Follow TV Tropes

Following

Video Game / Upgrade Complete

Go To

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/upgrade_complete_title_screen.jpg

Welcome to the trope page for Upgrade Complete!

The goal of this page is to upgrade EVERYTHING!

To view this page, you'll first need to upgrade the game description.

    Upgrade Trope Page Description 

Upgrade Complete is a shoot-em-up flash game based around the upgrade mechanic found in many video games. Instead of beating the schmup part of the game, the goal is to upgrade everything in the game. And by everything, we mean everything, from the music, sound and graphics, to purchasing the ability to actually play the game.

And of course, you can upgrade your ship as well, the upgrade system allowing you to add various weapons in a grid around the ship (and, of course, upgrade them.) Shooting down ships makes them drop coins that you need to collect in order to afford more upgrades, and if you defeat all the ships in a single wave without any of them reaching the bottom of the screen, you get to the next wave, which throws even more ships (and money) at you.

Play the game here.

A sequel was also made (found here,) offering even more things to upgrade this time around.

A third game titled Upgrade Complete 3mium is currently available here.


    Upgrade Trope Examples for All Games 
  • 100% Completion: In order to unlock the ending, you must buy all the other upgrades (save for the grid upgrades).
  • Cosmetic Award: Almost every upgrade in the game is one of these, but the one that really takes the cake is the "Just Upgrade" upgrade in the second game, which upgrades the Just Upgrade level... and does nothing else.
  • Death Is a Slap on the Wrist: None of the ships can hurt you, and even if you fail to clear a wave, there's no consequences beyond not going to the next wave (you even get to keep your money.)
  • Deconstruction Game: The series deconstructs the concept of grinding for the sake of unlocking the next upgrade.
  • Grid Inventory: Sort of. All your ship's weapons and various equipment exist as option-style floating objects that have to be placed on a grid around the ship.
  • Macross Missile Massacre: Get enough Missile Upgrades and you will be doing this.
  • Money Grinding: Expect to repeat each stage a few times until you can afford to upgrade your ship enough.
  • Money Spider: All mooks drop money when defeated. The Final Boss in 2 pretty much "bleeds" money when damaged.
  • More Dakka: If you're getting overwhelmed by the sheer number of ships in a particular wave, just add more guns (or upgrade the ones you have already.)
  • Permanently Missable Content: You can upgrade things without experiencing the earlier stages of them (aside from upgrades that change the shop itself, of course). It's also impossible to get the "Lagtastic" achievement if you haven't gotten it before the Final Boss.
  • Stylistic Suck:
    • When you initially purchase anything graphics or sound-wise, it will look/sound like crap until you upgrade it some more.
    • The "improved" ending to the first game is a cheesy-looking A Winner Is You screen.
  • You Have Researched Breathing:
    • Examples include having to purchase the preloader, the shop to purchase upgrades, the play button (to actually play the game,) and the game's logo and copyright information.
    • Also, the super secret upgrade that requires every other upgrade to unlock in the first game is the game over screen.

    Upgrade Trope Examples for Upgrade Complete 1 
  • But Thou Must!: Parodied. You're given a yes/no option for if you want to play the game... but to choose the no option, you have to upgrade your decision-making power first.
  • Over 100% Completion: By maxing out everything and completing wave 20, you can reach 110% completion.

    Upgrade Trope Examples for Upgrade Complete 2 
  • Allegedly Free Game: Parodied. With the right upgrades, you'll unlock the "Premium Content" button, which claims to let you purchase (with real life money) extra content for the game. However, upgrading the Premium Content page makes said content cheaper and cheaper, until you can finally get it for free. Turns out the "Premium Content" was just a picture of a sheep, with commentary talking about said sheep.
  • Beam Spam:
    • The Smart Bomb weapon.
    • Also, if you amass enough lasers, you can easily do this.
  • Call-Back: In the first game, you can "borrow" some money to start playing, like a due. In the second game, the game remembers this due, and shows you just how much of a due this really is.
  • Damage-Sponge Boss: The final (and only) boss of the game does nothing but very slowly move forward...and have a lot of hit points.
  • Deliberately Monochrome: "Indie Mode"
  • Energy Weapon: The lasers are instant-hitscans that aim at your mouse.
  • Foreshadowing: On the preloader screen, it's mentioned that "a scary face will probably appear to scare you or something". Then, in the game, there's the option to upgrade your heart rate...
  • Jerkass: The upgrade window will insult you regularly. You'll have to purchase upgrades to make it less surly.
  • Jitter Cam: One of the many upgrades, causing the screen to shake whenever a ship explodes or the player fires off a smart bomb. The fully upgraded Jitter Cam will sometimes shake violently for no reason (like at the end of a wave.)
  • Large Ham: The male pilot, after you completely upgrade his voice acting.
  • Loads and Loads of Loading: Of course, you can always decrease the loading times. Three guesses as to how you accomplish that.
  • Logo Joke: Upgrading the logo is essentially a history of Armor Games logos.
  • Money for Nothing: The Final Boss still drops money, despite that all upgrades need to be purchased before it can be fought.
  • No Plot? No Problem!: Lampshaded by your pilot (with a full voice acting upgrade) on occasion when you clear a wave.
    "Take that, evil space aliens...or whoever you are!"
  • Piñata Enemy: The Final Boss drops loads of money whenever you hit it. Just whacking it quite a few times is enough to give you enough money to buy all the upgrades in the game (including all the grid squares).
  • Scatting: The first version of every music track is just the creator vocalizing the second version.
  • Screamer Prank: If you upgrade your heart rate.
  • Shmuck Bait: The heart rate upgrade.
  • Shout-Out:
    • The fully upgraded avatars both look like Pokémon. The male looks like a Poliwhirl while the female looks like a Pikachu.
    • Upon losing: "Me! Me? Meeeeeeeee!"
    • Some of the sentences in that appear in Indie Mode are taken straight from the opening to Final Fantasy VIII.
  • Small Name, Big Ego: The first-level credits page has the creator taking credit for everything in the game. Upgrading it further adds more names to the credits, until it's finally a complete credits list.
  • Speaking Simlish: First-level voice acting is just incomprehensible muffled talking.
  • True Art Is Angsty: invoked Parodied. "Indie Mode" makes the game Deliberately Monochrome and changes the soundtrack to something more melancholy, while displaying a series of messages on the screen portraying a conversation between two people (also being a reference to Final Fantasy VIII's opening, with the first few lines), one spouting off nonsensical, artsy one-liners, and the other getting more and more creeped out by the former until he threatens to call the cops.

    Upgrade Trope Examples for Upgrade Complete 3mium 
  • Advancing Boss of Doom: As the Big Bad says, his doom ship "approaches slowly from the right side of the screen".
  • Battleship Raid: The Final Boss is essentially this. It has multiple "weapons" you need to destroy (none of which fire at all), once all of its weaponry go down, you're able to damage the main body and put it down for good.
  • Big Bad: Your assistant himself, to nobody's surprise. Upgrading his UI the third time gives him a stereotypical "bad guy" look with sunglasses and he even lampshades it.
  • Bribing Your Way to Victory: The game starts off by assuming that you bought the Premium package that just straight-up lets you win the game from the start.
  • Bug War: Your goal in this game is to defend the station from a huge armada of giant flying bugs of ever-increasing size and difficulty.
  • Freemium: The game bills itself as this in the tutorial. Once the game realizes that you haven't paid for the ending, it kicks you all the way back to the start.
  • Fuel Meter of Power: Halfway through the game, your health will get a constantly decreasing status, and in order to replenish it you need to pick up a heart powerup. If your health reaches zero, you won't die, but you will be unable to attack which is not a good thing.
  • Jump Scare: Like with the second game, the Heart Rate upgrade. The game warns you about this at least if you try to purchase it. While the first two aren't really a scare since they appear almost immediately (and have Stylistic Suck graphics), the last one pops up suddenly without warning, a good few seconds after the upgrade is bought.
  • Piñata Enemy: Like the previous game's Final Boss, the final boss of this game drops loads of cash, this time whenever each "part" is defeated.
  • Screamer Prank: The first two Heart Rate upgrades are very laughably bad and not even scary screamers since they lack surprise and have terrible graphics. The final one on the other hand pops up suddenly a good few seconds after purchasing it, often during gameplay, and has far better quality.
  • Speaking Simlish: The assistants only speak in basic gibberish.
  • Take That!:
  • A Taste of Power: The game starts off with all the upgrades completed and victory literally just a button away. However, after you click the button, the assistant realizes that you're not a premium customer and resets everything. You do, however, retain the Level 5 laser and speed booster, but you'll soon realize this is not enough to fend off everything.

Congratulations! You've upgraded everything!

You've now unlocked the index bar!

Top