shmup posts

Shoot 'em ups, such as DoDonPachi or Tyrian, moved from the realm of the mainstream and into the hands of small indie developers a long time ago. After all, they are fairly easy to develop, have solid core mechanics, and utilize mostly 2D graphics. Who's That Flying?! (WTF?!) is one of these games, and while it's not particularly revolutionary, it's a polished and fun shmup that almost anybody can get into. It's also unusual in that it is a fairly benign port of a console game, and manages to be fun without suffering from the traditional issues of ports.

The indie scene is exploding, and with it the two main indie genres: platformers and shoot 'em ups. Razor 2 falls squarely into the second category, with all the trappings of classic shmups: plenty of enemies and bullets, Japanese text, and a vertical perspective. However, Razor2 falls short in nearly every department, rendering the game a playable, but disappointing mess. With a ton more polish and some changes to the design, it would be fantastic, but as is it is inferior to any decent indie shmup.

Welcome to Freeware Friday, a weekly column showcasing excellent games that you can play free of charge!

Old-school 2D shooters are, plainly put, amazing. There's tons of fun to be had from a simple, yet extremely challenging, shooter. From Raiden to Gradius to R-Type, there's plenty of room in the genre for newcomers, and that is exactly what indie title Hydorah is. There are very few indie games we could call classic, and even less in the realm of freeware. However, Hydorah, is one of those esteemed titles. While it is only the developer's second release, it is so polished and entertaining that it has set aside a place for itself among such incredible titles as Warning Forever or Cave Story. This is a game that deserves to be on everybody's hard drive.

Music games, specifically ones that generate their gameplay based on dynamic music interpretation, have been growing vastly in popularity. Games like Audiosurf or Raycatcher, which act as visualizers as well as games with virtually infinite replayability. After all, with new levels for every track, your entire music collection becomes the game. Beat Hazard is the latest entry into this expanding sub-genre, and like other games of its ilk, it's an arcade game. However, this is not a bad thing, and Beat Hazard brings a refreshing new look to the music genre while building upon the work of earlier games such as Geometry Wars.

Those that are overwhelmed by the strobing visual complexity of Beat Hazard will be happy. The game just received an update that doesn't seem to add much. Windowed mode and some interface tweaks compose most of the patch notes. However, the update contains this little line as well:

- Added Low Visual Intensity Option to Difficulty Select Screen

For many people, the intense strobing effects of Beat Hazard were the biggest barrier of entry into this excellent arena shooter/music game hybrid. Those people can now enjoy Beat Hazard without going into an epileptic fit! Also, in the patch before the current one, the game was updated to support FLAC and OGG formats. Full patch notes for the last two patches is after the break.

Music games are a gradually growing genre. We're not talking about games like Guitar Hero, but rather games which take music and procedurally generate game content from it. The most famous is obviously Audiosurf, but there are others, such as Square Enix's Song Summoners. Beat Hazard is an entry into the procedural realm, and it was released on Steam last Thursday.

Beat Hazard follows the same rough format as Audiosurf. You choose a song, and the game procedurally generates a level for you based on the song's characteristics. However, Beat Hazard is an arena shooter (akin to Geometry Wars) and significantly more visually complex. By visually complex, we mean borderline epileptic. Strobe effects abound! If you can handle this, the game is available through its Steam page for $10 ($7 until the 22nd). The developer also posts in the game's Steam forums and interacts with the players. Watch for a full review soon.

Welcome to Freeware Friday, a weekly column showcasing excellent games that you can play free of charge!

It's been quite a while since we've talked about shmups on Freeware Friday. It is one of our favorite genres, thanks to the replayability - even the shallowest shmups have quite a bit - combined with a basic gameplay mechanic that just works. While Varia doesn't do anything especially new or strange, it's a polished and well-designed look at several mechanics that haven't seen much action in the genre. Those that love shmups should definitely have Varia on their hard drive, and even though it is quite difficult, it has a charm that appeals beyond just the confines of the shmup fandom.

A shmup with lots of features always seems to be at the top of the charts on popular flash portals, and for good reason. Feature-complete action games are incredibly addicting, and with the addition of persistent upgrades and such, they get even more so. Enigmata is one of these addicting shmups, and it's certainly easy to lose yourself as you gun down loads of enemy ships.

Enigmata takes place on a wide screen as you travel vertically through the stage. Enemies randomly appear as you go, and you gain gold by killing them. Gold can be spent in-between stages at shops to repair your ship, upgrade with new components, or buy new ships. There are achievements (of course), but unlike most games, these achievements actually count towards something. In this case, as you gain more achievements, you gain access to shops with better equipment.

Despite bad translations, gamers can still enjoy games that are genuinely fun. Look at the Castlevania games, after all. Bactoriam is one of these games. It has a terrible translation, but the mix of traditional arena shooter gameplay and interesting physics make it a must play. It is, after all, an entry into the Experimental Gameplay Project's monthly theme of bare minimum.

Bactoriam's gameplay feels like a fusion of Osmos and any arena shooter. When you fire or move, you drain yourself of goo' If you run out of goo and take a hit, you die. You also lose goo every time you take a hit. It's a simple system that turned out extremely well, and is a great play for any fan of shmups.

Creating your own objects and customizing are all the rave lately, with games like Crayon Physics Deluxe topping the charts in terms of critical and commercial feedback. PaintShip, an entry into this month's Experimental Gameplay Project theme of bare minimum, is one of these customizable games, and is easily one of the best we have played. Best of all, it's entirely browser-based, which means you can play it anywhere you go!

PaintShip revolves around creating a ship, placing your components, and taking on missions. In practice, this comes out to drawing your ship inside a small frame and then placing the components anywhere in the frame. The components can be different colors as well, which changes the color of the things they do. Gameplay is simple, with your ship darting around to wherever your mouse is and attacking ships that your mouse scrolls over. THere are some minor movement issues, and it would be nice if there was a button to prevent yourself from firing, but all-in-all, it comes out to be a very excellent game.