Tag: Import
Review Batsugun Saturn Tribute Boosted - The Best Home Release Of Toaplan's Final Shmup
The Iceman Cometh
Toaplan, a shooting game developer that flew high in the '80s with titles like Twin Cobra and Truxton, possesses a formidable resume. Batsugun, the company's swan-song shooter, and one of its most historically significant works, spearheaded an evolution of the genre that remains prevalent today. Programmer Tsuneki Ikeda joined...
Review Akai Katana Shin - One Of CAVE’s Very Best Horizontal Bullet Hells
Live by the sword
CAVE Co. Ltd, the pioneering, god-tier arcade developer that reignited the shooting game genre in the '90s, has a portfolio to die for. After 17 years of cast-iron quality and unceasing invention, the sound of gunfire finally rang silent in 2012 with their swansong, Dodonpachi SaiDaiOuJou. Among Cave’s output, only a few entries...
Review Toaplan Arcade Garage: Hishou Same! Same! Same! - M2 Delivers Two Seminal Sharky Shmups
Send in the Toaplanes
M2’s ShotTriggers series has been an ongoing pilgrimage of preservation for some of the greatest shoot-em-up’s in arcade history. Hishou Same! Same! Same! combines an early Toaplan series of two: Hishouzame and Same! Same! Same!, known in the West as Flying Shark and Fire Shark, respectively. Both original arcade titles are...
Review Pocky & Rocky Reshrined - A Thrilling New Interpretation Of A SNES Classic
Rise and shrine
Note: This review is based on the Japanese release — the game launches in North America and Europe on 24th June 2022. Pocky & Rocky, a Super Nintendo top-down run-and-gun, was developer Natsume’s gold standard, fondly remembered for its taut arcade action, adventurous stage design, and beautiful visuals. Where Tengo...
Review Touken Ranbu Warriors - A 'My First Musou' That Adds Little To The Formula
The way of the Warriors
At first blush, Koei Tecmo’s Touken Ranbu Warriors appears to be something of a "My First Dynasty Warriors", or a "Diet" Musou. It’s based on DMM’s (popular in Japan) free-to-play browser-based collectable card game, targeted at Japanese women — specifically a subculture of otaku known as “katana women” – ladies...
Review Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid: Burst Forth!! Choro-gon Breath - A Middling Shmup Affair
Jumping on the Band Dragon
No option to rotate a display in a vertical oriented shoot-em-up is a worrying sign. Nevertheless, the option is conspicuously absent in Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid. What it does boast, though — unusually for a niche Japanese release — is a top-to-bottom English language translation, which makes this a more tempting...
Mini Review Raging Blasters - Another Fantastic Shmup We'd Love To See In The West
Compile killer
It’s just as well one can never have too many shoot-'em-ups, because, no bones about it, Raging Blasters is absolutely fantastic. A Japan-only release on Switch (though available on Steam) that's magically entirely in English from top to bottom, this is the kind of indie-gaming labour of love that deserves a great lungful of...
Review Cotton Fantasy - A Joyful, Mischievous, And Incredibly Varied Shmup
Any Witch Way
When it comes to the cute-’em-up sub-genre, the characterful witch Cotton and the series to which she lends her name are effectively royalty. There are other games that have been important in defining a niche where shmups’ staple fighter craft, tanks and laser turrets are replaced with kittens, candy canes and cuddly toys, of...
Review Dead or Alive Xtreme 3: Scarlet - A Sun-Soaked Romp That Loses Its Appeal Too Soon
Leer, there and everywhere
Welcome, one and all, to this beautiful tropical retreat – a place where weary people come to unwind with a host of activities including ball sports, endurance races, knocking opponents off platforms or simply relaxing on the beach. Oh yes, you can do all this and more on wonderful Wuhu Island... Hang on, that’s not...