shmups
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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.
Famitsu reveals Darius Burst for PSP
According to the latest pages of Famitsu (Via Examiner), Taito will be bringing a new game in the Darius series to PSP. The latest in the classic 2D horizontal-shooter franchise is titled Darius Burst, and marks the first time the series has been tapped for a title since Darius R landed on GameBoy Advance systems in Japan nearly a decade ago.Famitsu notes Darius Burst will feature 11 levels, with non-linear paths throughout the stages -- splitting each initial level into two paths for players to choose. If you love shmups like we love shmups then you should be giddy about Taito's decision and hopeful the title will see a North American release.
Raiden IV media blowout
Click for high-res image Fans of shmups will be happy to know Raiden IV will be hitting Xbox 360s very soon. It's coming in August, to be exact, and bringing with it some nice pseudo-3D visuals, online support and exclusive content not found in the arcade version.To celebrate, we have the official box art, some screen shots and a plethora of artwork to check out below. Make sure you watch the debut trailer after the break, too!%Gallery-64402%
Why not throw a bunch of freeware games in with Blast Works?
That's what Majesco and Budcat thought, anyway. They were already making a game based on a Kenta Cho freeware shooter, with no legal hoops to jump through. There's basically no reason for them not to throw a bunch more Cho games on there! It works out well for them, because it's bonus content, and it works out nicely for us, because we'll be able to play more great abstract shooters on our television, using our Wiimote!Siliconera played Blast Works at E3, and realized very quickly that they were just playing the original TUMIKI Fighters. The Budcat rep explained that it was an early build and that Blast Works would indeed be a new game. He also revealed that not only will TUMIKI Fighters be on the disc in its original form, but rRootage and possibly Gunroar and Torus Trooper will be bonus content as well.This means that you can go preview some Blast Works bonus content right now! It's like being at E3. Just like it. We recommend rRootage especially-- it's a parade of randomly-generated bosses.%Gallery-4821%
Wii Warm Up: Too many shooters?
The Virtual Console has made shooting games widely available for the first time in years. We like shooters, despite being categorically awful at them, so we're happy about this. But has the genre been disproportionately represented on the VC? There are so many, versus very few fighting games, and no role-playing games. Are you guys buying shooters? Are you happy with the selection? Are you all zap zap zap and pew pew pew at the bad spaceships?
Radio Allergy cancelled
Radio Allergy, Milestone's "Wii Compatible" shooter for the Gamecube, has finally been canned by publisher O3 Interactive after months of delays. We like cel-shading, and we like shooters, so we're a little sad. In a statement to Cubed3, O3 said that there was a hope of putting Radio Allergy on the Wii. No plan, but a hope.Aeropause then speculated that this hypothetical Wii release would be bundled with Karous, the current "last Dreamcast game ever" from Milestone, or-- even better, both Karous and Chaos Field, Milestone's first "last Dreamcast game ever." We do like the idea of more games, but we don't have any evidence of that right now. All we know is that we aren't getting Radio Allergy any time soon. At least we can all download the papercraft patterns from the Japanese website! Video game papercraft beats actual video games every time.
Blazing Lazers confirmed for Monday VC release
Here's a little pre-Monday Virtual Console Madness, courtesy of Hudson. Get your Wii Points ready, because our personal favorite shmup ever is going to be available for download next week in the US. Blazing Lazers (Gunhed in Japan) is a vertical shooter for the Turbografx-16 that differs from other vertical shooters in one important way: really fun weapons. There are four categories of weapons, each of which can be upgraded to five different levels. Our favorite is the enemy-seeking green lightning beam thing. It's pretty.[Via GoNintendo]
Wii Are Tumiki Fighters?
A listing for a Majesco-published Wii version of Tumiki Fighters has shown up on Gamefly, and we really, really hope it turns out to be real. Tumiki Fighters is a freeware shmup by Kenta Cho that involves collecting pieces that fall off of destroyed enemy ships to power up your own ship. We like Kenta Cho's games. They're gorgeously presented abstract shooters that either (like Tumiki Fighters) invent new gameplay mechanics or, like rRootage, artfully (and openly) rip off mechanics from other shmups. We aren't sure we'd want to pay full price for them, since they're free right now, but we would consider paying budget price for sufficiently expanded versions.
Wii Warm Up: Shooting the core
The Virtual Console has, surprisingly, become one of the best venues around for classic scrolling shooters, or "shmups" if you prefer. Suddenly, there's a single console on the market where you can play games like Soldier Blade, Super Star Soldier, R-Types I-III, and Gradius, and you can download them all at impulse-buy prices. Soon, Gradius II, Final Soldier and Air Zonk will show up (in Japan, at least).Has anyone been brought into shooter fandom from a VC release? Or rediscovered the genre, which was lost to all but the craziest, die-hard fans since the onset of 3D gaming? Any new gamers out there surprised by how freaking hard old shooter games can be? Let's hear about your shmupping experience before and since the Wii.
Top 20 freeware shmups
If you read the recent guide to doujin shmups and are itching for more freeware shooting goodness, Independent Gaming has got your fix. The blog has just released a list of the top 20 freeware shmups for 2006-2007 (yes, they can peer into the future). Everything from Clean Asia to Guxt is here, including one of our favorite Flash shooters, Gamma Bros. If those aren't enough satisfy your need to shoot stuff, check out the results of the AutoFire 2007 Shooter Competition for even more free games.
