Indie Radar: Rise & Shine

“Rise & Shine is a true ‘think and gun’ that combines elements of arcade shooters, bullet hells, and puzzle platformers to create a new blend of strategy and viscera.” – [ source ]

Title:                              Rise & Shine
Developer:                 Super Awesome Hyper Dimensional Mega Team
Release Date:          January 14th
Platforms:                  PC, Xbox One

Releasing on the 14th of Jan, Rise & Shine is a beautiful looking, run n’ gun shooter that incorporates elements of varying genres to create a fresh and intriguing action experience. With the use of different bullets and weapon add-ons, platforming segments and action-based puzzle solving, Rise & Shine is one indie game that has firmly cemented its place on my gaming radar.

Perhaps one of the most impressive aspects of Rise & Shine are the beautifully painterly visuals. Every aspect is hand-crafted including the game’s backgrounds which are huge hand-drawn illustrations. The idea of a side-scrolling video game being made with no repeating art assets or tiling is somewhat staggering but the effort really pays off in the visual department.

With vibrant and warm colours, Rise & Shine creates an appealing and inviting vision of a mechanically overrun, dilapidated future. With a bunch of screen-shots officially released, feel free to peruse for your own ocular pleasure.

The narrative of the game follows Rise, a young boy living on Gamearth. After being thrown into a war against the invading Space Grunts, Rise has to rely on the assistance of Shine, a legendary gun that holds great power. Together the duo have to fight off the invading force to survive and save their world.

Mechanically the game is primarily a side-scrolling shooter (or run n’ gun). Rise & Shine differentiates itself by incorporating additional elements to mix up gameplay and keep things fresh. Different weapon add-ons for Shine means that the game can totally switch up its play style and encourage the player to find new and strategic ways to tackle any given situation. With bullet hell influences, cover shooting mechanics, puzzle-solving aspects and platforming segments, Rise & Shine looks to be quite the intriguing experience.