Q-YO Blaster Demo

Sometimes the only thing that can take the edge off after a hard day is a round of virtual shooting, preferably with explosions and a bit of tasteful dismemberment. However, arcade shmups with cute graphics can be a great solution as well, depending on how angry you are. Granted, proper shoot ‘em ups are quite challenging and stressful, so you might end up more annoyed than you started.

Q-YO Blaster is an upcoming shmup with retro graphics and classic gameplay mechanics, in which the only goal is to get out alive from every level and annihilate all sorts of weird enemies along the way. There’s more to the game that it might seem at first, especially in terms of variety and gameplay, which means that the full version is prolly going to keep you busy for a long time.

To begin with, you can choose from multiple characters, each one of which has strengths and weaknesses. These characters are quite strange as well, given the fact that they include a guinea pig, a robot and some kind of sentient AI. The enemies range from huge bees to airplanes and various flying insects, so at least the weirdness is consistent throughout the experience.

As mentioned before, you can choose a special ability before starting a new mission, but that’s not all. Every now and again you stumble upon bonuses and power-ups that provide you with a bit of excitement and a lot more power. Your character can also make use of special abilities when you require them, and there are more than enough boss fights to put your skills to the test.

The controls are very important in a shmup, mainly because you have to react quickly in order to keep enemies and bay and make good use of your weapons. Thankfully, Q-YO Blaster features very responsive and snappy controls, making it easy to move as quickly as your fingers allow you. You can use a gamepad or a keyboard to navigate and shoot, but a gamepad is a lot easier to handle most of the time.

In the end, Q-YO Blaster has everything a good shmup needs in order to keep you engaged for a few hours and provide you with a great time. However, this is merely a demo at the moment, and the developers need your support in order to get the full version out. Thus, you can lend them a hand by participating in their Kickstarter campaign.