SHMUP! Kai available for free download

Two years ago, Spanish MSX developer Imanok released its title SHMUP! Kai; a heavily souped up re-imagining of their MSXdev'13 entry which was simply named SHMUP! in its first incarnation. All in the spirit of Christmas, Imanok has decided to donate the game to the scene to enjoy for free!

On the surface, it's a quite familiar looking vertically scrolling shooter, but on closer inspection there's a twist. The player will control not one, but two space fighters simultaneously. The gist of this is to strategically change their formation in accordance with when the current situation calls for it, to most effectively fend off the various different waves of enemies, as well as to avoid their counter attacks. However, your adversaries will put up quite a fight! Fortunately, there's a powerful trump card to aid the player - if they collect enough "Fusion Capsules", the two ships will temporarily merge into the mighty "G-Lasher", which employs firepower that tears through enemy lines with destructive ease.

SHMUP! Kai packs addictive gameplay, intimidating boss battles, thematically diverse stage backdrops, colorful graphics and a varied soundtrack. The game will run on any MSX1 or higher with at least 16Kb RAM. It already scrolls quite smoothly on any MSX model, but when played on MSX2 or higher, the graphics will be enhanced altogether. SHMUP! Kai can be downloaded from their official site or from our Download Database.

Relevant link: Imanok MSX Site
Relevant link: Imanok on Twitter
Relevant link: MSX2 gameplay footage on YouTube
Relevant link: MSX1 gameplay footage on YouTube
Relevant link: SHMUP! Kai soundtrack on YouTube
Relevant link: Download SHMUP! Kai - Imanok