gohst

Although technically a shooter from Japan, you won't find the normal trappings of the genre here. Boss fights, awkward stories, scantily clad school girls... not here. This game is centered around one thing - allowing you to customize the experience via the use of your own music tracks.

Devoid of story and nearly entirely devoid of graphics (seriously, look at them) the ability to amuse is entirely dependent on how focused you are on wanting to dodge bullets while listening to cool music. You see, the thing is, the bullet patterns generated are as a direct result of what you plug into the game and listen to. It's really quite unique.

There are two modes of play available; BPO, which puts a ring of enemies atop the screen and has them firing at you. And AL mode, which puts you in the center of the screen, with the enemies circling you, firing from all angles. The second mode, in my opinion, is much more exciting, but the constant status messages get in the way.

So, simply unzip the game and drop your favourite tracks into the 'music' folder of the game and off you go. Either rock it out, drop some drum'n'bass, or ambient stylings for your own custom bullet dodging experience.

In this side-scrolling Japanese shooter, you play as a little girl with a big weapon. Yes, I know, "Surprise, Surprise." But this one contains semi-3D backgrounds and walls and also an interesting second fire option.

Your main friend will be the [Z] key as you move - rather sluggishly - around trying to shoot things. However when the enemies bullets become too much for you, hit and hold the [X] key tor a respite. Any of the enemies bullets caught in your immediate vicinity will be frozen and not cause you any harm. This is especially handy when certain enemies fill the screen from top to bottom with bullets destined to kill you.

Apart from that little feature, and as nifty as it is, the game really has nothing else going for it. I found the sprites take up too much of the screen - as do the obstacles - which leaves the player feeling either lost or just with no idea how to maneuver with any grace or style, not to mention ease.

If you're interested in the mechanics of certain games, you could take a few notes from this, but for the casual player, this doesn't offer anything you can't find better somewhere else.

In this exceptionally neat platformer, you play a slow and cautious fellow whose goal it is to escape from some sort of factory setting laden with traps. With the aid only of dexterity and the ability to really regroup yourself after death, you must work though the dozen provided levels.

The game's most obvious feature / selling point is the similarities in style that it has with the PS1 game "Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee" in that movement is restricted to tile-based controlling and with the exclusion of pushing barrels and standing on buttons, the character rarely directly interacts with the environment itself.

While the main idea is to simply reach a target at the end of a level, its the getting there which is difficult. Your biggest enemies will be falls and lasers. Though they often team up to create a third enemy: frustration, when you have to restart a whole level due to a silly mistake or mistimed Shift key press.

It can be said that the game is short, but its puzzles are taxing enough to be enjoyable as puzzles rather than nuisances between the start and end of levels. A game extension is included in the way of a level editor coupled with detailed instructions on how to create entire custom level packs.

To summarize, this game game is well done in almost every aspect. Its graphics suit the mood of the game, the puzzles perplex while not confounding, the length is short but is thoroughly enjoyable and - level editor! This game is definitely a recommended download.

This visually heavy vertically scrolling shooter follows the fairly standard pattern of other shooters that came before it. Shoot ever tougher enemies mixed with boss fights all the while picking up bonuses. It's bold graphical style and cute sheen means this is one shooter that will appeal to children.

While no story is given - is there ever in a small free shooter? The game relies on the tried and true mechanic of 'going in one direction means things coming the other way are bad, so kill them' and it works out well. They will occassionally drop stars which count as a bonus at the end of the level and you get to use two weapons (double-click for the second, more powerful, but limited weapon).

Although the graphics are amazing, the downside is their overwhelming brightness and desire to be seen, means that the overall effect can be a big messy melange of distraction. For me, most of the colours blended together until it became difficult to tell the enemies apart from the backgrounds.

Fortunately, not all the levels suffer from this effect as drastically as the first level, but its enough to warrant pauses between plays. And while the games cute graphics will draw younger players, the games difficulty may be off putting for some.

When I first played this game, I was struck by its simplicity and style. I played through, getting high scores and took a quick break. It was then I started to think about the game and quickly realized its just a simple Bejeweled clone. Then I felt very, very cheated.

You see, Block Drop has you matching groups of threes. These are groups of letters, such as making a line of three L's. Depending on which letter you make a chain of (each letter is from the word 'Blocks') you score higher. You can move adjacent blocks by single squares either up/down or left/right.

That's right, it's exactly like Bejeweled except with letters and only five possible combinations - although cominations of four or more, while possible, only remove three tiles. The upside is each game is timed for a maximum play of two minutes. You can also upload your score to compete with the world, but scores are not saved locally.

If you like this sort of thing, give this download a shot. Its small so it won't tax your bandwidth and it does have a nice interface. Other than that, it largely falls flat.

After the already fantastic and feature-rich Navy Mission which clocked in at a miniscule 2.2MB, I didn't think there was any way to make a cooler nautical game for such a small file size.

Invisible Vision has you strapped into the captain's chair as you control a submarine during wartime battles. By carefully monitoring your sonar (based on the ripples of the 3D wireframe water simulation model) you are intended to track down and destroy your enemies before they destroy you.

To aid you in this are (obviously) your rockets, which can be fired by pressing the [Z] key and the ability to make visual contact with anything in your immediate surroundings. This helps you when a rocket is headed your way when you thought it was another ship, and for when floating mines are introduced in later levels.

The game is absolutely fantastic, to say the least. It's such an entertaining package in such a small download. While not as long-lasting or as easily accessible as Navy Mission, the game is very, very strong. Recommended.

Sokoban games come and Sokoban games go. Largely, they're all the same. Some have better graphics, some have better puzzles, some even have level editors. None have transformed the game into a side-scrolling platformer.

In case you don't know what Sokoban is, look here. (Recommended: Push DX, Total Sokoban) Essentially you are given a limited amount of room to push blocks around with the goal being to land them on certain end points, thusly finishing the level.

The same story is here in Aggressive Sokoban excepting that you don't do it from a top-down perspective and the game is a lot more fast paced and action packed. Leaping from ledge to ledge, launching blocks into the air while constructing temporary staircases out of the very blocks you need to complete the level.

This game is not just recommended for puzzle fans (the puzzle element is what you'll need to finish the levels) but to the fans of the platformer genre. This is one slick, smooth game and to be honest, it's actually really fun to throw the blocks even if you don't successfully complete the puzzles in time.

Although this arena shooter bears similarities to every other game in the genre, to me it seems most surprisingly like Debrysis, albeit not as fast paced or action packed.

The goal in Artificial Nature is not to blow apart as many things as possible for as long as possible, but to blow apart third-generation insects, collect the stars they drop and deposit them in the center of the field. The purpose of this is not explained by the game, it merely must be done.

You must collect (and deposit) 100 stars in total. How many you have collected is indicated in the bottom right of screen and at the center of the center orb, where you drop the stars. To collect said star, find an enemy and destroy it. It will split into three other, faster insects and once destroyed will drop a star. Touch to collect and right-click near the center orb to deposit.

It's a unique game, I'll give it that much credit. To say its as fun as other arena shooters (NaaC, Debrysis, etc.) is a stretch, but only because its so different. This is not a game where you plow through to survive, but where you hang back, play it cautious and get then the reward. It's a different take on the genre and in this reviewers opinion, its a much welcome take. Recommended.

In this Sokoban style game (titled Ohajiki Azarashi in Japanese), you play as a whaler/Eskimo type who walks around a seal filled landscape and brutally shoves them toward certain goal points.

Throughout the 40 levels you will be able to push them all over the place, including around obstacles, over bridges and throughout several trial-and-errors as you attempt to... "save" them, I guess. They all seem pretty happy by the end of the levels.

For a change, this variation actually contains levels which are quite puzzling. As opposed to simple retreads of the same formula, the levels increase in difficulty by introducing new elements. Not content with just maximising the screen size and minimising the seals, the solution for each level is guaranteed to give the ol' grey mattress a work-out.

Though the game's puzzling elements are quite good, the game is recommended for fans of the genre as the first levels are quite relentless and it doesn't become more forgiving. Guaranteed to contain a couple of brow-knotted hours of puzzling entertainment.

In another remake of Tetris, you have to... stack blocks. Really, if it has to be explained to you at this point, then you should stop trying to like games and move on to something else. Tetris is Tetris, end of story.

This version happens to have been implemented in DOS, is open source and has limited movement available. Yes, there are only four vertical columns of movement. This automatically makes the game trickier, but also causes the humorous side-effect of when you get a straight piece, turn it sideways and it creates a line all by itself and as a result - promptly vanishes.

There is little else to differentiate this from any other game of the same ilk. Its levels continue upward with a different colour for each screen. Your score is also saved. Apart from that, its really just another standard Tetris variation. Nothing extremely exciting.