VARYZNEX

This game kind of rules! I only played the first two missions but they were awesome. I'd say the base gameplay draws most from G Darius with a touch of R type in that you have a fixed force type piece on your ship that can be rotated to block incoming projectiles, it can't be detached at all as far as I'm aware. What really GOT ME EXCITED. was the way the first two stages pay homage to classic horizontal 2.5D shooting games but with 2D graphics utilizing sprite scaling instead of 3D polygons if I'm not mistaken. Anyways, I felt the tributes each stage pays are beautifully executed and really give players something new and exciting while retaining a sense of familiarity. The first two stages reference G Darius and Einhander respectively as far as I can tell.

Cool shump that's got some Metal Black/G Darius style energy where you got a big beam. I think the standard mode is a little odd since using the big beam means you're giving up six (!!) hits of shield and bosses in particular don't feel like they give you enough meter, but VX mode feels a lot better balanced to me. So be sure to try all the modes.

Fun shmup. Stage 4 music rips! You control your options/bits to change the direction you're shooting in. I find one of the alternate modes to control them easier, but I forget which. So if you're struggling my recommendation is to experiment with the different modes. With how many of these I've played it's difficult to say, but I would say that this game's VX-Normal mode would be a pretty sensible 1cc for a newcomer willing grind out a few attempts. For me as a vet it was comparatively easy, I did it on the third try. It was almost my second, so if for more seasoned players like myself Hard is probably the real challenge. Those wings are forever.