Astral Gunners

As someone whose experience with shmups has basically only been with ones I hear about or run into frequently like Raiden, Ikaruga, that one on xbox live and a few flash games, this is the only one that seems accessible enough that I think I can get all the achievements in time. The ramp in difficulty makes it easy to learn the scoring mechanics and know you have a shot at doing better. Boy though, going from using all your credits on hard to getting through without dying has been a trip. The music is also killer and will be stuck in your head forever.

A good arcade horizontal shmup developed by someone who actually knows how the genre works. It also has the best training/practice mode I've seen in a shmup/STG. My only complaints are a less than stellar user interface visually and the lack of a replay system to go along with the leaderboards.

At first, I wasn't sure I was going to like Astral Gunners, the art style being something I usually don't seek and sometimes even end up avoiding. But after playing over an hour with a friend — I'm surprised. The stages and boss fights are fun, each characters' playstyle is enjoyably unique and the soundtrack is amazing. Extra kudos for its shot pattern creativity and complex training mode that allows you to set specific sections for you to train.

I really enjoyed this game - so much so I nearly missed a flight to go on holiday trying to get the easy 1cc. It's scoring system is that compelling! The gameplay is tight, engaging, and fun - exactly what I want in a shmup. The scoring doesn't seem overly complicated, but I have barely scratched the surface of that as it is quite deep. The graphical style and presentation is good and works well with the gameplay, story and music - it's the cohesiveness of the parts that adds the cherry on top in my opinion. Nothing sticks out of place, everything seems perfectly arranged and thought through. This makes it a joy to play and I can't wait to spend more time with this game!

I am stupid. I didn't pick this up because of the logo and store thumb art. Again, I am stupid. This game is unbelievably sick, and actually looks amazing in game. The characters feel unique, control feels good, patterns are sick

highly worth playing. this game is tough but fair at the same time and challenge is worth it

This game rules. The soundtrack cured my depression.

I purchased this a while ago in early access, but it was so good I immediately knew I wanted to wait until the full 1.0 release was out to really dig in. After finally making some time to try it out again, I can confirm it was worth the wait! Highly recommended.