A scrolling shooter built on upgrades
Sky Force Anniversary is a top-down shoot-'em-up where you fly a ship through levels packed with enemies, bullets and destructible scenery. Between runs you spend stars on upgrades for shields, guns, missiles, lasers, mega-bombs and magnets, so each attempt pushes your ship a little further into the battlefield. Levels carry missions to complete and civilians to rescue, and rescuing civilians is worth the risk since they add to your final score. Boss fights show up as multi-stage encounters with heavy patterns to read and dodge. The game runs on 3D environments with a classic arcade feel, and it ships with a full voiceover and an electronic soundtrack.
Playing together
Local cooperative mode supports 2 players on the same machine, with both pilots flying through the same levels and sharing the screen. Remote Play Together lets a second player join over a connection even if they do not own the game, so one person can host and the other tag along. Co-op runs work the same way as solo runs: clear the level, complete missions, rescue civilians, and bank stars for upgrades. Rescuing fallen friends during a run earns extra stars, which matters when two players are pushing toward the same upgrade goals.
Before you start
Weekly tournaments run on unique new levels against other players, and rewards come from both placing well and rescuing pilots who have already been taken down. Achievements feed into your final score, so a run is not only about survival. The difficulty scales with how deep you push, and the upgrade system is what turns a short attempt into a long session. Expect bullet-heavy patterns in later levels, and expect to restart a few times before the ship is strong enough to hold position.