Yes, it's a twofer: today we'll look at a great pair of Java shmups. Both are simple and small, and yet each offers an unusual idea; there are no run-of-the-mill 1942 or Gradius clones here.
The miniscule Fuzetsu was Jos Hirth's entry in the Java 4k competition—he placed fifth! The restrictions placed on Fuzetsu's size are reflected in the extremely basic graphics and gameplay. Each level consists of a boss, a red sphere, that releases beautiful streams of bullets. Use the mouse to control your ship, a white pixel surrounded by a blue field, and get as close to the enemy bullets as you can without touching them. The more bullets inside the field surrounding your ship, the more shots of your own will be released. Fuzetsu is a Java Web Start application, which requires the Java Runtime Environment. Click.
If you prefer to avoid danger rather than being forced to seek it out, HIZ's Lash is a shmup with a defensive twist. Use the blue line attached to your ship to sweep the screen clean of certain enemies and bullets. The line moves clockwise as your travel right or up, and counterclockwise as you move left or down; lock it to its current angle by pressing [X] or [shift], and fire bullets of your own by pressing [Z] or [ctrl]. Pressing [enter] restarts, and you can pause by pressing [space], although this seems buggy. Lash is fast and generous, with 10 lives on every difficulty level, but I almost wish it was as simple as Fuzetsu. Why not remove the ability to shoot and make Lash entirely about mastering the blue line? Click.
fuzetsu is nice to look at, but that left me with about 2 plays before i was done with it.
lash seems like it's going to last me a while longer though. it certainly isn't pretty like fuzetsu, but there's a little more to keep me playing.
I totally agree about focusing Lash on the blue line. It's a bit difficult to focus on the three things;
1. Taking out enemy bullets
2. Taking out enemies
3. Dodging what you can't take out
Fuzetsu, on the other hand, is fantastic. Assuming about 30k per boss and a 224675 hi score, I think I was at the eigth boss when I died. Trying to get back there. Really cool idea, requires lots of finesse.
Fuzetsu is pretty sensational. I liked the perfect balance of risk and reward. (Anyone else try and finish the first level in 5 seconds or less?).
Hehe, you can kill any boss in 2 seconds, but it'll cost you a life, place the dot within the red boss and you'll loose a life but he'll be immobilised within seconds :P
Awesome games.
I like the new layout.
AWESOME!
+66666 points
click to start
I think I finished it :)
How I did it:
Don't come too close to the boss, because you are more likely to die and a lot of your bullets will miss anyway.
The lower on the screen you are the more of your bullets hit. It's also easier to be at the bottom because the enemy bullets are slower there.
Being able to stay next to a single enemy bullet without being hit will win you the round, because eventually the enemy will die from your shots.
It never takes long for a boss to die, just keep your eyes on your own "ship" and dodge those bullets. Don't bother looking at his healthbar :)
Cool games. Thanks Noah.
Fuzetsu is my favorite of the two, but i couldn't get very far...
I think Lash is a bit remeniscent to Geometry Wars in the way of how much is going on, but adds a twist with the blue line (which adds a whole new challenge itself).
Very innovative, addicting, 2 thumbs up! (But Im sure none of those Xbox live Arcade Junkies will ever appreciate this game).
You can take out the first two bosses within about 3 seconds by just being at the top of the screen, because your bullets just massively flood the boss.
I can't do any after that (maybe the 4th one, haven't tried) because the bullets are just way too tight as they come out.
I got to the eleventh boss (third with blue/green waves, huge ones) and died there. Working on finishing this one... grr.
317301 high score.
I'd just like to note that your score seems to be hugely based on how many bullets you're producing, so there is a reward for taking risks.
I noticed this when I started earning upwards of 30,000 points per boss, and beat my high score two stages before I had set it.
333709, boss 9. I think. maybe 10.
Haw.
568671. After about 12 or 13 bosses, they start repeating using multiple patterns to create "new" patterns.
Also you get 10k for beating a boss, on top of what you get for creating so many bullets.
Yeah, finally beat Fuzetsu
Final Score:
569813
It was hard but worth it, too bad there isn't a high score board...
woot. I finished with 598063.
I only got +33333 at the end.
Just as I thought, it seems you get points for the lives you have left in the end:
3 = 99999
2 = 66666
1 = 33333
Great game, I haven't tried the defensive one yet (the one where you can shoot blue laser things), but the first one (bubble one) was really fun.
Oh yeah, I forgot to post this earlier (sorry) but my max score was 529061. Lol great game again. Oh yeah, and I found that the music from Geartaker goes great with it.
I've noticed that in addition to moving the line clockwise as you go right or up and counterclockwise as you go left or down, you can also twirl the line around by moving the ship in a clockwise or counterclockwise manner. That's how I've been playing all along.
so hard to play with bad mouse. :(
Fuzetsu is awesome, but Lash doesn't load for me.
High score 703647 on fuzetsu (got the +99999 bonus at the end)
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