September2022
Review Radiant Silvergun (Switch) - A Superb Shmup That's Still One Of The Very Best
No refuge
Making it business to boycott sensible business practices, Treasure’s commitment to dying consoles once cemented it as Japan’s most revered boutique developer. A practice that gave rise to some of gaming’s most significant works, Radiant Silvergun is a product of both spectacular overachievement and unapologetic showboating. Once...
December2021
Mini Review DoDonPachi Resurrection (Switch) - Same Great Game, Same Old Problems
Bee-rilliant, bee-witching, bee-ry annoying
Another day, another prestigious arcade shmup finds a happy new home for itself on the Switch. This may sound like we’ve skipped straight to the end of this review a few paragraphs early but as it’s been a full decade since DoDonPachi Resurrection’s English Xbox 360 release, more than that since it...
September2021
Review Espgaluda II (Switch) - Localisation Issues Can't Spoil This Superb Shmup
There’s a fly in the full extent of the jam
Espgaluda II’s originally a 2005 arcade game by legendary developer Cave, responsible for the already-released Switch ports of Mushihimesama and Progear (via Capcom Arcade Stadium), the upcoming Deathsmiles I & II collection, and before that a string of high-quality arcade shmups stretching all the...
June2021
Review Mushihimesama (Switch) - A Cave Classic With The Right Kind Of Bugs
A bug's life
Arcade shoot-em-ups in the 1980s may have started out as largely science fiction, but there have long been efforts in the genre to differentiate games with unique themes. One of the most interesting of these is Cave’s Mushihimesama (“Bug Princess”), which takes place in a world filled with enormous insects. It was initially...
