Space Tàu (iOS super pixellated shmup)

[Phi6]

So I've been working on this small game for a couple of months now, it is basically your R-Type inspired retro shmup for the iPhone. At the moment I am focusing on epic boss battles.

Pretty happy with the general gameplay so far, but I still need to add some structure to the levels and also implement the boring stuff (menus, achievements etc..)

Screenshots:





Early Boss Trailer:

Low bandwidth Version | Pop Up


My question to you guys:
What do you think of modern bullet hell games? In my opinion they look very pretty but everything is scripted so it is much more of a memory game. With mine there is a lot of random behaviour and AI that reacts to the player. Also enemy spawns are random, so the emphasis is more skill based (I hope!)... every encounter is unique.

And I have yet to determine what the final boss will be

[RobotUnicorn]

wow this looks good

[Phi6]

Thanks very much
I am working hard to hopefully get this out in a month...

[RCranium666]

Looks pretty good. Old school like on a green monochromatic monitor from 30 years ago.

[CygnetSeven]

Curiosity Piqued x Infinity

[strivemind]

Game looks great, looking forward to another randomly generated bullet-hell (Phoenix would be another good example).

And to answer your question, I think we're leaving out two key points:

1. Modern bullet-hell shmups like those made by CAVE have both set and random patterns. The mix set curtains of bullets with some that are sprayed randomly at you.

2. A lot of modern bullet-hell draw a lot of their replay value from score chasing. With the same patterns of bullets, everyone stands on even ground instead of leaving scoring potential up to chance. Also, there is usually some complicated scoring mechanic that is both easy to understand and difficult to master.