Gunroar by Kenta Cho.

I find Kenta Cho's games inspiring and Gunroar is no exception. Kenta Cho's genius lies in his creative mix of innovative gameplay and abstract polygon-based graphics. In addition, not only are most of his games free, but he actually includes source code as well - which is as generous as you can possibly get in the game programming world.

Gunroar is a standout in Kenta Cho's line of fast polygon shooters. The polygon-based presentation is excellent - with attractive colour schemes supporting a frenzied array of simple but very effective game elements. The background is a case in point here - being simply a succession of variously sized (almost randomly) overlain rectangles. Similarly, the explosions are just rotating, fading rectangles. You wouldn't think you could get away with something so primitive - but because it is all so fast and so "in-theme", it all gels together beautifully.

Gunroar gameplay consists in a small gunboat's vertically scrolling journey north, ever deeper into enemy terrain. Polygon islands and turret-type defenses must be negotiated, in addition to a raft of variously sized enemy vessels. The journey north is punctuated with boss-battles, in which the small but fleet player craft satisfyingly takes on huge enemy warships.

Of course this type of gameplay is standard shmup fare. The magic Kenta Cho brings to the game is not only in the presentation - but also in the speed of the journey. It's as fast as you want it to be, or can handle! - and the well-thought-out control mechanism allows you to progress very quickly indeed.

Gunroar allows you to choose between a number of control options, depending upon your hardware and dexterity. Gamers with twin-stick analogue gamepads can rejoice, as here is finally a game that uses both sticks well. If you don't have a twin-stick gamepad - with a little practice the mouse-keyboard option is a winner and is a must-try over the "normal" default controls. In fact, I would go as far as to say that the game didn't really come alive for me until I discovered the speed possible with the mouse-keyboard combination. At high velocity, Gunroar is a chaotic whirl of frenzied destruction, in which the player gets to balance delicately on the edge of out of control. And you've got to love that…

In sum, Gunroar is the must-play work of a shmup master. Kento Cho, Gibbon Games salutes you!

PS: don't forget to set the shortcut command line option:
-res x y       Set the screen resolution to (x, y). (default = 640, 480)