QCF: Air Twister

magine if Space Harrier was revamped into an absurdly stylized Rock Opera that cranked the dial on the Surrealistic fantasy themes to psychedelic levels of absurdity over its Sci-Fi roots for current gaming platforms. Well, don't strain yourself too hard because YS Net, the studio started by legendary developer Yu Suzuki, has taken all the guesswork out of the matter with their latest release, Air Twister. Where Team Reptile's Bomb Rush Cyberfunk was a modernized Love Letter to an iconic SEGA property, Air Twister is being presented as the quintessential sequel to the Arcade Classic in nearly everything but name, and the next big release from Yu Suzuki following the studio's crowdfunded debut with Shenmue III. Originally released as an Apple Arcade exclusive in the summer of 2022, the mobile exclusive has now been greenlit as a multiplatform release for digital storefronts on both Console and PC.

The twists (shitty pun intended) don't stop there, as Air Twister offers various flourishes on the shooter's foundation that set it apart from its source material—honestly, to a degree where it more often resembles a Hidden Caravan Level Mode from Panzer Dragoon than anything related to Space Harrier. Despite the inconsistent traces of Harrier DNA though, Air Twister still manages to deliver that trademark Popcorn Shooting frenzy that Suzuki had earned his pedigree on, albeit in a somewhat stunted execution that just manages to breathe a scant new gasp of life into the Arcade classic.

Air Twister is…well, intriguing, to say the very least.

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Bullet Heaven #233 - Star Fox (SFC)

We've waited a long time for this one. I don't think we need to butter you all up here, so enjoy our review of Starfox for the Super NES. Oh, and we're playing the Japanese version for this one! How does it stack up? 

Missed an episode?
Bullet Heaven TX1: Shmups Top-X 2018
Bullet Heaven 231: Gundemoniums
Bullet Heaven 232: Horizon Shift '81

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QCF: Star Fox Zero

et's just get this out of the way before we get going: You know what the Wii U is? Yes, that's right, it's its own thing. As far as the gaming landscape these days goes, all you typically need to get the best gaming has to offer is either one of Sony's or Microsoft's gaming boxes and a PC. But what if you want something a little more lighthearted? A little different? Well, that's where the Wii U comes in.

And you really don’t get a Wii U unless you're both ready and willing to play games the way Nintendo envisions them. Oftentimes, that includes using the technology that they have based their system around; which in this case—that would be the Game Pad.

If you don’t like the idea of motion controls or tablet-style gameplay, then ignore this review, because you shouldn't have a Wii U to begin with. With all of that said, Nintendo still manages to irritate me quite a bit, but when it comes to Star Fox, nothing keeps me from my fix.

You may have seen various pieces from around the interwebs; specifically from larger publications which, for all intents and purposes, shall remain nameless—claiming that Star Fox Zero is nigh-unplayable, that there's just so much busted about the game that it's not worth even a casual glance. Well, you can all just relax already, because Star Fox Zero is good—very good, in fact. Maybe even great, but we'll have to look a little deeper to see if that's an adequate description of Nintendo's sixth (released) core entry to the series.

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