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Big Bang Mini lights up the sky with new screens

Posted Jul 1st 2008 11:00PM by Eric Caoili
Filed under: Screens

With a colorful, exciting shoot-em-up like Space Invaders now on the market, would-be shmup developers really need to step their game up to catch our attention. Arkedo Studios (Nervous Brickdown) seems to have done just that with Big Bang Mini!

Due this fall, this touchscreen shooter features a fireworks mechanic that is just as vibrant as it is unique -- instead of firing bullets at incoming waves, players draw in fireworks, detonating and chaining the scrawled explosives to clear as many enemies as possible.

The enemy designs are just as creative -- marionette skeletons, walruses riding on flying carpets, and monkeys floating above a city skyline. See them all in our gallery of new Big Bang Mini images below!

Gallery: Big Bang Mini

Metal Slug 7 in 2008 for Europe?

Posted Jun 30th 2008 12:30PM by David Hinkle
Filed under: Rumors

According to French gaming site Wiiz, our brothers and sisters across the pond might be getting Metal Slug 7 later this year. Should this go down, we imagine you'll be just as intoxicated by the action on your DS as we will be when the title hits U.S. shores.

Considering that Wiiz doesn't source anyone for this "news," however, we're going to keep this one filed under the Rumors section.

Gallery: Metal Slug 7

[Via Go Nintendo]

Long list of DS titles headed for Europe

Posted Jun 24th 2008 11:00AM by David Hinkle
Filed under: News

Europeans, rejoice! Today brings news regarding release dates for DS titles up until the beginning of next year. The list is populated with plenty of high-profile titles, yet is woefully absent of a certain Professor Layton. There's also a concrete confirmation that Trials & Tribulations is headed your way, even though we kind of knew that already.

Even more odd is the inclusion of Sonic Unleashed in the list past the break. Is the game coming to the DS? Maybe, but it seems more likely that this is nothing more than a typo.

Continue reading Long list of DS titles headed for Europe

Brits: Drill your way to HMV for cheap games

Posted Jun 20th 2008 6:00PM by Chris Greenhough
Filed under: Sales

Summer in the northern hemisphere officially starts today, which means one thing: sharing strawberries with a loved one in a tranquil hay meadow as you soak up the rays grabbing cheap games in the sales! The folks at HMV know the heat turns us Brits into mushy-minded impulse buyers, and so they've gone and slashed prices on approximately 30 DS titles to around the £12 - £15 mark. Here's the best of what's on offer:

• Mr. Driller: Drill Spirits for £11.99
• Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings for £15.99
• Drawn to Life for £11.99
• The Simpsons Game for £12.99
• Geometry Wars: Galaxies for £12.99
• Sim City for £11.99
• MySims for £14.99
• Magical Starsign for £11.99
  

Remember also that HMV offers free shipping to the UK, so you won't need to leave your La-Z-Boy and expose yourself to that nasty summer sun.

Gallery: Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings

Get Ketsui boss advice from Cave's boss

Posted Jun 16th 2008 2:45PM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: News, Imports

Arika's Ketsui DS is more than just a stripped-down "boss rush" version of an arcade shmup -- though it does seem to be a boss rush, judging from the website's description of the difficulty levels (which show different progressions of bosses based on the difficulty). It's being loaded with extra DS content including levels that can be shared via download play, recordable replays (which can also be shared), and an "Evac Report" mode, which seems to contain an unlockable art gallery.

The wackiest new feature is the "Oshiete IKD-san!" ("Teach me, IKD-san!") mode, in which Cave's president, Tsuneki Ikeda ("IKD"), offers shmup lessons to the player. Shooting Training: of course!

[Via Insert Credit]

Metal Slug 7 site updates with new screens

Posted Jun 16th 2008 11:00AM by David Hinkle
Filed under: News, Screens

The official site for upcoming SNK title, Metal Slug 7, has updated with some new goodies for fans. For those of you who want to know more about the cast of the game, there's an updated character profile page. Also, you'll find a boatload of screens showing off gameplay, the rankings screens and "Combat School," which looks like training missions.

You can find all of the new screens in our gallery below, so head on in and check out the eye candy.

Gallery: Metal Slug 7

[Via Go Nintendo]

Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ screens, site arise from the grave

Posted Jun 9th 2008 9:00PM by Eric Caoili
Filed under: Video, Screens

Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ, formerly just Zombie BBQ, keeps looking better and better. We have a habit of championing strange titles, and we'll make no exception with this fairy tale shoot-em-up!

How did developer Enjoy Up (Chronos Twins) come up with the idea to recreate Little Red Riding Hood as a busty blonde with a machine gun and a penchant for blasting down undead wolves? And what spark of imagination convinced the studio to team her up with Momo "PeachBoy" Taro, a ninja born from a peach and armed with a grenade launcher? Genius, all of it.

Publisher Gammick Entertainment has launched an official site for the game, and, in addition to its wicked trailer, the hub has some great profiles for its zombified fairy tale characters, like ablood-thirsty cyborg Pinocchio and a flesh-eating Sleeping Beauty. Check out some of the other undead creatures and twenty new screenshots in our gallery below!

Gallery: Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ

Don't shoot these Ketsui DS screens down

Posted May 27th 2008 12:30PM by David Hinkle
Filed under: Screens, Imports

There's no hiding your secret. After seeing the latest on Ketsui DS, we know you're absolutely in love with the game now. It's okay, we fell in love immediately way back in September, so we know full well your pain right now, as your body must be violently, and randomly, throwing itself into convulsions of desire for the title. That's how it's been for us, at least.

Well, courtesy of Famitsu, we all get a brief fix. Their site has a variety of screens up for your perusing pleasure. Also reiterated is the inclusion of a DVD showing Japanese gamers how to get those high scores. Of course, we already knew about that.

Gallery: Ketsui DS

Ketsui DS lives, almost complete

Posted May 23rd 2008 7:00PM by David Hinkle
Filed under: News, Video, Screens

Upon first laying eyes on Akira's Ketsui DS, we don't have to tell you how awesome the game looks. But, as quick as we were to get excited, it died down after months of not hearing a darn thing about the project. That is, until another trailer popped up on the internet. Now, our excitement, it returns!

It turns out, they've been working hard on the game all this time. So while we've had nothing but month after month of silence, it might have turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The title is due for release on October 23rd in Japan.

After you check out the trailer above, be sure to hit up our gallery below for a bunch of screens from the game.

Gallery: Ketsui DS

[Via Siliconera; trailer courtesy of Go Nintendo]

Bangai-O Spirits: first English screens!

Posted May 10th 2008 12:00PM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: Screens

We're pleased to report that being able to read all of the text on the screen in Bangai-O Spirits does not ruin the hype for us. Obviously. We got by just fine on limited Japanese skill during our GDC playthrough, but we are dying for a chance to explore all the options and menus in full. Our gallery is now rife with delightful English screens. Now you can see which weapons are being displayed onscreen!

More importantly, now that screens of the English menus are available, we can see that stages in the Edit Mode are divided into categories. "Treasure's Best" must be the new stages we were told would be added between the Japanese and U.S. releases. We find it interesting that the puzzle stages are separated, as well.

We're so happy to see progress being made! Get here soon, Bangai-O.

Gallery: Bangai-O Spirits

[Via press release]

Momotaro joins the Zombie BBQ

Posted Apr 25th 2008 12:00PM by Alisha Karabinus
Filed under: Screens

As if it wasn't enough that we'd get to play one pissed-off Red Riding Hood (she's armed and out of control!) in the forthcoming Zombie BBQ, publisher Gammick Entertainment has announced a second playable character: legendary Japanese hero Momotaro. Once you take the reins of one of these epic characters of folklore and fable, you'll be pitted against such enemes as UNDEAD GRETEL and PESTILENTIAL PINOCCHIO.

If there's a line for this game, you can expect that we'll be first. Zombie BBQ sounds too hilarious to be missed. It looks it, too; check out the screenshots below if you're not convinced.

Gallery: Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ

[Via press release]

Friday Video: Brinstar Spirits

Posted Mar 28th 2008 8:00PM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: Friday video

Another set of Bangai-O Spirits stages to save

Posted Mar 28th 2008 2:15PM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: News, Imports

We've been talking about Bangai-O Spirits stages a lot lately, but, well, we don't want to miss out on any stages just because the U.S. game isn't out yet -- and we don't want any other future Bangai-O players (you are out there, right?) to miss out either. The fan community, while small, seems to be enjoying the feature and sharing. The media is also taking advantage of the fact that they can easily host Bangai-O content on their own sites.

Dengeki made some stages of their own that are absolutely worth a look -- they decided to use the stage components to make playable art pieces. No idea how the image to the right will be to play, but it sure is cool-looking! In addition, two more stages and replays have been added to the official Bangai-O Spirits website.

We're hoping that the American media will get into the act when the game comes out over here. Oh, wait -- that's us. Well, then, we can confirm that they will.

Gallery: Bangai-O Spirits

Free SHMUPs: OpenTyrian DS and World Reborn

Posted Mar 28th 2008 12:00PM by Eric Caoili
Filed under: Homebrew, GBA, Video

What a great time to be a handheld shoot-em-up fan! On the commercial front, Nanostray 2 just hit store shelves and Ketsui DS is still on the way. Homebrew gamers had their lives changes by Super Wings's release last week, and now they have two more titles to play with -- OpenTyrian DS and World Reborn.

OpenTyrian DS (v0.2) is a port of vertical-scrolling shooter Tyrian, originally a PC title. Players pick up cash while blasting their way through stages which they can then spend on ship modifications in between levels. There's a huge variety of upgrades available for purchase -- primary and secondary weapons (with 11 levels), "sidekicks," shields, energy generators, and even alternate ships. If you have a flaschart handy, you definitely need to try this one out.

As for World Reborn, this horizontal-scrolling SHMUP (with an RPG leveling system) was originally intended as a commercial GBA release and even had a DS sequel planned for a minute, but the game never made it to the retail market. Though developer NeoPong (now defunct) had plans to publish World Reborn with DSI Games, that deal fell through, and the studio has decided to put up the ROM for free rather than pack it away in a warehouse, Indiana Jones-style. Jump past the post break for a trailer of the game.

Read - Download OpenTyrian DS
Read - Download World Reborn

Continue reading Free SHMUPs: OpenTyrian DS and World Reborn

Square Enix confirms awesome trio for Europe [update 2]

Posted Mar 27th 2008 11:15AM by Chris Greenhough
Filed under: News

Update 2: And now any mention of the paddle peripheral has disappeared again from our press release! We're confused as can be at the moment, but we're contacting Square Enix for clarification ... now. Stay tuned!

Update: Silly us, we totally overlooked some critical parts of the press release. It mentions an "optional paddle controller" for Arkanoid DS, which causes us to think the game could release in a bundle including the peripheral. We've also included the full press release past the post break.

Oh, happy days!

Square Enix just confirmed a tremendous triumvirate of releases for Europe, with Space Invaders Extreme, Arkanoid, and Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift all due in the region this summer.

Fantastic news, but there are two questions we urgently need answering. One: will the two Taito titles enjoy the same budget price that looks likely for the U.S. release? And two: will we be getting the wonderful paddle controller for said games? We can't think of any reason why we shouldn't receive such a peripheral, but the lack of an announcement is concerning.

Gallery: Final Fantasy Tactics A2

Gallery: Space Invaders Extreme

[Via press release]

Continue reading Square Enix confirms awesome trio for Europe [update 2]

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