Bullet Hell Shmups GBA Homebrew
Takayama Fumihiko’s Bullet Hell Shmups homebrew series is not for the weak of heart. Previewing the trailer for BulletGBA, a bullet-pattern simulator for shoot-em-up games, was enough to leave me trembling under my desk, praying that death would come swiftly and without agony. You can practice dodging 300+ projectile patterns from titles like Ikaruga or G-Darius, all on the portable convenience of a GBA or DS system. You may lose a part of yourself during the process though — mainly your will to live.
Vulkanon continues the tradition of pitting your reflexes against near-impossible odds. You’ll have to cut through an insurmountable rush of destroyable shots flooding the screen, only to find them replaced by suicide bullets that home in on your position. Directing enough of your firepower at the nameless “boss” centered at the top of the screen unlocks the next pattern. Managing to do all that without having your craft blown to bits requires the prescience of a god and the adaptability of Ender Wiggin.
While neither “games” feature audio support, and the graphics are simplified right down to the @-symbol ship, both are a must for any fan of the shmup genre. Releases like these remind us how great the GBA/DS homebrew scene is.
Bullet Hell Shmups – BulletGBA
source: GameSetWatch
Eric Caoili - July 31st, 2006 - 
Broku on July 31, 2006 at 5:47 pm
found this just now and I wasn’t sure if you guys had seen it yet or not.
http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/nintendo/wii-promotional-image-of-virtua-console-games-190865.php
http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/resources/2006/07/Virtual_Console_promo.jpg
Hurricane Mario on July 31, 2006 at 6:15 pm
Hmm… I just downloaded and played the bullet game. It seems kinda rediculous. You have to move perpendicular to the bullets to not get hit I think. Not really my kinda game but it seems ok. :!:
NoBullet on July 31, 2006 at 6:41 pm
Broku, its not a Nintendo ad. Its fanmade. Read the comments.
Nobullet on July 31, 2006 at 9:00 pm
Ah you mentioned Ender and his series which are superb! Go read all of them!
Link on July 31, 2006 at 9:03 pm
At first, I thought it was as horrible as you made it out to be, but then watching the video showed me that you can destroy the projectiles coming at you just by firing at them, I now think his is just lame and easy. The player was firing pretty quick, which I don’t know if he’s got fast fingers or if you just hold down the shoot button, but I’m assuming it’s the latter.
Lem on July 31, 2006 at 9:23 pm
Bullet morph looks purty
peshue on July 31, 2006 at 9:32 pm
Ahhh shumps, the most masochistic of all game genres. Why do I love them so.
Scentless on August 2, 2006 at 11:23 am
How do you flip the game vertically in Visualboy?
Anyway, I love it, even though I have to turn my head sideways.
I hope that we get to see more curtain-fire shmups on the DS. ^^
lionzub on August 2, 2006 at 12:08 pm
They’re called shooters! Shmups is a word for kids.
Scentless on August 2, 2006 at 1:16 pm
No, shmups is a slang term adopted…a little while back. “Shooters” evokes an image of a big brawly guy in 3rd or 1st person killing things with a gun.
If you kind a kid who knows what a shmup is, he’s either hardcore, or my little brother.