BitmapBureau

@RainbowGazelle Cheers, hope you enjoy it if you do decide to pick it up!

@Funneefox The latest updates have added a "casual" difficulty setting which allows you to continue indefinitely, and also a stage select option.

@RainbowGazelle We've made several changes to the game since release which improve the balance and make the game more accessible. The bumpers and triggers area also now used for certain actions too.

@SmaMan We've done quite a bit of work on the Neo Geo versions and we should be in a position to show some footage soon - we're really concentrating on the Mega Drive version for now though, getting it ready for release.

@Mykillvee There is a CRT filter in the game right now but we need to do some more testing before we enable it as a feature - that should arrive in an update, hopefully sooner rather than later.

@Axelay71 The Neo Geo CD version can be pre-ordered here:
https://shop.bitmapbureau.com/products/xeno-crisis-neo-geo-cd

@AcesHigh I've not come across that myself - which games use that method? Does sound a bit awkward!

@Joekun Yes that's right! I think everything's pretty much ready to go on that front.

@SmaMan You can only pre-order the game at the moment - we're in the final stages of QA, trying to make the game as bug-free as possible ahead of release.

@YANDMAN Ah nice, are you able to show anything of it? I've got a load of ideas for when I eventually get to make a shmup; hoping it won't be too long before we can make it happen.

@NintendoFan4Lyf Oh yeah, it's the games that cost the money!

@Moroboshi876 We have an online store where you can pre-order most versions including Mega Drive, Neo Geo, Dreamcast, Switch and Steam:
https://shop.bitmapbureau.com/

@NintendoFan4Lyf They can be picked up pretty cheap these days if you're thinking of getting back into Dreamcast gaming - the same can't be said of the Neo Geo consoles though! MVS machines are still very cheap though at least.

@YANDMAN Well, I do love "SHMUPs"...been dying to make one for years!

@NintendoFan4Lyf We're using our own engine which is written in Haxe, but it's tied in with Unity so that we can easily export to just about any platform we want - the Mega Drive, Dreamcast and Neo Geo versions have their own code base.

@AcesHigh Both sticks can be used on the Switch version to move and shoot in different directions simultaneously.

@NintendoFan4Lyf The modern console versions have a few enhancements over the Mega Drive version (bullet cases, more speech and sounds, point notifications, achievements etc), and the Neo Geo version will feature some platform specific extras since it's more of an arcade experience, as well as some scaling where appropriate, because Neo Geo.

@NinChocolate He's only joined Twitter fairly recently, but Henk is an absolute legend and one of the greatest pixel artist around - wait until you see what he has lined up next.

@Axlroselm Yes we're looking to release the game more or less simultaneously across all platforms - I expect SLG will be announcing the price soon.

@SwitchForce Strictly Limited are handling the physical Switch release (as well as PS4), so you can either keep an eye on their site or subscribe to their newsletter at:
https://www.strictlylimitedgames.com/

@ThanosReXXX I should know at my age really! I'm sure you'll enjoy the Switch version - it plays great! Thanks for your support.

@ThanosReXXX Ha ha, cheers! I find it hard to work out what anyone is really trying to say any more! I expect there will be more titles for older platforms for us in the future...

@ThanosReXXX You can read all about it here:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1676714319/xeno-crisis-a-new-game-for-the-sega-genesis-mega-d

@NinChocolate Oh we mention Henk whenever we can!

@PCkid @Bunkerneath We're big fans of the Bitmap Brothers but we don't have anything to do with them - you'll see some influence from The Chaos Engine / Soldiers Of Fortune in Xeno Crisis though.

@retro_player_22 We'll take a good look at that to see what we can learn, and hopefully improve on how they've implemented the controls, or at least give players several options.

@Shiryu Yep, we had no idea the project was going to be so well received! Consequently we're going to be making some announcements over the next day or two...

@FX102A We can assure you that the game will be made, and we pride ourselves on producing quality games - having grown up with the Mega Drive, I'm really keen to do the system justice and produce something that pushes the system to its limits.

@impurekind That was something that concerned me from the start, but I remember the 'lock' method in Granada (and Smash TV for that matter) working really nicely. It also turned out that Shock Troopers uses this method too, as well as the roll move, so that gave me a lot more confidence that we were going down the right route. Smash TV was obviously designed as a twin-stick shooter, but we've designed the game to use the lock method from the outset and it works great. I also added the ability to alter your shot angle by 45 degrees by pushing 'A' or 'C' whilst firing - weirdly, Skeleton Krew uses this system too.

@OorWullie I was a big fan of the Bitmap Brothers in my youth - they made some great games, with Speedball 2 being my favourite of theirs. And yes, I was thinking about the similarity with "Xenon" just the other day too! I guess the closest thing the Bitmap Brothers did to an arena shooter is Chaos Engine, which wasn't bad at all.

@Shiryu We did consider allowing players to use 2 pads (rather like Smash TV), but in the end opted for a lock mechanic like the one used in Granada and Shock Troopers, which allows you to strafe whilst shooting. And yes, the roll can get you out of tricky situations and even be used to squash some enemies!