If you're a shoot 'em up fan you've been eating good recently, with another quality set of games out now in the Toaplan Arcade Shoot ‘Em Up Collection Vol.4. This is the last Toaplan collection coming from Bitwave Games, and so to go along with collection 4 they've also put up a bundle in the Toaplan Arcade Shoot ‘Em Up Ultimate Collection for all 16 games.
The games included in this collection are:
Grind Stormer
"Grind Stormer, aka ‘V・V’, is a vertically scrolling shooter with gorgeous pixel art graphics and an upbeat FM soundtrack. Developed by an all-star team at Toaplan, the game is a superb early example of a manic shooter, a precursor to the ‘bullet hell’ shoot ‘em up genre so popular today. The Japanese version of the game, called V・V (pronounced V Five), features a selectable power-up system with gauges, providing a strategic gameplay element where the key to success is to use the appropriate weapon for each level and enemy encounter."
Twin Hawk
"Take on powerful tanks and battleships with in this military themed vertical arcade shoot ‘em up by Toaplan! Summon friendly fighter planes to avoid emergencies and increase firepower. A vertical scrolling shooter, gamers must defy the oncoming army and navy barrages, assisted by calling up a formation of six friendly fighters. In Twin Hawk, a strategic approach is the key to success, but the challenge ramps up when the last stage is cleared, entering Round Two of the conflict with the difficulty getting progressively harder with each loop of the game! Like the Japanese title of the game Daisenpu (Great Whirlwind) implies, the game will eventually come at you with full force, never letting go!"
Truxton II
"The sequel to Toaplan’s shoot ‘em up masterpiece, Truxton II is a thrilling slice of space action with an unforgiving difficulty level. Enjoy the visually stunning pixel graphics and vibrant music as you dodge the high-speed bullet rain and take on tough bosses. Casual players who dare to play Truxton II can take solace in the added easy mode, and the modern features of rewind and quick save that gives players a fighting chance to advance through the quick bullet rain and tough bosses."
Dogyuun
"A science fiction-themed vertically scrolling shoot 'em up game known for its stunning detailed pixel art, gigantic bosses, and menacing difficulty. Quite possibly the most rock n’ roll shooting game of all time, Dogyuun is packed with a huge enemy variety, providing a tough challenge even for hardened shmup’ veterans. Dogyuun is a visual spectacle of amazing pixel art graphics and detailed animation under the artistic vision of Hayashi Miho and Koetsu Iwabuchi and marks the debut of manga artist Junya Inoue as one of the graphic artists."
And of course each comes with all the improvements Bitwave worked on like:
- Minimal Input Lag: Emulation, input processing, and rendering all complete on the same frame.
- Online leaderboards for Single Credit, No Assist, and Assisted plays.
- Rewind the game between 10-18 minutes, depending on the action.
- Experience the game in Mirror Mode.
- Assist Features such as auto-fire at multiple rates.
- Very Easy Mode: Lower the difficulty to breeze through the adventure.
- Rotate the gameplay in 90-degree increments.
- Choose between Raw Input on Windows or Steam Input.
- Hone your skills in the ultra-customizable practice mode.
Available on Steam and GOG but looks like only Steam has the Linux versions.
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