Definition: Bullet Hell – (genre) A Japanese gaming sub-genre (of the shoot-em-up family) that is a tribute to a lineage of games such as Ikaruga, Gradius, Radiant Silvergun where there are so many bullets on screen that deft maneuvering, timing and skill are your only allies… While punishing those with poor reflexes with a swift and painful death via a rain of enemy fire.
Rockin’ Android (per their About Us page) was founded in 2008 to fill a unique void in the PC market place of untapped entertainment. That form of entertainment being Japanese independent games (“Indie” games for short). This gives unique Japanese indie developers a chance to shine with a bigger audience without being glossed over and overshadowed with major titles. One of the biggest Japanese indie scene movements has been the “bullet hell” genre which combines Moe characters, killer artwork, tons of bullets, awesome music for a unique remix of nostalgia. (Note: Moe definition found here via Wikipedia.) Some of you may have seen Rockin’ Android’s translated and published games advertised on websites like Direct2Drive and Gamer’s Gate. Their most prominent work is probably the Suguri Perfect Edition for PC which contains Suguri, Acceleration of Suguri, and Acceleration of Suguri X-Edition developed by Orange_Juice.
I had the honor of meeting the CEO of Rockin’ Android, Mr. Enrique Galvez, at A-Kon Dallas on June 5th, 2010. At their booth, they had a PlayStation 3 with a soon-to-be released version of their newest release project: The Gundemonium Collection by Platine Dispositif. It was released for PC on June 1st, 2010 while coming soon to PlayStation 3. Mr. Galvez had mentioned Sony was trying to embrace the love for unique games… From Sony’s renewed stance, they were going to see about trying to push for more releases via the PlayStation Network Store (PSN Store for short). At the time I had spoken to Mr. Galvez, he had said that the Gundemonium Collection was approved for sale and it would be debuting to the PSN Store on June 15th, 2010… That date has come. Courtesy of Rockin’ Android, I was provided with a reviewer’s copy for PlayStation Network to share with you my thoughts on this splendid collection.
