Monkey Paw Games' latest PS1 shmup release on the American PSN is Kyuiin, a game I've heard barely any mention of anywhere, even around these parts. Which really should not be the case; it's an excellent cute-em-up with unusual mechanics comparable to Harmful Park. It's obviously low-budget, but the graphics display a lot of life and imagination, and there's a good effort at making the task of scoring fairly deep. I understand the negativity surrounding Monkey Paw's earlier release GaiaSeed, even if I don't agree with it, but the same complaints can in no way be lodged against Kyuiin. Anyone with a PSN device and an interest in horzies should absolutely pick this up for its lunch-level price.
http://www.youtube.com/v/cNzFDWCcPUw
GAME EXPLANATION:
- Two difficulties: Easy and Hard.
- 5 shot weapons: Laser, 3-way vulcan, homing, rapid, and the weak starting shot. Maximum power level is 3. You can take two hits before dying: the first removes your hose and all weapon powerups. You regain this hit upon picking up a medkit, after which you can again pick up weapon upgrades.
- When not shooting, the wiggling vacuum hose can automatically suck up enemies smaller than yourself and certain types of bullets. Armored enemies and large projectiles cannot be sucked. Sucking up enemies fills up your super meter; when full, a powerful and defensive super attack can be used. You can stock up to 2 super attacks at once.
- There's a rear attack with its own button. It's not worth quite as many points as suction, but it's the only way to get the maximum possible amount of points from large/armored enemies and bosses.
- Each method of attack is worth a different amount of points for each enemy. Here's a universally applicable chart in descending order. The super attack gives no points at all.
MOST VALUABLE
Vacuum
Back attack
Shot
Super attack
LEAST VALUABLE
If anyone shows interest, I'll open a high score thread after I achieve a decent run. (playing on a PSP)
