Play Vortex Online

Vortex came out on the Super Nintendo in 1994, developed by Argonaut Software. It was one of those mid-90s SNES games that tried to push the hardware with polygonal graphics, a time when developers were experimenting with 3D before it became the standard. It fit right in with that era's ambition, even if the execution wasn't always smooth.

You pilot a transforming mech, switching between four forms—jet, tank, robot, and another vehicle—to navigate maze-like alien bases and defeat enemies. The main goal is to complete missions across different sectors, often involving destroying key targets or surviving waves of foes. Signature mechanics include the real-time form shifting to solve environmental puzzles or gain combat advantages, and a first-person perspective for cockpit action during flight sequences. The pacing is deliberate, sometimes slow, and the difficulty comes from managing your limited energy and dealing with occasionally awkward controls. It feels like wrestling with a ambitious but unwieldy machine, where a clever maneuver is always satisfying when it works.