The alpha version of Joseph White’s voxel-based top-down shooter Voxatron was released today through the Humble Indie Bundle site (although, as you can see by the title, it’s a “humble indie debut”, and not a bundle). As with previous humble offers, you can pay what you want for the game and all future updates, including the awesome built-in model and level editors. Payment can be split as you see fit between the developer, two charities (Child’s Play and the EFF), and the Humble Bundle guys.
For more information on Voxatron’s release and its future development, check out Joseph’s blog.
Scoregasm is the latest from Charlie, creator of Space Phallus, Irukandji, and Bullet Candy Perfect. It’s an arena shoot ’em up where the goal is to keep your combo number up by destroying enemies repeatedly. This also replenishes a Close Range Attack that earns double combo points and also turns bullets into high-value hearts. If you maintain your combo count toward the end of the level, you may qualify for an extra-intense “Scoregasm Frenzy” (cough) that offers up big scoring opportunities and opens up alternate level paths.
Presentation-wise, Scoregasm doesn’t seem to distinguish itself from the other glowy arena shoot ’em ups out there (aside from the moaning!), but the Close Range Attack is fun. Check out the demo, which features roughly a third of the game’s levels.
TIGdb: Entry for Scoregasm
New teaser for Voxatron out, with the announcement that an alpha will be available soon for people who pre-order. The alpha comes with the voxel/map editor that you see in the video.
Vlambeer has released a new game, called Luftrauser. It’s very simple – use the arrow keys to fly around and press X to shoot and take out enemy planes, jets, and boats. The controls are good, though, and the action ramps up quickly.
A few things to keep in mind: 1. your plane can hit the water at any speed without taking damage, and 2. it regenerates health.
TIGdb: Entry for Luftrauser
Japanese developers have refined shoot ’em ups to a point where many casual observers are fascinated by the action and speed but are too intimidated to play. “It’s like standing in the rain without getting wet” is a phrase fans came up with to describe playing the games of ZUN, and it touches on the kind of fear and awe that bullet hell shoot ’em ups can inspire. It’s not only the playing of them that’s awe-inspiring, though, but also the development – ZUN is a single individual who handles every aspect of the dozen or so games that he’s released in as many years. (In the West, you could maybe make an analogy to roguelikes, which are usually made by a small team – oftentimes an individual – and are legendary for their challenge.)
It’s under this backdrop that Jamestown was released by a small American team, Final Form Games. From the get-go, it’s obvious that FFG was careful to make a shoot ’em up that fans of the genre might appreciate, while avoiding the pitfalls that enrage (or at least bore) them. At the same time, the game is very accessible to newer or more casual players, offering five difficulty levels and a very clear tutorial that explains the game’s scoring system.
Trouble Witches Neo! is notable for being one of the few doujin games that’s been granted a worldwide release (on XBLA), thanks to developer Adventure Planning Service and publisher SNK Playmore. The original game, titled Trouble Witches, was developed for the PC in 2007 by the independent Japanese team Studio Siesta, and was ported to the arcades (as Trouble Witches AC) before this new version hit XBLA earlier this year. Neo! adds two new characters to the game (one as DLC), as well as additional play modes.
The core mechanic in this cutesy danmaku shoot ’em up is a Magic Barrier that catches bullets and slows them down. Killing the enemy that fired a caught bullet destroys the bullet and releases gold coins that you can collect for score and spend at the shops that appear twice in each of the six stages. At the shops you can purchase MP upgrades, lives, or spell cards that temporarily augment your firepower and give you even more score.
It’s a simple system that’s easy to learn and fun to play with. Xbox 360 owners who enjoy the genre should check it out, as it’s a pretty rare occurrence that a doujin game sees a release like this.
Slakinov’s Super Space Rubbish is a challenging Asteroids-like that has you mining the ‘roids for credits that can be used to buy upgrades for your ship. Aside from a gun, your ship comes equipped with a shield that deflects bullets and asteroids, and incapacitates smaller enemies. It drains energy quickly, though, so you’ll need good timing to use it properly. Overall, Super Space Rubbish is a fun and attractive shoot ’em up, and the $5 bundle is a steal – it comes with the game’s soundtrack as well as Pixeljam’s Dino Run SE. Play the demo right in your browser.
Joseph “Lexaloffle” White has released a new teaser for his upcoming arena shoot ’em up Voxatron that shows off the game’s model editor. A polished version of the editor will ship with the final release.
Since 2004 ZUN has released trial versions of his games at the Touhou-themed annual conventions called Reitaisai. This year, however, due to the earthquakes and tsunamis in Japan, Reitaisai was postponed and the three-stage demo for Touhou 13, called “Ten Desires”, was released online for free. Like all the major games in the Touhou series, Ten Desires is a vertical danmaku shoot ’em up set in the fictional world of Gensokyo. According to ZUN, it’s easier than his previous releases and is meant to be more accessible to beginners.
In TD, you have a Trance gauge that fills up as you collect spirits, up to a maximum of three bars. If you have at least one bar filled, you will automatically enter a “trance” upon getting hit, rendering you impervious to bullets until the gauge runs out and you die. If the gauge is maxed out, you can enter the trance voluntarily and you won’t die when it ends. Spirits are worth more points while in a trance and you also do more damage.
Aside from spirits, which come in four different colors and have various properties, enemies also drop the usual red and blue items. Red items increase your firepower and blue point items raise your score. If you head to the top of the screen you can suck all of these power-ups in (point items are also worth more up there). Finally, there are bombs that can be activated at any time.
For more information, check out the game’s manual, in English. You can download the demo either from the game’s homepage (it might be very slow) or from Mediafire.
[This is a guest preview by raitendo. To submit a guest article for TIGSource, go here.]
“Q Handmade Games” aka Misi, a Japanese developer whose previous creation ecolpit was an audience favorite at the Sense Of Wonder Night in 2009, has just released a trailer for his new project [Note: I’m posting this a couple of weeks late. Apologies. -ed.]. “Koruruto’s Spoon Devil” would perhaps best be described as a bullet hell/danmaku arena shooter, but is a lot more forgiving than what you might expect from a game belonging to that genre.
The game features quite an original control system, which puts you in control of two characters at the same time. Kororuto the Witch, the slower and more vulnerable of the two, is controlled with the keyboard, while her lovable pet monster “the Spoon Devil” follows the mouse cursor. Both characters will automatically target the enemy closest to them and they carry separate, upgradeable weapons. They also have separate health meters, hopefully making for an interesting game of balance.
Misi hopes to give it a shareware release “as soon as it’s done”, with the two first levels of the game available for free.