It's a paradox that the shmup--that old-school genre of frenetic space shooting--can create visuals that come closer to the status of abstract art than any other digital form... If you could ever look up from the intensity of combat long enough to really notice them.
Bullet Candy is a case in point; frenetic space mayhem, and beautiful imagery.
Charlie Knight, its creator, is clearly a long-standing enthusiast of the genre; he's created a highly polished, well executed examplar of the form, complete with "Minter levels" as an homage to Jeff Minter's landmark games. Shmup fans will find a lot to like here; novices are advised to turn the difficulty down as low as it will go (which isn't much).
Gameplay Features
Bullet Candy's game mechanic is inspired by the classic Williams' Robotron, vertical shooters such as Treasure's Ikaruga and Capcom's Gigawing, and Jeff Minter's awesome Llamatron and Tempest 2000.
Huge particle explosions, masses of enemy bullets, and beautiful feedback effects combined with power-ups, score multipliers, collectable friendly ships, laser upgrades and un-lockable bonus games all add up to make a great gameplay experience.
Gameplay Video
Check out the trailer on Youtube.
