Apidya Special: PS5 Review

Developed by Team Apidya
Published by Team Apidya
Platform: PS5

If the idea of playing A Bug's Life through the lens of a shoot-em-up appeals to you, then really, look no further than the 2026 update of the 1992 Amiga game, Apidya.

In this side-scrolling 24-pixel remake (rebuilt from the ground up) you play as Ikuro, a character who's turned into a bee and let loose in the garden of nature with no option but to shoot the flying critters that infest your world. (A better allegory for the bugs menace of summer months has yet to be seen.)

There's a simple premise here and really, deep introspection of the story isn't necessary - what matters in a game like this is simply the power of the shooting and the gameplay. And it's something Team Apidya understands well and executes brilliantly.

With a raft of options that allow you to choose the difficulty, when you want to gain extra lives and if you get to carry on your weapon power-ups, you'd think the game was setting itself up for being over within moments.

But in truth, Team Apidya's game is as hard as it could be, while always leaving you being in reach of perfecting it. Critters fly at you from within the screen, from on the ground and leap out without warning. 

There's nothing new here that the likes of Defender and other shoot-em-ups of the genre haven't already provided, but Apidya Special is just fun to play, with smooth graphics and action. (Though occasionally, it can be hard to see the ground-based animals launching attacks at you.)

The option to flick between 16:9 and the original 4:3 coin-op gameplay is also welcome too - and can be done mid-game without any noticeable lag and in a way that also changes how some of the creatures in the game look. It's a cool little option and the fact it's done with such ease is nothing short of impressive.

Sometimes, games like this don't need to be complicated - they don't need to have a hook and they don't need to be the most complicated thing to play. Apidya Special fits all of those with ease and as a result, it's an absolute blast to play.