Xydonia has a big (alpha) update

For those with memories that stretch that far, way back in 2016 the shmup Xydonia was successfully kickstarted and (it seemed) all but abandoned soon after. But the Xydonia team has come up for air every now and again through the years and that happened most recently yesterday.

There is now a downloadable, playable "Alpha 3" of the game available:
The game's mechanics went through many changes since the last build and we'd like you guys to test them directly. We thought that the best way to showcase them would be by splitting this into two different versions.

The first build (ALPHA VER. 3) is a sneak peek at part of the new content (WIP) that was added to Xydonia. The other one (ALPHA FIGHTER SPECIAL VER. 01) is shorter, more gameplay-centered, with a new approach to level design and scoring, while also including some of the upgrades we made to the engine, like tighter controls, aspect ratio switching and precise collision detection. This build represents a more faithful vertical slice of the final game and will act as a blueprint for the upcoming playable content we'll be releasing exclusively for backers starting from the ALPHA FIGHTER tier.

So, considering that we have two builds on our hands, maybe sharing one of them with everyone would be a good way to repay both the trust and patience you've put into our project.
Click HERE to download XYDONIA ALPHA VER. 3!

Maybe Xydonia will see the light of day as a real game some day but with this development pace i'm placing release around 2030 for this one.

New Neo Geo shooter up on Kickstarter

Project Neon, a new shmup/STG for the Neo Geo platform has hit Kickstarter. You know i'm not the biggest fan of Kickstarter but don't let that deter you from tossing money at projects you care about.

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.

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!

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.

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!

Parallaxian for C64 tries to Kickstart

Let's keep the C64 news rolling! There's a Kickstarter that ends June 16th that tries to get funding for a new shmup called Parallaxian.

If you're into shmups and the Commodore 64 you know what to do!

Early video:

Iridium goes Kickstarter

Already past its initial goal, one of the stretch goals is a Nintendo Switch port.



Let's keep it going!

Wings of Bluestar demo review

I mean why not review a demo of an upcoming shmup being Kickstarted right now?

Wings of Bluestar kickstarts

It's been some time coming but the Wings of Bluestar Kickstarter is up.

As the kickstarter says:
WOB is a 2D hand drawn horizontal shoot'em up that combines core arcade gameplay with modern home console features.


A playable demo is available.

I know I'll be kicking in some money for a copy.

The elephant in the (Switch) room: Flip Grip

For you Nintendo Switch shmuppers out there I want to alert you to a Kickstarter that should tickle your fancy: Flip Grip.



I pledged the second I heard of it so I'm guessing if you haven't, you might want to know. Yeah, it really does look like just about the greatest accessory ever made for the Switch.

Wings of Bluestar gets a trailer before getting Kickstarted

A Kickstarter (and a demo) is forthcoming for Wings of Bluestar, here's what the developer says:
********************** Wings Of Bluestar is an indie shmup featuring HD 2D graphics and a horizontal gameplay style. Shinu Real Arts is an indie game dev studio and Wings Of Bluestar is our first big game. ********************* The games' Kickstarter is to be launched soon and a public demo will be available as well, including: - First stage. - 4 difficulties. - Gamepad and keyboard support. - Combo/highscoring mechanism. - 8 artworks to unlock. - 3 Trophies to unlock. - Saving. - Animated intro. - Image tutorial. ************************ Future features: - Local 2 players mode. - Story mode with dialog choices. - Boss rush mode. - In-game feature shop. - Interactive tutorial. - Lot of trophies. - Lot of art work to unlock including original art, fan art and concept. - Journal explaining the games' lore to unlock. - Keyboard and gamepad key mapping. - Various endings. ************************* Hope you guys like the game and support us on the Kickstarter. Also feedback is highly appreciated. *************************

Kickstarter shmup: Star Gods

A new shmup with an interesting mechanic is seeking funding on Kickstarter: Star Gods. A demo is available for download there and.. there's a trailer!



I hope it hits the funding goal so we get to take it for a spin!

It has a month to go and one of the stretch goals is a Nintendo Switch version!

Xenocider - on-rails shooter being Kickstarted

Xenocider is a new on-rails shooter being developed for PC (which is apparently what Windows is called nowadays), Mac, Linux, Nintendo 3DS and... Segas trusty old Dreamcast!

It's in development now, 2 demos of the game are available, and they want to be funded through Kickstarter. They need your help!