Hydorah, a freeware indie shmup that was released a couple of months ago. I know this is meant to be an arcade blog, but with new arcade games so few and far between, us old school gamers have to seek out arcade-like experiences where we can - and few modern games capture that feeling quite as well as Hydorah.
Visually it looks like an late 8-bit or even early 16-bit game; sonically, Gryzor87's brilliant soundtrack sounds like something from a late 90s CD-based game, but with an evocative chiptunes aesthetic. The gameplay is not at all original, but let's be generous and call it a homage to classic shoot em ups. What's important is that the levels design, enemy patterns and weapons are well thought out and the controls are as tight and responsive as you could ask for. When you die in Hydorah you know it's your mistake, not the game being cheap or flaky. I highly recommend it and since it's free you have nothing to lose.
Plays like
- A lot like Gradius
Highs
- Beautiful homage to retro graphics and gameplay.
- Great balance of design and challenge.
- Fantastic sound track.
- Free!
Lows
- Poor controller support.
Download the game for free here: http://www.locomalito.com/juegos_hydorah.php. If you like it, please donate so Locamalito can continue making these brilliant little games.
Also, check out Gryzor87's fantastic soundtrack, which is also available as a free download from Bandcamp.com here: http://hydorah.bandcamp.com/album/hydorah-original-soundtrack.
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