Review by Clark A. Because bullet hell shooters are designed with a very specific demographic in mind, a game like Bullet Soul is able to articulate its appeal to that crowd in under thirty seconds. The title screen’s roaring 90s rock sent shockwaves of nostalgia through my body. The requisite…
Read MoreReview by Matt C. What does Santa do when someone steals all the Christmas presents? A regular old St Nick might give up, or work extra hard to create a new stash of gifts. Not Aru, the bunny-eared, anime girl Santa, though – no, when someone steals her presents, she…
Read MoreReview by Clark A. Touhou is a franchise known chiefly for its genre-defining bullet-hell insanity. Team Shanghai Alice’s wholehearted embracement of fan-made games (“doujin” more accurately), though, has led to a bustling, open-ended franchise where creativity is bread and butter. Its characters have gone on to star in everything from…
Read MoreReview by Clark A. The term “bullet hell” is an accurate descriptor for the absurd number of bullets exchanged in hardcore 2D shooters. Franchises like Touhou have garnered reputations for the sheer technical prowess one needs to manoeuvre around projectiles that envelop the screen like hundreds of fireworks set off…
Read MoreNews by Matt S. XSEED had a heck of an E3, with titles such as Shantae, Corpse Party, Trails of Cold Steel‘s sequel, and Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns all showing the publisher’s versatility, and its understanding of the kind of niche experiences that people want to play. Among…
Read MoreThat DariusBurst launches at a standard retail price despite being both digital-exclusive and a niche 2D shooter represents unwavering faith from its publisher, Degica, in its raw quality. The Darius franchise hasn’t necessarily topped the charts throughout its 30 odd years on the market but it’s a brand that has…
Read MoreDespite what other reviews are saying, Reign of Bullets is more Metal Slug than Borderlands. To describe the game in the most blunt fashion as possible: it gets right what most scrolling shooters struggle at, with light-hearted humour, cartoony graphics, simple yet addictive upgrading system, and excellent production values. This…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. A good bullet hell game is almost like an intricate, difficult and deadly dance. With thousands of projectiles on screen at once and giant, menacing enemies, the player relies on pixel-perfect twitch reactions and foresight to be able to dart in and out of tiny “safe…
Read MoreInterview by Nick H. Critical Bit is a young studio comprised of friends who had a passion for gaming. Formerly known as Laserbrick Games, Critical Bit has been working on getting their side scrolling shooter called Reign of Bullets, which is attempting to get a Greenlight to be released on…
Read MoreReview by Jim S. Although I am not good at SHMUPs, I really enjoy playing them and RefleX is one of the finest I have played in a long while. Weirdly enough, RefleX is the second chapter of the Japanese game series The Tale of ALLTYNEX with the first and…
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