Broken Pearl (XBLIG, 2014)

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!

Related Links:
Twin Tiger Shark - Xbox Overview
Birth Order - Xbox Overview
X.S.E.E.D. - Xbox Overview 
Heavy Recoil - Xbox Overview
Broken Pearl - GameFAQs
Wide Pixel Games - Official Site

Twin Tiger Shark (XBLIG, 2014)

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!

Related Links:
Broken Pearl - Xbox Overview
Birth Order - Xbox Overview
Heavy Recoil - Xbox Overview
X.S.E.E.D. - Xbox Overview
Twin Tiger Shark - GameFAQs
Wide Pixel Games - Official Site

Heavy Recoil (XBLIG, 2012)

Heavy Recoil
Developed by Mikael Tillander
Released for XBLIG (12/2012)

Heavy Recoil is a 2D run 'n gun and is a throwback to the days of gaming past. You have a choice between three different characters at the start of the game. After selecting your player you'll begin your quest to shoot everything as you move right, until you reach the first boss where the game will promptly end if you're playing the trial. Note to developers: please allow the potential customer to at least finish the first stage if you'd like us to consider your game! Now I'm worried that maybe the first boss battle sucks, which is why the dev chose to cut the demo off at that point. That having been said, the sprite-art is pretty solid in this title and having had great experiences with this developers other work, I'm considering biting the bullet and giving this one a shot as I did enjoy the short trial. I'll update the review later on down the road if I end up getting it.

Final Verdict: Heavy Recoil is a run 'n gun title with a very short trial. The little bit of the game I saw was pretty fun though.

Related Links:
Twin Tiger Shark - Xbox Overview
Broken Pearl - Xbox Overview
Birth Order - Xbox Overview
X.S.E.E.D. - Xbox Overview
Heavy Recoil - GameFAQs
Wide Pixel Games - Official Site

Birth Order (XBLIG, 2012)

Birth Order
Developed by Mikael Tillander
Released for XBLIG (3/2012)

Birth Order is a horizontal 2D shmup from Mikael Tillander, who would later go on to form Wide Pixel Games and create some of the better shooters on XBLIG (check out Broken Pearl and Twin Tiger Shark). Everyone has to start somewhere though, and there's a reason this is one of his titles that stayed exclusive to XBLIG. That's not to say it's all bad, however, as the game controls well and has some pretty cool ideas, there's just not really a whole lot to it. You have four methods of fire, each mapped to a different face button on your pad. Enemies can only be defeated by whatever button they are assigned to (you will literally see the button on the enemy). It's a decent idea but in execution it doesn't work quite so well. If you have the controller layout dedicated to memory, the game is far too easy for the most part. If you struggle to remember which button is where, however, you may have a difficult time with this game. The levels are very short, you'll shoot some fodder enemies for a little bit then face off against a boss. The boss battles will actually require some bullet dodging which is a bit difficult due to your ships one and only default speed. Birth Order looks good with its weird ship designs, decent looking backdrops and bonus point stars exploding all over the screen from downed enemies but the gameplay overall is a bit lacking. With no need to line your shots up and just pressing buttons to take out your enemies, Birth Order looks like a shmup but doesn't really play like one.

Final Verdict: Birth Order looks like a shmup but is more of a button-match-em-up. It's nice to see attempts at innovation but this one didn't really work out.

Related Links:
Wide Pixel Games - Xbox Overview
Birth Order - GameFAQs
Wide Pixel Games - Official Site