The world can always do with more cute-’em-ups. Shmups are all well and good, but trade the spaceships and gritty sci-fi for adorable characters and bright, playful colours and you get magic—as the TwinBees and Cottons of this world have proven time and again. It’s that tradition that Hazelnut Hex …
There were plenty of exciting announcements in this morning’s Future Games Show at Gamescom: a shadow drop of an English update for the Steam version of Wizardry: The Five Ordeals; an intriguing-looking climate change-themed city builder in Floodland; the release of a demo for character action game Soulstice; among many …
Escape room puzzle game and arcade-style shoot ‘em up don’t exactly seem like they’d fit together. But that’s exactly what makes such genre mashups so fascinating: when you find (or create) common ground between such disparate influences, the results can be an unorthodox delight, even if there’s a bit of …
Remote Life is nothing if not ambitious. The work of solo developer NAME, it’s a side-scrolling shoot-’em-up with clear R-Type inspiration, an expansive campaign by arcade shmup standards, lots of variety, and impressive visual design that carries its alien horror vibes well. But for all its ambition, it’s a game …
I know I’m not alone in my preference for vertical shmups, especially of the bullet hell variety. It’s hard to articulate well, but tracking bullets, reading patterns, and positioning your ship just feels so much more intuitive in a vert. But every now and then, a game will come along …
At first blush, Cotton Fantasy feels a lot like last year’s Cotton Reboot. It’s got a new story, new levels, new enemies and boss fights, but the same cute, playful vibe, same general approach, and similar (if slightly simplified) scoring mechanics to Reboot’s wonderfully exuberant revamp. It’s a sequel, after …
Horror-themed indie shoot-’em-up Remote Life is making its way to console later this month, with a Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox release set for May 27. Originally released for PC in 2019, Remote Life is the work of solo developer Next Game Level. It’s a side-scrolling shmup inspired by arcade classics, …
When you think of “Taito milestones”, what comes to mind? Space Invaders, surely, as one of the most influential videogames of all time? The inimitable charm of Bubble Bobble? The unique style and innovation of Darius? You’ll find none of these in Taito Milestones. This new 10-game compilation is touted …
You know the drill: squeeze through tiny gaps in screen-filling bullet patterns, unleash some bullet hell of your own with a powerful, wide-reaching cannon, hold the shot button to focus fire for an immensely powerful laser and slower, more careful movement. In a lot of ways, Z-Warp is a more …
A little late on the news wrap this time (life be like that sometimes!), but here are some of the game news highlights from last week! The Swords webtoon is getting a game (for real!) Matthew Wills, the creator of popular comedy-fantasy webtoon Swords often gets asked about the possibility …
