Indies made in Spain

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Hello everyone! How is life going? After a rather busy September (which included my yearly visit to the Tokyo Game Show) I’m back to talk about the kind of games that some of us love and not many talk about. In the last entry I talked about Deadlight, a classic style action/adventure game developed in Spain, and for this new entry we are going to remain in the Iberian Peninsula for a while more to talk about another Spanish team that is trying to make a place for themselves in this competitive industry. Maybe some of the younger players do not know it, but Spain was a world-leading industry when it came to video games in the 80s and early 90s, a period that is known to many as the “Golden age of Spanish software” and in which companies such as Dinamic Software, Topo Soft or Opera Soft, among many others, released some of the best titles of its time. Unfortunately, the Spanish industry was unable to adapt to the 16-bit platforms, which led to a decline of the Spanish game industry and thus the end of its particular golden era. Of course, that was not the end of the Spanish game industry itself, as years later new companies would appear, such as Pyro Studios, who obtained international acclaim with their Commandos series, however, many of these new companies would also end up in bankruptcy, and the Spanish industry never managed to recover its former glory, while at the same time Japanese companies such as Nintendo, Sega, Konami or Capcom took the industry by storm with games such as Super Mario Bros, Sonic, Street Fighter 2 or Contra just to name a few, games that would end up becoming some of most well-known classics of the industry. However, the Spanish game industry has kept generating interesting teams and games, such as Tequila Works, creators of the previously mentioned Deadlight or the recent and alluring Rime, or MercurySteam, creators of the latest Castlevania trilogy and the recent remake of Metroid Samus Returns. Both are just but a small sample of the big amount of talented developers that we can inside the Spanish game industry, a talent which also includes a very lively indie scenes, which includes creators such as Locomalito with games such as Maldita Castilla, The Curse of Issyos or Hydorah, all of them tributes to the 8-bit era and the arcade classics, or the guys from Lince Works and their Aragami, an interesting proposal inside the stealth genre, and it is precisely in this Spanish indie scene where we find can find also DYA games, which are the protagonists of this new entry.


DYA games is a small developing team formed by just two brothers that belongs to the recent “neoclassic” movement inside the game industry, a movement that has lead to the creation of gems such as Shovel Knight or Mercenary Kings, and that which every passing year keeps providing titles that, far from just trying to appeal to the most veteran players, keep recruiting new adepts among the younger generations of gamers by offering titles that manage to retain the essence of the classics while adapting to the new times. So now let’s have a look at some of the titles created by the Spanish duo.

The first game released by DYA Games is Super Star Path. Released in 2015, Super Star Path is a Shoot ‘Em Up that includes also puzzle game elements, resulting into a strange mix that somehow does actually work flawlessly. The stages in Super Star Path will be divided in two different parts. In the first part of each stage, we will have to defeat the enemies in order to reach the boss. However, opposite to what we usually find in most Shoot ´Em Up games, we won´t take down enemies by shooting at them, or perhaps I should rather say, JUST by shooting at them. While in most Shoot ´Em Up games most of the enemies are always flying around the screen, most of the enemies in Super Start Path will remain static while blocking our way. There will be several types of enemies with different shapes and colors and which will form groups. Whenever we shot an enemy, we will start a chain reaction that will destroy all the enemies of the same color and shape in contact with the destroyed enemy, thus allowing us to clear a path for our ship. However, all the other surrounding enemies with a different shape and color will “freeze”, turning them into indestructible obstacles that we will be forced to avoid, so our mission will consist on destroying our enemies in a way that we provoke the chain reactions we need to clear a path for our ship. Although this mechanic could be a bit difficult to understand at first, we will soon realize that it is simpler (and at the same time deeper) that it seems, as well as giving the feeling of being playing a puzzle game rather than a Shooter. Every time we destroy an enemy, it will release some sort of gem that we will be able to collect and that we will be able to use to unlock new ships. On top of this, across the stages we will also find special enemies that will grant us items that we will be able to use to improve our ship´s stats, something which will come very handy when it comes to face the second part of each stage, in which we will fight the typical Shmup boss capable of flooding the screen with bullets of all shapes and colors (good luck!).


Regarding the game´s presentation, Super Star Path is a simple yet effective game, with a graphic style and music that reminds that of the 16-bit and arcade classics and that matches perfectly the game´s retro feeling. The truth is that Super Star Path is a really interesting game that no fan of the 80s and 90s arcade classics should be missing.

 

 VÍDEO STAR PATH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4td5U6C-kuE

The second game developed by GYA Games was Bot Vice, which was release in 2016 and belongs also to the Shooter genre, although this time around we leave the space ships and the puzzle elements behind. Instead of that, we find a game much in the vein of classics such as Cabal, Nam 1975 or Wild Guns. Thus, in Bot Vice we will have to complete are series of stages in which we will have to destroy wave after wave of enemies that will unleash a constant curtain or fire on us. Just like the classics mentioned before, we will only be able to move to left or right in order to avoid the constant rain of enemy projectiles. Attacking will also be rather simple, for on top of our standard weapon, which has infinite ammo (and rather low power), we will also be able to use some sort of “light saber” that will allow us to perform powerful attacks against those enemies who prefer a good old mano a mano. On top of these basics weapons, we will also be able to collect powerful special weapons that will come really handy in order to clean the stage of crazy shooting robots, although, as it often happens in this kind of game, the ammo for these will be quite limited. The game also makes use of a simple cover system that will allow us to take cover by pressing the corresponding button, as well as being able to roll, which will be mandatory if we want to any chance of avoiding the insane amounts of bullets that our sadistic and cruel enemies will shoot at us.


Regarding the presentation, Bot Vice is a much more appealing game than Super Star Path, with elaborated and colorful sprites and stages that remind of the Super Nintendo classics or some arcade classics of the 80s and early 90s. Bot Vice is definitely a game that no fan of classic Shooters should be missing. However, despite it´s simple mechanics, it is important to point out that it is one of those extremely difficult and cruel games that “separate the men from the boys”, for its constant bullet rain would prove a mighty challenge for master Yoda himself, so if you are one of those who tend to have some anger control issues, for your own good and that of your controller/keyboard, I strongly suggest you play in a well padded room… Later don´t complain I didn´t warn you…

BOT VICE GAMEPLAY VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDZzeqM9HLc

The last game (till now) released by DYA games is Strikey Sisters, which was released just a few months ago. Opposite to what we saw in the two previous games, Strikey Sisters leaves behind the shooting and takes us to the “block smashing” genre. Just like in classics such as Atari´s Breakout or Taito´s Arkanoid, our objective in Strikey Sisters will be destroying all the blocks we will find in each stage in order to be able to advance to the next one, although this is certainly easier said than done. Just like the classics it draws inspiration from, we will have to make the ball bounce around the stage in order to destroy all the blocks, but unlike Breakout and Arkanoid, the ball will not automatically bounce as soon as it touches our character, instead of that, just like it also happens in the no less awesome Wizorb, we will need to press the attack button at the right moment in order to strike the ball and make it bounce back. Like in Arkanoid, across the stages we will find different kinds of items that will add special effects to our ball, such as speed down the ball speed or splitting the ball into several balls, thus multiplying our destruction capacity. On top of these items, and again like in the above mentioned Wizorb, we will also be able to use magic spells, which will be really helpful. But the RPG-ish world and the possibility of using spells are not the only points in common shared by Strikey Sisters and Wizord, for just like we can see in Tribute Games´ title, Strikey Sisters also makes use of world map that will allow us to select the stages in whichever order we wish, and as we keep completing stages, we will unlock new ones. It also worthy to point out the HUGE amount of enemies we will find across the stages, each of them with their own unique attack patterns, including bosses that we will need to defeat in order to be able to advance through the adventure. Finally, it is important to mention also that Strikey Sisters includes a two player mode, which fits perfectly with the arcade spirit of the game, making it ideal for some retro gaming sessions with the buddies.


Regarding the graphics, although at first one could easily think that given the fact that the game is just a simple “block mashing” game the graphics are completely secondary, that is certainly not the case with Strikey Sisters, for not only the game boasts nice-looking charming graphics, but it is actually the best looking game ever made by the DYA brothers, with stages full of details everywhere. However, the biggest achievement in this aspect is probably the highly detailed sprites of the enemies, which in top of being varied, also have some really nice and fluid animations, which together with other small details such as grass moving with the wind or the shaky fire of the torches, really help to make the stages feel alive, proving the great talent that these brothers have when it comes to creating pixilated worlds that take you directly to the golden era or arcade games. Strikey Sister is definitively a very complete and fun game that no fan of the genre or the arcade classics should be missing.

STRIKEY SISTERS GAMEPLAY VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq3mOy_g9bE


And thus we reach the end of the review of the short but intense career of these two pixel-loving brothers. It will be interesting to see what they might be capable of in the future, for it is obvious that talent is not their problem, proving game after game that they were “born to pixel”, and adding up to the so-called “neoclassic” movement of the game industry that, far from extinguishing, seems to shine stronger and stronger with the pass of the years, adding new adepts to a movement that proves that the magic of pixels knows no “expiry date”. So if you are looking for some new that has altogether a classic flavor, you should definitely check out DYA games, for they might be exactly what you are looking for. The three games are available on Steam. It´s retro time!