the same way, make sure to use the special ammo. Some enemies are only reachable to kill by means of special ammo or items, and it can mean life or death to get rid of them, especially in jump-y situations.
There are some things that can be destroyed that weren't fully obvious to me, they kind of blended in to the environment. So listen for that sound of bullets landing, especially towards the end. I'm talking specifically about the things that spawn little flying robot orbs in level 5.
I had a lot of fun with Galactivore and it is one of those games that has a lot of personality, so I know it will stay in my brain for a long time!

Seems promising so far. I recommend using controller, but works on keyboard.
The big downside is my own lack of talent for this type of games. :D

Decent storyline, nice physics, great music and awesome graphics. I find it just challenging enough on the easier settings. I prefer playing it with a controller, but using keyboard works just fine aswell. I would recommend this to anyone who likes classic retro games.

Disclaimer: I got this game as a review copy for my curator page
Great beginning, mixed middle, and straight up awful end. Galactivore is one of those games that really make you wish there was a neutral review option because my feelings towards it are really mixed...
On one hand, we have the beginning stages, which can be a bit too easy at first, but still bring a lot with the presentation, are fun to traverse through, and are also fair. Once we reach the middle point, the game starts showing some signs of unfairness, in which enemy attacks can be near impossible to dodge, even if you know they're coming. And then, the game splits into two possible endings, with a different level each and... yeah those are straight up bad. Enemies everywhere (some constantly respawning unless you destroy they're spawning machine... which is straight up impossible sometimes), tiny platforms on top of that, and they introduce some of the most annoying mechanics so far: Disappearing platforms on top of bottomless pits, and giant beams. At least the beams don't insta kill you... If the most reliable strategy I found was to abuse invincibility frames to proceed, we have a problem. These two levels alone have genuinely made me consider giving this game a negative review: They're just not fun at all... but I still feel like the game offers enough for it to well, not be a thumbs down.
The story was alright. There's this chemical that enhances the capabilities of individuals with two X chromosomes, which leads to the overexploitation of earth, and the exodus of the planet (only by those affected by the chemical, I guess people who weren't enhanced by it wouldn't survive such trip... and I also guess they found a reliable way to reproduce, whether via cloning or thanks to said chemical). It all evolves into a regime, and and the enslavement of a whole alien species. Because of it, a terrorist group rises to try and stop this... sort of dictatorship, and that's when you show up: It is now up to you to either end this tyrannic regime run by the I.H.C., or put a stop to the terrorist group known as the U.L.F.
It's alright, though it's not like the factions are all that good... The I.H.C. is spoiler territory, but yeah, not good; and the U.L.F. literally blows up a whole city in the third level, and then has the audacity of keep a tally of the organic lifeforms you've put an end to (I don't know I found that kind of stupid). And if you're looking for all the achievements... just don't... I did my best not to kill a single organic enemy up until the very last level, where I only killed the minimum I needed, and then was greeted with "You've killed 47 enemies"... you must kill 40 enemies or less to get one of the achievements... I give up!
Presentation-wise, it has this certain 16 bit look and feel to it, inspired by classics like MegaMan and Contra, but despite that, reminded me more of the Sega MegaDrive because of the instrumentation on the soundtrack. It's not spectacularly faithful to said style, but to be fair, nowhere on the store page does it say that it was influenced by that console alone: it was just a feel I got.
So, as you can see, quite a bit to say, and the final veredict... is still the same: It's quite nice at the beginning, okay in the middle, and straight up dreadful at the end. It's worth a go if you're in the mood for this sort of game, but... wait for a sale at least...