Irukandji Demo

Vertical shooters may not be as popular as they once were, but there is still a decent fanbase out there waiting for new games to be released. The challenge of surviving a constant onslaught of enemies, explosions, bullets and rockets is what everyone enjoys the most, although colorful graphics and a good soundtrack are also important elements in the genre.

Irukandji is somewhat different than your average vertical shooter, because it takes place underwater instead. Hence, although things still look a lot like in space, you are actually fighting weird sea creatures in an underwater trench. Not to worry, though, because lasers work just as well deep beneath the surface of the sea and so do explosions, so the recipe for fun is viable in this case too.

Naturally, there’s not much of a story going on, because shoot ‘em ups don’t usually put a lot of effort into explaining what’s with all the shooting. However, it is quite clear that the main enemies are the giant crabs waiting for you at the end of the level, because they put up a ferocious fight. Hence, you can probably assume that the crabs in question are trying to take over the universe or something along those lines.

In case you are not familiar with the genre at hand, there is usually an awful lot happening on the screen at any given time. Dozens of enemies make their appearance at once, and each one of them has the potential to strike you with an entire arsenal. To deal with these situations, your ship can make use of the power-ups you find laying around and strike back with even more blasts at once.

Since this is a classic vertical shooter, the graphics are two-dimensional and everything is rather basic from a visual point of view. However, the special effects and the colorful environments make up for the lack of depth, because you are constantly surrounded by explosions, lasers and brightly-colored enemies just waiting to get blown to pieces. Not only that, but a highly-energetic soundtrack plays in the background as well, to keep the spirits high.

Although the developer states that the sea monsters are procedurally animated, the game can get quite repetitive in a hurry, mostly because the environments are nothing special. However, if your goal is to shoot everything that moves and take on a challenge, then Irukandji can certainly satisfy your needs.