Super Mega Space Blaster Special – Coming Soon!

Announcing Super Mega Space Blaster Special, a fun and frantic retro inspired space shooter coming to Steam on 18th June 2019 for only £0.79 ($0.99).

We decided to take a short break from development on The Flawless: Art’s Tale and make the first game in the BKD Minis series – Super Mega Space Blaster Special.

Super Mega Space Blaster Special – gameplay trailer

The game is a space shoot ’em up (shmup) inspired by both retro shooters of yesteryear like Asteroids, Super fantasy Zone, and Galaga as well as modern shmups like Bit Blaster XL, and Super Stardust HD. Even though we had to make the game in a four week limited development cycle we wanted to make it fun, feature packed, and great value for money.

Drop a big-bomb to destroy nearby enemies!

The game features 10 space blasters (ships) to unlock each with their own percs, loads of power-ups and weapons, 3 game modes (survival, protect mother, & to the death), local coop and competitive multiplayer, over 20 challenges, more than 20 achievements, leaderboads, controller support, and an 80s inspired original soundtrack by Electric Fan Death.

Here’s a quick look at the 3 play modes of Super Mega Space Blaster Special:

Survival Mode (1 player or 2 player local coop)

Your space blaster constantly moves forwards and its guns are on the fritz and won’t stop shooting. You need to collect fuel and ammo whilst destroying enemies in order to survive. The mode has over 15 enemies to take on and a boss. After destroying the boss the gameplay continues endlessly for high-score seekers.

Player 2’s been destroyed player 1 is low on fuel – got to survive!

Protect Mother Mode (1 player or 2 player local coop)

A huge mothership hangs at the bottom of the screen. You must protect it from damage. If it takes too much damage or you get destroyed it’s game over. Scoring combos by destroying enemies in quick succession grant you bonuses such as power-ups like shields, weapons, and big-bombs. Keeping the combo going activates the mothership’s defence cannons which help you blast the ever increasing number of enemies. If you allow enemies to escape off screen missiles are launched at the mothership giving you even more enemies to deal with. This mode is a lot of fun in local coop.

Blasting enemies with a laser to protect the mothership!

To The Death Mode (2 player local competitive)

Firstly decide on the game time limit. The screen begins split in half, compete against each other to survive and keep your mothership in one piece for as long as possible. Increase your enemy kill tally to build up your punishment meter and when ready release a punishment on your opponent. These punishments are tiered, starting with simple missiles launched at your competitor ranging to a blackout on their half of the screen. All the mechanics from protect mother are in play too so scoring combos gives you rewards. If you maintain a combo for a long time your mothership’s defence cannons  activate. If you allow enemies to escape off screen missiles are launched at your mothership. The barrier in the centre of the screen disappears after the time limit. You then have to chase and blast each other to leave only one victor.

There can be only one winner!

So far testing has proven Super Mega Space Blaster Special to be a lot of fun. The game has that nostalgic retro feeling of playing couch coop and competitive games with your mates or trying to get your name in an arcade game’s leaderboard. Every time I put down the joypad I get that urge for ‘just one more go’. Hopefully you guys will enjoy it too, why not add it to your Steam wishlist or let us know what you think in a Steam review.

We will have loads more information about ‘Super mega Space Blaster Special, and ‘The Flawless: Art’s Tale’ very soon. Until then you can keep up to date with all things Bare Knuckle on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

#SMSBSp #FlawlessTheGame

Ste Wilson is a director, game developer, and programmer at Bare Knuckle Development Ltd. When not coding away on BKD games he can be found playing video games on console and PC. He also makes music under the music maker name of ‘Electric Fan Death’ and loves playing guitar, writing tunes, and producing music.

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