Project Starship is a throwback shmup of the vertical-scrolling variety. This is the first release brought to an Xbox platform by Panda Indie Studio, which as far as I can tell is now going by Arabong Dev and consists of a single developer named Matteo. Project Starship originally released for PC back in 2015, but saw a revival for home consoles in 2020 thanks to publisher Eastasiasoft. As a huge fan of shmups in general, I was excited to see what this one has to offer...
Graphics/Presentation
The graphics in Project Starship are presented with 2D sprites with bright colors and bold outlines that are surprisingly large for a game of this variety, which works in this instance since your hitbox is only the cockpit of your ship. The pixel-art looks good for the most part, though the art on the character select screen looks more pixelated than the rest of the game. The levels in Project Starship are randomized, making each play a bit unpredictable but the background details look nice and fit in with the player/enemy sprites nicely.
Developed by Artax Games, a small indie studio based out of Madrid, Iro Hero is the first of many shmups that would be published to the Xbox One via Eastasiasoft Limited. Iro Hero takes heavy inspiration from genre classic Ikaruga, featuring a 2-color (blue/red) shot system which you'll have to alternate between on the fly to kill enemies of the respective color. Similar to the classic it was inspired by, Iro Hero plays like a mix of the puzzle and shoot 'em up genres, which can be a tough duo to mix while maintaining a good fun-factor. Without further ado, let's take a look at the strangely named Iro Hero and see if it's worth your time and money...
Presentation
Iro Hero is a shmup of the vertical-scroller variety, featuring some nice-looking 2D sprites. The enemy projectiles all clearly stand out amidst the backgrounds. While the sprites are well-drawn, the ship design tends to be a bit bland and forgettable. The opening stage, which takes place over a sprawling city, looks promising but is easily the coolest of all the backgrounds featured in the game (at least out of the ones I witnessed, more on that in a bit...). The player ship is quite large, making it difficult to dodge enemy bullets, though you can switch the color of your ship to match the bullets and absorb them. This takes some quick timing and gets tough on some of the more crowded screens later in the game. Another positive aspect to note regarding the presentation is the excellent soundtrack, featuring some groovy upbeat techno music that helps make the game more enjoyable. There is some weird volume adjustment that happens with the in-game music, where it suddenly gets louder or quieter for some reason. It's not a game-breaking issue by any means, though it is slightly annoying.
Stellatum combines the control-layout of a twin-stick shooter with the level format of a standard vertically-scrolling shmup. It's a novel idea and a refreshing change from the constant arena-style approach that twin-stick shooters tend to use. Developed by Satur Entertainment and published by Sometimes You in October 2019, Stellatum promises to deliver an "exciting scroll shooter" so let's delve in and see if it can live up to the hype...
Presentation
While navigating the ship upgrade menu can be cumbersome, once you get into the actual shoot 'em up gameplay Stellatum makes a solid first impression. The visuals are super-detailed and initially the space backdrops look great, but once you realize that this is basically the same backdrop for every stage (of which there are 80!) the once impressive backgrounds start to become tedious. The sound design fails to make much of an impression, featuring standard sound effects that all sound stock and a soundtrack that didn't leave any mark. Overall, while Stellatum looks nice in the graphics department, the presentation is lacking when you put together all of the pieces.
Developed by 2-brother indie-team SEEP, Thunderflash is an obvious love-letter to classic overhead shooters from the 80's, such as Commando, Ikari Warriors or Bloody Wolf. The game even names the enemy criminal organization Bloody Wolf and features pixel graphics that look like they came right out of an early 90's arcade game. Much like the titles that inspired it, Thunderflash is designed to be a quick burst of fun and in this review we'll dive in to see if this one's worth a download or is it just another title trying to make a quick sale off nostalgia...
With Thunderflash being a retro-throwback title, the controls are extremely simple: d-pad or analog stick to move, A to fire your primary weapon and B to fire your rockets (which are limited in ammunition). The first time you play the game, you'll have 10 credits to try and beat it, but after you make some progress and use all of those up you'll unlock and option to start with 15 credits and eventually another for 20 credits, so even if you find the game difficult you'll eventually be able to plow your way through. There's also an option to put a CRT filter over the screen to give it that old-school monitor look.
Null Drifter
Developed by Panda Indie Studio
Published by Eastasiasoft Limited
Released for Xbox One (4/8/2020)
Also on PC/PS4/Switch
Null Drifter bills itself as a "1-bit lo-fi simulation," which seems fitting considering the graphics are composted of 2-tones of color and rather basic, but decent pixel-art. The game plays like your average twin-stick shooter, starting off easy but picking up in difficulty quite fast. Several of the waves will feature a boss at the end to fight. As you destroy enemies, they'll drop coins and sometimes power-ups. There's also a dash maneuver that can be used to evade or damage enemies, which requires a short time to recharge after use. Upon dying, you can spend your collected credits purchasing upgrades that allow you to start out powered-up a bit. That's really about all there is to Null Drifter, it's a minimalist twin-stick with some frenetic action; nothing more and nothing less.
FullBlast
Developed by UFO Crash Games
Published by Ratalaika Games
Released for Xbox One (9/2018)
Also on Mac/PC/Ouya/PS4/Switch/Vita/Wii U
Intro FullBlast is a very basic vertical shmup, promising to deliver action inspired by old arcade games of the '80's and '90's. Initially published by developer UFO Crash Games, FullBlast made its debut on the Ouya back in 2014, received a port to the WiiU the following year and made it Mac/PC in 2016. In September 2018, publisher Ratalaika Games would pick up FullBlast for another round of releases and ported the game to the PlayStation 4, Switch, Vita and Xbox One. The game looked at least somewhat promising enough from the trailer and the $5.99 price tag seemed reasonable so I went ahead and pulled the trigger on FullBlast. Read on to kill the suspense of whether or not I regret that decision.
Gameplay/Controls
As stated before, FullBlast is a simple shooter, featuring one movement speed and just one fire type. Holding down the A button will rapid fire, saving you the trouble of having to constantly mash the fire button, which is always a nice feature. Of course you also have a bomb in reserve, which can be launched with a press of the B button and will clear the screen of enemies and bullets when used. A shmup with simple mechanics can still be fun, but it takes some solid enemy and level design to assist, and this is where FullBlast falls face first...
Pacific Wings
Developed/Published by Sprakelsoft GmbH
Released for Xbox One (6/25/2019) | Xbox Live Indie Games (8/2/2012)
Also on Android/iOS/PS4/Switch
Pacific Wings is a rather blatant clone of the old Capcom arcade classic 1942. The player flies an American P-38 blasting down waves of Japanese planes, exactly like the old arcade classic. Looking at screenshots or footage of the game shows some promise, with pixel-graphics that invoke a nice retro vibe. Here we'll take a look at the trial for Pacific Wings on the Xbox One and see how it holds up when compared to the original that inspired it or if it's even worth playing at all.
Zeroptian Invasion
Developed by Josyan
Published by Ratalaika Games
Released for Xbox One (4/2019)
Also on Linux/Switch/PC/PS4/Vita
Zeroptian Invasion pays homage to one of the all-time arcade classics, Space Invaders, and aims to deliver some retro shooter action. Featuring a low price point and an easy achievement list to complete, the game will without a doubt appeal to achievement hunters but let's take a look and see if it's worth anything outside of some easy gamerscore.
Graphically, Zeroptian Invasion is a simple affair. True to it's inspiration, the simplistic graphics look like something that came out in the late '70's or early '80's, featuring blocky enemies that typically consist of only a color or two. Sound effects are the bleeps and bloops that were common in the early arcade era. Though incredibly simple, the graphics and sound do a decent job invoking the retro feel that the designers were aiming for. There's also some nice-looking art featured on the sides of the screen that resembles the type of stuff you'd find on the bezels of old arcade games.
The gameplay is very similar to Space Invaders, with the player's ship being only able to move on a horizontal axis while blasting on creatures that slowly descend the longer they are left alive. Just like in Space Invaders there are three shields that will absorb enemy bullets but will disappear upon taking too much damage. Every so often a UFO will zip across the top of the screen, which will disperse a power-up when hit. These consist of helpful items like a faster shot or a shield. Zeroptian Invasion also features stages with enemies that attack in patterns similar to the arcade classic Galaga.
Every few stages the game throws in a boss battle which upon defeat will mark a checkpoint you'll resume from should you need to continue. There's a decent amount of variety between the bosses and they're much tougher than the average enemies. The designers were nice enough to include a life bar for the boss at the bottom of the screen. You get two ships in Zeroptian Invasion and once lost you'll see an old-school 10-second countdown to continue. There are unlimited continues available, so anybody with a little perseverance can see there way through the game. Using a continue will reset your score and restart you after the previous boss you've defeated, so there is still a penalty for using a continue.
At the title screen you can access the options menu which gives you the ability to rotate
the screen if you want to play from a vertical orientation, turn on a CRT filter and toggle sound/vibration. The game also keeps track of your local online scores, which will help give the game at least a little replay value for some people out there.
You know how most games give you a prompt whenever you ask to exit out to the main menu during gameplay? It's a handy feature in case you accidentally select this option and don't want to lose your progress, but in Zeroptian Invasion no such feature exists, so be careful when pausing the game and navigating the start menu as one button press on exit will promptly send you to the title screen (trust me, I did this on accident!). Outside of this minor issue, I found Zeroptian Invasion to be a stable game and didn't run into any type of glitching or crashing while playing.
It's worth noting just how easy it is to obtain 100% of the achievements in Zeroptian Invasion. Containing one of the higher achievement completion ratios I've seen yet on the Xbox One, more than 50% of the people that booted the game up unlocked all of the achievements. There's a reason for this, as the entire set can be unlocked in about roughly 10 minutes. You'll only have to reach stage 7 and by the time you've made it that far chances are you've unlocked everything else along the way. The game's cheap price point and quick completion time makes this an ideal title for achievement hunters, but luckily for anybody craving some old-school Space Invaders shooter action this is actually a decent title. It's certainly not a great game, but it's an above-average retro-styled shooter that plays well enough and you could certainly do worse when it comes to budget-priced titles on the Xbox One.
Final Verdict:Zeroptian Invasion is a simple and somewhat generic Space Invaders style retro shooter. The achievements can be unlocked super quick but there is also a decent old-school shooter here as well.
Chronoblast
Developed by n0rtygames
Released for XBLIG (2/2013)
Chronoblast is a vertical shmup, meaning you view the action from a top-down perspective shooting everything coming at you while flying forward continuously. The game boasts that it's the first on XBLIG to support tate, meaning if you have a vertically-oriented monitor you can tilt the image on its side to take up the whole screen. On a normal horizontal monitor the screen will be heavily cropped on both sides, so having the option to tilt the image is very nice and is a feature often overlooked by developers. The game also included networked high scores which was another nice bonus. Chronoblast definitely takes a lot of inspiration from classic Cave arcade titles in pretty much every aspect of the game. You can really tell the developers love their shooters and they've done an admirable job capturing the Cave-style shmup.
There are four characters to choose from, each sporting a different ship, pilot and shot pattern. While selecting between your pilot (all females), you have the option to
select between three different skill levels: autobomb, normal and hell.
Autobomb will provide a safety cushion and will automatically use a
bomb rather than kill you upon taking a hit. Normal mode is exactly as it sounds and hell mode is for those who want a real challenge. In a nice little touch, the easier the difficulty the more attire you'll see her wearing in her profile pic. The ship you pilot will have two modes of fire: laser and shot. The ship's speed decreases a bit in laser mode to help with precision dodging. You're also equipped with bombs and can build up a super-meter to unleash a temporary power boost to your attacks. Your ship is represented by a large sprite, but the little circle in the center of it is your hitbox, making it manageable but far from easy to dodge the onslaught of projectiles the enemies will send your way. Enemies will also drop score coins as you mow them down and instinctively you will want to collect as many as possible.
Chronoblast offers ranked, unranked and practice modes at the main menu. In ranked mode you'll try to rack up the highest score possible on a single credit. High scores are saved locally and there's a table for each difficulty. Unranked mode allows you to continue while practice mode lets you select a particular stage or boss to play. The game allows up to two-players to play simultaneously and having a buddy always adds to the fun. There are five levels, each with a mid and final boss. Each level is well-paced and enemies are diverse enough to have you constantly alternating between laser and shot modes. For those who can master the game and clear it on a single credit there's a true final boss you'll encounter at the end. Chronoblast is very similar to many of Cave's offerings and in my opinion that's a good thing; you can never have enough quality shmups, especially when it comes to XBLIG. It's really a shame that Chronoblast apparently hasn't been released for anything outside of XBLIG, though I've seen some links that talk about a PC version of the game but never found a legit download link for the game so I'm not sure on this.
Final Verdict: As far as XBLIG shmups go, Chronoblast is a superb effort and has everything you could want from this style of game, especially if you love Cave shooters!
Shoot 1UP
Developed by Mommy's Best Games
Released for XBLIG (2/2010)
Also on PC/Windows Mobile
Shoot 1UP is a vertical shmup with an interesting mechanic: every time you collect a 1-up, rather than just add it to your livestock the ship appears next to yours and there seems to be no limit on how many you can gather. You can contract and expand your fleet of ships using the triggers, and the farther apart your ships are the more massive the laser beam they generate will be. They'll also be more prone to enemy fire of course, creating a nice risk/reward mechanic. The graphics are all done in high-res art that looks very good for the most part. The boss designs are unique and the levels themselves never really feel like they overstay their welcome. The stages have sections in them where the path branches off and you're given the choice to select between the regular path straight ahead or to veer off to the side for a more difficult route. These are very unique in that your ship will turn and the game will temporarily turn into a horizontal shooter until you eventually change course and revert back to vertical orientation. The game has its own built-in achievements you can unlock as you play. Overall Shoot 1UP is a very admirable effort to do something fresh with the shmup genre and is absolutely worth the dollar asking price.
Final Verdict: A fresh take on the vertical shmup, Shoot 1UP is definitely worth a look for fans of the genre.
Pester
Developed by Flump Games
Released for XBLIG (1/2013)
Also on Ouya/PC
Pester is a vertical shoot 'em up with a retro-arcade feel. The graphics look like something from the early to mid-80's, the screen is cropped like it was natively a vertical game (though there is not tate option) and there are scanlines emulated to make it seem as though you're playing on a CRT monitor. While the action looks like an older arcade game, you have bullet patterns to dodge inspired by the more modern bullet-hell shooters. Your ship has the ability to toggle your movement speed holding the left trigger when precision dodging is needed. Coins are dropped by defeated enemies that when collected will help build up your hyper shot meter, which will give your firepower a temporary boost when activated.
The graphics in Pester are a mixed bag, with the ships looking like something out of Galaga while the backdrops look like something that would have come out a decade later. There seems to be a lack of sound effects, for example the coins don't even make a sound when picked up. The enemy explosions fail to impress both in graphics and sound. While Pester definitely isn't the prettiest shmup available on XBLIG, when it comes down to the gameplay there is still a fun and challenging shooter here. There are quite a few modes to unlock, the game keeps tabs on your high scores and there are some settings to customize as you play. You can select the background, music, overlay and ship design. This all helps add a nice amount of replay value. In arcade mode you can play classic mode or boss survival. There are also survival, asteroid belt and boss modes that can be unlocked for achieving certain scores on particular modes. There's also another mode called Tempus which is a timed mode. There's a number next to your ship that is constantly ticking away. Instead of lives, dying will take ten seconds off the clock. Enemies now drop clocks instead of coins, and each clock you pick up adds an additional second to your clock. It's a fun and unique mode and rounds out what was already a nice package.
Pester is definitely a good effort as far as shooters on XBLIG are concerned. The full version features an appearance from one of the ships from Chronoblast which is neat. There's thousands of worse ways you could spend a buck! The game was also ported over to PC and the Ouya. It's currently on Steam for $0.99 just like when it was up on XBLIG!
Final Verdict: Pester is an enjoyable and challenging vertical shooter. While not the best on the service, it retailed for only a buck on XBLIG and is worth a look for genre fans.
Valkyrius
Developed by Firestorm X
Released for XBLIG (9/2013)
Also on PC
Valkyrius is a vertical 2D shmup with a lot of polish. The graphics are composed of high-res sprites that all look good with lots of detail. Valkyrius has a cool feature where your ship can teleport in any direction to escape from danger in a hurry. You'll only teleport a short ways from where you were but it can save you from death easily. I was only able to reach the second stage before the trial was over, but I was very impressed with what I saw. The ship you pilot has two modes of fire each assigned to the triggers. Certain enemies will drop weapons and you get a nice variation of stuff like missiles, spread shots and machine guns. The ammo is limited on each weapon pickup, but thanks to your two modes of fire you can simultaneously hold and fire two weapons. You can spend your earned points on each run to customize your ship. The full game features six stages, high score tables, unlockable medals (similar to achievements) and artwork, five difficulties and two player co-op local. A high-quality title like Valkyrius comes at a price, however, and the game retails for $4.99, which is the highest price point allowed on XBLIG. That said, I do feel like the quality of the game from what I played in the trial easily justifies the price. A definitive version of the game, called Valkyrius Prime, would later be released to Steam and would be the definitive version of the game.
Final Verdict: Valkyrius is an excellent vertical shmup and is up there with the best of 'em on XBLIG.
Broken Pearl
Developed by Mikael Tillander
Released for XBLIG (12/2014)
Also on Ouya/PC
Eight months after dropping the Toaplan inspired shooter Twin Tiger Shark developer Wide Pixel Games released Broken Pearl, another fantastic vertical shmup. The game definitely reminds me a lot of the classic Toaplan shooters with some inspiration from modern bullet-hells for good measure. The game is best experienced on a monitor rotated for portrait view but it still plays just fine, albeit heavily cropped on any typical landscape screen as well.
The enemy explosions in Broken Pearl are very satisfying and the overall graphic design is solid. While some of the backdrops are a bit drab, the enemy attacks are so relentless you'll hardly have time to notice. The controls are spot-on and I always felt accountable for my deaths as the enemy bullets are bright and very easy to spot. The game is a throwback shooter so it's very basic, but it still offers up a serious challenge. In standard Wide Pixel Games tradition the game offers no continues and requires a single credit run in order to see the finish. That means once you lose all three of your ships in stock it's back to the beginning of the game! You have one button to fire and one buttom to bomb; that's it. It's a bit refreshing to have such a simple shmup, but there is a bit more to the gameplay in Broken Pearl. Tougher enemies release power-up capsules which cycle between weapon boost, score multiplier and bomb-stock. There are also helper units that can be freed from a cage and will fly by your side to assist when released. If you can manage to stay alive with your helper units they can be stacked for double the extra firepower which is a really cool feature.
Before starting a stage, you have a ship selection, one with a powerful focus shot and the other with a weaker spread shot. After selecting a ship you're given a selection of missions to choose from. This isn't a stage select, just a sub-objective to be completed as you play. These usually involve killing a certain enemy type but there are some variants. Completing a mission will net you a point, live or bomb bonus upon completion of the stage. The game is one-player only, so you'll have to tackle this one solo. The game is tough and there are no difficulty settings, so to be honest with you I can't even tell how many stages the game has to offer. I can confirm that there are at least three levels, but I will return to this review at some point if I ever manage to get any further. Typically shooters of this variety have five to six stages. The game grants you an extra ship every 147,500 points, but staying alive long enough to rack that score up is no easy feat. The enemies are plenty and the bullets are fast in Broken Pearl, resulting in one of the more challenging shoot 'em ups on XBLIG. On an unrelated note the first boss uses a Godzilla sample when damaged which I thought was cool.
The game had an option to upload your hi-score via QR code. Another menu option keeps tabs on enemies killed in the bestiary. In the options menu you have the option to rotate the screen and controls for portrait style monitors. Broken Pearl is definitely a tough game, but I'd put it up there with the best of best in the genre on XBLIG.
Final Verdict: Broken Pearl offers up some ultra-challenging old school shoot 'em up action. A fantastic vertical shmup that fans of the genre should not miss!
Twin Tiger Shark
Developed by Mikael Tillander
Released for XBLIG (2/2014)
Also on Ouya & PC
Twin Tiger Shark is an overhead vertical shmup with an old-school feel. Rather than the bullet-hell mania of most modern shmups, Twin Tiger Shark is a throwback to the '80's arcade titles developed by shooter heavyweight Toaplan. Specifically this game reminds me a lot of Sky Shark & Flying Shark, two of Toaplan's arcade classics. Like the arcade titles that inspired it, Twin Tiger Shark has the most basic of control layouts, with one button to shoot and another to bomb. You're granted three ships and you get no continues, forcing you to pretty much master the game if you'd like to see it all the way through. The difficulty is tough, but if you can stay alive long enough to get your ship powered up the game is very fair. There's an icon you can pick up that will send in a squad of helper ships that will fly and fight alongside you for some extra firepower until they're destroyed. The graphics in Twin Tiger Shark feature some nice, detailed pixel art. Explosions look excellent and the enemy bullets flash bright orange and stand out among all the action. Once your game is over you have the option to upload your hi-score via QR code. The game has the option to rotate the monitor for vertical orientation. Overall Twin Tiger Shark is an excellent homage to an old game company the dev obviously has a lot of love for, resulting in one of the finest shmups available on XBLIG.
Final Verdict: Fans of old-school shooter games definitely need to look at Twin Tiger Shark...it feels almost like Toaplan released a new game in 2014!
Mega Shooter 11
Developed by infiniteplay
Released for XBLIG (10/2011)
Mega Shooter 11 is a horizontal shmup that makes a great first impression. Upon booting the game up I was greeted with some nice NES-style pixel graphics and a game that instantly brought back memories of Life Force (or Salamander depending on where you reside). Unfortunately I quickly became rather bored by the uninspired level design, with the same couple of enemies coming at you over and over. Enemy bullets defy all logic and pass right through solid objects. There are several areas featuring the same assets just slightly mixed around, making for some very repetitive level design. I really wanted to like Mega Shooter 11 as it really looks the part of a retro shooter, unfortunately it lacked the gameplay to make me want to come back for more once the trial had ended.
Final Verdict: Mega Shooter 11 looks pretty awesome in screen shots, but the gameplay is lacking the polish that the best shooters on XBLIG have to offer for the same price. You can safely skip this one.
Vampire Rage
Developed by Tricktale
Released for Xbox Live Indie Games (6/2010)
Also on Windows Phone
Vampire Rage is a vertical bullet-hell shoot 'em up, a genre that is no stranger to the Xbox 360. Rather than piloting a ship like in most traditional shmups, in this title you play as a floating vampire out to revenge the death of his woman. Unlike many vertical shooters, this one is locked in widescreen view so there's no options to support monitor rotation, but the playfield is wide and takes up the screen as opposed to being cropped. As far as I can tell, the game was only released for the Xbox 360 and the now defunct Windows Phone platform. The development team was comprised of only three people and with this taken into consideration, Vampire Rage is quite competently put together and is a game worth checking out for shmup fanatics.
Your character sprite appears a bit large but the game grants you a generous hitbox and even though it's not clearly defined it never was a problem during gameplay. Similar to most modern shmups, you have two rates of fire, a spread shot while tapping the fire button and a focused laser shot when holding it. Your rate of movement also slows while holding the fire button, making it a bit easier to sneak around some of the tighter bullet spreads. Unlike most shooters, the game doesn't feature a bomb to save you in times of panic, but to compensate for this you have a sword attack that will reflect bullets in addition to damaging any enemies within its radius. The sword attack will only reflect the pink projectiles, so you can't just send everything flying back. The sword can be used as frequently as you need but there is a brief recharge time required after each use. If you use the sword amidst a large number of projectiles, you'll form a vortex that acts like a bomb and will damage all nearby enemies. The sword is a cool feature though it does tend to make the game a bit on the easy side, especially on the normal difficulty.
The graphics and presentation of Vampire Rage are definitely above average. The menus are all easy to navigate and the in-game graphics are composed of high-res art rather than the normal pixel art you'll normally see in shmups. The backgrounds will frequently repeat themselves throughout the levels, but what's there looks good. The enemies are a variety of demon type things, and there's a decent variety of them between stages. There are brief story segments offered before each stage with accompanying artwork that definitely looks a bit amateur but gets the job done well enough. The biggest issue with the game is that there are only three stages on hand. Each stages ends with a boss battle and the levels themselves are of decent length but the entire game can be completed in about 10-15 minutes. The game states that the story is to be continued at the end but with the game being eight years old at the time of this review it's unlikely that the sequel will ever see the light of day. I really feel like the game could have used another two or three stages, but I'm sure the developers have their reasons why corners had to be cut.
Vampire Rage offers two difficulty modes: normal and rage. Normal mode starts the player off with five lives while in rage mode you'll start with only three. Normal mode is good for beginners or those who just want to see the game and rage will definitely be enjoyed by those who welcome a challenge. There is also support for local two-player coop gameplay, allowing the second player to join in anytime throughout the game. The game keeps tabs on your high scores and at one point offered an online leaderboard, but with the age of the game and the deletion of the indie games marketplace this feature is no longer functioning. I really enjoyed Vampire Rage and would have definitely been interested in the sequel but unfortunately it appears the series will never continue as the developers blog hasn't been updated since 2012. The game is incredibly short but I still found it to be a worthwhile experience and one I come back to play again every now and then.
Final Verdict: Vampire Rage is a short game but well worth a look for shmup fans. It's good fun batting bullets back at enemies with your sword!
Asteroids & Deluxe
Developed by Stainless Games
Published by Atari SA
Backwards Compatible on Xbox One
Asteroids was originally released in arcades way back in 1979, so with this in mind it's understandable that the gameplay is incredibly simple. You control a little ship that you can rotate using the stick and movement is initiated with a throttle button. You also have a button to fire and a "hyper space" button that will randomly teleport your ship to another spot on the screen. Using hyper space is risky as you could teleport in right on top of an asteroid. The goal of the game is to clear each screen of asteroids, which break down into smaller chunks each time you shoot them. Occasionally a UFO will appear on the screen and will try to eliminate you with projectiles which when shot down will net you a nice point bonus. Shooting anything in Asteroids gives you points and at every 10,000 points you'll receive an extra ship. You start off with three ships and once you lose those, it's game over and you start from zero again (this is before games offered continues remember). The game offers a two-player mode, but this is only alternating and not simultaneous play.
Asteroids was an absolute smash success in the arcades in its time and really helped solidify the Atari brand. While the game is about as old as they come, the gameplay is timeless and its simplicity makes it easy to enjoy in quick bursts by anybody really. One thing that never transfers to any home port is the brightness of the arcades vector monitor display. You really have to experience it firsthand but the monitors were really something else on these vector arcade games, featuring an image that shines so brightly it almost feels like its burning into your retinas.
Asteroids Deluxe was originally released in arcades in 1981. It's very similar to the original but with a few new features to justify the "deluxe" in the title. You now have a shield button which can save you in a pinch but wears out with extended use. In addition to the saucers from the original title, there are now killer satellites that break apart when shot and come flying at your ship like a kamikaze. It's a decent sequel that definitely ramps up the challenge level if the first one wasn't hard enough for you. Again, the game was displayed on a vector monitor on the original dedicated arcade machines, and this of course never transfers over to home ports.
The Xbox 360 port combines both Asteroids and Asteroids Deluxe into one package. Each game can be played in their original arcade form or the "evolved" version with new graphics but familiar gameplay. Both the arcade and evolved modes also offer the "throttle monkey mode" which ramps up the difficulty and speed of the game if you want an extreme challenge. Unfortunately, in evolved mode the explosions that occur when the asteroids are shot is way too flashy, making it hard to see the trajectory of the smaller rocks. This unwelcome effect definitely has an impact on the gameplay, and for this reason I found the original arcade versions much more enjoyable on both iterations of the game. If you just want a nice home port of Asteroids I'd recommend this game, just beware that the "evolved" versions aren't all that great. If you're just looking for easy achievements stay away from this one, as only the most dedicated Atari fans will likely unlock the full set.
Final Verdict: The arcade ports of both Asteroids & Deluxe games are solid, though the "evolved" versions feel like more of a downgrade than anything else. Worth checking out if you dig the original or just want some old-school arcade action.
Time Pilot
Ported by Digital Eclipse
Original Game by Konami
Published by Konami
Released for Xbox Live Arcade (8/2006)
Also on Arcade/Atari 2600/Commodore 64/Colecovision/MSX/PlayStation 2/Windows Mobile
Time Pilot, ported to the Xbox 360 courtesy of Digital Eclipse, was originally released in arcades back in 1982. In the game you fly a jet and are able to rotate in any direction, sort of like Asteroids except the screen scrolls in all directions and you have a sprawling sky you can explore. The game has an awesome premise, where each level features enemies from a different time period as pilot your futuristic time-travelling jet fighter. The first stage will have you in 1910, fighting biplanes and zeppelins. Stage two in 1940 features monoplanes that are a bit tougher than what you've fought prior. You'll then move on to 1970 where you'll face helicopters, 1983 with super jets and for the grand finale you'll face off against flying saucers in 2001! Such an awesome concept for a shooter and it's a shame Konami didn't continue to create entries in this series in later years.
Completion of each stage is accomplished by eliminating a certain number of hostiles, indicated by a bar on your screen. Once you've reached the designated kill count the boss will show up, which varies by each stage. Along the way there will be parachuting pilots you can rescue that will grant hefty point bonuses and will help towards earning an extra ship. The controls are a bit awkward at first with Time Pilot and you'll have to spend some time familiarizing yourself with the way you jet fighter turns. Once you get a feel for the controls the game is a blast to play, and really feels quite a bit ahead of the curve in regards to arcade shooters of the early '80's.
The emulation of the arcade port feels spot-on in graphics, sound and control. Like Digital Eclipses' other Konami arcade ports on XBLA the game offers enhanced graphics and sound options. The graphics and sound don't quite have the charm of the original, but it's definitely cool to see an attempt to update this often overlooked classic. The game also offers support for play over Xbox Live, but you'll need to coordinate a session as the game is quite old and nobody is going to be sitting around waiting in a lobby on this one. Time Pilot is still good fun and well worth checking out if you're interested in the early years of the arcade shooter genre. It would have been nice of Konami had they included Time Pilot '84 (the arcade sequel), or released it separately as its own title as it was good fun too.
Final Verdict:Time Pilot is a solid port of an arcade classic. A simple and fun overhead 2D shooter that often gets lost in the sea of classics from the '80's.
