Graceful Explosion Machine
"Skillfully pilot the advanced Graceful Explosion Machine (GEM) fighter while blasting swarms of crystalline enemies with your ludicrously overpowered quad-weapon array! Lost in deep space, you'll shoot, dash and combo your way through jewel-hued alien worlds, fighting to find a way home."
SCREENSHOTS
HISTORY
Graceful Explosion Machine is a horizontally scrolling shooter developed by Vertex Pop. It was released in North America and Europe for the Nintendo Switch on April 6, 2017, then for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4 on August 8, 2017 in the North American and North European regions. The game has received positive reviews from critics.
Reception
According to Metacritic, the Switch version received a 77/100 from 19 critics indicating "generally favorable reviews". Mitch Vogel of Nintendo Life gave the game a 9/10, calling it "an arcade shooter with a lot of style and a surprising amount of substance". He praised the weapons in the game, noting how each individual weapon's strengths and weaknesses encourage the player to use their full arsenal. He also noted the game's replay value and found it "incredibly satisfying" to return to previous levels to get a high score.
Writing for IGN, Jose Otero liked how each enemy had their own attack patterns which gave them "loads of personality" despite being composed of "basic shapes". He also praised how "stringing together a killer run" provides a "satisfying adreneline rush". He ultimately gave the game an 8.0/10.
A more negative review came from GamesRadar's David Roberts who gave the game a 3/5. He praised the game's "colorful, candy colored" graphics and the audio cues that "let you know when to lay off the blaster or grab more gems" but lamented that "once you've played the first few stages you've seen pretty much everything it has to offer" and that "each stage takes way to long to complete" attributing the latter to five-minute stages that, for the majority of the time, are spent on "mindless fodder" in between the "larger and more interesting enemies. Ultimately, he called Graceful Explosion Machine a "decent enough distraction" that "allows you to turn your brain off" when the player has a few minutes to kill.
References
GAMEPLAY VIDEO
TRAILERS
STORES best right now: Nintendo eShop −60%
Prices are cached from each storefront and may be out of date. Last checked 24 Sept 2026.
PRICE HISTORY
Every price change we know of, per shop. Flat means the price held; PC shops reach back through IsThereAnyDeal's archive, console shops start when this site started watching.
Nintendo eShop low: $5.19 (17 Sep 2026) , PlayStation Store low: $3.89 (27 Aug 2026) , Steam low: $1.29 (19 Dec 2024)
REVIEWS
Published elsewhere, collected here. Every score is the outlet's own, on the outlet's own scale. Follow the link for the full review.
“Graceful Explosion Machine is a fast-paced and action-packed release that is highly addictive. You'll end up returning over and over again to each level as you first aim to get A grades in all of them before you move up to getting an S rank on them from near-perfect start-to-finish runs in each level, building up massive combos as you avoid being hit by enemies. There's plenty of content here and a nice variety of enemies to make this one an easy game to recommend on PS4.”
“Graceful Explosion Machine is simple, pure arcade fun, with a level of polish and attention to detail in the design that's rarely seen. It's the sort of game that you can pick up for a quick 5 minute session, and then find yourself still playing hours later.”
“There are graphics that pop with color, and an entrancing techno soundtrack that just keeps pulling you into the frenzy.”
“In short, this game is something I think people can really enjoy. It's not a graphical powerhouse but what it lacks in the graphics department it definitely makes up for in the mechanics and gameplay. The overall difficulty to the game does tend to lend itself to the gamers looking for a challenge as it starts out feeling quite on the easier side building up to sometimes the frustratingly hard side of things (but truly in a fun way). Too many games with difficulty like this get a stigma about them. I find that when you beat a level that you've been trying multiple times to get past, one of the”
“Graceful Explosion Machine is an excellent 2D shooter with clever ideas with a lot of near-death experiences, once you’re hooked you will not want to stop. The action is straightforward and combined with Graceful Explosion Machine's smart enemy design and weapons each level like an intense adrenaline rush.”
“Graceful Explosion Machine is a gorgeous and innovative take on a now ancient genre of arcade shooter. The weapon system brings an element of combo juggling to the combat and challenge runs are addictive and, crucially, not too punishing. Simply put, this is another top-notch PS4 shmup.”
“Graceful Explosion Machine is a must play for arcade shooters with its precision gameplay, accessibility, and presentation.”
“There's a solid amount of gameplay present within Graceful Explosion Machine and it's very entertaining to play.”
“If your PC is ready for this gem, Graceful Exploding Machine is a satisfying game that'll make your day.”
“Graceful Explosion Machine is a bright, colorful and quirky shooter with some interesting visuals that back up some pretty solid shooting gameplay. Having already been released on the Switch several months ago, Graceful Explosion Machine makes its way to the PlayStation 4 where it fills the screen with some pretty crazy action.”
“There are a lot of great ideas found within Graceful Explosion Machine, and I can't wait to see how they're build upon in future games. I never got the itch to better my scores after completing a level (some sort of unlockable structure would've helped), but I found myself enjoying the challenge that Vertex Pop had on offer more often than not. Occasionally it veers into being more frustrating than fun, but the joy of finally beating a level you failed several times before is worth those bouts of annoyance.”
“Graceful Explosion Machine is an extremely simple and straightforward game. And this is both good and bad, since its scenarios and weapons do not change over the course of their short journey. This turns the game into a casual experience or into something for lovers of the side-scrolling arcade shooter genre.”
“Despite feeling like a generic shooter, It does have solid gameplay.”
“Graceful Explosion Machine boasts exciting and frantic shooting action, colorful visuals, and a well implemented combo scoring system.”
“There's just something about these types of games that make them intrinsically addictive. After playing Graceful Explosion Machine for long enough, and getting into the flow, the experience is fast, manic, and fluid - the sort of gameplay that harkens back to the pure and simplistic joy that was the core of arcade shooters of the '90s. That being said, the real draw of the game is the replayable rankings and leaderboards, and attempting to get those perfect runs on each stage. Without that, the game is a little short for the cost, with just over 2-3 hours of playtime to finish it off.”
“'Graceful Explosion' Machine is an enjoyable game to try, but not worth sticking around for.”
“Graceful Explosion Machine certainly lives up to its name, but narrow-minded design and a complete lack of multiplayer deflate the experience.”
“Graceful Explosion Machine is a thoroughly solid title with enough content to last. However, it lacks passion. It has an almost clinical approach to everything, which makes for a shmup that's only enjoyable with the right mind-set. This genre is designed around stoking a flame in one's heart. After spending enough time mere pixels away from death, there is this feeling that takes over. It's hard to describe, but it's amazing. Every moment thereafter is earned. The best STGs pummel and exhaust the player, but after succeeding, it's almost as if EVO has just been won. When playing this game, the”
“There is absolutely nothing wrong with Graceful Explosion Machine, and if you enjoy chasing high scores then it will provide you with a decent challenge. For the the rest of us, it's a dinky little shooter that you can complete in a couple of hours and will forget about in half that time.”
“Graceful Explosion Machine knows what it wants to be, and delivers on that experience with flying, bright, bountiful colors. A top-notch title in the genre and worth every penny.”
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