JOIN THE CARAVAN CONTEST AND WIN RAGING BLASTERS! - the FULL GAME Discord: discord.gg/yU7NQPR2q8 Support me on PATREON www.patreon.com/shmupjunkieslushfund Download the RAGING BLASTERS Demo Here: tinyurl.com/y6plkrwy CHAPTERS 00:00 - Intro 01:13 - Raging Blasters Go 01:42 - A Modern PC Engine Shooter 03:34 - Shooting VS Dodging 08:30 - Gameplay Features 11:11 - OMG the Music! 15:03 - Graphics 16:11 - CARAVAN MODE! 19:07 - JOIN the Caravan, Win the game, Details Follow me on Instagram: instagram.com/turbothunder16/ Follow me on Facebook: facebook.com/shmupjunkie Follow me on Twitter: twitter.com/shmupjunkie
Did you ever play Strania The Stella Machine, Raiden IV Overkill or Jet's n Guns 1/2? :) They should be right up your alley. Strania is an incredible game. All of those are on steam.
@@uUuWolf16uUu Strania I have not so I just added it to my list. Last year was the first time I started playing more steam games and discovering them so I have quite a bit to catch up on. 😅
@@hammerheadms hucard? No it’s not a pce game it’s on steam. It’s just very similar to one. But it will very likely be on Switch as he releases most of his games there too.
I'm one of the testers and I can tell you every build was changed according to all the feedback Terarin got from more than 20 testers. Every update was a big improvement and added tons of nice stuff balancing the gameplay, adding more fun parts and fixing some bugs here and there. I hope everyone get the chance to play this game, is fast and fun. I like the visuals, are very simple but in a good way, I think these are pretty inspired by ZANAC, in that game the visuals aren't super complex but conveys the sense of speed, minimalistic but not bad. Stage 3 music is my fav ;)
Stage 3 music is awesome! But I loved them all. His composer really needs to do more! This week I will bet we will have even more suggestions for him to make improvements as we play the caravan. Two that came to my mind, was the final boss phase could use some tweaking, but mainly it would be killer if there was a way to maintain a chain through an entire stage section (in between each boss or interlude, etc), at least on Expert mode. That provides a lot of replay for skilled players for score beyond beating the game. Whether possible or not I was going to mention it.
Excellent review my friend. This is a surprise hit for many, but I hope this game finally puts Terarin's name where it deserves to be. He's a great dev that has worked with a lot of passion. He listens to feedback from all the testers and players around. He does all of this while still having a 9-5 and not being a native English speaker. Terarin is the type of doujin/indie dev that works with passion for what he does. He deserves the praise. I encourage everyone to at least try the demo/caravan mode. On the other hand, I hope Caravan modes become a thing again, especially so as demos for main games... they worked 30 years ago for a reason, there's no reason they wouldn't work for the exact same purpose 3 decades later with digital distribution and online communities.
Thanks buddy! It's funny how you and I had the same idea for this video right from the start. Soon as you mentioned it to me and the caravan, I was already thinking the same thing haha. However, I didn't know he was willing to get me a code for the full game, so the timing came together perfect, and it wouldn't likely have happened without your help (as often is the case). So thank you again and I am sure Terarin thanks you too. Lots of new blood jumping into the Caravan it's looking to be fun!
I'm glad I'm not the only one who doesn't want a screen full of searing bright lights. I'll take an 8 or 16 bit shooter over any modern bullet hell headache.
I’ve grown to enjoy them all as long as it’s not excessive and I enjoy the game. But I admit my nostalgia for the older games will always have them as personal favorites. FYI this game just released on the US and European Switch eShops!
@@ShmupJunkie The game looks sick -- really impressive. Much respect to it's creators! I won't be able to play it unless it's also released on Steam, but it looks fantastic. As far as bullet hells go, I do not care for the slow, methodical movement; shooters, whether Shmup or FPS, are all about action to me.
Really glad you're around to spotlight games like this that would totally go under the radar otherwise!! I think that if one word was used to describe the style of this game, it wouldn't be "simple," it would be "Pure." There seems to be nothing wasted when it comes to gameplay, graphics, scoring, or music. It's a pure STG experience.
Very well put, it is pure indeed. And I'm glad you got that brutal 1CC out of the way and can join us a bit. It should be a nice break after grinding on Raystorm like that. I am hoping to find more time to compete a bit this week too while playing the next games and video I need to do. The music man it's so so good.
The follow up, Moon Dancer, showed up on the Japanese Switch eshop and I was like “ZOINK!”. Didn’t have a chance to play it for more than a minute but it seems top notch. Layer Section like mechanic but done way better.
Yea moon dancer is excellent. With nice improved graphics on switch too. If you liked raging blasters then it’s equally recommended. His games always hit a certain level of quality. The next one he is working on is a side scroller very similar to thunder force style.
I just got this. IT'S SO GREAT!!!!!!!!!!! Man the gameplay is so perfectly tuned -- masterpiece. This was so much fun. It might be my favorite "Soldier" game.
Really glad to hear, it really is a lot of fun. The same developer just released their latest game called Moon Dancer which is also very similar and adds some Rayforce mechanics. Once you get your fill of this one and are looking for a similar style, I've been enjoying it so far too.
@@ShmupJunkie I went and saw that they made a new game that just came out. I splurged on tons of shmups already since my stint started just last December but I think I'll pick that up before long!
yeah dude and you have a bit of a head start. The discord is rockin with people and high scores already. There's no catching some of these super players but it's still fun to chase them and see how high you can go.
I found this channel last week while struggling through the worst part of having covid 19... These videos have TRULY helped me get through such a dark time! And now that I don't feel like death anymore... I can enjoy them even more! Thanks Shmup Junkie! Keep up the PHENOMENAL work! I tell all my retro gamer friends about your PHENOMENAL vids! Rock on!!!
Wow man! What a bummer it’s just good to hear you got through it ok. I’ve had people tell me the videos helped them during these times and been a good escape, but first time from Covid. Really glad you found me. If you didn’t already see it by now, probably my favorite vid I’ve made and most feel good/nostalgic was called Amazing shmups of the 80s and 90s. If one needs to get away to a better time that is it.
Ahh how cool is that. I'm glad I could make these tough times a bit more bearable for all of us, and making these vids keeps my mind off the negative as well. When you said that, first thing that popped into my mind was wearing a SAGA cap, making sundays great again... then I thought nah not a good idea 😂
Let me jump in and say to anyone hesitating to join the caravan, *get after it*! The last one was super fun. Even though a dog crap shmupper, and didn’t play every day, I still saw gains and learned so much about how to shmup. The Junkie community on discord is also very helpful and friendly. Jump in!
Thanks man! Lots of new players are jumping in we’ve got some great participation. This game is much less brutal than omega blast was. Not easy to get a crazy high score but not hard to stay alive. Everyone seems to be really enjoying it.
@@ShmupJunkie I agree! This one seems like it's way more about timing and keeping your chain up than white-knuckle survival. I'm not clenching as much as I was with Omega Blast 😁
Damn I wish I'd found your channel sooner. On top of enjoying all the videos I missed out on some great contests. Not like I'd have ever won as I'm so unlucky it's scary but still I keep trying. Lol. Anyway, this game looks great. Gonna try and check it out.
Thank you for the upload. I was eyeing this game and after watching your video and saying that this is a real shooter not bullet hell dodging I was sold. I tried it literally 10 minutes ago and I am hooked. Just cleared stage 3 and I think I will enjoy this all weekend! Cheers!
I'm really glad you gave it a shot and enjoyed it that much. It really is a lot of fun and also fantastic for beginners on normal, getting really interesting on Expert. We had a great time doing the caravan competition for it back when the video came out. Terarin is a good developer that knows the genre well and is a big pc engine fan, so he modeled this game after the gameplay style of those.
@@ShmupJunkie Unfortunately I missed the caravan but I hope to catch on the next one when ever it happen. Yes, Terarin who I knew through your videos and the game has a really good idea of what makes a gameplay really great. Looking forward for more from the community, developers, players, and popularizers.
Amazing!! This game is an instant classic and what an OST!! Everything in this game is filled with all the elements that made shooters “shooters” as you well said it. Congrats on your video and to the developers for this release! Will definetively join in the caravan this week my friend! 👍🏻👍🏻
Awesome dude! We have a bunch of new people in there playing already too, everyone is enjoying it. Easy and fun to play, but not easy to get a really high score. It's going to be a fun week!
Pretty nice, and I like the fact that it has a demo. Lots of indies forget just how important a demo is when selling their stuff. I`ll definitely buy it on Steam, even though I`m not into the caravan style myself. While I wish for a bit more artistry in the visuals, I can appreciate the work that was put into the game as it is.
Yeah the game is very "pure" as a friend just stated in a recent comment. You know exactly what you're getting. Everyone playing in the caravan so far is really digging it. It's just easy to play and fun, yet lots of depth to master for the high score. I am one of those people that loves great music so much in games, that if I had to choose just one music or graphics, I'll always go with the former. Here's hoping a future Switch port comes and maybe with some spruced up visuals to boot.
This game is literally, a blast to play. So much fun, and the music is top notch! Thank you so much for the recommendation. I started watching "Best SHMUPs for Beginners" and came here to see the full review.
I love hearing that and I’m sure the dev Terarin will be too. Since this review a Switch version with upgraded graphics was also released. But they’re both great to play. The caravan event we did for it was really popular too. It’s the kind of game that gets passed up because the graphics don’t wow you and are very simple, but it’s so much fun and well made along with great music. Keep an eye open for his next upcoming game Moon Dancer. It’s looking really good and every game seems to build on his last. The expert mode on this one is really fun too.
@@ShmupJunkie I'm glad, man! I bought the Steam version. The graphics are great too. The game is so much fun, like you said. I did not know what "caravan" means, but thanks to this video, now I do. Hahahha. I'm watching your old videos now, to see what I've missed. I'll keep an eye for the Moon Dancer game, indeed. Thanks again, man. What a joy, your channel is. I was bored playing other genres of games, but now I'll give a try on these awesome Shmups that you show on this channel. Greetings from Brazil. And I wish a lot of success to this channel.
You know it cause you got it! I am hoping we find some more tricks too and maybe Terarin will give us some hints. Otherwise you maxed it pretty quickly and we are just getting started haha
I recently stumbled on your videos while researching buying PCBs for my arcade collection over the past year. Slowly I'm finding myself wanting to binge on them all. Solid no BS content, you get straight to the point, and there's an appreciative level of OCD in every episode. To a prosperous 2021. Subscribed and will make sure to reshare.
Thanks! I’m glad you like it. I can’t say all my videos are no BS, I do like to be silly in some of them and mess around, it keeps me entertained and looking forward to coming up with random funny skits, but I try to make sure it’s in service to original content and my perspective versus just parroting what anyone can find on a wiki. Especially if it’s dry numbers content like my tech videos I try to give it some fun distractions. For that OCD crowd 😅. I’m glad you like it though and hope you enjoy what I’ve got so far. Definitely have a big 2021 planned. And hopefully it’s not just a second loop of a sad 2020. Though it was a great year for shmups!
I'm so glad you got to join and play with us for a bit. It's really such a fun game and the Caravan mode feels a lot like Nexzr to me, only with chaining kills being way more important. I need to put some more time into it tonight too. It felt so good playing a game like this that feels like an old pair of shoes. If you ever get the main game you'll agree. The caravan moves at a slower pace for points. The main stages are really fast by comparison.
Coming off the back off GG Aleste 3 which is my top new shooter Raging Blasters ticks all the boxes of everything I like. The 8bit style graphics are my favourite and that music is unbelievable. I have had the demo since release and put a few hours in. I can honestly say that it's up there with any shooter made. It pays homage to the past whilst injecting new game mechanics.
Very well put and I can't add much to that. It pays homage while adding great new features and feeling like a new, but old game. I am still in awe how good the music is, I will come back to playing on Expert mode many times just to jam to those tunes while playing.
I hope this game brings back this style. I prefer it so much more than the late 90s/2000s bullet hell style that seemed to become almost the whole genre afterwards. I know a lot of people love bullet hell, but I think it does the entire genre better to have plenty of both. I’m glad the Ouya kickstarted this indie game type thing that the Switch thrives on now. We all can get so many games now that we would not have gotten 10-15 years ago. Great video again. You were my 2020 favorite and I’m glad you’re rocking into 2021.
Couldn't have said it better myself. There is plenty room for all types of shmups, and it's good to see this style making a small comeback with retro 8 and 16bit games being popular right now. I'd gladly see more of these too and really enjoyed the gameplay in this. I've got big plans for this year and hope I'm able to follow through with most of them!
I can whole heartedly recommend The Aleste Collection if you like the 8bit style games. GG Aleste 3 is something really special. Between Raging Blasters and Aleste shooting game fans have never had it better.
Yes! And I’m showing it in my video tomorrow too. Enhanced graphics on top of it. I’m going to get it too just to have it that way. The new pixel art looks very nice too.
had a little and had to stop begore i cant stop playing it, will give it a good look tomorrow and have a look of you challange abd i may have to buy it on the 22nd.
Will be awesome if you want to join us dude. Lots of people streaming it on the discord on and off too. I know exactly what you mean about having to stop. 3 min turns into hours really quick. 😂
That one stage 3 was totally influenced by image fight, no doubt about that. But once you play it, the gameplay won't remind you of it so much, it's not as deliberate. It absolutely feels like playing something between Blade and Nexzr. It's not something a video can describe, it just controls and feels like playing one of those games.
Yahoo. I just finished this on EXPERT difficulty without using any continues; earning both the EXPERT CLEAR and 1CC CLEAR EXPERT steam achievements. I guess I'm not such a beginner anymore :-D
Congratulations that's fantastic. Yeah playing RB on Expert is pretty equivalent to playing most other medium games on normal. It's purposefully easier on the normal modes and expert feels just right. Really fun game and I'm glad you got to play and enjoy it. The Switch version just came out too this week with enhanced pixel art graphics and an extreme mode I heard. I really enjoy it so I'll double dip, but generally the game is the same.
@@ShmupJunkie I have one of those Switch Lite's but I don't use it much. I just can't justify the high price of games on consoles these days compared to Steam/PC, especially since I picked up a dedicated gaming laptop (Lenovo Legion 5) a couple months back. The vast majority of games I've ever picked up on Steam/PC are in the $5-25 range (often for exactly the same game) compared to the $40-$80 range of most console games. I figure I'd rather pay more money up-front for the hardware (PC) and have less expensive games, than the other way around. I know a lot of people complain about Raging Blaster's "simple graphics", but I really like the look and to be honest, i'm a little mixed on the "improved" look of the Switch version. :-) I think I'll try that "Eschatos" game you recommended now which I picked up awhile back when it was on sale but haven't started yet!
@@TransCanadaPhil Oh heck yeah. Eschatos is now a top 10 game for me I’m in love with it. Just the music alone is as epic as it gets, but overall the game is just so much fun and never stops. I do highly recommend starting on the easy mode it’s meant that way and finish it like that first. You’ll gain extra credits and other bonuses including starting on later stages the more you play. And normal will be a legit challenge. There is a mode called Endless which is good to start too. Basically the first loop is easy mode. Later the Advanced mode is the same difficulty levels but adds more nuance and weapon upgrades while playing vs the fixed normal mode weaponry. But no matter how you play it the presentation and music is stellar. You’ll get a few cheap deaths during some of the wilder camera panning sequences but once you know and learn to avoid them it’s a non factor. Let me know how you get on with that one as I’m a big fan.
Thanks for the heads up on this one. The demo has been fun and made me pick up some of their other games while waiting for this one to come. It looks like some older games have made their way to Switch and this would be a great addition there.
I do think he has plans to get this onto Switch as well like some of his others assuming it does well. Everyone is really enjoying that caravan mode this may be his best game yet so hopefully it makes it over.
@@Mechanicoid luckily this dev has been bringing his games to the switch so if it does well on steam it could happen! He just had some others release for it.
Loved the video man. And loving the caravan mode. I also liked seeing a little bit of footage from stages of the game, talking about comparisions between classic shooters, and of course the dev, Terrarin. As always, another great video, and I'll see you in the caravan.
Thanks dude. We've got a lot of new blood joined for this one too it's off to a great start. You'll feel right at home after spending lots of time with the Soldier games lately. It's not as brutal just to survive like Omega Blast was.
Raging blasters reminds me a little bit of Galaxy fighter on the Watara Supervision! Some of the same guns and some enemies similar looking! Great shmup!👾👾👾🚀
No, thank you for the support my friend. It's quite fantastic and the free Caravan mode is well received. It's allowing lots of people to participate and hopefully get excited for the full game. We are all enjoying it.
Yes! All the old soldier games are a ton of fun. You would definitely dig this one too. Final Soldier has a really fun caravan mode too. A friend of mine gets some massive scores in that one.
@@ShmupJunkie yeah I saw that mode but didn't play it yet...I was just playin Street Fighter 2 Champion Edition on PC engine and now I'm gonna check out that mode in Final Solider so thanx. I will definitely be picking up Raging Blasters when it's released
Wow I didn't expect my name to be mentioned here. Great review, as always. Sadly, the part about visuals is true. Modern gamer's eyes are so spoiled by AAA visual quality (money) that they won't even notice the quality gameplay of indies. Those are some great soundtracks btw. Edit: now I'm tempted to add a high sped caravan mode to Wings Of Bluestar....
Yes, sad but true. I noticed Terarin likes to amp up the visuals for his Switch releases, so I'd be excited to see if that happens for this game too one day. The music really is something else isn't it! Caravans are the new thing and I feel like I have been part of trying to bring them back. The new Cotton will have them too. I've never actually played a horizontal caravan mode in a game before, as caravans are often very screen position oriented. But if you ever join us one day for a caravan event, you'll get some in-depth perspective on what makes them so unique versus just a score attack. They have a lot of scoring nuance to discover. Terarin really understands Caravans well so he made a really good one that everybody enjoyed.
Okay, so Barrage Fantasia came out yesterday and Rangok Skies came out 10 days ago, and both are really good bullet hell games, so let me just compare those games to this one as someone who generally prefers to play action-adventure games and RPGs. I keep going back to this game again and again, and I actually just beat it, while I can't even get past the second mid-boss of either Rangok Skies or Barrage Fantasia and I'm already losing interest in both. I think it's because this game's gameplay is so quick and simple and its design is so clean and focused. Clearing out wave upon wave of enemies coming in at a million miles an hour and collecting all the crystals they drop is addicting as hell, and racking up huge combos with little trouble is really rewarding. Bosses are really epic, especially on higher difficulties, and the stages are pretty sweet themselves, I really like the battleship even if it's the biggest run killer for me, really creative stuff. Most bullet hell games take a long time to get the hang of, it's hard to take in everything, the hitboxes require trial and error to figure out, and they're much slower too. That's why I stay away from any official Touhou content; I'm fine with really good bullet hell games but official Touhou games... aren't that (Luna Nights and a few other bullet hell action-adventure games are fine by me though). It's also why I'm really sad there don't seem to be any truly classic style bishoujo 'em ups. It's like eating an overcooked steak as opposed to a bag of chips. Sometimes simple and accessible can be preferable to meaty but tough.
I’m really glad you loved this one and you put it really well. The gameplay is perfect in its simplicity and it’s just fun. Terarin knows good shmup design and the fundamentals being a good player himself. And he made it to his preferences which are the older pc engine vertical shooters. It’s also great for beginners on normal and even hard. And expert is really fun if you ever get to that point. We did a week long caravan contest on my discord for it back when it came out and everyone had a blast. This is one game I may be revisiting soon in a video when I do the best shmups for beginners.
@@ShmupJunkie For what it's worth, this is the first space shooter I've ever beaten even on the easiest difficulty without save states, and I did it on one credit. I went into the run on which I ended up beating it thinking, "oh, I'm just going to put a bit more time in so Steam asks if I want to review the game." I lost 5 lives on just stage 3, but none on its boss, none on the boss rush and only one on the final boss. Until I read your reply to my comment, I was thinking of moving on to Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth starting Saturday when it leaves Early Access, but now I might just try this game again on hard mode. Actually, I said much the same as my original comment in reply to a review of Kamiko shortly after Werewolf Princess Kaguya came out comparing the former favorably to the latter, and both comments were based on a comment comparing Soul Blazer favorably to Illusion of Gaia. And this game was the first to make me notice a real hole in the indie game market that aligned remotely with my interests - where are all the really classic space shooters as opposed to bullet hell, especially ones full of anime girls? Until now, I haven't really been enthusiastic about making games, thinking "oh, there are plenty of other games kind of like this idea already," but that just changed. If you get around to making the video you describe, feel free to share anything and everything in this comment and my original one.
found ur channel about two hours ago :D What a cute game! I will be def picking it up on Steam in a few days. I feel this shmup will be one of those gems that blasts off to the top!
I hope it does as it deserves it. It's very well made and thought out, many of us are enjoying it. I hope you do too and if you love it, don't forget to leave some good feedback and reviews as it seems to be very important for small indie games. I'm glad you found me and hope you enjoy some of my other stuff.
The not overly flashy graphics definitely contribute to that. Don't need a huge file to make an awesome playing game. Space is mostly taken up by graphics and effects and video. I am fine not going back to floppy discs haha, but yeah not having 40gig games to download is nice.
Great video, I've seen some gameplays for it and now I can relate some of them to your competition. Sadly I saw this one too late to join the caravan, maybe next time. But these videos definitely sparked my curiosity - usually I don't game much on my PC, but this looks like a good exception :).
Thanks. Honestly it’s one of those games that you’ll clearly love or not. If it’s your type of game you just know it. It’s definitely my style which is why I really wanted to do a great review of it. Most people who played it in the caravan really enjoyed it, and are now enjoying the full game. Usually this dev releases them on switch eventually if they do well, as he just released one of his older ones on the eshop last week called missile dancer. So far this one has been working great on Steam, but I have a feeling it will make it to the switch someday too.
I feel the same way about Crimson Clover it's too much with the stars, Cave got to where the entire screen was pink bullet's. It's not a good design choice with Shooter's. It doesn't need to be mistaken for bullet hell, when it drowns out the whole screen you can't see your ship or enemies any destruction. That's a lack of enemy design, did you notice with Toaplan games they always seem to have had that perfect balance. The most important thing they did was level and enemy design making you think technical about dodging against patterns. Raiden games had fantastic patterns you had to learn with bullet hell games when everything is covered the screen and your ship can just go through makes no since.
You're right, the soundtrack is a thumper! Know what shmup soundtrack I really love (apart from Turrican II for the Amiga, obviously, which was more of a Contra/Metroid type game)? Call me a big girl's blouse if you want, but I think that Star Parodier/Fantasy Star Soldier had some of the best music in the games of the era. It just made me feel good, and made me want to keep playing. Thanks for the quality content. My only gripe is that because your channel is young, I cannot really binge-watch your shit, yet.
You're not alone the Star Paroider tracks are awesome and really catchy. Even better than the Parodius games imo as those were more remixes of existing tunes only made cute and would get stuck in your head. The original tunes in Parodier are ace, just like all the Soldier games honestly. My favorite to this day. I guess you will always be hosed on the binge watching now, since if you're already caught up, you'll never get enough to accumnulate. Sometimes I wonder if decades from now I will go back and binge watch my own old videos lmao
Caravan modes are something I only really play with friends or in a group. That's what makes them fun. On my own I can only do it for so long. Kind of like fighting games. Need friends to compete and chat with.
@@ShmupJunkie Just improving your score and climbing the leaderboard is fun enough. When I said I haven’t found the right caravan, I think I have played to many arcade archives ports with a caravan mode tacked on when it kinda wasn’t designed for it
@@headman82 very true. To get a good feel for a real caravan mode it’s good to try the old Soldier games or something like Recca on Famicom. This game raging blasters is actually a very good entry level caravan. It’s not overly difficult but has enough nuance to need pretty perfect play to get a truly high score. And it’s got the feel and plays just like one.
This looks cool! Definitely more my speed with something like this, though I would still suck at it without a doubt. I love to watch an ace player rip it up on a modern bullet hell just to see the spectacle in all it's glory, but man do I get wrecked whenever I make the slightest attempt at one. So hard to focus playing those modern shooters.
You may be very surprised how well you do playing this one. The normal mode is very much geared to most anyone being able to pick it up. Most of my footage was expert mode as it's more exciting to watch in a video. I would bet you'd smoke it on Normal pretty quick. Even HARD isn't too bad. Expert feels about like one of the Aleste games on normal, if that gives you an idea. It scales well and starts easy enough to learn and makes for a good starter/learner shooter.
He sure did! Not long into the video I explain the difference pretty well, at least to me, between a bullet hell and an older shooter like this pretty well I think.
Totally do, it's a free demo. And if you really enjoy the caravan mode the main game is much cooler still. We are having a good time playing just the caravan demo on the discord now.
Over the last two years I have really expanded my ability to enjoy more types of shmups and found some bullet hell games that I really, really enjoy too. It's opened my horizons a bit. But they are definitely not for everyone and I get it, as I was one who rarely played them before too. It took a lot of adjustment for me getting used to the different skillset and following everything that happens on screen. But these older shooters will always be my favorite including for nostalgia. Raging Blasters is just so easy and fun to play but not easy to master.
Too cool! Another great video, and another awesome looking game! The caravan demo is so good, everyone try it and join us on the discord! The only questions is.... when's Terarin starting on the sequel?
Ha! Well first he has to take all of our suggestions and tweak this baby until it's flawless. I bet we will have plenty as the week goes on. And release a suped up version on the Switch in the future. But it coming to Switch will likely depend on it doing well enough on Steam so we will have to support it. 👍
The only thing I'm not sold on is ALL DAT OVERLAY. Seems like it'd be a little claustrophobic, no? I know some old arcade ports did big borders to maintain the original aspect ratio, but that's not the case here.
It's pretty much the same as the M2 widgets on the shot triggers games. Those side panels are not play area, they are just for scoring and game info. It looks like the play area, as the actual background and enemies are there, but you can't actually move your ship past the borders. BUT you can actually shoot other ships from outside the borders which is kind of cool. It works well in practice and never obscures anything you need to see. I didn't mention it, but in the options menu those borders and how they look can be changed too.
The good news is the developer TERARIN is known for porting his games to Switch. His other releases have made their way there and this is his best one yet. So I don't doubt he will work on it.
Thank you. Hope you enjoy some of the other vids I’ve made so far. Only been at this for several months. The one just before this on Compile history was very popular everyone seemed to like it.
The actual game area is pretty close to 4x3. The side panels are just used for game info and score. So you could technically cut them off but would be losing that info. The options menu does allow you to change what the side areas look like though.
I think all Steam games require you to play them through Steam, but it does have an offline mode. You don't have to be connected to the internet to play it no.
@@AKTANEARCADE I just wish I’d discovered it sooner as no US kid knew wth it was back then. I only played it for the first time a couple years ago and haven’t put the time in yet to becoming truly good at it. It’s tempting but I know the torture that awaits haha.
@@ShmupJunkie the first time I loaded up the rom and the game got going, that frantic music, insane speed of everything, the wavy backgrounds, and the slowdown (probably not frame perfect to hardware but impactful) - It blew me away completely - that was early 2020 I think. I managed to get past lv2 once but never tried any mode other than story ...
I enjoy all the types and there are some bullet hell games I like a lot, even if my personal preference is for older style shooters. I used to not play BH much at all, but the more I tried the more I realized how many cool games I had missed. It was my loss and I’m catching up now.
This was still one of my fav shooters that came out all of last year, and I especially liked the music in it. It's not easy for a single indie dev to make crazy graphics unless they're an artist, and I don't disagree the graphics are simple and may turn off potential buyers. If the genre grows and the games bring in more money, devs will be able to hire artists and others to contribute and improve the overall presentation of the games. Until then, not all but most indie games will be more basic in presentation, as the return on investment to make and sell a shmup doesn't justify the cost. But that's what I and others like my channel are hoping for. To keep increasing the popularity and viability of the genre so even more medium sized devs like M2 will start putting out top tier games for us.
If the developer had any brains whatsoever, he would put this game onto the Nintendo Switch - you know, the console that retro-gaming fans use. Steam is for teenagers who only play first-person shooters.
That’s a bit harsh. Have you ever developed a game on no budget by yourself and considered how difficult it is to release on a big console like Nintendo or Sony? Many small devs would love to but can not afford it. However in this case you’d be mistaken, as the developer Terarin actually DOES release his games on Switch eshop. He just released another one of his older releases called missile dancer. So he smartly released this on Steam first, and will make feedback and improvements to the game, including the graphics likely, and if it does well and when he is ready will release on Switch too. Steam is a good test bed to first get lots of feedback and make improvements. So if this game looks cool to you, in time expect to see this in the switch eshop. Look how long it took to upgrade crimson clover and finally release it on switch. It’s hard for small devs to do, but it was worth the wait!
JOIN THE CARAVAN CONTEST AND WIN RAGING BLASTERS! - the FULL GAME
Discord: discord.gg/yU7NQPR2q8
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Download the RAGING BLASTERS Demo Here: tinyurl.com/y6plkrwy
CHAPTERS
00:00 - Intro
01:13 - Raging Blasters Go
01:42 - A Modern PC Engine Shooter
03:34 - Shooting VS Dodging
08:30 - Gameplay Features
11:11 - OMG the Music!
15:03 - Graphics
16:11 - CARAVAN MODE!
19:07 - JOIN the Caravan, Win the game, Details
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Is he doing a Hu Card release on this, or is it download only?
Did you ever play Strania The Stella Machine, Raiden IV Overkill or Jet's n Guns 1/2? :) They should be right up your alley.
Strania is an incredible game.
All of those are on steam.
@@uUuWolf16uUu Strania I have not so I just added it to my list. Last year was the first time I started playing more steam games and discovering them so I have quite a bit to catch up on. 😅
@@hammerheadms hucard? No it’s not a pce game it’s on steam. It’s just very similar to one. But it will very likely be on Switch as he releases most of his games there too.
@@ShmupJunkie Awesome!
I hope you don't have vertigo. Because Strania the Stella Machina is crazy in terms of "screen rotations" and such :D.
I'm one of the testers and I can tell you every build was changed according to all the feedback Terarin got from more than 20 testers. Every update was a big improvement and added tons of nice stuff balancing the gameplay, adding more fun parts and fixing some bugs here and there. I hope everyone get the chance to play this game, is fast and fun. I like the visuals, are very simple but in a good way, I think these are pretty inspired by ZANAC, in that game the visuals aren't super complex but conveys the sense of speed, minimalistic but not bad. Stage 3 music is my fav ;)
Stage 3 music is awesome! But I loved them all. His composer really needs to do more! This week I will bet we will have even more suggestions for him to make improvements as we play the caravan. Two that came to my mind, was the final boss phase could use some tweaking, but mainly it would be killer if there was a way to maintain a chain through an entire stage section (in between each boss or interlude, etc), at least on Expert mode. That provides a lot of replay for skilled players for score beyond beating the game. Whether possible or not I was going to mention it.
Excellent review my friend. This is a surprise hit for many, but I hope this game finally puts Terarin's name where it deserves to be. He's a great dev that has worked with a lot of passion. He listens to feedback from all the testers and players around. He does all of this while still having a 9-5 and not being a native English speaker. Terarin is the type of doujin/indie dev that works with passion for what he does. He deserves the praise. I encourage everyone to at least try the demo/caravan mode. On the other hand, I hope Caravan modes become a thing again, especially so as demos for main games... they worked 30 years ago for a reason, there's no reason they wouldn't work for the exact same purpose 3 decades later with digital distribution and online communities.
Thanks buddy! It's funny how you and I had the same idea for this video right from the start. Soon as you mentioned it to me and the caravan, I was already thinking the same thing haha. However, I didn't know he was willing to get me a code for the full game, so the timing came together perfect, and it wouldn't likely have happened without your help (as often is the case). So thank you again and I am sure Terarin thanks you too. Lots of new blood jumping into the Caravan it's looking to be fun!
I'm glad I'm not the only one who doesn't want a screen full of searing bright lights. I'll take an 8 or 16 bit shooter over any modern bullet hell headache.
I’ve grown to enjoy them all as long as it’s not excessive and I enjoy the game. But I admit my nostalgia for the older games will always have them as personal favorites. FYI this game just released on the US and European Switch eShops!
@@ShmupJunkie The game looks sick -- really impressive. Much respect to it's creators! I won't be able to play it unless it's also released on Steam, but it looks fantastic.
As far as bullet hells go, I do not care for the slow, methodical movement; shooters, whether Shmup or FPS, are all about action to me.
@@user98xp This was originally a Steam game prior to Switch so it’s already there and super cheap!
Really glad you're around to spotlight games like this that would totally go under the radar otherwise!! I think that if one word was used to describe the style of this game, it wouldn't be "simple," it would be "Pure." There seems to be nothing wasted when it comes to gameplay, graphics, scoring, or music. It's a pure STG experience.
Very well put, it is pure indeed. And I'm glad you got that brutal 1CC out of the way and can join us a bit. It should be a nice break after grinding on Raystorm like that. I am hoping to find more time to compete a bit this week too while playing the next games and video I need to do. The music man it's so so good.
The follow up, Moon Dancer, showed up on the Japanese Switch eshop and I was like “ZOINK!”. Didn’t have a chance to play it for more than a minute but it seems top notch. Layer Section like mechanic but done way better.
Yea moon dancer is excellent. With nice improved graphics on switch too. If you liked raging blasters then it’s equally recommended. His games always hit a certain level of quality. The next one he is working on is a side scroller very similar to thunder force style.
I just got this.
IT'S SO GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!
Man the gameplay is so perfectly tuned -- masterpiece. This was so much fun. It might be my favorite "Soldier" game.
Really glad to hear, it really is a lot of fun. The same developer just released their latest game called Moon Dancer which is also very similar and adds some Rayforce mechanics. Once you get your fill of this one and are looking for a similar style, I've been enjoying it so far too.
@@ShmupJunkie I went and saw that they made a new game that just came out. I splurged on tons of shmups already since my stint started just last December but I think I'll pick that up before long!
What a rocking soundtrack man. There’s definitely that “less is more” visual approach here, but damn, this game feels so satisfying.
yeah dude and you have a bit of a head start. The discord is rockin with people and high scores already. There's no catching some of these super players but it's still fun to chase them and see how high you can go.
I found this channel last week while struggling through the worst part of having covid 19... These videos have TRULY helped me get through such a dark time! And now that I don't feel like death anymore... I can enjoy them even more! Thanks Shmup Junkie! Keep up the PHENOMENAL work! I tell all my retro gamer friends about your PHENOMENAL vids! Rock on!!!
Wow man! What a bummer it’s just good to hear you got through it ok. I’ve had people tell me the videos helped them during these times and been a good escape, but first time from Covid. Really glad you found me. If you didn’t already see it by now, probably my favorite vid I’ve made and most feel good/nostalgic was called Amazing shmups of the 80s and 90s. If one needs to get away to a better time that is it.
@@ShmupJunkie Awesome! I'll check that episode out now! Nostalgia fuels my soul! Thanks again! Have a phenomenal day my good man!
@@MrSez1979 oooh yes please let me know in it’s comments later what you thought. I went hard on the nostalgia for that one lol
Raging Blasters is great 👍
Before I found your channel...Sunday’s were the WORST. You’ve made Sunday great again my brother!!!! Thank you for yet another amazing video.
Ahh how cool is that. I'm glad I could make these tough times a bit more bearable for all of us, and making these vids keeps my mind off the negative as well. When you said that, first thing that popped into my mind was wearing a SAGA cap, making sundays great again... then I thought nah not a good idea 😂
Mine too man ;-)
but sundays are just weirdly the worse
Love the old school vibe of this game!! Have fun with the caravan guys!!
It's fantastic buddy. We will. And in the future you may find it's worth checking out the full game. It's a lot of fun.
Let me jump in and say to anyone hesitating to join the caravan, *get after it*! The last one was super fun. Even though a dog crap shmupper, and didn’t play every day, I still saw gains and learned so much about how to shmup. The Junkie community on discord is also very helpful and friendly. Jump in!
Thanks man! Lots of new players are jumping in we’ve got some great participation. This game is much less brutal than omega blast was. Not easy to get a crazy high score but not hard to stay alive. Everyone seems to be really enjoying it.
@@ShmupJunkie I agree! This one seems like it's way more about timing and keeping your chain up than white-knuckle survival. I'm not clenching as much as I was with Omega Blast 😁
Damn I wish I'd found your channel sooner. On top of enjoying all the videos I missed out on some great contests. Not like I'd have ever won as I'm so unlucky it's scary but still I keep trying. Lol. Anyway, this game looks great. Gonna try and check it out.
Thank you for the upload. I was eyeing this game and after watching your video and saying that this is a real shooter not bullet hell dodging I was sold. I tried it literally 10 minutes ago and I am hooked. Just cleared stage 3 and I think I will enjoy this all weekend! Cheers!
I'm really glad you gave it a shot and enjoyed it that much. It really is a lot of fun and also fantastic for beginners on normal, getting really interesting on Expert. We had a great time doing the caravan competition for it back when the video came out. Terarin is a good developer that knows the genre well and is a big pc engine fan, so he modeled this game after the gameplay style of those.
@@ShmupJunkie Unfortunately I missed the caravan but I hope to catch on the next one when ever it happen. Yes, Terarin who I knew through your videos and the game has a really good idea of what makes a gameplay really great. Looking forward for more from the community, developers, players, and popularizers.
Amazing!! This game is an instant classic and what an OST!! Everything in this game is filled with all the elements that made shooters “shooters” as you well said it. Congrats on your video and to the developers for this release! Will definetively join in the caravan this week my friend! 👍🏻👍🏻
Awesome dude! We have a bunch of new people in there playing already too, everyone is enjoying it. Easy and fun to play, but not easy to get a really high score. It's going to be a fun week!
Pretty nice, and I like the fact that it has a demo. Lots of indies forget just how important a demo is when selling their stuff. I`ll definitely buy it on Steam, even though I`m not into the caravan style myself. While I wish for a bit more artistry in the visuals, I can appreciate the work that was put into the game as it is.
Yeah the game is very "pure" as a friend just stated in a recent comment. You know exactly what you're getting. Everyone playing in the caravan so far is really digging it. It's just easy to play and fun, yet lots of depth to master for the high score. I am one of those people that loves great music so much in games, that if I had to choose just one music or graphics, I'll always go with the former. Here's hoping a future Switch port comes and maybe with some spruced up visuals to boot.
This game is literally, a blast to play. So much fun, and the music is top notch! Thank you so much for the recommendation. I started watching "Best SHMUPs for Beginners" and came here to see the full review.
I love hearing that and I’m sure the dev Terarin will be too. Since this review a Switch version with upgraded graphics was also released. But they’re both great to play. The caravan event we did for it was really popular too. It’s the kind of game that gets passed up because the graphics don’t wow you and are very simple, but it’s so much fun and well made along with great music. Keep an eye open for his next upcoming game Moon Dancer. It’s looking really good and every game seems to build on his last. The expert mode on this one is really fun too.
@@ShmupJunkie I'm glad, man! I bought the Steam version. The graphics are great too. The game is so much fun, like you said. I did not know what "caravan" means, but thanks to this video, now I do. Hahahha. I'm watching your old videos now, to see what I've missed. I'll keep an eye for the Moon Dancer game, indeed. Thanks again, man. What a joy, your channel is. I was bored playing other genres of games, but now I'll give a try on these awesome Shmups that you show on this channel. Greetings from Brazil. And I wish a lot of success to this channel.
The highest score I know at the moment is around 1.56 million for the Caravan. I wonder if it can go any higher than that...
You know it cause you got it! I am hoping we find some more tricks too and maybe Terarin will give us some hints. Otherwise you maxed it pretty quickly and we are just getting started haha
I recently stumbled on your videos while researching buying PCBs for my arcade collection over the past year. Slowly I'm finding myself wanting to binge on them all. Solid no BS content, you get straight to the point, and there's an appreciative level of OCD in every episode. To a prosperous 2021. Subscribed and will make sure to reshare.
Thanks! I’m glad you like it. I can’t say all my videos are no BS, I do like to be silly in some of them and mess around, it keeps me entertained and looking forward to coming up with random funny skits, but I try to make sure it’s in service to original content and my perspective versus just parroting what anyone can find on a wiki. Especially if it’s dry numbers content like my tech videos I try to give it some fun distractions. For that OCD crowd 😅. I’m glad you like it though and hope you enjoy what I’ve got so far. Definitely have a big 2021 planned. And hopefully it’s not just a second loop of a sad 2020. Though it was a great year for shmups!
This game looks incredible! I truly miss the old PC Engine/Caravan style shooting games, and this look to totally fill that void! Great find! :)
I'm so glad you got to join and play with us for a bit. It's really such a fun game and the Caravan mode feels a lot like Nexzr to me, only with chaining kills being way more important. I need to put some more time into it tonight too. It felt so good playing a game like this that feels like an old pair of shoes. If you ever get the main game you'll agree. The caravan moves at a slower pace for points. The main stages are really fast by comparison.
you gotta join this time Abs!
@@bobbus_74 I already have! 😊
@@TastyAbbyJamz Woop! Woop!! 👍
Man when i finished Raging Blasters and then seeing shmup junkie appear exclusively in special thanks was beyond heart warming.
I was surprised to see my name in there too! Even more heart warming was the butt shot for the credit sequence 🤣
@@ShmupJunkie haha 🤣🤣
Coming off the back off GG Aleste 3 which is my top new shooter Raging Blasters ticks all the boxes of everything I like. The 8bit style graphics are my favourite and that music is unbelievable. I have had the demo since release and put a few hours in. I can honestly say that it's up there with any shooter made. It pays homage to the past whilst injecting new game mechanics.
Very well put and I can't add much to that. It pays homage while adding great new features and feeling like a new, but old game. I am still in awe how good the music is, I will come back to playing on Expert mode many times just to jam to those tunes while playing.
I hope this game brings back this style. I prefer it so much more than the late 90s/2000s bullet hell style that seemed to become almost the whole genre afterwards.
I know a lot of people love bullet hell, but I think it does the entire genre better to have plenty of both.
I’m glad the Ouya kickstarted this indie game type thing that the Switch thrives on now. We all can get so many games now that we would not have gotten 10-15 years ago.
Great video again. You were my 2020 favorite and I’m glad you’re rocking into 2021.
Couldn't have said it better myself. There is plenty room for all types of shmups, and it's good to see this style making a small comeback with retro 8 and 16bit games being popular right now. I'd gladly see more of these too and really enjoyed the gameplay in this. I've got big plans for this year and hope I'm able to follow through with most of them!
I can whole heartedly recommend The Aleste Collection if you like the 8bit style games. GG Aleste 3 is something really special. Between Raging Blasters and Aleste shooting game fans have never had it better.
@@ThatGamingGuyfromthe70s +1 on GG3 that’s my shmup of 2020. Such a great game.
I just discovered yesterday on the Japanese Eshop that the game will also be released on Switch on 24th of June! I'm so excited to be able to play it!
Yes! And I’m showing it in my video tomorrow too. Enhanced graphics on top of it. I’m going to get it too just to have it that way. The new pixel art looks very nice too.
had a little and had to stop begore i cant stop playing it, will give it a good look tomorrow and have a look of you challange abd i may have to buy it on the 22nd.
Will be awesome if you want to join us dude. Lots of people streaming it on the discord on and off too. I know exactly what you mean about having to stop. 3 min turns into hours really quick. 😂
This looks right up my alley! I love the soldier games. Almost sort of reminds me of Image Fight too
That one stage 3 was totally influenced by image fight, no doubt about that. But once you play it, the gameplay won't remind you of it so much, it's not as deliberate. It absolutely feels like playing something between Blade and Nexzr. It's not something a video can describe, it just controls and feels like playing one of those games.
Thank you for the aleste upload, never knew about the game gear versions.
The new Game Gear game, GG3 is sooo good. I've been highly recommending it to anyone that has a chance to play it.
Yahoo. I just finished this on EXPERT difficulty without using any continues; earning both the EXPERT CLEAR and 1CC CLEAR EXPERT steam achievements. I guess I'm not such a beginner anymore :-D
Congratulations that's fantastic. Yeah playing RB on Expert is pretty equivalent to playing most other medium games on normal. It's purposefully easier on the normal modes and expert feels just right. Really fun game and I'm glad you got to play and enjoy it. The Switch version just came out too this week with enhanced pixel art graphics and an extreme mode I heard. I really enjoy it so I'll double dip, but generally the game is the same.
@@ShmupJunkie I have one of those Switch Lite's but I don't use it much. I just can't justify the high price of games on consoles these days compared to Steam/PC, especially since I picked up a dedicated gaming laptop (Lenovo Legion 5) a couple months back. The vast majority of games I've ever picked up on Steam/PC are in the $5-25 range (often for exactly the same game) compared to the $40-$80 range of most console games. I figure I'd rather pay more money up-front for the hardware (PC) and have less expensive games, than the other way around. I know a lot of people complain about Raging Blaster's "simple graphics", but I really like the look and to be honest, i'm a little mixed on the "improved" look of the Switch version. :-) I think I'll try that "Eschatos" game you recommended now which I picked up awhile back when it was on sale but haven't started yet!
@@TransCanadaPhil Oh heck yeah. Eschatos is now a top 10 game for me I’m in love with it. Just the music alone is as epic as it gets, but overall the game is just so much fun and never stops. I do highly recommend starting on the easy mode it’s meant that way and finish it like that first. You’ll gain extra credits and other bonuses including starting on later stages the more you play. And normal will be a legit challenge. There is a mode called Endless which is good to start too. Basically the first loop is easy mode. Later the Advanced mode is the same difficulty levels but adds more nuance and weapon upgrades while playing vs the fixed normal mode weaponry. But no matter how you play it the presentation and music is stellar. You’ll get a few cheap deaths during some of the wilder camera panning sequences but once you know and learn to avoid them it’s a non factor. Let me know how you get on with that one as I’m a big fan.
Thanks for the heads up on this one. The demo has been fun and made me pick up some of their other games while waiting for this one to come. It looks like some older games have made their way to Switch and this would be a great addition there.
I do think he has plans to get this onto Switch as well like some of his others assuming it does well. Everyone is really enjoying that caravan mode this may be his best game yet so hopefully it makes it over.
@@ShmupJunkie This would be great to have on the Switch which is slowly becoming my go to Shump console.
@@Mechanicoid luckily this dev has been bringing his games to the switch so if it does well on steam it could happen! He just had some others release for it.
i really like this game's art style
It's cool right. Simple yet effective, and the colors create a cool vibe. I like it too.
We got here first candidate to shmups of the year 2021 :D
It's definitely a candidate! What a cool indie game and the music is out of this world. I love the tunes.
Loved the video man. And loving the caravan mode. I also liked seeing a little bit of footage from stages of the game, talking about comparisions between classic shooters, and of course the dev, Terrarin. As always, another great video, and I'll see you in the caravan.
Thanks dude. We've got a lot of new blood joined for this one too it's off to a great start. You'll feel right at home after spending lots of time with the Soldier games lately. It's not as brutal just to survive like Omega Blast was.
Raging blasters reminds me a little bit of Galaxy fighter on the Watara Supervision! Some of the same guns and some enemies similar looking! Great shmup!👾👾👾🚀
Great video my friend. Downloading the demo now and hope to get involved with another great caravan contest!
You know you are always welcome buddy, however much time you have. Although I am hoping no more 3am late nighters for you this time lol
@@ShmupJunkie haha, that Omega Blast one had me hooked late into the night!
A new brilliant doujin shooter to try! :) Nice to see a fast paced minimalist shooter, comes perfect after Crimzon Clover WI madness! Thanks man!
No, thank you for the support my friend. It's quite fantastic and the free Caravan mode is well received. It's allowing lots of people to participate and hopefully get excited for the full game. We are all enjoying it.
This looks really dope !!
I just got into Final Solider and am loving it !!
Yes! All the old soldier games are a ton of fun. You would definitely dig this one too. Final Soldier has a really fun caravan mode too. A friend of mine gets some massive scores in that one.
@@ShmupJunkie yeah I saw that mode but didn't play it yet...I was just playin Street Fighter 2 Champion Edition on PC engine and now I'm gonna check out that mode in Final Solider so thanx. I will definitely be picking up Raging Blasters when it's released
I have the demo downloaded. Will fire it up when I have a moment!
We've got about 40 folks playing in the caravan already on the discord! Good turn out.
Wow I didn't expect my name to be mentioned here.
Great review, as always.
Sadly, the part about visuals is true. Modern gamer's eyes are so spoiled by AAA visual quality (money) that they won't even notice the quality gameplay of indies.
Those are some great soundtracks btw.
Edit: now I'm tempted to add a high sped caravan mode to Wings Of Bluestar....
Yes, sad but true. I noticed Terarin likes to amp up the visuals for his Switch releases, so I'd be excited to see if that happens for this game too one day. The music really is something else isn't it! Caravans are the new thing and I feel like I have been part of trying to bring them back. The new Cotton will have them too. I've never actually played a horizontal caravan mode in a game before, as caravans are often very screen position oriented. But if you ever join us one day for a caravan event, you'll get some in-depth perspective on what makes them so unique versus just a score attack. They have a lot of scoring nuance to discover. Terarin really understands Caravans well so he made a really good one that everybody enjoyed.
Okay, so Barrage Fantasia came out yesterday and Rangok Skies came out 10 days ago, and both are really good bullet hell games, so let me just compare those games to this one as someone who generally prefers to play action-adventure games and RPGs. I keep going back to this game again and again, and I actually just beat it, while I can't even get past the second mid-boss of either Rangok Skies or Barrage Fantasia and I'm already losing interest in both. I think it's because this game's gameplay is so quick and simple and its design is so clean and focused. Clearing out wave upon wave of enemies coming in at a million miles an hour and collecting all the crystals they drop is addicting as hell, and racking up huge combos with little trouble is really rewarding. Bosses are really epic, especially on higher difficulties, and the stages are pretty sweet themselves, I really like the battleship even if it's the biggest run killer for me, really creative stuff. Most bullet hell games take a long time to get the hang of, it's hard to take in everything, the hitboxes require trial and error to figure out, and they're much slower too. That's why I stay away from any official Touhou content; I'm fine with really good bullet hell games but official Touhou games... aren't that (Luna Nights and a few other bullet hell action-adventure games are fine by me though). It's also why I'm really sad there don't seem to be any truly classic style bishoujo 'em ups. It's like eating an overcooked steak as opposed to a bag of chips. Sometimes simple and accessible can be preferable to meaty but tough.
I’m really glad you loved this one and you put it really well. The gameplay is perfect in its simplicity and it’s just fun. Terarin knows good shmup design and the fundamentals being a good player himself. And he made it to his preferences which are the older pc engine vertical shooters. It’s also great for beginners on normal and even hard. And expert is really fun if you ever get to that point. We did a week long caravan contest on my discord for it back when it came out and everyone had a blast. This is one game I may be revisiting soon in a video when I do the best shmups for beginners.
@@ShmupJunkie For what it's worth, this is the first space shooter I've ever beaten even on the easiest difficulty without save states, and I did it on one credit. I went into the run on which I ended up beating it thinking, "oh, I'm just going to put a bit more time in so Steam asks if I want to review the game." I lost 5 lives on just stage 3, but none on its boss, none on the boss rush and only one on the final boss. Until I read your reply to my comment, I was thinking of moving on to Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth starting Saturday when it leaves Early Access, but now I might just try this game again on hard mode. Actually, I said much the same as my original comment in reply to a review of Kamiko shortly after Werewolf Princess Kaguya came out comparing the former favorably to the latter, and both comments were based on a comment comparing Soul Blazer favorably to Illusion of Gaia. And this game was the first to make me notice a real hole in the indie game market that aligned remotely with my interests - where are all the really classic space shooters as opposed to bullet hell, especially ones full of anime girls? Until now, I haven't really been enthusiastic about making games, thinking "oh, there are plenty of other games kind of like this idea already," but that just changed.
If you get around to making the video you describe, feel free to share anything and everything in this comment and my original one.
found ur channel about two hours ago :D What a cute game! I will be def picking it up on Steam in a few days. I feel this shmup will be one of those gems that blasts off to the top!
I hope it does as it deserves it. It's very well made and thought out, many of us are enjoying it. I hope you do too and if you love it, don't forget to leave some good feedback and reviews as it seems to be very important for small indie games. I'm glad you found me and hope you enjoy some of my other stuff.
I love that the demo is only 17 MB. we need to get back to when full games could fit on a few floppies! stop the bloat!
The not overly flashy graphics definitely contribute to that. Don't need a huge file to make an awesome playing game. Space is mostly taken up by graphics and effects and video. I am fine not going back to floppy discs haha, but yeah not having 40gig games to download is nice.
Looks like Zanac Neo
I love Zanac Neo that was a highly underrated and super fun game.
Great video, I've seen some gameplays for it and now I can relate some of them to your competition. Sadly I saw this one too late to join the caravan, maybe next time. But these videos definitely sparked my curiosity - usually I don't game much on my PC, but this looks like a good exception :).
Thanks. Honestly it’s one of those games that you’ll clearly love or not. If it’s your type of game you just know it. It’s definitely my style which is why I really wanted to do a great review of it. Most people who played it in the caravan really enjoyed it, and are now enjoying the full game. Usually this dev releases them on switch eventually if they do well, as he just released one of his older ones on the eshop last week called missile dancer. So far this one has been working great on Steam, but I have a feeling it will make it to the switch someday too.
A new video?! Instant watch!
Every Sunday... well almost every sunday. Same shmup time, same shmup channel!
Yeah, this one is definitely my kind of thing, let's go!
See you on the discord! It's going to be a fun week.
@@ShmupJunkie I'm a terrible player, but I'll give it a shot.
I feel the same way about Crimson Clover it's too much with the stars, Cave got to where the entire screen was pink bullet's. It's not a good design choice with Shooter's. It doesn't need to be mistaken for bullet hell, when it drowns out the whole screen you can't see your ship or enemies any destruction. That's a lack of enemy design, did you notice with Toaplan games they always seem to have had that perfect balance. The most important thing they did was level and enemy design making you think technical about dodging against patterns. Raiden games had fantastic patterns you had to learn with bullet hell games when everything is covered the screen and your ship can just go through makes no since.
You're right, the soundtrack is a thumper!
Know what shmup soundtrack I really love (apart from Turrican II for the Amiga, obviously, which was more of a Contra/Metroid type game)? Call me a big girl's blouse if you want, but I think that Star Parodier/Fantasy Star Soldier had some of the best music in the games of the era. It just made me feel good, and made me want to keep playing.
Thanks for the quality content. My only gripe is that because your channel is young, I cannot really binge-watch your shit, yet.
You're not alone the Star Paroider tracks are awesome and really catchy. Even better than the Parodius games imo as those were more remixes of existing tunes only made cute and would get stuck in your head. The original tunes in Parodier are ace, just like all the Soldier games honestly. My favorite to this day. I guess you will always be hosed on the binge watching now, since if you're already caught up, you'll never get enough to accumnulate. Sometimes I wonder if decades from now I will go back and binge watch my own old videos lmao
So Hype for this game
Get that demo man, check out the Caravan. Bunch of us are playing already it's dope.
I’m usually not into caravan modes in shmups. But I guess I haven’t found the right game yet. I will definitely buy this and enjoy the main game
Caravan modes are something I only really play with friends or in a group. That's what makes them fun. On my own I can only do it for so long. Kind of like fighting games. Need friends to compete and chat with.
@@ShmupJunkie Just improving your score and climbing the leaderboard is fun enough. When I said I haven’t found the right caravan, I think I have played to many arcade archives ports with a caravan mode tacked on when it kinda wasn’t designed for it
@@headman82 very true. To get a good feel for a real caravan mode it’s good to try the old Soldier games or something like Recca on Famicom. This game raging blasters is actually a very good entry level caravan. It’s not overly difficult but has enough nuance to need pretty perfect play to get a truly high score. And it’s got the feel and plays just like one.
This looks cool! Definitely more my speed with something like this, though I would still suck at it without a doubt. I love to watch an ace player rip it up on a modern bullet hell just to see the spectacle in all it's glory, but man do I get wrecked whenever I make the slightest attempt at one. So hard to focus playing those modern shooters.
You may be very surprised how well you do playing this one. The normal mode is very much geared to most anyone being able to pick it up. Most of my footage was expert mode as it's more exciting to watch in a video. I would bet you'd smoke it on Normal pretty quick. Even HARD isn't too bad. Expert feels about like one of the Aleste games on normal, if that gives you an idea. It scales well and starts easy enough to learn and makes for a good starter/learner shooter.
Just got 2nd place in dual caravan. Dual mode is actually pretty fun
great video on a great game, to me it falls somewhere between Star Soldier and Blazing Lazers, which is a pretty good place to be.
We all had a blast playing it for the caravan! And that mode feels very much like the Nexzr Caravan only with a chain mechanic added.
Oh hell ya. Thanks for sharing
You got it, hope you enjoy this one.
Terarin did an awesome job!
1:42 what exactly constitutes a bullet hell?
He sure did! Not long into the video I explain the difference pretty well, at least to me, between a bullet hell and an older shooter like this pretty well I think.
Definitely wanna play this!
Totally do, it's a free demo. And if you really enjoy the caravan mode the main game is much cooler still. We are having a good time playing just the caravan demo on the discord now.
3:55 reason I refuse to get Crimzon Clover and kinda regret buying Hurricane of Varstray.
Over the last two years I have really expanded my ability to enjoy more types of shmups and found some bullet hell games that I really, really enjoy too. It's opened my horizons a bit. But they are definitely not for everyone and I get it, as I was one who rarely played them before too. It took a lot of adjustment for me getting used to the different skillset and following everything that happens on screen. But these older shooters will always be my favorite including for nostalgia. Raging Blasters is just so easy and fun to play but not easy to master.
@@ShmupJunkie I'll still play Hurricane of Varstray until I found a new shmup that plays like Suguri.
Raging Blasters and Moon Dancer Gemini Arms and Missle Dancer are on to my get list!
Check out his new game too, Teraflame. Just came out and is based on Thunder Force.
@@ShmupJunkie Oh My 😍
Can't find a video for teraflame is it on switch?
Oh Terraflame yeah it looks awesome but it's only on steam and pc that I'm aware of hopefully it comes to switch
@@johngavalas712 Yeah it’s new so not yet. So far all of his games have been coming to switch afterward and hopefully this one too.
Awesome Show Dude!!!
Thanks 🙏 I’m having fun making these and these indie spotlights really help the devs too.
Straight up awesome!
All the people playing in the caravan this week are loving it!
THIS IS LITERALLY "BLAZING LAZERS " FOR TURBOGRAFX 16
Hey @TERARIN, Is there ANY plan to port this to a console? This would make a great PCE CD-ROM game or even a Mega Drive cart?
Hopefully he will answer, but I don't know if he does as of yet. Think it doing well on Steam and then later Switch may be his priority.
Too cool! Another great video, and another awesome looking game! The caravan demo is so good, everyone try it and join us on the discord! The only questions is.... when's Terarin starting on the sequel?
Ha! Well first he has to take all of our suggestions and tweak this baby until it's flawless. I bet we will have plenty as the week goes on. And release a suped up version on the Switch in the future. But it coming to Switch will likely depend on it doing well enough on Steam so we will have to support it. 👍
@@ShmupJunkie For sure. All hands on deck to support our Devs!
The only thing I'm not sold on is ALL DAT OVERLAY. Seems like it'd be a little claustrophobic, no? I know some old arcade ports did big borders to maintain the original aspect ratio, but that's not the case here.
It's pretty much the same as the M2 widgets on the shot triggers games. Those side panels are not play area, they are just for scoring and game info. It looks like the play area, as the actual background and enemies are there, but you can't actually move your ship past the borders. BUT you can actually shoot other ships from outside the borders which is kind of cool. It works well in practice and never obscures anything you need to see. I didn't mention it, but in the options menu those borders and how they look can be changed too.
Do video about Twin Bee and Einhander, please!
Einhander is one of my favorite on the PS1, I will do that one day for sure when I do a favs PS1 video.
Que video tan genial!! Dejo mi like!!
looks awesome ! too bad it's not on hucard format ! but thanks for the nice video !
Another great video bud.
Thanks! The one for this next Sunday is coming out really well too I think everyone will dig it.
@@ShmupJunkie Looking forward to it.
Awesome
Damn, should I work now or I play the demo???!!
What is this work you speak of? I only work on playing games now 😁
How can I send you a steam key of my game?
Join my Discord and send me a message there direct. I am happy to check it out
Is raging blasters coming to the Nintendo Wii U or Nintendo switch?
The good news is the developer TERARIN is known for porting his games to Switch. His other releases have made their way there and this is his best one yet. So I don't doubt he will work on it.
If I remember correctly, Terarin said yes to a Siwtch port but it will take some time.
@@ShmupJunkie Is there any hope for Super XYX making it to Nintendo switch?
Good suff man new sub here
Thank you. Hope you enjoy some of the other vids I’ve made so far. Only been at this for several months. The one just before this on Compile history was very popular everyone seemed to like it.
nice!!
Thank you 🙏
Holy macaroni
Holy macaroni goes well with undead meatballs. Now I'm craving italian thanks. 😅
Shmup Junkie it’s All the sopranos I’ve watched over the years, a million pardons! But just so you know, the gravy is good tonight
Can this be played in 4:3?
The actual game area is pretty close to 4x3. The side panels are just used for game info and score. So you could technically cut them off but would be losing that info. The options menu does allow you to change what the side areas look like though.
The steam version is drm free? Or I need steam to sturt it up? Sorry for the probably stupid question ahah
I think all Steam games require you to play them through Steam, but it does have an offline mode. You don't have to be connected to the internet to play it no.
@@ShmupJunkie ok thanks you :D
Is that a real copy of Recca :)
That it is 😬 Making a caravan cameo before it has a rightful place in the top 5 hardest shooters Famicom video haha
My jaw is on the floor. You are too hype!
@@AKTANEARCADE I just wish I’d discovered it sooner as no US kid knew wth it was back then. I only played it for the first time a couple years ago and haven’t put the time in yet to becoming truly good at it. It’s tempting but I know the torture that awaits haha.
@@ShmupJunkie the first time I loaded up the rom and the game got going, that frantic music, insane speed of everything, the wavy backgrounds, and the slowdown (probably not frame perfect to hardware but impactful) - It blew me away completely - that was early 2020 I think. I managed to get past lv2 once but never tried any mode other than story ...
Bullet hells are the lowest form of shooters..
I enjoy all the types and there are some bullet hell games I like a lot, even if my personal preference is for older style shooters. I used to not play BH much at all, but the more I tried the more I realized how many cool games I had missed. It was my loss and I’m catching up now.
Music is ok. Gameplay is ok. But graphics and weapons suck. A lot.It seems a nes game not a pc-engine one.
This was still one of my fav shooters that came out all of last year, and I especially liked the music in it. It's not easy for a single indie dev to make crazy graphics unless they're an artist, and I don't disagree the graphics are simple and may turn off potential buyers. If the genre grows and the games bring in more money, devs will be able to hire artists and others to contribute and improve the overall presentation of the games. Until then, not all but most indie games will be more basic in presentation, as the return on investment to make and sell a shmup doesn't justify the cost. But that's what I and others like my channel are hoping for. To keep increasing the popularity and viability of the genre so even more medium sized devs like M2 will start putting out top tier games for us.
If the developer had any brains whatsoever, he would put this game onto the Nintendo Switch - you know, the console that retro-gaming fans use. Steam is for teenagers who only play first-person shooters.
That’s a bit harsh. Have you ever developed a game on no budget by yourself and considered how difficult it is to release on a big console like Nintendo or Sony? Many small devs would love to but can not afford it. However in this case you’d be mistaken, as the developer Terarin actually DOES release his games on Switch eshop. He just released another one of his older releases called missile dancer. So he smartly released this on Steam first, and will make feedback and improvements to the game, including the graphics likely, and if it does well and when he is ready will release on Switch too. Steam is a good test bed to first get lots of feedback and make improvements. So if this game looks cool to you, in time expect to see this in the switch eshop. Look how long it took to upgrade crimson clover and finally release it on switch. It’s hard for small devs to do, but it was worth the wait!