Dark side of the moon

Receiving a Steam release earlier this year (to positive reviews) followed by a Japanese Switch release back in July, publisher Regista has announced that the sci-fi shoot 'em up Moon Dancer will be flying in for Western consoles on September 29th.

After having a blast with Radiant Silvergun earlier this week, our little shmup bellies were full of fly-ey shooter-y goodness. But just as there is always room for dessert, there is always room for more shoot 'em ups.

In a similar vein to other titles in the genre, Moon Dancer is a vertical space shooter in which you take control of the titular ship and blast waves of enemies — it's a shoot 'em up, what did you expect? Dancing on the moon? Locking on to your targets is really the name of the game here, so no more random button holding while you move your ship left to right, this is about tactical aim.

For more details on Moon Dancer, check out the following summary from its Switch eShop game page:

- Moon Dancer is a vertically scrolling shmup featuring exhilarating lock-on lasers. - Exhilarating lock-on lasers - Operate the fighter "Moon Dancer" equipped with shots and lock-on lasers to defeat the enemy. - This game requires you to quickly defeat the enemies that appear one after another. - The feature of this game is the balance that prioritizes attacking the enemy rather than avoiding bullets. - Pop and cool art style - The Nintendo Switch™ version has enhanced graphics by Tenmaru. - Includes "Arcade Mode" and "Caravan Mode" - Arcade mode consists of 8 stages. You can choose from 3 levels of difficulty. - If you break through all the stages, the mission will be completed. - Caravan mode is a 3-minute limited challenge to get a high score. - In all modes, Local ranking and online ranking are supported. - Two types of music are included: the original version by HIROKKEY and the chiptune arrangement version using the NES sound source by Taku Shiiba. - Music can be switched in the option menu.

Moon Dancer is currently available to pre-order on the eShop, with the game receiving a tasty 40% discount (until October 21st) to mark its release. This brings the RRP of £15.99 down to £9.50, making it a far more enticing offer to anyone who is still on the fence about purchasing.

What do you make of Moon Dancer? Shoot on down to the comments and let us know!

[source youtube.com, via nintendoeverything.com]

The bullet point list of features is cringy lol ….BUT, I’m tempted at that price. I really dislike bullet-hell style shmups so because that isn’t a thing here, I’m already tempted by default. I also love games that show the pilot’s face off to the side (especially if they show it change when you take damage.) Might preorder ASAP!

EDIT: Preordered! This is the first eShop game I’ve preordered. I also went ahead and preordered Tunic because I just have a good feeling about that one as well.

I have all three of this developers shmups, Gemini Arms, Missile Dancer and Raging Blasters. Two of them have been reviewed by NL. Each release is better than the last with Raging Blasters being top drawer. Hopefully the trend continues and Moon Dancer is something special. It's his most expensive release yet, so maybe that means it's a little more ambitious too.

Looks pretty good might have to give this one a try.

@OorWullie I was seeing Raging Blasters being name dropped a few times when reading about this one. If I like this I’ll be sure to check that out as well. ✌️

I feel unsure about this game. I'm not really a fan of fast-paced bullet shooters because of the high difficulty (specifically the one-hit kills). I see in the trailer that there's an option for different difficulty levels to make it more accessible for beginners, so maybe that could help. I'll consider trying this game out if a free demo also gets released.

As others have mentioned, Raging Blasters was absolutely awesome and a good example of a more 'traditional' style shmup which still has lots of excitement and challenge without being totally inaccessible. Really looking forward to this follow up, and glad there hasn't been as much delay between the Japanese and Western eshop releases this time

Man, I do love a good shmup, particularly so if it sports cool pixel art. With the absence of ZeroRanger on Switch, I may well grab this and see how it is. Looks decent for sure.

instant purchase. This will be another classic. Excellent developer, putting out quality games.

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