You can only move back and forth at the bottom and cannot advance any higher. You starting off by picking your character, either female witch Marion (of Gunbird fame) or Male sky pirate Grutan.Įach level starts off with you at the bottom of the screen, flippers at the ready. Being a combination of breakout, pinball, and a traditional shmup, Gunbarich is certainly unique. Rating: B+Ī lot of fans thought Psikyo had lost their minds when Gunbarich was released on an unsuspecting world back in 2001. While there are infinite continues, your score, which resets every time you continue, will tell the tale of your skill or lack thereof. You will need every bit of skill you can muster in order to clear this game. The game is the very definition of bullet hell, as the screen is constantly filled with enemies and bullets. The music is tense and frantic keeping you pumped up for the carnage ahead. The sound effects consisting mostly of heavy explosions sound great and satisfy your bloodlust. The varied locations you visit (and blow up) are detailed very well and each area stands out.
Pretty standard for a top down shooter but effective nonetheless.Ĭonsidering the game was released in 1995, the graphics are crisp and full of detail. There are gold bars to collect in order to raise your score and various power-ups that increase your offensive power as well as giving you bombs.Ĭontrols are as follows: A fires your weapon, B or X drops your bomb, Y unleashes your formation attack in which smaller planes come in and assist briefly, and the left control stick guides your plane. As you fly over the varied landscapes you’ll have to worry about attackers both in the air and on ground. The game consists of eight stages, and you’ll find a wide range of variety as you start over land and sea before working your way to outer space and a hectic final battle on the moon. As you experiment and play with various planes you will eventually find one that fits your groove. When you start you pick from six different planes, each plane has the same basic attack but each one has its own unique super and formation attacks. Reminding me of Capcoms 19XX series, Strikers 1945 is a vertically scrolling shooter. In this article we look at their first three releases for the Nintendo Switch, which so happen to be three favorites of the shmup crowd. Being as there are so few of these games released nowadays it was quite a nice surprise when publisher Zerodiv started releasing the back catalog of Psikyo, one of the leading developers of shmup games. The shmup genre still has many fans, myself included, and we still hold a deep love for this nearly forgotten genre.
Short for “Shoot ’em up”, this genre was long an arcade favorite but, alas, it has been on the decline for many years.