1993 Space Machine
I confess I purchased this mainly for the nostalgia factor. After completing 1993:SM I can say the tagline “celebrating games like Gradius, R-Type and Life Force” is realistic but tends to underestimate some bullet hell elements that are present in game.
Bullet hell did indeed surface in year 1993 but was not a popular subgenre until the second half of the decade. What we have here, to summarize, is a mostly classic horizontal shooter, with occasional incursions in bullet hell territory - especially in some overcrowded passages where complex bullet geometries and bullet wave patterns tend to show up, challenging you to not only shoot but dodge, too. I’d say the classic/BH ratio is 80/20, but your mileage may vary.
– Real player with 19.9 hrs in game
Read More: Best Gun Customization Co-op Games.
1993 Space Machine is short, simple but very fun 2D side scrolling Shoot Em' Up. The game is easy to pick up and play - You guide your space ship through five stages in your mission to defeat the final boss.
That is not to say the game itself is easy. Stages rapidly increase in difficulty and you will soon find yourself fending off multiple enemies and stage hazards. There are two classes of ships to choose from - A small, nimble but weaker ship or a slower ship that can tank more damage and carry more weapons. Personally I prefered the former, they were just generally better at avoiding enemy projectiles and stage hazards. I would recommend trying both types of ships and seeing which you prefer.
– Real player with 13.1 hrs in game
Blasters of the Universe
I play on the Oculus Rift and it works perfect with only 180 degrees of freedom.
This is my all time favorite VR game of the about 130+ titles I’ve played so far. It was much better than expected on the video.
The gameplay is amazingly perfect! Bullet hell is a very good discription of this game. There’s always shots and enemies somewhere and you have time to react to everything going on. I truly feel that it’s my own fault for doing something stupid and I get better all the time. All the shots coming at you makes it super immersive. The formations of the shots makes it very interesting how to tacle them. Finding a spot to stand where everything flies around you feels awesome.
– Real player with 30.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best Gun Customization Bullet Hell Games.
BOTU is a wave shooter set inside a retro themed arcade game - it’s conscious about you playing a VR game.
You have a gun and a shield. As you progress through the “campaign” you unlock more shield types and components for the weapon customization. As you make kills, your weapons special ability charges - this brief effect (also customizable) can be anything from a powerful ray to invulnerability.
There are 4 levels in the campaign, each ending with a boss fight. Once a level is unlocked, you can also play it in endless mode. On top of that there’s a challenge mode which runs for a few days, with a predetermined weapon and shield. There are global leaderboards for all levels/modes.
– Real player with 21.8 hrs in game
Saturday Morning Rogue
Saturday Morning Rogue is the top-down 2D roguelike where custom crafted weapons are the only way you’re getting out alive. Pick up persistent custom weapons and armor of past players that are now stuck in Saturday morning forever. If you’re going to defeat the villains of each realm and destroy the corporate machine you’ll need to build some serious equipment of your own. Want more damage? do it. Need to push yourself across the map with explosive recoil? Go wild. The power is yours to create terrifying tools of destruction or hilarious weapons that never should have left the toy aisle!
You’ve been sucked into your favorite Saturday morning cartoons and must fight your way through the Hierarchy’s boomer bots in the zaniest bullet-hell challenge this side of Sunday. Thwart the Hierarchy’s plan to steal the power of your imagination and feed the cereal laden action figure printing machine. Start at the bottom and defeat their plot for profit by climbing the ladder and pushing bosses down another rung. It’s time to weaponize imagination!
Features:
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Create extremely customizable weapons and armor that appear forever in the game, dropping from enemies for other players to use.
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Every stat is yours to fine-tune. Modify damage, recoil, critical hit rate, and many more to craft the ultimate weapon!
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Explore twisted procedural levels from the LepreFaun’s playful maze forest to the Boomer’s corporate castle and the Bone Apple King’s dungeon of empty bowls.
Read More: Best Gun Customization Colorful Games.
Antibody
You are the cure.
Sanguon, an otherwordly and newly discovered planet, has found itself the hotbed for a highly infectious alien lifeform. After intercepting a distress call from the surface research colony, you conclude the infection rate will outrun your efforts to contact your fellow humans. It is up to your piloting skills and the peculiar cleansing capabilities of your allied Chonklers to save Sanguon - and indeed the universe - from Viroid assimilation.
Multitask to victory.
Efficiently and continuously reposition your Chonkler companions to impede the rising infection. But stay alert, as your friendly critters are completely defenseless and will need your maneuverability and firepower to keep them safe as increasingly dangerous waves of enemies amass to attack.
Their loss is your gain.
Viroid corruption siphoned by the Chonklers can be converted into power-ups by your ship. Radar improvements? Piercing shot? Do you save up for big upgrades, or do you enjoy a flurry of smaller ones? The choice is yours.
A blast from the past, in the present.
A love letter to shoot ‘em up classics like Gradius, R-Type and Defender. Undeniably gameplay driven and thoroughly indulging in 80’s sci-fi pulp, Antibody is sure to excite arcade enthusiasts.
AST-Hero
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AST-Hero is a top-down space-shooter, with unique graphics and sounds.
Everything was custom-handmade.
It offers a great player experience and is difficult to master although the game learning curve is easy.
AST-Hero is inspired by the 1979 hit Asteroids. It comes with a lot of new and interesting features and answers our main question:
If asteroids would have been done in 2020, how would it look like?
Are you ready to fight through 40 levels and defeat the mighty mothership?
Some of the features of the game:
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Gamepad compatible
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Fun to play
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Quick and reactive gameplay
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Easy learning curve
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40 levels
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5 difficulty levels
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A tutorial to help new players understand the gameplay
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Voice-overs during the tutorial and in the shop
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Subtitles during the tutorial
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Endless playing environment
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Mini-Bosses and End Boss
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Locked screen pre-boss mechanics
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Multiple weapons to choose from
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A shop to buy weapons and upgrades
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Special bonus weapons
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Amazing and tailored soundtracks
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Unique handmade design
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Handmade sound-effects
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Coded without libraries
Always The Same Nightmare
Always the Same Nightmare Review
7.8/10 - Above Average
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Good music
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Fun gameplay
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Good level design
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Inconsistent graphics
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Bugs & crashes
Playing through and 100%ing Always the Same Nightmare (ATSN for short) was a much more enjoyable experience than the developer’s previous game, Bloopy & Droopy. Both games are fun to play but I think ATSN is much more up my alley in terms of game design since I really enjoy faster paced, difficult games. I think on that front, ATSN nails it. It is a very fast, challenging game and it is very satisfying to overcome challenges.
– Real player with 13.1 hrs in game
Jetboard Joust
Introduction
Jetboard Joust is a pixelart roguelike shmup. It’s the sequel to a ZX Spectrum game the developer made as a teen 30 years ago which in turn was inspired by Joust. The sequel has game elements from Defender as well. A major improvement overall.
Gameplay
You’re on a jetboard equipped with a pistol, your task is to protect the babies, clear the level of bad guys and destroy the world bosses. You jetboard is capable of jousts, temporary boosts you can use to quickly get away from a fight or destroy multiple enemies at once.
– Real player with 73.0 hrs in game
Kind of like Defender and a bunch of other cool arcade games from the 80s did a shedload of PCP and then spawned this monster.
Gameplay is very Defender-esque. Basically shoot everything - especially the aliens that are abducting the humanoids, only with a gazillion more enemies and weapons, most of which are very chunky and satisfying (sometimes downright hilarious) to use.
Then there’s a roguelite element where you choose a route through the different levels to earn different types of bonuses and also earn cash which can be spent on upgrading weapons and other equipment. It’s enough to add a layer of depth and replayability to the game but not too much to distract from the overall blast-fest.
– Real player with 21.9 hrs in game
GUN&DUN
What a magnificent game. The best i have ever played in my life. This is a life changing game and this game was so good it impregnated me even though i am male. Every second i played this I shat my pants with glee. 100000000000/10
– Real player with 0.3 hrs in game
GG Dev Kid…GG
– Real player with 0.3 hrs in game
Space Elite Force
Summary:
(longer version below)
Space Elite Force is a pretty neat and lite side-shooter, offering some builds/customization and a fair amount of gameplay. It doesn’t come without drawbacks, but they’re minor, so at the end of the day, depending how much you pay for it, you can get a pretty decent local co-op game without regretting it.
| Achievements: | Cloud Saving: | Trading Cards: | Workshop: |
– Real player with 7.0 hrs in game
Reminescient of games like R-Type and Gradius, this shootem will bring back fond memories. It is a masterpiece and a game done right in this genre. It is 99 cents well spent. I would’ve gladly paid for $5 or more for it. Exceptional development.
| Pros | Cons |
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shmup
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in space
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upgrades
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great graphics
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great audio
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joystick
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active developer
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- joystick, because keyboard does suck in this game
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– Real player with 4.4 hrs in game
Velvet Guard
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Review by Sven Evil - Steam’s largest local 4-player curator! See 100s of more local 4-player reviews at my curator page !
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Sometimes you unexpectedly find a real gem. This game is such a hidden gem. A small, but very polished game that I never heard of before, but understood in seconds and had fun with immediately!
The premise is simple: Kill your opponents, like in Towerfall or Duck Games. You got only one bullet. After shooting it, you have to retrieve it before you can shoot again. The different levels contain death traps, like spikes or lava. Also each character can choose a super ability, like the possibility to kill opponents by jumping on their heads. You also have a few options to select and gamemodes to choose from - and then the fun starts!
– Real player with 5.6 hrs in game
An awesome multiplayer game to play with your friends, to a good price too. There’s even possiblity to play online with Parsec!
– Real player with 5.2 hrs in game