Tag: Arcade shooter »

"Is your space-jiutsu up to the challenge?"

A very good question. I suppose it would have to be in order to face-off against the evil Shogun Youhatsu and avenge my master. Problem is, the crafty son-of-a-gun has positioned an entire armada of battle fortresses along the way. On the one hand it means a lot of work in order to reach the badguy. On the other, it means a string of boss battles. And who doesn't love a good boss battle?

Battlefortress uses an interesting arcade-inspired freemium model, allowing users to purchase Continues with real money. Of course, they can also be earned in-game through achievements and high scores. So skilled space samurai fighter pilots can take down the nasty Shogun without paying a cent, whereas anyone lacking reflexes (but not the drive to win) can even the scales with cash. Yup, sounds about right.

Battlefortress is out now and it's free. What's the harm in giving it a look-see?

Holmade Games, creators of Hurdle Turtle and preservers of all things retro, have recently unleashed their newest creation on the App Store. Pixel Whirled is an arcade shooter in which players have to constantly flip back and forth between the ninja and pirate sides of the screen while shooting down encroaching waves of enemies. Isn't it nice when two mortal enemies can put aside their differences in the name of self-preservation?

Pixel Whirled has received a few new additions in its transition from an Xbox Live Indie Game to iOS. Mostly the expected Game Center Achievements and touch controls, but it looks as though a few "super cool" power-ups have also been thrown in. This is all in addition to the retro arcade goodness already contained within, of course.

If Pixel Whirled sounds interesting (and really, why wouldn't it?), why not do a quick search for it on the App Store? It's available right now for the low cost of one dollar.

The poor, defenseless little Po'Trubians are under attack by an army of evil robo-beings known as "Sleevils." It falls to one lone hero (of course) to defend the obnoxiously helpless little buggers and save their world from total annihilation. Enter Stan (STatic Alien Neutralizer), the rather junky old robot/veteran hero-type.

The plot serves little purpose except to bookend the campaign levels, but the blasting is really what it's all about anyway. Stan is rooted to the spot, which is odd seeing as he's in space, so players have to direct his blasts by tapping (and holding) on the screen to get him to blow away the alien aggressors. Par for the course, there are various upgrades that will unlock as the levels progress which can be carried over to the Survival Mode. Which is good because it's near impossible to last longer than a few seconds in Survival with the default gear.

Anyone who wants to get their mits on a fun little distraction for absolutely should check out this ad-free version of Last Stand Stan before the sale ends. It's a simple arcade shooter but the myriad of destructive unlockables keep the motivation to play longer high. Plus it makes time pass, which is always nice when stuck at an airport or something.

This morning I got to sit-in on a streaming presentation by Cave World as they announced the particulars of their pending DEATHSMILES update. Options have been added, settings have been tweaked and lots of extra content has been tossed in that should keep the fans quite happy for a while. And they announced another game or something.

The update will include two new special features: First, players can unlock new costumes for Princess Tiara in iPhone Mode (eight plus her default, it looks like) by fulfilling "special conditions" such as clearing Normal Mode. The second addition is a jigsaw puzzle, similar to the one found in Mushihimesama BUG PANIC. Players can unlock pieces as they play and pick up equipment in-game and eventually put the whole thing together. What this accomplishes, aside from looking spiffy, wasn't talked about, but it's yet another carrot to keep players interested so it's hardly a bad thing. As is the "hidden" BGM that can be unlocked by using some "special technique."

In addition, special DLC weapons will be available for purchase. One of the DLC weapons, the "Golden Horn," was shown off and looked to be somewhat of a screen-clearing powerhouse. None of these weapons (ranging in price from $2.99 - $3.99) will be required for achievements or unlocking content, but Cave fans probably won't be able to resist using guns from Dodonpachi Ressurection in their game.

Last on the list of additions is a number of unspecified bug fixes and screen adjustment options. Now players will be able to shift the screen to the left or right in order to keep finger obscuring to a minimum, and the display can be reoriented (FINALLY) to accommodate those of us who hate holding our iPhones the wrong way. Oh come on, it's totally awkward with the Home button on the left. Admit it.

But updates to their newest shooter aren't the only thing they had in store. Cave World producer Masa King, clad in a French maid uniform (seriously), showed off a trailer for their upcoming social sim game: Castle Creator. Castle Creator lets players create their own castle town in feudal Japan, register their location and "skirmish" with other players when their town is big enough. There's no specific date yet, but it is in production and should be out later this year.

Mention of a Mushihimesama BUG PANIC soundtrack CD release (featuring 24 tracks) was also made, but I think the bigger announcement was Espgaluda II HD. It was a last-minute thing, and aside from a very brief demo virtually no information was given, but iPad owners should still be getting plenty excited. It looks gorgeous.

DEATHSMILES owners can look forward to the update sometime within the next day or so.

The old argument of "Which one's better?" may not be familiar to a younger generation, but Old School gamers remember. We remember the schoolyard fights over Mario and Sonic or talking about how many bits a given console had as though it were currency. Anyone who didn't have enough bits was behind the times. A "loser," of a sort. An outcast among their peers due to their archaic game machine.

I think Vetasoft remembers, too, and that's why they've released 8-bit vs 16-bit on the App Store.

While the title is a tad misleading (the two measurements of bit depth aren't actually fighting each other), it's still quite the fun little arcade shooter. Horrible cosmic monsters trickle down the screen, as they tend to do, and players have to tap each of the little buggers before they reach the bottom. These beasties come in both 8-bit and 16-bit varieties, however, requiring players to quickly switch between both modes in order to take out the offending parties.

In practice it's a frantic, goofy, fun mess. The good kind of mess. There are no power-ups to confuse things and no special conditions to meet. No bosses, no mini-bosses... In fact, there aren't even any other kinds of enemies. It's just the player and increasingly tough waves of baddies made up of varying degrees of bits. It's the kind of simple that compliments iOS games quite well. Coupled with the kind of simple gameplay that keeps unsuspecting consumers from getting off the train at the correct stop or neglecting important things like bathing.

8-bit vs 16-bit is available right now in the App Store as both a free Lite version and a paid full version. I highly encourage everyone to take a look at the Lite version at the very least. Since it's free and all. It probably won't put the argument to rest for good, but it might get people to quiet down for a bit while they're busy playing it.

[via Vetasoft]

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