Point And Clicking Through Bullet Hell: Starr Mazer
Adventure game/SHMUP combo.
What the hastily shopped (I actually used Paint and it took four hours) header image is trying to tell you is that Starr Mazer [official site] is something of a two for one deal. In equal parts a side-scrolling schmup and point 'n' click adventure with retro stylings lavished over the whole deal. The two genres intermingle at times, letting you out-talk bosses who might otherwise spew lasers at your ship-bound form. It's the kind of thing they invented the word "rad" for and cool cats like me keep it around to describe. Developers Imagos Softworks successfully Kickstarted it to the tune of nearly $200k last month.
Phwoar, I want to explore that. It's hit the narrow window of pixel art I really like, calling to mind what I remember 90s Lucas Arts looking like rather than how it actually did. I'm all for a good bit of SHMUPing too, broken up with the narrative decision-making and multiple paths we expect from modern games. The look of it is really impressive too. Every bit of the pitch and art oozes the universe's old school sci-fi.
You've likely come across developers Imagos before without realising it. Under the header of Imagos Films they created the live-action trailer for Jazzpunk and the creepy item recordings for SOMA, among other bits of work. They also produced the feature film Motivational Growth, about a man with nobody to talk to but the sentient mould in his bathroom - a relatable scenario. Throughout the Kickstarter and now continuing three times weekly they've been running Star Mazerr TV to show off their game and others via Twitch and Youtube.
The campaign's now over, but if you want to pitch in they're taking discounted pre-orders via their website. Release is slated for early next year, which our standard Kickstarter slippage algorithms compute to late 2016.