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VC in Brief: Galaxy Force II (Sega Genesis)
Galaxy Force II (Sega Genesis, 1 player, 800 Wii Points)We say: Unique shmup that genre fans will enjoyYes, we know, it's tough to be excited about Virtual Console offerings when every other week's goodies are shmups. Galaxy Force II, however, is a pretty unique one and well worth your time (and, perhaps, your money). See what we're talking about in the video above, and be sure to catch up with past installments through our VC in Brief tag.%Gallery-63165% Every week, we like to check out what's new on the Virtual Console. We offer these videos as a sort of taste to help you decide whether or not you would want the game in question. We also toss in our own two cents because we're pushy jerks.
SNK developing King of Fighters shmup for XBLA
We've always enjoyed SNK Playmore's long-running fighting franchise (the aptly named King of Fighters series), though we often find ourselves stuck with an inexplicable desire to see the series' adroit brawlers fly effortlessly through the air while shooting bullets out of their hands.... No, you know what? We're not going to lie to you. We've never thought that. Nobody has, ever. Until now, that is -- Famitsu recently outed SNK's latest, and arguably most bizarre project ever: An Xbox Live Arcade shoot 'em up based in the KoF universe, tentatively titled King of Fighters Sky Stage. Based on the early screenshots we've seen, we're still trying to decide whether the game is going to be awesome or too awesome. Maybe you haven't heard: People. Flying. Shooting. Bullets. Out. Of. Hands.[Via Kotaku]
'Project V' is an old-school SHMUP
Just Add Water has confirmed that its upcoming first-party project, currently called "Project V," will be an old school shooter. "It's first-party for Sony, so we can't talk about it too much, but it's a retro shooting game," Stewart Gilray told VG247. He also confirmed a simultaneous PSP and PS3 release.This upcoming PlayStation Network game will be fully unveiled at E3 later this year. Although the game sounds simple conceptually, there must be something truly special about it for Sony to pick it up as a first-party title. "We showed it to Sony last year and they snapped it up straight away." If it can come close to the spirit of Everyday Shooter or Super Stardust, then we know we have a winner.
VC in Brief: Bomberman '94 (TG16) and Detana Twin Bee (TG16)
Well, this is a surprise: A week with two Virtual Console releases. And all from Hudson? We guess Nintendo liked that fruitcake from last year's Virtual Console participant party. As usual, feel free to watch this week's releases in motion above or, if you're more for images of the motionless variety, head past the break. Or ... do both. Go ahead, go mad with power.
Joystiq Review: Evasive Space (WiiWare)
We've been telling everyone that Evasive Space is kind of like a shmup, without all of the sh-ing. Turns out, that's wrong. Evasive Space is like combining Operation and Asteroids.If you've had enough of text today, then feel free to watch our video review. It's injected with 100% videological goodness, courtesy of Joystiq (patent pending).%Gallery-37316%
VC in Brief: Life Force (NES)
Life Force (NES, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone – Mild Fantasy Violence, 500 Wii PointsWe say: download it! This week, we've only one Virtual Console game again, and it's another shmup. Thankfully, it's also a Gradius (reminder: Gradius is awesome) clone, which makes it all okay. Every week, we like to check out what's new on the Virtual Console. We offer these videos as a sort of taste to help you decide whether or not you would want the game in question. We also toss in our own two cents because we're pushy jerks.
Joyswag: Evasive Space (WiiWare) [update]
Update: The contest is closed. Keep an eye on your email, winners!Looking forward to next week's release of Evasive Space? So are we, which is why we've hooked up with Yuke's and High Voltage to gift four (4) lucky readers with their very own copy of the game. To get in on the action, simply follow the rules below: Leave us a comment telling us what your favorite WiiWare game is You must be 18 years or older and a resident of the US You may enter once per day This entry period ends at 11:59AM ET on Monday, February 16. We'll randomly select 4 winners at that time to receive Evasive Space ($10). Please check your e-mail! For a list of complete rules, click here Best of luck to you all and thanks for reading!%Gallery-37316%
Prepare to evade space on February 16
Click image for more colorful screens It didn't make it to us in January as hoped, but a press release just hit our inbox, asking us to pass along the information that Evasive Space, the game that Yuke's and High Voltage have been collaborating on, is going to be available to download on February 16 for 1,000 Wii Points. A bit pricey? Sure, but for such an interesting and unique game (it's a shmup without all of the, uh, shmupping), we're willing to shell out and give it a try. What say you all?%Gallery-37316%
Economy Wars: Galaxies
We fear that this deal will sell out in the time it takes for us to get the post up, but it's a risk we're going to have to take! Geometry Wars: Galaxies is Amazon's Deal of the Day, dropping for today only to ten damn dollars. In these harsh times, we understand that some of us can't drop even ten dollars on unexpected impulse purchases. If you are safely in possession of enough disposable income to bring some awesome shooty action home -- and if you've got plenty saved up -- you could do a lot worse than to throw a little bit of money towards some awesome portable shooty action! Our post image is an encore from a previous Geo Wars sale post. Eric's image was just so perfect that we wanted to highlight it once again! %Gallery-11043%
VC Monday Madness: MUSHA
MUSHA (Sega Genesis, 1 player, 800 Wii Points)Wii Fanboy says: download it! MUSHA is a great shmup. It's fast, fun, and very challenging. There's plenty of crazy weapons and the difficulty level makes things engaging throughout. It's a very solid shmup and a great way to drop 800 Points. Each week, we here at Wii Fanboy like to check out the latest Virtual Console releases in our VC Monday Madness feature, in the hopes that you can make the most sound decision possible regarding purchasing retro titles from the Wii Shop Channel.
GeoWars 2 muzzak Remix'd
As a special bonus to fans, Bizarre Creations has released a special Geometry Wars 2 music remix developed by Chris Chudley of Audio Antics. The 13-minute-long track is titled, "46860 Choices," and includes some of the music from the entire Geometry Wars series. Our friends at GamerTagRadio have the free 13-minute long special remix available for download. Download it today.
Microsoft requested 'Radiant Silvergun' XBLA remake, Treasure considering
There may soon be a way of picking up and playing Radiant Silvergun that doesn't involve second mortgages or selling plasma. Talking with Gamasutra, Treasure CEO Masato Maegawa revealed that Microsoft has approached the developer about giving the cult classic arcade and Saturn shmup a makeover for Xbox Live Arcade.While you reattach your jaw, it's worth noting that Treasure has yet to say yes to the remake, with Maegawa expressing concern that unlike Ikaruga, which blasted its way onto XBLA in April 2008, much more work would have to be done to Radiant Silvergun before it was given the green light. "If you play Radiant Silvergun nowadays," noted the exec, "it's certainly aged in assorted ways, and I'm not sure they're all good." Honestly Treasure, you can have our Microsoft Points, spit polish or not. Anything to keep our precious bodily fluids to ourselves.
Best of 2008: The most delicious DS homebrew
Time to face some harsh facts, people: this time next year, none of us will have two pennies to rub together, and nobody will care anyway, because we'll all be fighting to the bloody death over scrap metal, rat carcasses, and clean drinking water. The good news? You can slow your inevitable descent into abject poverty by no longer paying for your DS games, and instead download totally free homebrew. Hurray! Not that you shouldn't be selective in what you download -- after all, for every StillAliveDS or Pocket Physics, the homebrew community churns out plenty of garbage. With this in mind, we decided to compile a list of the best homebrew we personally encountered this year. Have any recommendations that we missed? Tell us in the comments! And don't forget we dedicated a whole week to homebrew earlier this year -- you can head here for more recommendations!
Some kind of large explosion of Big Bang Mini screens and video
It's been a while since we checked in with Big Bang Mini, but we're making up for it now with a delightully Hungry Man-style serving of media. We've got screenshots of four of the game's levels in our gallery, and two new trailers to share! At first glance, the trailer above and the one following the break seem identical; however, the gameplay footage is totally different! It was pretty confusing to us, too -- and kind of ironic that a game for which no two levels look anything alike would have trailers that look identical. SouthPeak says the game comes out January 20, and, well, it had better. Because we want to play it again.%Gallery-18714%
Beefwatch: Totilo beats Soulja Boy! ... at Geometry Wars 2
Sure, our favorite game journalist, Stephen Totilo, may have promptly lost the last two games he played against the Braid-loving rap auteur in Gears of War 2 and Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix. But for one glorious moment, Soulja Boy's lunch had been eaten, and Totilo's face was covered in crumbs. If you've got the notion, you can watch the full battle over on MTV's site. On a side note, we think we may have turned the corner on Soulja Boy. We think ... we think maybe we're totally into him.
Evasive Space site launches with new trailer
The official site for Evasive Space has launched and its chock full of gaming goodness for those looking to evade space. There's a new trailer (we've embedded it into the post above this text here), some screens, and even some info on the various game modes available. After you check out the trailer above, be sure to head on over and check out the site here.%Gallery-37316%[Via press release]
Studio Arkedo taking on Wii for their next game
Studio Arkedo, the French developer behind Nervous Brickdown and the upcoming Big Bang Mini on DS is branching out to Wii, according to a Cubed3 interview. While talking about the upcoming Nintendo Channel demo of Big Bang Mini, Camille Guermonprez offers the fairly unambiguous hint "Our next project in on the Wii, by the way *grins*".This could mean a Wii version of Big Bang Mini, as Guermonprez states earlier in the interview that "We would love to do Big Bang Mini with its addictive blending on a bigger screen.." Or it could mean a new project. What it probably won't be is a WiiWare game: "WE WANT BOXED GAMES *grins*", Guermonprez said. Whatever it turns out to be, expect color.
Metallic Uniframe Super Hybrid Virtual Console Game
Musha Aleste came out in Japan back in April, and it was rated by the OFLC for PAL release (though that hasn't happened yet). Also, it's a shooter, which almost guarantees a game's worldwide availability on the Virtual Console. We knew that Compile's M.U.S.H.A. (as it was known in its American release on the Genesis) would be bound for the North American VC soon, and now there's one less roadblock on the way to its release: it's been rated by the ESRB.If you haven't played it, M.U.S.H.A. is a vertically scrolling shooter developed by Compile, creators of so many awesome shmups, including Zanac and Blazing Lazers. While it's hard to explain what makes one shmup better than others, we think this one's really keen.
Evasive Space dodges December, aims for January
Look! More screens of Evasive Space, this time covering Acts 3 (blue, icy) and 4 (full of murky greens and browns)! There's a new trailer as well, which is a little more varied than the last one. Pew pew! Or ... not, as the case may be.Incidentally, we noticed some of you weren't overly keen on the idea of a shmup in which you don't fire a single bullet, but we're totally ready for a whole game based on the same premise as Geometry Wars' superb "Pacifism" achievement. We'll find out if this works soon enough: Yuke's and High Voltage just confirmed a January release on WiiWare.%Gallery-37316%[Via press release]
Ultimate Shooting Collection delayed once again? [update]
[Update: UFO tells us that they are working toward a January 19 release.]The last time we mentioned UFO Interactive's US release of the Ultimate Shooting Collection, it was to report a delay. We, uh, have some bad news. Maybe. According to Amazon and Gamestop, the compilation of Milestone shooters (Radio Allergy, Chaos Field, and Karous) will miss its December 15 release date by at least a month. Gamestop's new date is January 20, as is Best Buy's. Amazon places the release at January 31. We've sent an inquiry in to UFO to verify the delay and, hopefully, specify the latest for-real release date.We're now convinced that Radilgy is cursed. In December of 2006, O3 Entertainment announced plans to release the colorful shmup in February of the next year. It was then delayed until March, then delayed a few more times before being cancelled in June.%Gallery-37210%
