Hardcore became Ultracore and is in the final stretch of pre-ordering

Hardcore was a "lost" DICE game they abandoned when the console world moved on from the 16-bit era. The game was finished but the platforms were dead.

Strictly Limited Games has now made the game available and along the way it expanded from PS Vita and PS4 to Switch and Mega Drive / Genesis and they decided on a name change: Ultracore. Judging by the looks of the Strictly Limited Games website, the PS Vita version was dropped along the way too.

Anyway, it's a run'n'gun and if you want it in your collection there's about 9 hours left to order it. Predictably, the Mega Drive / Genesis version is already sold out.

Radirgy Swag goes west/physical and Neurovoider goes physical

The new Radirgy game that was released recently (June 13th) on the eShop for Switch in Japan is coming west - and, get this, going physical! Look for it on October 15th or pre-order: Limited Edition and Standard Edition.

The skinny on the Limited Edition:

The Limited Edition version comes complete with a physical copy of Radirgy Swag, Original Artbook, Original 180g vinyl soundtrack with custom cover, Custom coin. Final design details will be updated soon!  We will update when visuals are approved!

This version will NOT be available at retail.  Strictly limited to one pressing - album collectors take note!

And here's what they say about the game itself:

Take a quick trip to the moon!

Enjoy the radio wave shooter with a Japanese pop culture twist.

Radirgy Swag is a unique shooter with game mechanics that can be enjoyed by players of all different levels. The planes in Radirgy Swag are not only equipped with guns, but you can also destroy enemies with your sword. This feature allows you to attack your enemies from different angles.  Use your shield or fill up your Absonet gauge to give you temporary invincibility against your foes. Master both offensive and defensive techniques to conquer your mission.

Meanwhile, RPG-like twin-stick shooter Neurovoider has gotten a physical release for both PlayStation 4 and Switch from Red Art Games. Available to order now, limited to 1500 PS4 copies and 2800 Switch copies.

R-Type Final 2 creator Granzella talks

Polygon has a great interview with Kazuma Koju, one of the founding members of Granzella (and ex-Irem staff) that's making the new R-Type Final 2 game a reality after a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign.

It's a great read from James Mielke who obviously has a great deal of knowledge and passion about the R-Type series.

Nintendo Switch Raiden V Director's Cut trailer released

Raiden V Director's Cut is launching July 25th on the Japanese eShop.



The Nintendo Switch version is late to the party with the game out since forever on Steam, PlayStation 4 and (especially) Xbox One. It's still a great game though, if you've managed to somehow miss it and have a Switch, by all means get it!

Run'n'gun Valfaris coming to Switch

If you'd like to get your Run'n'Gun on there's certainly the new Contra collection, but once you've blasted through that (good luck!) you can turn your attention to Valfaris which by the looks and sounds of it has the right attitude.

Coming "soon".

Q-YO Blaster blasting its way onto Switch tomorrow

The team behind the Panzer Dragoon remake is releasing Q-YO Blaster tomorrow on the Nintendo Switch for those wishing to get a head start getting to know these guys before that Dragoon drops. Gonintendo tells us it's out tomorrow.

Q-Yo features:
10 stages with animated backgrounds and high detail
Characters by class
Arcade mode
Weapons and Perks
Super Special Powers
Variety of enemies and confrontations against great bosses
Difficulty levels
CRT mode

Caladrius Blaze for Switch gets a trailer

Horizon Shift ´81 PC release review

Available on Steam (and Nintendo Switch).

Twin-stick shooter Project AETHER is getting Kickstarted

Project AETHER is a new twin-stick shooter being kickstarted right now. A demo is available. Target platform is Steam but Switch and Xbox One are being considered. The Kickstarter is about a third of the way with 18 days to go, if it looks interesting, chip in!

Bullet Heaven reviews SSDS3

Bullet Heaven reviews Terraonions excellent Super SD System 3, the flashcart/ODE-hybrid for the PC Engine.


...and I agree. It is pricey. But acquiring and (maybe harder) keeping all old hardware running will become increasingly difficult and expensive as the years roll on.

Do yourself and your PC Engine a favor and get an SSDS3.

A first here: MSX2 gets a new shmup

So... MSX was a computer standard roughly around the same time the Commodore 64 and Commodore 128 was around. It was mainly a hit in Japan but had some shaky showings in Europe (I remember mainly the Spectravideo offerings SVI-728/738). By the time MSX2 showed up as a souped-up standard the game was mostly up. I never saw any MSX2 machine in Europe outside music stores (maybe they had a great MIDI interface or something?).

Anyway. What better way to revive interest in old hardware than to launch a brand spanking new MSX2 shmup?

Caravan Boomer is coming early 2020 with pre-orders already accepted. The game is written in assembly language and features music from luminaries such as Shinji Hosoe (EspGaluda, Strret Fighter EX) and Masahiko Ishida (R-Type 2, Ninja Spirits). The game has two modes, normal and (ta-da!) caravan. There will be a limited physical release available for about 40€.

Terraonion had a big day of announcements

Terraonion is the spanish company behind the flashcarts for Neo Geo AES, Neo Geo MVS and the amazing flashcart+ODE (Optical Disc Emulator) SSDS3 for the PC Engine, and today they had some great new announcements:
1. The NeoSD AES & MVS Pro carts can play Neo Geo CD games from SD card. Yes, really!
2. MegaSD is a basically an SSDS3 for the Mega Drive/Genesis. Yes, a Sega CD/Mega CD ODE in an FPGA implementation that plugs into your Mega Drive/Genesis/Mega sg (and yes again, the Mega Drive FPGA re-creation is supported!)

This enables so many shmups across the systems involved that I can practically feel my thumbs ache already!

Here's the whole announcement extravaganza:

Rolling Gunner english homepage opens up in time for Switch western release

With the western release imminent (June 20th!) for Nintendo Switch, Rolling Gunner now has a translated homepage for westerners.

Pawarumi coming to Switch and Xbox One

Cast back your minds... On January 30th 2018, Pawarumi was released on Steam.

Now, on July 24th, it's getting a release on Nintendo Switch with a physical release also promised but without any date set.

The homepage for Pawarumi also teases an Xbox One version...

FullBlast 2 is in the works

FullBlast, for those who don't know, is a vertically scrolling shmup available for PlayStation 4 and Vita, Xbox One and Switch that was released in early autumn 2018.

The developer just posted an early look at the sequel (it's literally just this picture):

So no word yet on platform but guesstimating I'd say the only likely dropout is PS Vita which has been on-again, off-again retired by Sony.

2019 SEUCK competition open

The 2019 Shoot'Em'Up Construction Kit (SEUCK) competition is open, all games are available to play and you get to vote for your favorite to pick a lucky winner.

If you have a Commodore 64 or VICE at hand, start playing!

Votes need to be in by June 30th.

SuperGrafx gets an incomplete R-Type port

You thought the PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 was obscure?

Think again, the two dozen or so people who has the successor to PC Engine, the mighty SuperGrafx, can now enjoy the first four(-ish) levels of R-Type on the system. RetroRGB has the story.


It's distributed as an IPS-patch available here.

Rolling Gunner goes west (and physical!)

It's been some time coming (it was promised back in January when the game was released for Switch in Japan) but June 20th is the release date for the western release of Rolling Gunner.

Make sure you have a credit card or Nintendo Points ready because this is one game you're gonna want to play! Sometimes patience pays off! (But yes, the japanese release already has a patch with full english translation)


EDIT: A physical version is planned for later in the year.

Ikaruga gets physical again

Ikaruga is a really great shooter with puzzle elements or possibly a still great puzzle game with shooting elements. Whichever way you see it there's no denying that it is already readily available to play:
First developed for the arcade, it was first ported to Dreamcast and subsequently to GameCube, Xbox 360 (it's compatible with Xbox One), Windows, Switch and PlayStation 4. The physical releases in that long list of targeted platforms are only Dreamcast and GameCube (sure, the arcade release was physical but if you're into arcade PCBs you already knew that) however.

But now Nicalis is doing us all a favor and releasing it physically for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch:

No details yet on release date.

TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine CoreGrafx mini announcement trailers

Of course, you could just get a Super SD System 3 and enjoy the entire PC Engine library.

E3 2019 turns out to not be a complete dud for shmup fans

Let's get this out of the way, Konami, until recently thought to have abandoned console gaming made a stunning comeback:


Contra Anniversary Collection is out now on PlayStation 4, Switch, Xbox One and Steam.

And a new canonical game in the series was announced, Contra Rogue Corps:

Switch version coming September 24th this year.

On top of this they also announced a PC Engine mini (although it appears to be a 1:1 replica size-wise):

Different regions get different games but all regions get some shmups.

We already knew that Panzer Dragoon was being remade but neither platform nor date was set. Well, the platform is (initially) Nintendo Switch and it's coming this winter:

News round-up of the last few days

Taito has confirmed that Space Invaders Invincible Collection is coming to Nintendo's Switch. Six titles are included, including never-before-ported-to-consoles Space Cyclone.

R-Type Final 2 Kickstarter wraps up in a couple of hours after what can only be described as a week of massive success, as of now it has smashed through $800.000 and keeps ticking.

Horizon Shift '81 (out already for Switch) launches on PlayStation 4 and Steam today.


Shmups on Switch has posted a Psikyo Retrospective:


And finally here's an english fan translation of Dreamcast shmup Karous.

The Dreamcast STG Chronicle Episode 3

Bullet Heavens ongoing (never stop!) Dreamcast STG Chronicle series has reached episode 3 and it's all about the shift from 2D to 3D shmups on the platform.

R-Type Final 2 Kickstarter is live

In a clear stroke of stone-cold japanese craziness the Kickstarter for R-Type Final 2 is alive and kicking (ahem) but they've set it to run for only one week and are looking for something in the ballpark of 400.000$US. They've already past 100.000$ as of right now but we all know kickstarters ramp up fast and then taper of just as fast.

I can't believe they set it for just a week. Anyway, go and pledge right now!

Also, second trailer:


EDIT: Keep pledging by all means but the Kickstarter has been a raging success and has already smashed the first goal. This is happening! I guess I'm the crazy one for thinking this would never work in a week!

Caladrius Blaze coming to Switch

In a sneak announcement, Play-Asia has put up Caladrius Blaze for Nintendo Switch for pre-order. It's due out July 19th.

Caladrius and its Blaze brethren has been available for some time on PlayStation 3 and 4 and Xbox 360.

Devil Engine Ignition announced

The celebrated Devil Engine game is getting a remix in the form of a DLC for Switch and Steam available this winter, named Devil Engine Ignition (shades of Crimson Clover?) it promises new challenges to pilots willing to take up the gauntlet. With new stages, new music and (I presume) the same punishing difficulty this should be quite the bone to chew on this winter.

The PlayStation 4 version will include Ignition when it ships.

Radiant Silvergun soundtrack coming to vinyl

Data Discs has announced that they are working with Treasure, the company behind Radiant Silvergun, to put out its soundtrack on vinyl. Details are sketchy but this should be great fun, maybe followed by Ikaruga?

Data Discs has the Thunder Force IV soundtrack on vinyl up for pre-order right now.

Wings of Bluestar Steam page up

To me, who has followed the development of the game for quite some time it's really nice to see the Steam page come alive.

Make sure you check this one out, I have a good feeling.