Review by Tyler T. It’s been over 15 years since Treasure released its spiritual successor to Radiant Silvergun. As a SHMUP, Ikaruga proved divisive upon release due to its puzzle elements, but it’s these same dynamics that make it age so much better than many of its contemporaries. While many…
Read MoreReview by Clark A. Whether or not you care for it, Treasure’s most notable shoot ‘em up, Ikaruga, is heralded as a transcendent force in the genre. Its development began as one man’s labour of love and its mechanics went on to inspire a decade of more puzzle-oriented interpretations of…
Read MoreNews by Matt S. If you’re a fan of SHMUPs then you’ll know just how must respect the name “Ikaruga” has. Considered by many to be the absolute pinnacle of the genre, Ikaruga has it all; intense, extreme action, clever gameplay mechanics which offer rich, nuanced gameplay without becoming overwhelming,…
Read MoreReview by Harvard L. The Switch has its fair share of top-down shoot-em-ups, but most take heavy influence from the arcade philosophy of design: three lives, high scores and punishing difficulty. Sky Force Reloaded takes a different approach – it uses RPG progression systems to create a smoother difficulty curve,…
Read MoreReview by Matt C. In the past week or so, I’ve had a very difficult time putting down Sky Force Reloaded. I’ve stayed up far later than I should almost every night, trapped in a “just one more go!” loop. I’ve excitedly bought other games, only to watch them collect…
Read MoreReview by Clark A. Just four months after the release of Bullet Soul on Steam comes Bullet Soul Infinite Burst. While there was originally a gap of several years where the Xbox 360 version was concerned, electing to release an enhanced game in a subgenre as niche as the bullet…
Read MoreReview by Matt C. Thanks to publishers like Degica, Steam is quickly becoming a bastion of classic bullet hell shoot ‘em ups, and this a wonderful thing. It’s a niche genre, but also one with a long and storied history spanning many different consoles and generations. Having as much of…
Read MoreReview by Clark A. Because bullet hell shooters are designed with a very specific demographic in mind, a game like Bullet Soul is able to articulate its appeal to that crowd in under thirty seconds. The title screen’s roaring 90s rock sent shockwaves of nostalgia through my body. The requisite…
Read MoreReview by Matt C. What does Santa do when someone steals all the Christmas presents? A regular old St Nick might give up, or work extra hard to create a new stash of gifts. Not Aru, the bunny-eared, anime girl Santa, though – no, when someone steals her presents, she…
Read MoreReview by Jim S. Dogos is a new SHMUP that has a classic gameplay style. These games are an acquired taste, but for the genre’s fans, the difficulty and sense of rewards are equal drawcards, as is the sheer action that the best examples of the genre are able to…
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