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MapleStory gets aerial combat
Mounted ground combat is so yesterday's MMO feature. If you want to really rise above the competition, then you'll need to throw in aerial combat into your game. MapleStory is doing just this with an upcoming patch. In the second chapter of the Black Heaven storyline, players will be able to jump into a flying machine and duke it out in the sky. As with everything else in the game, the action will take place strictly in a side-scrolling 2-D format. From the looks of it, it calls back to classic shmups of earlier console generations. Also coming in one of the future updates is a revamp to MapleStory's Resistance classes, including the Wild Hunter, Battle Mage, and Mechanic.
Neo XYX joins the Dreamcast's library next week
Mere weeks after Redux: Dark Matters made its Dreamcast debut, yet another game is scheduled to launch for Sega's surprisingly healthy 15-year-old console. German studio NG:DEV.TEAM announced that it will release its arcade-style shoot-'em-up NEO XYX for the Dreamcast next week via its online store. NEO XYX (pronounced "Neo Zaikusu") is a vertically scrolling shooter in the vein of Truxton, Batsugun, and other arcade standouts developed by Toaplan. NEO XYX previously launched as a homebrew release for SNK's Neo Geo console in 2013, though the upcoming Dreamcast edition will be available at a fraction of the Neo Geo version's original price. NEO XYX will be released on February 17 in standard, limited, and collector's editions. [Image: NG:DEV.TEAM]
Sina Mora gets one mora port on iOS
Digital Reality and Grasshopper Manufacture's picturesque steampunk shmup, Sine Mora, has landed on iOS. Sine Mora is currently available as a $5.99 universal download and requires iOS 6.0 and above. It is not yet optimized for 4th generation iPhone and iPod Touch devices, according to the product page. iTunes reviews suggest a Facebook login is required for both saving the game and accessing the leaderboards, and that the game does not run in full-screen on iPad. We've inquired with Digital Reality to confirm the details and will update accordingly. Sine Mora is currently available on Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita and PC. Our review said the game's time-control mechanic "gives less dedicated players a chance to enjoy one of the industry's more vibrant genres while simultaneously giving hardcore players a new spin on an age-old formula."
Nyu Media funds Japanese indie shooters via Kickstarter
Indie-friendly localization studio and publishing partner Nyu Media has launched a Kickstarter project to fund the English-language release of a trio of titles from Japanese shoot-'em-up developer SITER SKAIN.The Tale of ALLTYNEX includes the Windows shooters ALLTYNEX Second, RefleX, and KAMUI. Each chapter in the series offers unique gameplay mechanics, in addition to a central lock-on gimmick inspired by Taito's RayStorm series.Previously, Nyu Media tackled Steam releases for games like Cherry Tree High Comedy Club and The eXceed Collection. The Tale of ALLTYNEX will follow suit if it drums up support through Steam Greenlight.Nyu Media seeks $4,999 to cover the cost of a digital release, and a boxed physical edition will be produced if the group can collect more than $28,000. Backer rewards include downloadable copies of all featured games, t-shirts, and ... yes, body pillows.
Qute Corporation returns to shooting 'em up with Ginga Force
Qute Corporation has made a name for itself putting together popular, fan favorite shmups like Judgment Silversword and Eschatos, and the company's latest title follows that trend closely. Ginga Force is on its way to the Xbox 360, and as you can see from the trailer above, it's got lots of bullets and spaceships, and one being shot at the other many different times in many different ways.Other than the trailer above, there's not a lot of information on the new game. Eschatos was released only in Japan, but as a region-free title. But Qute has yet confirmed whether the same will be true with this one. Ginga Force is due out across the ocean later on this year.
Saidaioujou, Cave's latest shmup, to hit Japanese Xbox 360s next year
Cave's newest arcade shoot-em-up, DoDonPachi Saidaioujou, is coming to Japanese Xbox 360s next spring, the company announced today. Saidaioujou hit the country's arcades back in April. The shmup specialists only just released 2011's Akai Katana on Western shores, so it may be a while before Saidaiojou's brand of vertical bullet-hell reaches us. In the meantime, we can look ahead to the game's dress-up shtick. Your ship's abilities and the game's difficulty depend on which outfit you choose for your supporting "elemental doll." Naturally, the skimpy bikini results in the hardest difficulty – though all the outfits look pretty skimpy, as you can see in the arcade game's trailer above. In addition to HD visuals, a new easy mode, and a 360-specific mode, the console port will receive a new elemental doll. Presumably with new outfits. Presumably skimpy.
Under Defeat HD: Deluxe Edition marches to PS3 and PSN this fall
Under Defeat is the latest game to get the HD treatment, re-launching courtesy of Rising Star Games, both as a retail PS3 game and PSN download, this fall for $39.99.Under Defeat HD: Deluxe Edition not only sports the usual visual polish that comes with slapping HD on the title, but also a new dual-stick control scheme and a new game mode built for 16:9 displays. The physical retail edition also tosses in a digital art book, soundtrack and a letter from the producer of Under Defeat and the CEO of developer G.rev.G.rev, the Japanese outfit whose chief export is shmups, launched Under Defeat on the Dreamcast back in 2006. It's a top-down shmup set in an alternate-reality World War II, in which players control ze Germans.%Gallery-163195%
The Joystiq Indie Pitch: Orbitron: Revolution
Indie developers are the starving artists of the video-game world, often brilliant and innovative, but also misunderstood, underfunded and more prone to writing free-form poetry on their LiveJournals. We at Joystiq believe no one deserves to starve, and many indie developers are entitled to a fridge full of tasty, fulfilling media coverage, right here. This week, Matthew Leigh of Canada's Firebase Industries details the details behind Orbitron: Revolution, a gorgeous space shmup for XBLIG and PC. What's your game called and what's it about?Orbitron: Revolution. Originally it was called Orbital, but looking online it seemed as though 10 other games were called that. Orbitron was settled on because it sounded like something you would find in a smoky 1980s arcade. Then two days before the Dream Build Play 2011 competition we thought we would add a second title and for about three minutes it was going to be called Orbitron: Combat Revolved.The game has the player in the role of a defense fighter, fending off an invasion of angry robots who are bent on destroying the Orbitron Power Station. Guardian Mode is really the core of the game and is a bit of a action/shmup/tower-defense mashup. You have to stop evil laser-drilling robots from attacking and destroying the four sector ports located around the ring. When three of the four ports are destroyed the ring explodes!Orbitron: Revolution was a semi-finalist in the Dream Build Play 2011 competition -- how encouraging was that for Firebase Industries?The first trailer we did as a requirement to get into Dream Build Play 2011 really exploded on Youtube. We got 25,000 views or something in only a couple days which is rare for an XBLIG title. So after that we were feeling pretty good about that game and where it could go. Getting the semi-finalist spot was fantastic as well and I hope it helped get the awareness of the game up!
Cave mercifully provides Dodonpachi Blissful Death on iOS this week
We'll be transparent about this: we had to look up the difference between Dodonpachi Blissful Death, the new iOS game announced by shmup developer Cave, and current App Store release Dodonpachi Resurrection. How embarrassing. It turns out that Blissful Death (known in Japan as Dodonpachi Daioujou) is the direct predecessor to Resurrection, first released in 2002. Cave is bringing the classic bullet-hell shooter to iPhone 4 and above this Thursday, February 9, at a price lower than Cave tends to charge for its iOS releases: $4.99. It comes with multiple difficulty modes, for those of us prone to involuntary phone-smashes.
'Death Smiles 2X' rated by ESRB, Cave publishing
Our mothers always said "If death smiles at you once, you should try to wrap up your personal affairs. But if death smiles a second time, he's probably just flirting." Imagine our disappointment then when we read the ESRB listing for Death Smiles 2X to find it was not, as we'd assumed, a dating sim set at River of Styx High, but rather an Xbox 360 follow-shmup to Cave's bullet hell release Deathsmiles (seen above). Cave will take over publishing duties from Aksys on the game, which features shooting "various projectiles (bombs, bullets, lasers, arrows, etc.) at elephants, pigs, goblins, bats, and monsters in constant air battle." ... OK, so that's probably a better concept than ours. Probably.
Way too much Akai Katana Shin footage
After the break, you'll find four videos of Akai Katana Shin, the (unfortunately region-locked) Xbox 360 version of Cave's latest arcade shmup, including one clip of the console-exclusive "Zetsu" ("Absolute") mode, one "expert mode" clip, one "beginner mode," and finally a new trailer. This may prove to be too much sensory input for your brain. Just a warning. After watching this, it's kind of a bummer to think that it's stuck in Japan, but the good news is that it's possible to justify the purchase of a Japanese Xbox 360 and this game by comparing the cost to that of an arcade board. Right? Sure. Or you could wait for someone to localize it.
Trouble Witches Neo sweeps XBLA April 27 in Japan, SNK hints at global release
We've always said that if there's one thing Xbox Live Arcade is lacking, it's more side-scrolling shmups starring pre-teen witches on broomsticks. Thanks goodness, then, that SNK has heard our plaintive cries and plans to release an Xbox 360 port of its coin-op descent into horizontal bullet hell, Trouble Witches Neo, as a downloadable title on April 27. Right now, the release is only official for Japan -- where the game will run 800 Microsoft Points ($10) -- but in describing the title, SNK makes specific mention of global online co-op and leaderboards. Given the publisher's track record of releasing its XBLA games in the West soon after their Japanese debuts, it shouldn't be long before we find out which Wednesday these witches will be stirring up trouble on US consoles.
Otomedius Excellent dated for Japan ... again
Otomedius Excellent might as well have been titled "Game for Japan Only," being a shmup starring anime girls wearing spaceship parts, but for some reason Konami has announced plans to localize the Xbox 360 oddity anyway. It was set to come out last winter, but a delay in Japan pushed it to spring. A new trailer, after the break, shows an April 21 release date for that region; the new American date is currently unannounced. Other things featured in the trailer include every anime stereotype of the last 10 years, and just enough jiggling that we feel ashamed for posting it.
Cave shmup Akai Katana coming to 360 in region-locked Japan release
Akai Katana ("Red Katana," or, we suppose, "Red Sword," depending on how much translation you need) is a horizontal scrolling shooter released in arcades last year by shmup master Cave. During an event last week, the developer announced that the game is coming to the Xbox 360 in an upgraded version called Akai Katana Shin. Shin adds redone graphics, an unspecified new gameplay system, a new stage, and a 16x9 mode that redesigns enemy and bullet patterns to fit better on a widescreen display. The original version will also be available on the disc, which is due in Japan on May 26 in both standard and limited editions. Unlike some other Cave Xbox games, the company announced that Akai Katana Shin will be region-locked when it arrives in Japan. "Hopefully one of our publisher friends will be interested as it looks grand." Aksys Games published Cave's Deathsmiles last year, so Cave does have at least one "publisher friend."
Nanostray developer working on action title for 3DS
German developer Shin'en Multimedia recently told Cubed3 that the team responsible for its two DS shoot-em-ups, Nanostray 1 and 2, has been working on an action game for 3DS since last October. No more specifics were given out about the identity of the title, though one logical conclusion leaps to mind: Burgertime. What else could it possibly be? Fine, we've got our fingers crossed that the mystery project is Nanostray 3, or, following the trend of game titles on the handheld, Nanostray 3D. Maybe even Nanostray 3D The Third, if they wanted to add a little regal flair. We've contacted the developer for more info on its 3DS debut.
D3 Publisher pings 3DS with 'Dream Trigger'
D3 Publisher's first 3DS game is the arcade shooter Dream Trigger, which uses the 3D capabilities of the device for really exciting explosions. Before blasting enemies in the Art Co. Ltd.-developed shooter, you must locate them using sonar. Then, when you do destroy them, they go away in "explosive 3D patterns." 3D also shows up in the "multi-layered environments." No screens have been released yet, so we'll all have to imagine that eye candy for now. And that's too bad, because we're intrigued by the idea of a sonar-based shmup and we'd like to see more. D3 also declined to offer any release date estimates for Dream Trigger.
Young Thor studio unveils A Space Shooter for Two Bucks!
No, Frima Studio didn't receive two dollars to unveil its new game -- rather, the new PlayStation Mini from the Young Thor/Zombie Tycoon developer is called A Space Shooter for Two Bucks! You can guess both the genre and price from the title. Despite the low price, Frima Studio has included full voiceover for both the pilot character and his sarcastic AI companion, as well as every other character who, for some reason, has lines to speak in a shmup. If you have PlayStation Plus, you'll be able to get A Space Shooter For Two Bucks! for free when it launches on December 21.
Milestone Shooting Collection 2 bundles five shmups on Wii
The first Milestone Shooting Collection for Wii came to North America as Ultimate Shooting Collection, and combined Chaos Field, Radio Allergy, and Karous into one delightfully cheap collection of vertical shmups. Milestone is developing a followup in Japan, which contains everything the first disc offered, plus two more games. Milestone Shooting Collection 2 includes all three of the aforementioned games, plus Radio Allergy Noir (a version of which was released as a standalone, full-price Xbox 360 game) and Illvelo, which was once planned for North American release but canceled. Perhaps North American publisher UFO Interactive will give Illvelo a second chance by bringing this collection over. If you want the import, it's out in Japan on December 30. You can see more of each game at the official site.
Otomedius Excellent delayed in Japan
Otomedius Excellent, Konami's peculiar girls-as-spaceships shooter for Xbox 360, likely won't be making its appointed winter release date in North America. Konami announced a delay for the game in Japan, from fall 2010 to spring 2011, "due to a delay in production." If it won't be out until spring in Japan, it definitely won't be out elsewhere until at least then. GameStop lists a January date, though New Year's Day is a suspiciously placeholder-like release date. For those of you who, like us, have a casual interest in this game, we're sorry to remind you of its existence only to let you know it's being delayed. "Hey, remember this game? You can't have it." If you have yet to be introduced to Otomedius, you can see the intro movie on the Japanese website. Keep clear of visiting family members -- or, really, anyone -- because you will be humiliated. [Image: GAME Watch]
Guwange coming to XBLA on Nov. 10 for $10
Cave, creator of bizarrely titled shooters EspGaluda 2 and DeathSmiles, has announced that its next bizarrely titled shooter, Guwange, will land on Xbox Live Arcade November 10. Guwange, first released in arcades in 1999, is a vertically scrolling shooter set in Japan's Muromachi period and will mark Cave's XBLA debut. The game includes the original Arcade mode, an easier Arrange Mode and the somewhat mysterious "Blue" version, a remixed mode that increases difficulty. %Gallery-105000%
