anybody know if this could be done in pico8?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jr0DKvInRyI

I was tempted to try but not sure how to implement the rotation.

I doubt this could be possible since this is a endless game but the HUD would be very different.
I am not a expert of this stuff and i am learning it since days.

That looks entirely doable on Pico-8. The HUD wouldn't be a pixel-for-pixel match, but there's a limited amount of information there, so it'd probably only require a minor redesign.

The 2D rotation effect is the most notable feature, but the math isn't difficult. Here's a straightforward write-up: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2259476/rotating-a-point-about-another-point-2d An easy option is to keep track of the player and enemy positions and orientations relative to a fixed origin, then use rotation to calculate the enemy positions and orientations relative to the player on the fly. Same goes for star, bullet, and particle positions.

The original appears to be using sprites for the enemy ships. You can use separate sprites for the first 90 degrees of rotation at fixed intervals, maybe four positions. If you go with tiny single-tile sprites for the ships, four positions might even be too many, but 2x2 ships might look nice without taking up too much space. Remember that the spr command can flip a sprite when drawing, so you only need sprites for the first 90 degrees.

I like how the ship explosions have large rotating chunks as well as simple particles. Implement that once you have everything else working. :)

thanks for the links and advice, this is much appreciated :)