Harpooned is a socially conscious shoot ‘em up that puts you at the helm of a Japanese whaling boat. It was created by artist Conor O’Kane as a criticism of the Japanese practice of “scientific whaling.” In the game, you shoot whales for their meat, earning “species” combos by killing two or more whales in a row. Protesters and icebergs are your main obstacles. At the end of each level the meat you’ve collected is packaged into pet food and hamburgers.
In 1982, the International Whaling Commission declared a moratorium on commercial whaling. Since then, Japan, one of only three nations which hunt the so-called “great whales,” has begun whaling for science, claiming that the meat which they collect is sold only to offset the costs of their expeditions, and that their lethal and cruel approach (which really does involve exploding harpoons) is necessary to understand the animals. Not surprisingly, it’s an extremely controversial topic.
The game definitely argues its point well for the most part, and its message is bolstered by the fact that its production is fantastic and the actual gameplay is challenging and fun. If I had one qualm with it, it’s that the high scores list includes well-known scientists like Darwin, Einstein, Newton, and Sagan, implying that all science is somehow inhumane (or that these men would condone the mistreatment of animals).
It’s interesting to note that developer O’Kane hails from Australia, which is a staunch anti-whaling nation, and recently ruled Japanese whaling illegal. For more information on Japanese whaling, check out its Wikipedia page, as well as this BBC article (along with the links on the game’s website).
Some enterprising chap has recreatedTouhou’s Embodiment of Scarlet Devil in a NES/Famicom style. The game actually works quite well this way and I have to admit that I got into it more than its source material. Unfortunately, at the beginning of stage 2 the game glitches out (in a very NES manner) and forces you to either restart or quit.
The game is only at version 0.11, so perhaps the rest of the levels are forthcoming. Either that, or it was only ever meant to be a short demo.
Trippy visuals and a pretty ridiculously catchy tune are infused in SeizureDome, a new overhead arena shooter from indie wunderkind cactus. Use WASD and the mouse to control your character, who must avoid getting pushed into the borders by his nude opponents. Chain combos, power-ups, naked people… this game’s got it all. But it did get slightly repetitive for me after a few playthroughs!
Be sure to check out the high score list here. Who will dethrone the mysterious warrior known only as “FAGGOTBITCH?”
This recent new freeware shmup fresh from Japan entitled MinishoterRS Delta (direct download link) — presented by Peposoft as the official sequel to his own original game Minishoter — is his ABSOLUTE best creation that he has ever done as such a splendidly-talented freeware game developer that he has now proven to be indeed!!! And here is why.
First of all, this sequel takes place as a 2d horizontally-scrolling shooting game this time instead of going all vertical like in the original, but one of the major parts of what makes it so rather damn great as one of his brilliantly best games yet is the sheer number of unlockables and secrets that are jam-packed into this game!!! On the very first time you power up MinishoterRS Delta and start your game, you begin with only three ships to choose from, each with different sets of firepower (normal and concentrated), as well as different types of speed dashes which can help you zoom past the opposition fast! Next, select your difficulty level, and you are set off into space to do some major white-knuckle combo-building!!
As for secrets and unlockables, I GOTTA mention them to you since they are such an important piece of essence of what this game is all about!!! You can unlock even more different ships, characters, their amazingly more powerful built-in weaponry, and even some extra stages by either performing a special hidden feat within a certain stage (i.e. letting the very first cute white-colored creature get away scot-free without even destroying it period in Stage 1, Route A) or by simply collecting specially-marked bubbles with a question mark inside of each one. And loads of other extras including fun little minigames can be unlocked as well while you are at it, too… now that is superbly great stuff without any of the bull here at all, I definitely must say!!! ;) !
WARMACHINE OVERLOAD is a manic shoot ‘em up from Dark Hell Company, which wins the prize for having the most intimidating company name ever. The game is based off of the old Konami shmup Thunder Cross (video), where you can earn up to four options that can then be arranged into preset formations during the game.
On top of that, you can slow down the game by pressing Shift (something you’ll be doing a lot of), and also charge up a beam that does big damage and cancels enemy shots (‘X’). Press ‘Z’ to shoot, and ‘C’ to change your option formation. Spacebar will take you back to the title screen (something I did quite a few times on accident).
I don’t know enough about the genre to be able to compare WARMACHINE OVERLOAD to other manic shoot ‘em ups, but I enjoyed it. The gritty pixel graphics are verra nice, and I like the various options offered by the game (option formation editor, stage select, replay feature, and multiple difficulty levels). Definitely take a look at it, and DHC’s other games.
Note: For help downloading from Vector, read this guide I wrote.
(Thanks, Javet! Check out his freeware thread on TIGForums where he’s serving up new games every day.)
Söldner-X: Himmelsstürmer, the side-scrolling “Euroshmup” from SideQuest Studios, is now available for the PC as a limited release (3,000 copies), via Play-Asia. This First Print Limited Edition comes as a boxed CD and includes a soundtrack and “Tactical Reference Book” (artbook), and retails for $50 USD. Possibly still good for Christmas?
Reviews of the game are mixed, but the general consensus on the Shmups.com forums seems to be that the presentation is impressive, and fans of games like Jets n’ Guns and Steel Saviour could really enjoy it. On the other hand, fans of Japanese shoot ‘em ups will likely be turned off by the health bar, large player hitbox, and general flow and balance of the game that are typical of Western shooters.
Caltrops has a rundown on Touhou Project (aka Shrine Maiden Project), the series popular “bullet hell” shoot ‘em ups by Team Shanghai Alice (aka the mysterious Zun)! (So popular, in fact, that people apparently drop big bucks on arcade cabinets to play them in!)
Michief Maker, the author of the article, gives a brief overview of each of the games, which is accompanied by a YouTube video of the game in action. At the end he provides some info on how to obtain full versions of these games online.
Posted by Albert Lai
Sun, 04 Nov 2007 09:20:00 GMT
The results from the latest Shmup-Dev competition have been announced!
The theme this year was "Options" a-la those from Gradius I keep losing
to the scorpion things.
Varia has popped in at first place, a abstract shmup which uses options to
clone enemy abilities and send back bullets at the opposing boss. A highly polished
game which has completely obscured its Game Maker roots, in the same way the
son of a farmer goes off into the city to become a high rolling urbanite, only
to discover that, yes, you can run from your past. A high quality game
by Kairos!
Akuchizoku is in second place, by cactus, who chugs out game at a rate that
would be more alarming if we didn’t know he was half machine. This game is so
retro that you can almost feel the pixels, which are, to quote, "the size
of hams". Even so, the game is exceptionally well made in the style of
most old-school shooters (ie, masochistically hard). Plus, there’s a talking
dog.
Clocking in at third place, Linley of Excellent
Bifurcation fame ("The reason I have two eyeballs in my head is for
stereoscopic vision, thank you" – DrDerekDoctors) has created Garden of
Colored Lights, a game I found interestingly evocative, from the small blurbs
that punctuate each sub-stage to the way that bullets correspond to music. Here
you kit your ship out with three different options from a large beginning selection and set out to blow shit
up and level up, your options and your options, respectively.
A very strong showing overall, and congratulations to the winners!
The internet sighs in blissful nostalgia today as Mutant Storm Empire hits Xbox Live Arcade! Only $10 / £6.80 / 800pts, it’s pretty much the same pricing of PomPom Games’ other two main shooter releases, the original Mutant Storm and Space Tripper on the PC, and Mutant Storm Reloaded which is also on the XBLA.
So far, it’s been a damn blast to play, and the best way to describe it is a Space Tripper/Mutant Storm Smoothie. There are 4 worlds and 4 levels in each, but each level contains a different variety of battle situation. The first level, for instance, is a progression through rooms, whereas another later on is an arena-based affair like the previous Mutant Storms. And another will encompass you in a square field as it moves horizontally across the playing field. Regardless of setting, it controls simply, with the left stick for movement and the right stick for shooting. The triggers can also be used to fire a super-charged version of the regular shot, but ammo is limited and only replenishes at the end of each level so use it wisely!
The style of the game is fantastic, and encompasses a lot of themes from PomPom’s past and other shoot ‘em ups. The second world in particular has a much more organic feel to it than the rest of the levels, and the swarms of fish-attackers especially are pretty damn swish. Nods to Space Tripper are also prevalent, including a spider boss and shielded spawn-cores. It’s basically good old-fashioned PomPom fun. It’s simple, affordable and plays wonderfully.
It’s also a lot closer to Space Tripper in terms of length, so don’t expect to pour Touhou levels of time into this one, but with 5 difficulties to plough through (Black Belt currently handing my ass to me on a silver platter), there’s certainly your money’s worth in there. If you’ve got a 360, there’s no reason not to check it out, at least for the three-level trial!
Further reading: Derek interviewed the PomPom duo a couple of years back, and it still makes for an entertaining read, in case you need a break from smashing your joypad against a difficulty spike.
(Image courtesy of Destructoid because robots are awesome…)
