Shoot 1up - XBLA Indie game

[postman]

Tried the demo for this, and it's one of the first scrolling shooters that is worth your time on XBLA indie....all the 1ups you get happen in real time, rather than storing them, which builds your ship base to huge in a few minutes (think Galaga). Right and left triggers expand or contract the ships, and while expanded you shoot a huge laser.

Also features variant level-paths, some with different scrolling directions.

Demo is timed, full game is just $1.

[Udderdude]

Well, since this is out I figure I'd share my experiences testing it.

It's basically a clusterfuck of a shooter for casuals, so if you don't match that description, I doubt you'll like it.

You get more points for expanding your ships out to a wide distance, but of course doing this causes them to start dropping like flies. You can't possibly dodge or protect them all, it just turns into a giant mess.

There is a mode that goes on infinitely long and saves your score if you quit, which seems like something of a joke when you think about it.

On top of this, it's a widescreen vertizontal. Yeah. :/

It's too bad, because the bosses were actually pretty cool. The game just kind of falls apart, though.

Music was nothing special, either.

[Danbo]

I think the guy who made this posted about it a lil' in development section. Not my kind of game though...

[Rob]

This looks just retarded enough to be fun.

[Van_Artic]

This looks just retarded enough to be fun.

^ this ^

tried it, and it's extremely fun if you overlook the mess of trying your best to keep all the ships alive

[xris]

I like it, it's definately something new. The phalanx idea works a little better than expected. Multi-dodging is a new one. Love the look of it, orca corpses! One of the best on xbig, show some love!

[Rob]

It's pretty fun. Kind of has a Super Aleste feel to it.

[undeadarego]

Isn't it the same person who did Beat Hazard on Indie XBLA?

[TodayIsForgotten]

No, Its the guy who did Weapon Of Destruction. Or something to that extent. It is pretty though. I do agree that the ships do get to become a cluster-fuck but it still makes it fun as its something different. The enemies and bosses are cool, but he mentioned that he wanted to reach a target audience and that was not the hardcore. As in another thread the medal chasing in my opinion made the game much more fun.

[Square King]

Great game for a buck.

[postman]

I bought the full version and like it - if things are getting too hectic, just pull all the ships in to one. There is ample time to spread out and still dodge. Also the Score Trek mode (I think that's what it's called) makes the game play like a typical shooter.

Well worth a dollar.

[Alfred]

I am a casual shmup fan. So the game is aimed at me. I am really enjoying it. It's not too hard and fun to play. I like everything about it. Only 80 MS points, I hope it sells well. Go and buy it.

[PepsimanVsJoe]

One thing to consider is abuse the hell out of the shield. It's there for a reason.
In fact I think you get more points for destroying an enemy with a shield than anything. Plus it kills faster than the other weapons and cancels all of those pesky bullets.

[2dvertical]

VISUALLY, this is what I expect an indie game to look like. Not on par with big budget releases, yet doesnt look like an atari game.

[speedlolita]

If I 1ccd it on normal then it must be easy.

[Sined]

The Plasma Auger is crazy, the bosses are awesome...I enjoy !

Great game, don't hesitate ! For 80 MSP, it's like a present

(And There is not only CAVE in shmup life )

[lgb]

sounds like Titanion Basic/Original slightly

[Udderdude]

One thing to consider is abuse the hell out of the shield. It's there for a reason.
In fact I think you get more points for destroying an enemy with a shield than anything. Plus it kills faster than the other weapons and cancels all of those pesky bullets.

I noticed this as well, I was getting crazy scores just doing nothing but spamming the shield attack with my ships spread out.

Bah.

[xris]

Played this w/ a friend today, who loved it. Said he was getting it, especially for $1. Also, that he was getting better 'cause I kept having him play 'those damn games'. Then he barrowed Futari.
+1

[MommysBestGames]

Glad it's working out for most of you! Shoot 1UP is really an in-betweener for most hardcore shmup fans. Sort of a game to just chill out and enjoy before getting back to a more demanding game. It's not super long, but should have enough interesting elements to make it worth playing.

@speedlolita
Technically you can *only* 1cc Shoot 1UP as there are no continues. But I'm glad you finished Normal! It is meant to be an easier, though-not-vanilla shooter.

@Rob
Yes! Super Aleste (Space Megaforce for me) was a definite inspiration for the first level, as well as the general "chilled out" feel of Space Megaforce just being smoothly enjoyable, and just tough enough to keep your attention.
=========
The next update will be first entered into the Dream Build Play competition for 2010. I'm every excited to see how it holds up (Grapple Buggy is too far off still for a new entry).
Next, the DBP submission, which includes fancier menus, a more animated intro, will then go back up for sale (it will simply replace what's on the marketplace and you can dl and update if you want), but not before I tweak the shield multiplier--see below.

I'm looking at changing the shield multiplier to something like the following:

Original (current) shield mulitiplier works such that you can get from 1x to 30x multiplier based on the shield kill, for how spread the ships are (check your HUD spread indicator or see How to Play).

The New Version will feature a score multiplier based on shield kills that are from simultaneous shield kills. A single shield kill in the new system will get you x5 (no matter your spread).
But if you kill 2 things you could get x10, 3 things x15, 4 things x20, etc. Still in the early stages of testing this.
Though I am happy with the direction the 'simultaneous shield kill' mechanic is going, I'm open to suggestions as to how you'd like this to work. Thanks!

[MommysBestGames]

Played this w/ a friend today, who loved it. Said he was getting it, especially for $1. Also, that he was getting better 'cause I kept having him play 'those damn games'. Then he barrowed Futari.
+1

Oh, and yes! That's excellent! So glad my evil plan contributed to bringing another over to the 'dark side'.

[TMR]

Oh, and yes! That's excellent! So glad my evil plan contributed to bringing another over to the 'dark side'.

You're supposed to go "muahahaha" at this point...? =-)

[MommysBestGames]

You're supposed to go "muahahaha" at this point...? =-)

Right! Right.. or "I'm afraid this 'gateway' shmup will be quite operational when you friends arrive ...to play Halo."
Or something like that.

[postman]

Number 7 in this weeks indie downloads.......guess people like it!

[MommysBestGames]

@postman
Yes, we're thrilled, of course!
http://www.majornelson.com/archive/2010 ... eb-22.aspx

We're also sort of "big in Japan" which is something I've always sort of dreamed of but never thought would happen:
http://tinyurl.com/ybmqtlf
Number 1 Top Downloads for several days now! (2nd highest rating--congrats to Xona/Decimation X on the top spot!)
The number of people that buy it in Japan is also really exciting currently as we're getting to 50%! As in every other person buys it! But of course we're only pushing 100-200 dl's a day (not gift-horse-looking, just not able to buy my real life R-9 just yet.)

Here's some reviews for the fence-sitters. Sure they're not that hardcore, but hey--shmup reviews and talking and general excitement!
RunDLC: 5/5
http://www.rundlc.com/reviews/shoot-1up ... rketplace/

Console Obsession: 9/10
http://www.consoleob.com/shoot-1up-xbox360-review.html

Japanese: Game*Spark: 4.5/5
http://gs.inside-games.jp/news/222/22248.html

Italian: Indie Vault:
http://www.indievault.it/2010/03/05/shoot-1up/

Tell your action-gamer non-shmup friends to try it this weekend! Or get them over to your house for 2 player! Lots seem to love playing coop while an experienced shmup player handles the real action with them. (Then after a while, break out Futari like xris while they're not looking.)

[TMR]

i wonder if i can get away with reviewing another shoot 'em up for Retro Gamer...? =-)

[originalz]

Not a bad game, bloody steal for a dollar.

[Slump]

Not a bad game, bloody steal for a dollar.

Agreed. One of the funner games I've played on Xbox Indie. Glad to offer up my buck for the effort!

[MommysBestGames]

@Slump, originalz, TMR: Thanks guys!

Great news:
1UP.com gave Shoot 1UP a full review, and a really good one at that--
8/10!
(Well, a B in their scale, but same thing)
http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3178237

[Mad Mage]

You can usually count on 1up to not suck like the other big game sites.

I'm enjoying the game too. This and Leave Home are two fun little indy shmups. I'm having trouble getting the hang of when to expand and when to contract. Even if my ships are a little outward it becomes very hard to not get hit. One the other hand, it looks like I'm dealing way less damage when my ships are all the way in. Am I? At any rate I like the burst shield. It makes it possible to have my ships spread out a bit. At least enough to make the laser.