Rising Star Games paired with Thunderful at PAX EAST this year to demo a brand new spaceship shooter straight from Japan. Natsuki Chronicles, from developer QUTE is an ambitious sci-fi spaceship shooter with a unique story, dynamic combat, and a focus on the mechanics that make spaceship shooter a blast to play. Natsuki Chronicles follows the story of Natsuki, a young female rookie pilot that fights to unlock the memories of her past. In a story that parallels the universe of

The 1990s were home to some of the most rebellious moments in human history. Somehow, in a decade that had earth-shattering moments such as Windows 95 and the rise of The Request Live, the wildly-talented team at Wide Right Games has brought together a fine team of wildly eclectic designers and engineers to create “the most bat@#$% crazy space shooter.” Wide Right Games has created Freedom Finger, an unapologetic and eclectic spaceship shooter, with a tremendous degree of cre

A massive armada is heading to Earth. The defense fleet has been completely destroyed. Only you and a handful of fighters managed to escape. The only way to save your planet is to fasten your seatbelt, lock-on and go get some. This is Steredenn: Binary Stars, a wild and aggressive spaceship shooter by PixelNest studio, and available on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch. Steredenn: Binary Stars is a spaceship shooter, a genre of game that has seen plenty of

Shoot-’em Ups and spaceship-shooters have been around for a little over 30 years. For the most part, the genre is tried-and-true. These games have simple gameplay mechanics for players that yield instantaneous fun for anyone looking for a quick game to play. As they go, players press start, hop into a ship and start blasting waves upon waves of enemies. From Galaga, RayStatorm, and 1943 to DariusBurst and Afterburner II, there is a nearly endless library of great shoot-em-ups

Spaceship shooters are awesome, but they are very often overlooked in the industry. However, spaceship shooters are oftentimes, the very first type of game players get a chance to play for their simplicity, sense of action, and sense of excitement. Growing up, I played games such as Gradius, R-Type, RayStorm, and Einhander, all of which were spaceship shooters that were filled with a tremendous amount of action and excitement, even for a short time. Of course, these games wer

Monsters have taken over Ancient Korea. These monstrosities terrorize and plague the land with their horrendous abominations. When armies cannot fight them, who are you going to call? Two witches that are skilled with witchcraft and wizardry. From Digerati game publishing and Developer DeerFarm comes Shikhondo: Soul Eater, an arcade shoot-’em-up game set within an ancient Korean world. Asian mythology is rich in lore and history, from the various tales of Gods and Goddesses t

Life is a matter of balance. A balance of good and a balance of evil. While their lines are oftentimes blurred by the actions of man, it is crucial to the success and future of humanity that his balance is kept in check at all times. When demons erupt from the bowels of hell itself and disrupt that balance, it is up to a pair of brave witches to fight back. That battle will be waged with endless magic and an endless storm of bullets. This is Shikhondo: Soul Eater, a Korean sh

It was the dawning of a new age when 1950 rolled around. World War II was officially over. World peace had been achieved. American families were about to get new technologies, such as integrated circuits, television, and atomic energy. The way people lived would change for the better to create a bright new future. Everything was all set until the Earth stood still. Extraterrestrial invaders and their strange machines have begun invading the earth. Only the seasoned, elite pil

When I was a young boy, I was extraordinarily fascinated by anything related to space or vehicles. Part of this fascination was my huge enthusiasm for action-packed cartoons, such as Transformers, and grand sci-fi movies, such as Star Wars. At the time, the SNES was my system of choice, and the games I loved playing featured big, simple action and awesome vehicles. Titles that met these criteria included Cybernator, Metal Warriors, and Choplifter. However, one day, my mother

The long-running spaceship shooter, Raiden, is coming back to the United States this coming fall with the release of Raiden V: Director’s Cut. Raiden V is the fifth installment of the spaceship shooter franchise, which began in 1990. Known for its fast paced shooting combat, large mechanical enemies, and sheer overwhelming waves of enemies, the Raiden game has been seen on every single major gaming console, from Nintendo to PlayStation. Raiden V was originally released exclus

Flying a spaceship, racking up a high score, and blowing up enemies in colorful pixelated glory is a standard delight in video games, but Atari’s Defender did it rather differently in 1980. The game had players flying across the screen, in a circular path that looped constantly, putting players in a defensive position, as opposed to an offensive position. This kept players in a constant, frantic loop that required players to destroy the enemy while protecting the lives of hel

The SEGA Dreamcast can be best described by a lyric from Sir Elton Johns classic song in that it lived its life like a candle in the wind. On the market for only three short years, the Dreamcast made an astounding cultural impression with its plethora of games, before being snuffed out by the rise of the PS2. With the Dreamcast’s demise came the end of SEGAs reign in the console market and its beginnings as a third party publisher of various games. However, since that end, th

One of the most popular games at the Indie MegaBooth at Pax East was one of the newest games for the Nintendo Switch, Graceful Explosion Machine. Coming from Ontario Canada and studio VertexPop, Graceful Explosion is a nod to Atari’s classic arcade game, Defender, filled with color, multiple weapons, and many enemies to destroy. My demo had me go to a particular planet deep in an unknown solar system. There wasn’t any narrative given to me, other than that my purpose on the p

Spaceship shooters are some of the most classic and legendary genres in the history of video games. They are simple and engaging, providing instantaneous action set-pieces while requiring minimal player input. Spaceship shooter then becomes a matter of skill, requiring repeat gameplay to conquer some truly defying challenges. Chances are, you have played a shoot-em’ up to spaceship shooter in your lifetimes, whether it hails from arcade classics such as Galaxy Force II, or in

For many decades, ever since Orson Wells’ infamous radio broadcasting of “War of The Worlds,” man has often wondered the terrifying ideas of humans potentially making contact with beings not of our Earth.  Most of the time, those visions are met with tremendous destruction and an intergalactic war. Whether it be massive, intelligent bugs such as in Starship Troopers to the flying Locust saucers in Independence Day, we have often predicted that any encounter with aliens would

10 tons LTD announced earlier this week that a new game was making its way to consoles in November: Xeno Raid. Having recently released the incredibly satisfying Neon Chrome, which we reviewed here, Xenoraid looks to take the high-stakes action and shooting into the black gulfs of out space. Xeno Raid is a vertical scrolling shoot-em’ up, set within the prospects of Earth’s very first Space War. An alien presence has encountered humans and naturally, they aren’t going to let

When a toad wakes up with an empty belly, nothing is off the menu. Rudder Games’ newest title Toadled went into Steam’s beta testing this past week, and the shoot ”˜em up (lick ”˜em up?) is full of amusing and ridiculous humor that has great potential in any arcade. The game’s premise is obvious enough: you’re a hungry toad named Toad, and you need to lick up all the yummy critters drawn towards your weirdly magnetic mouth. The more you eat, the bigger Toad gets, until he rea

Spaceship shoot-em-ups, or Shmups for short, are one of the longest running and dedicated genres in video games. Through multiple generations of handheld and console gaming, shmups have remained in the industry, inviting players to sit back, have fun, and use their skills to save the universe. Shmups have come in a variety of forms and settings, but each one has dealt with the impossible scenario of defeating entire armies to achieve victory. Shmups have been making their way

The 16-bit era of video games gave rise to the most celebrated arcade shooting games of all time. On the SNES, games like Phalanx, Gradius III, and UN Fighter introduced tremendous, challenging gameplay with sharp visuals and incredible soundtracks. On the SEGA Genisis, as well as the SEGA CD, game such as Truxton, Robo-Aleste, and Silpheed introduced new mechanics and dynamics to shooting gameplay. Among them was a special series of video games, introduced onto both platform

Tucked in the back of the 6th Floor of the Washington State Convention Center was a special video game, involving space, action, and mechs. As it was the end of the first day, I caught the tremendous sounds coming from the both, which lured me over. The booth was Dream Loop Games, and their game was Stardust Galaxy Warriors. As I got to the booth, me, and three other attendees, gathered together to set forth onto the galactic adventure, to save the universe from evil. Stardus