There's another neat game confirmed for the Switch eShop; this time around it's a colourful retro-styled shoot 'em up called Hyper Sentinel.
It's the work of Huey Games, an "8-bit software house" with a number of titles behind it. Hyper Sentinel was successfully funded on Kickstarter, not too long ago, for a range of platforms including PC, PS4 and Xbox One; evidently the studio has been in contact with Nintendo as it's now secured approval for the Switch.
You can see the Switch trailer below, showcasing the old-school action it'll deliver.
Below are some details from the press release.
"We are thrilled to be bringing HYPER SENTINEL to Nintendo’s newest platform. The fast-paced, high-score chasing gameplay loop is a perfect match for the Switch, and we cannot wait for players to take this amazing experience with them on the go.” - Rob Hewson, CEO & Creative Director of Huey Games Ltd.
Running at 60fps HYPER SENTINEL is a super-slick, ultra-fast arcade shooter with an explosive pixel-art aesthetic. Boasting 12 action-packed levels, exciting power ups and epic boss battles, the gamealso features...
- 60 medals to complete
- Online leaderboards
- 3 difficulty modes
- Combo-chain score system
- Heart-pumping SID-style chiptune soundtrack by FRACTURES
It's due to land on Switch alongside the other versions later this Summer; anyone with a decent PC can also try out a demo from this web page.
Are you interested in this one?
Comments 57
Looks neat!
Couldn't really care...
Yay, another retro inspired SHMUP :-/ I have an idea. How about somebody actually try to innovate in the SHMUP world.
Looks good.
I remember oblivion on amiga
Looks fun!
Sine Mora EX is far more worthy of my cash than this crap so I'll be buying that one.
@NinjaSyao Spoken like a true person who never heard of "Uridium"!
Looking forward to this of course.
Reminds me a lot of Uridium, form the C64 and Commodore Amiga days, except those games looked FAR better.
I don't know how far indies and the like want to stretch this whole "retro-style" thing, but I'm slowly but surely getting to a point of becoming REALLY tired with it.
Here's a clip of Iridium 2 on the Amiga, which already looks miles better than this crap, so I'd sooner buy that:
And that's a 1993 game, ladies and gentlemen...
Can't say I'm feeling this one, sorry guys.
I may get this if the price is right
@ThanosReXXX Glad I'm not the only one who feels this way. There's a problem when you go so retro that you look older than the games you are trying to look like.
Nintendo Ouya (oh no he didn't!!?!)
@ThanosReXXX And this game is from the same people. They really should have tried harder with this one...
Looks pretty sweet.
random thought with the witch & the joycons turning it vertical for old school shooters must be easy to do. A compilation of cart would be good
another flash in the pan game
@bonham2 I agree. I think my last favorite shooters are Ikaruga, Gradius V, Thunderforce V (I need to find VI one of these days) and Einhander. CAN WE PLEASE GET ANOTHER GAME IN THOSE SERIES?!
I just like this type of game. I'll just buy and play any game in this genre. Keep em comin!
@antster1983 Wel, Hewson didn't make Uridium, they only published it, and only the C64 game. The one I showed in that clip was developed by Andrew Braybrook and published by Renegade Software.
@Shiryu
Had to look it up and it turns out to be a clone of an Amiga game from 1993... a 1993 game that looks better than this one? Yeah, I'm with ThanosReXXX on this one.
Very ugly graphics. 'Retro' just became an excuse to make lame games.
This is a "system seller". Not Axiom Verge
(At least Nintendo would have you believe this)
I'm actually getting more of an Atari2600 vibe than an NES vibe out of this.
@ThanosReXXX Now THAT looks like a SHMUP. At first "retro indie" was cool. Then "retro indie" became boring and old. At this point I'm feeling like "retro indie" is actually "trash graphics we're going to call retro to cash in and hope nobody notices it's really just trash graphics." So few of them look as good as actual retro games. I've been considering splurging on a SHMUP fix, and Graceful Explosion just looks so meh, and Sine Mora isn't really arriving soon. The Neo Geo collection is actually looking best.
Peeps, I don't want to ruffle your feathers here (there is always a BUT... wait for it, I assure this BUT is a good one!) BUT... since when graphics are more important than a solid gameplay concept? And I do love me some twitch shmup action, taking out those huge ships on my very fast and tiny fighter. It was what keep me hooked to the originals and I see this one doing no harm in keeping up that heritage. That said, I understand why each and everyone of you who born after the 8 and 16 bit generation of hardware would be so focused on the graphic aspect of the trailer instead of the gameplay which you can only truly feel playing the game. I will thus remain optimistic until the official NL verdict drops. Shiryu needs his daily dose of shmuping action.
@ThanosReXXX Well, I see your point, and I was going to post about Uridium (C64) before I saw your post, myself. That Amiga version looks uglier than the original C64 version in my estimation, and this new game is FAR, far more dynamic and interesting to watch where those earlier games are demure in comparison. It's kind of like merging the flashy particles expanding everywhere flourish of early Williams games (Defender, Robotron 2084) with Uridium so it's less boring.
It's really chunky blocky though and I get people's gag reflex. Still, I'd rather play this than play the old games, I think.
Here's the C64 version which I prefer to look at over the Amiga one myself:
@Pahvi I agree on the color contrast being an actual potential gameplay issue.
More "retro" crap just what the world needed. Why don't companies just come out and say they have little finances. So the graphics will not be a selling point of the game. Rather than mask it as "oh we just wanted to go for a retro look"
@Shiryu I was born in 1970 and I'm still getting bored with these retro-styled games. They should at least let them be 16 bit. I mean, how good does that 24 year old Amiga game look in comparison to this game here? It is LEAGUES above what these guys have cobbled together.
Of course gameplay (and story) is paramount, but nowadays, with almost everyone having a big screen HD or UHD TV, certain graphics should probably be left in Virtual Console games or real retro collections, and not in faux-retro games.
Besides, even the C64 game looked better than this, albeit less colorful.
So arguably, this game looks more like something between Atari 2600 and 8 bit graphics wise. Only the music and the physics betray its modern origin...
My god! Getting seriously tired of all this "retro" crap!
Can Nintendo just put a stop to this, before we end up with a Switch eShop that is 99% retro shovelware and the Switch becoming a laughing stock! /shrug
We don't live in the 80's anymore! Or are we going to ditch internet and fibre and go back to analog landlines with dial-up modems too then?
I bought the Switch for new innovative games, not endless re-releases and shovelware.
@aaronsullivan Well, there's no accounting for taste, so fair enough if you like the C64 version better, but for me it was the Amiga version.
Great graphics for the time, great soundtrack and very fluid gameplay. I really don't see any improvement at all on any level in this new outing with a "retro" look, so the "far, FAR more dynamic to watch" is something I can't agree on.
I think the color scheme is confusing, and the graphics are just too over the top retro, like @samuelvictor said. There's a point where it can be subtle and a respectful nod to those golden days of gaming, and then there's the above and beyond but in a bad way, and this seems to be exactly that in my opinion.
And quite a few others, from the looks of it...
EDIT:
And as I said before, BOTH Uridium games still look WAY better than this abomination...
@ThanosReXXX True, I did play the Amiga a lot more than the 8 bit versions and yes, perhaps there are way too many companies falling back in our nostalgic past aesthetics to deliver games with little substance. But since I know that the game was produced by Andrew Hewson & Rob Hewson (of Hewson Consulting for us old dudes) I know it is in good hands so we might just get a C64 aesthetics shmup masterpiece.
More here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/robhwson/hyper-sentinel-a-retro-inspired-arcade-shoot-em-up
That said and as you all might have guessed: This game's target audience might not be you. It is for C64 fans (hence the SID soundtrack and aesthetics) but make no mistake: A C64 would never be able to shift that many sprites at that resolution at that speed so do be assured you're not picking up a mere C64 emulation.
I wouldn't mind getting this.
I forgot to mention: The more games being releasing on the Switch the better. More options, more variety, more, more, MORE! I hunger for more and new/old shmups are always welcomed.
Oh yeah, you can check the 3 level demo and judge for yourselves: http://www.hueygames.com/hs_demo
Understandably not available on Switch, but it should be a 1:1 conversion when it arrives.
@Shiryu I know you mean well, and I always respect your views, but you're missing my point. And I even said that I thought the C64 version looked better than this. And if you correctly read my year of birth, then you should know full well that I am not at ALL opposed to the graphics style of those early systems.
Heck, I started gaming on a Pong machine, on a black & white portable TV, and then moved on to an Atari 2600 and Colecovision, so no objections to those kinds of graphics whatsoever.
But to me, this one takes it too far in its "tribute" to retro.
I actually HUGELY dislike the combination of (in my opinion) lower than C64 graphics/VERY faux-retro graphics combined with modern day physics, because it doesn't mix very well in my opinion. The color scheme definitely doesn't do it any favors either.
It seems confusing to follow bullets and explosions because some of the colors overlap or "cancel each other out" in such a way that it reduces the visibility of them. And when I think of levels becoming more hectic, with more enemies and of course more bullets, that could definitely be a potential downfall for this title.
But of course I do agree with you in general that it is always good to have more games on the Switch, so for those of you that DO like this game it'll be a nice addition to the catalog.
Shmups aren't of much interest to me, but the comments seem to be focused on confusing taste and quality. Not everyone likes graphics that try to emulate the 80s, but is there an objective reason to label the trailer "trash graphics"? Like, I don't know, confusing sprites, disorientingly tiny objects... stuff like that? Market saturation fatigue alone doesn't quite cut it. Mind you, I'm no expert in graphical arts, so I'm trying to ask in good faith even despite all the odds that I may be simply reading fanbrainedly hyperbolic opinions as usual.
@ThanosReXXX We lead full and plentiful lives... things were so simple and innocent back then. Good times!
I'm not really a fan of the art direction. Most of the stuff looks almost unrecognizable. #stop_them
Yes! Hyper Sentinel looks fantastic! I enjoyed Graceful Explosion Machine, but this looks even better.
As far as I'm concerned, the more shooters on Switch the better. With that in mind I'm really hoping for a DariusBurst or Deathsmiles. Fingers crossed.
Day one for me. I love my shmups. MOAR! MOAR!! MOAR!!!
@Shiryu Innocent? Maybe, well at least until the first Mortal Kombat arrived on consoles and home computers...
Or was it the first time you could chop off a head in Barbarian on the Amiga...
i AM WELL JEL OF THIS. I backed this on the Kickstarter, the game looks fantastic. So glad they continued and got it out.
@GrailUK same, this game is awesome.
@samuelvictor I only had Commodore Amiga's back then, so I was good with my "full gore" version...
Oh my god its URIDIUM in but name!!
I remember bunking off college and day one'ing Uridium 2 on the Amiga....... happy days!
Count me in for this one
Hm....
Not interested.
Sorry....
I got this coming from kickstarter on the Switch 😀
It's by the guys who originally made Uridium.
@Fuz It's the limitation in sprite design to recreate or sit vaguely "near" the resolution & color palates that were available on 8 and 16-bit consoles, along with gameplay elements to match.
When it started it was fun seeing that style of artwork make a resurgence, and in particular the gameplay that goes with it. The early "retro style" games that really set the movement in motion however, weren't really simple games. They went through painstaking efforts, including developing portions on the original hardware they were immitating, and duplicating the hard limitations of those systems. Games like Shovel Knight and Retro City Rampage made games that really replicated the abilities of those systems, the gameplay it involved, and also extended it to be modern at the same time.
But now it has become a cliche among indies to sell "retro!" as a cover for low budget artwork while cashing in on nostalgia. Look at the indie catalogues and how much of that is being sold as "retro." I think a lot of us don't necessarily dislike retro graphics, but we dislike the saturation of cash-in on what is becoming a meme, and the fact that many of these "retro" graphics are in fact worse than the actual 20-30 year old games they claim they're imitating, thus just using retro as marketing cover for low quality art. When working with sprite based games, it's not about the limitations of "power" or engines like when people talk about 3D graphics. For sprite based games it comes down to quality art, or not quality artwork. Shovel Knight represents quality art that was deliberately reduced to 8 bit standards as a particular art direction. Many of these indie "retro" games simply demonstrate easy to produce art without a focus on quality. If not sold with the "retro" branding, it would simply look low quality. Perhaps the game is high quality, but if they didn't put their best foot forward for their art assets, that loses some appeal, and makes me more cautious about the gameplay efforts as well.
Blaster Master gets a pass since it's an actual remake of an NES game by a team consisting of a lot of its original team. And Graceful Explosion really isn't going for retro, that's more modern drawn/vector art.
Stardew is also not really retro specifically, it's not selling the 8-bit/16-bit retro meme, and while it's pixel art, it's high quality "modern" pixel art and more similar to DS/3DS titles than anything else.
Kamiko, this, and a number of other games announced but not yet released (as well as a few others already released) are all doing the "it's a retro inspired game" bit, and it's getting tired.
Tried this out at Play Expo on an apple TV before it was kickstartered and found it quite fun. Glad to hear is being released on a platform I own so will be picking this up.
Why can't we have games like Heart Machine's Hyper light drifter or Axiom Verge make its way to the switch. Shoot! Even games like Other World anniversary would be awesome on the switch.
Number One, make it so...(if only I was Capt Picard)
@Fuz To be fair to the discussion, and the views of me and the others not being interested in this particular game, most people don't regard anything above 16 bit as retro, so retro is generally considered to be anything between Atari 2600 and the SNES and/or Sega Genesis/Megadrive.
Early 3D systems like the N64 and PSX are obviously also considered old by now, but they're not quite considered retro yet, so "retro style" is always 2D pixel art, both in the eye of the general public, and of the developers, hence all the pixel art games...
And I have to agree with the points that @NEStalgia is making in regards to this particular effort.
Mind you: not simply to bash the game, but for all the previously mentioned reasons that several of us deem to be valid. But of course that doesn't mean that everyone needs to agree with us, so I wish people that DO like this a lot of fun playing it.
@Fuz I'm surprised all of those get lumped in with Retro. GEM, while the graphics do turn me off, still is very modern, not retro, not pixel art at all. It's a perfectly modern, if drab and flat, looking game. Same with Stardew. It's pixel art, but when I look at it I can see the 3D slider going up. It has a very 3DS (therefore modern) appearance.
Yeah the others I do lump in. Credit to Kamiko for at least having an innovative art style, somewhat. Lets face it, most of these games are going for cheap graphics because that's what their budget allowed. That's ok, but they're not being up front about it. If "retro" hadn't become nostalgia driven Big Business, they wouldn't be trying to use the graphics as a selling point by pretending it's an intentional aesthetic rather then a limitation as an indie and/or not having artists available.
Wonder Boy is a wonderful the poster child for what a modern 2D game looks like. Beautiful hand drawn art not constrained by 1980's memory limitations. It doesn't have to look like Crysis to look good. A simple sprite based 2D game can choose to look like Wonder Boy, or it can choose to look like Wonder Boy in 8-bit mode. Same game, pixel for pixel. One mode has care, and time, and expense placed on the art, the other is limited by the hardware of the 80's. Too many new games are choosing to pretend emulating the latter is a goal rather than a limitation, even though when compared to actual 1980's games, you can see the detail is still greater in the 80's games.
Heck Imagine what Hyper Sentinel would look like if they even spent Neo Geo effort on the graphics let alone Wonder Boy effort. I hate saying "graphics" because it's not really graphics but artwork. The two get confused but shouldn't be. One reflects the computing abilities of the game engine, the other reflects the attention put into creating each art asset.
Another good example is Princess....I can't remember her name, but it's the Ghouls & Ghosts/Ghosts&Goblins clone type game. Originally it was just retro pixel are but the latest updates show it's actually branching over to modern hand drawn art, or very high detail pixel art, or an option to toggle the two (like Monster Boy.) That's an example of a modern game inspired by pixel art but also improving upon it and modernizing it beyond ancient hardware limitations. Shovel Knight while ALMOST genuinely constrained to NES standards (it almost ran on NES, but they made improvements) spent tremendous time and effort getting the 8-bit art just right for the time period. The same can't be said for a large number of the "retro" games that keep emerging.
I don't want 8 & 16 bit pixel art to die off entirely, but it's being overused right now and many of the examples aren't as high quality as what was really on those systems. And this game still looks to me more like an Atari2600 game than even NES.
@ThanosRexxx I think hit the nail on the head with some of these newer games that take modern physics and pair them with exaggerated 8-bit pixel art (that's generally worse than actual 8-bit pixel art) that feels jarring and isn't quite right.
"retro" graphics, even 8-bit can be a fine design aesthetic, but it's becoming a marketing gimmick to mask an insufficient budget for a game's art, and an excuse to NOT allocate a sufficient budget for a game's art because "retro sells" (for now.)
@ThanosReXXX if I remember right, the music was fantastic too?
@KIRO You mean the music in Iridium 2? If so, then yes, just watch that video I posted in comment #8 and decide for yourself.
What I'm seeing, I will only get if the price is good
URIDIUM is one of the Commodore 64 finest action games. It was a technical masterpiece and a thrill to play back in 1986 and is now a cult classic for it's fast-paced action, unique shmup challenge, and fluid controls. I have downloaded the original for the Wii Virtual Console and still play this every now and then.
It's great to see someone trying to bring this rarely-seen type of retro-shooter to Switch. This is probably the closest we get to another Uridium-style shooter for quite some time.
@Pahvi Futuridium is inspired by Uridium but it does many things different. I thought it was very enjoyable and has a great amount of content, but just like the old Uridium you need to have fast reflexes and must be half a machine to master it. Don't expect Uridium 3D, or you'll be disappointed. You can expect something that tries to bring the formula to 3D and mixes things up a bit, you can also expect a high difficulty and a super fast game. I personally liked it, got my heart pumping, especially when trying to reach a checkpoint with limited lives to unlock the next set of stages. I didn't like the lack of enemy variety and that you don't blast destructible structures on the spaceships, but blue energy chips instead. However, the game can live on its own merits.
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