Tastrion

Tastrion is a horizontal shmup made by Remorasoft. The first thing that jumps out to me is the inspiration of 16 bit era shmups. The game has a sort of dark and gritty soundtrack that reflects on the artstyle and gameplay. A game made on shmup creator which in my experience, has been used to make pretty cool shmups that I’ve enjoyed in the past. The gameplay involves a red ship that has three different shot options with the forth button being your bomb. The game allows you to increase your shot power by obtaining power containers either in hidden places or by defeating certain enemies. There are secret containers as well that are hidden in stages. The secret containers will allow you to either fully upgrade your shot, give you an extend (1up) or give a shield. The game is 6 stages long and includes a secret 7th stage that will challenge you on everything you’ve learned. The time it took to 1CC(Credit Clear) this game was probably 1 hour. This is usually too long for my tastes but...

Here is my play through for reference - https://youtu.be/aKXNJcm7dr4 I've actually sunk about 12 hours into this game so far, and got my first official beat today! Silky smooth analog stick controls, great world progression adventure vibes (reminds me of Life Force/Gradius as you make your way through the world). Good weapon system that will have you thinking about rapid fire, spread shot, and power rail shots for each of the situations. Insane tasty sub and main bosses with some bullet hell lite influences. Gameplay overall keeps you on your toes. Visuals remind of the joy around roaming through Super Metroid, R-Type, and Gradius. A play through is about an hour, but it will likely take a few hours to get good enough to play through it because you only get 1 continue (not a complaint, but it's fun to push against the game to beat it as opposed to credit feeding your way through it). Support the dev, support the community, making shumps is a passion that needs your support. Play it no...

This is a superb shooter that also plays well on the Steam Deck. It reminds me of the classics from the 16 bit days, and is a lot harder than the trailer leads you to believe. But it is not at all unfair. I always want to try again whenever I am killed. Bit by bit I am getting better and it's not a frustrating experience. The developer has put a lot of effort into the enemy patterns and it shows. Visually it is a real treat. Lovely hand crafted levels with some truly horrific mid and end of level bosses. And the music is stellar! Great industrial beats to get the blood pumping. This is a new indie developer to keep an eye on. I for one eagerly look forward to what they produce next.

I've played Tastrion throughout its development and the project has come so far. The developer has taken a great deal of time to refine the gameplay and balance throughout the experience. You can expect a mix of old and new school SHMUP mechanics with an R-Type like aesthetic. Highly recommended for SHMUP fans of all types. This game was made using the awesome SHMUP Creator Engine which you should also check out.

This is a great throwback to the 16-bit era and you can tell the developer really enjoyed making this game. It's challenging without being punishing and really scratches the itch for a pick-up-and-play title. Give it a go!

Love the modern take of the games of the 90's Soundtrack is ace!

This is pretty good. Reminds me of Darius. I like how you get multiple weapons at the same time. I'm not so fond of how it becomes overly bullet-hell like later on. When I got to Stage 3 it felt unfair. That said, I completed the game on the second proper attempt so it's not that bad. I have not tried hard mode...

Great Visuals, fantastic music to match the action, fun bosses, been playing the demo before the game was released and was not disappointed with the final product, I still need to play MORE when time allows it but couldn't let this gem get away.

It's a sidescrolling shoot em up bullet hell.. thingy. Yeah. And uh, it's decent, aaaaaand worth a purchase. It gets harder as you progress through the stages, the stages are quite long, there is challenge to be had if that's what you're in it for. I had a blast with it, several in fact, actually, many in fact, ya know, cuz that's what you do in this game, blast stuff. Awesome BGM, nice art style, some nifty little lore at the start of the game, reminds me of arcades and 1999, whatever I could remember from back then at least. It's not exactly the most original thing you'll play, and that's ok, that's just fine, I'm confident that you'll get enjoyment out of it regardless, and stands well on its own. Ever played or seen the Gradius games? It's like that. Well worth the price paid for it.

If this is Old School, Long live the New School.