Gunroar

5 A shmup with... meaningful gameplay choice?
I find Gunroar to be somewhat unique among shmups. The concept is simple enough: baddies come at you. You can shoot in any direction. You blast said baddies. Your goal: score millions of points. But such a gross simplification doesn’t due this game justice, since there is a key mechanic that takes this ordinary formula and makes it intense and very rewarding.

The key mechanic is this: as opposed to a typical vertical shmup where the screen scrolls at a fixed rate, you control the scroll rate. By moving closer to the top of the screen, you push the scroll rate forward faster. Pushing the scrolling faster makes the baddies come at you more frequently, but also increases your score multiplier. But increased multiplier means that the baddies shoot more… a LOT more.

And therein lies the meaningful gameplay choice of Gunroar: pushing forward to the top of the screen is dangerous: more enemies, more shots, less time to react. But, it is THE WAY to improve your score. So you continually analyze: “should I up my multiplier a little bit more, or am I getting in over my head?”

Balancing this delicate risk-reward system that Gunroar has to offer is what makes it a surprising deep and replayable shmup, one that transcends its fairly ordinary premise. This is my personal favorite from Kenta Cho, and I encourage you to give it a try.

NOTE: I play almost exclusively on Mouse control scheme. All the schemes work, but I find mouse control to be the most intuitive, and it allows you to most fluidly aim in any direction.