🦗Flea! : Special Edition | SEGA Dreamcast | Review | 7/10 | "On the face of it that sounds quite grim" 🦗 @WaveGameStudios #GameDev #IndieGames #SEGA

Flea! is an upbeat little platformer that was originally released by its developer Lowtek Games with a very limited run for the NES and Dreamcast in 2020. This month saw the game re-released for the Dreamcast as a ‘special edition’ by the Norwich-based publisher WAVE Game Studios, complete with a separate soundtrack CD and all wrapped up in a jewel case with a PAL-style design. 

💥 SHINORUBI | PC | Review | 4/10 | "I Am A Basic Bitch When It Comes To Shmups" 💥 #IndieGame #GameDev #SHMUPS @LastBoss88 @PixelHunted

I am a basic bitch when it comes to shmups. I’ve played Treasure classics Radiant Silvergun and Ikaruga, Jeff Minter’s neon ungulate work, and dabbled in a few Cave shooters. This is like being into music and only having listened to The Beatles, and vast swathes of bullet hell games have passed me by in a blizzard of neon, clashing colours, and J-rock soundtracks.

Consequently, bullet hell is a genre I admire from a distance. Deep in my bones I know I’m never going to be good at it but I can appreciate what works and what doesn’t.

All of which brings me to indie dev Last Boss 88’s SHINORUBI, a new early access title “inspired by classic shooting games”. You know the drill, pick your ship and jump into a vertically scrolling battlefield teeming with enemies, power-ups and thousands of bullets. The developers promise “all the best aspects of Japanese bullet hell games” in super shiny Ultra HD.

👹 A Gremlin In The Works | 1983-2015 | by Bitmap Books | "Quite Frankly - Bitmap Books Have Done It Again." 👹 @hardistymark @bitmap_books

https://www.bitmapbooks.co.uk/products/a-gremlin-in-the-works

When I previously covered Bitmap Books’ A Guide to Japanese Role-Playing Games (https://www.gamesfreezer.co.uk/2021/10/bitmap-books-guide-to-japanese-role.html) I felt quite certain that I had read the definitive ‘gaming book’.

It was so rich with information and so well-presented and researched that I couldn’t imagine it really being bettered. It was a pleasant surprise then, when receiving A Gremlin in the Works, as the book had a totally different and arguably bigger impact on me as I read through it.

It’s extremely early days, but following my time with the book, I can very much imagine this ending up in my year-end list for 2022…and it’s currently January.