The arcade shoot-'em-up never really went out of style, but it has become more and more of a niche in recent years. It was one of the most popular genres of the '80s and '90s, but as arcades died down, "shmups" began to cater to a small audience of die-hard fans.
Alinity almost banned again #shorts
B-ARK, on the other hand, is understated and accessible, and brings back the '90s in all the best ways. Director Abraham Morales told me at Penny Arcade Expo Online last month that B-ARK is a "love letter" to classics like Gradius and R-Type, with an all-ages hook, a Saturday-morning-cartoon style, and a focus on co-op play.
You can play B-ARK solo, but I probably found it the worst to do so. Even with a buddy, the game quickly becomes chaotic, but you can work together to deal with oncoming waves of enemy robots, dangerous obstacles, and a whole lot of murderous enemy spaceships. It’s a lot of fun, although, like the shooters that inspired it, it has a heavy focus on memorizing patterns.
Our solar system has been overrun by an army of cybernetic fish, the Dark Tide. A scientist named Milla manages to escape into space with her four pets, but her ship is attacked. The pets, pushed into a Bio-Interstellar Ark, are the only ones to escape.
