QCF: Air Twister

magine if Space Harrier was revamped into an absurdly stylized Rock Opera that cranked the dial on the Surrealistic fantasy themes to psychedelic levels of absurdity over its Sci-Fi roots for current gaming platforms. Well, don't strain yourself too hard because YS Net, the studio started by legendary developer Yu Suzuki, has taken all the guesswork out of the matter with their latest release, Air Twister. Where Team Reptile's Bomb Rush Cyberfunk was a modernized Love Letter to an iconic SEGA property, Air Twister is being presented as the quintessential sequel to the Arcade Classic in nearly everything but name, and the next big release from Yu Suzuki following the studio's crowdfunded debut with Shenmue III. Originally released as an Apple Arcade exclusive in the summer of 2022, the mobile exclusive has now been greenlit as a multiplatform release for digital storefronts on both Console and PC.

The twists (shitty pun intended) don't stop there, as Air Twister offers various flourishes on the shooter's foundation that set it apart from its source material—honestly, to a degree where it more often resembles a Hidden Caravan Level Mode from Panzer Dragoon than anything related to Space Harrier. Despite the inconsistent traces of Harrier DNA though, Air Twister still manages to deliver that trademark Popcorn Shooting frenzy that Suzuki had earned his pedigree on, albeit in a somewhat stunted execution that just manages to breathe a scant new gasp of life into the Arcade classic.

Air Twister is…well, intriguing, to say the very least.

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Bullet Heaven #321 - Panzer Dragoon Old and New

conic for the time of its release, it's no surprise that Panzer Dragoon would receive a complete overhaul. But what is Panzer Dragoon all about? And how does its remake fare? Old meets new in this episode of Bullet Heaven.

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25 years of the Sega Saturn: Part 2-The Two-Pronged Stumble

ell, this is embarrassing; I had planned to publish this entry much sooner than now, given that it’s been a little over a year since I last published the premier piece to this editorial series, but I suppose it’s appropriate since we’ve now arrived at the anniversary of SEGA’s polarizing 32-bit powerhouse once more.

When we last left off, we looked at the pre-launch hype of the Saturn and SEGA’s internal dissension over the mechanical complexity of the hardware, with technical specs that were arguably geared more at enhancing the present climate of gaming than preparing for the next dimension of gameplay the medium had been building to. The corporate disconnection only grew from there as SEGA of Japan hedged all their bets on the console with one fateful announcement during their 1995 Electronic Entertainment Expo presentation—the Sega Saturn was available now, retailing at $399 MSRP with the inclusion of Virtua Fighter to the surprise of everyone, including major retailers.

It was with this first big step that the Sega Saturn had begun its perpetual tumble towards commercial failure, as we look back at one of the most infamously mismanaged console launches in Video Game History.

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PPR 117

ow that E3 2019 has come and gone, it's time to see just how close our predictions were for the thing—spoilers, we were way fucking off this year.

Nonetheless, we breakdown everything from EA’s bafflingly underwhelming appearance there, to the sweet surprises that Nintendo, Microsoft, and shockingly Konami brought with them to the conference this year. Oh yeah, and we can’t help but contemplate if Todd Howard is a full-on masochist after gritting his teeth through all of those smiles on stage he had to display on what almost seemed like a showcase of damage control for Bethesda this year.

We also breakdown our thoughts on everyone getting into the Streaming game as Andrew reveals his interest in the Stadia, George calls out the haters on the wasted energy that’s thrown at Epic Store exclusives, and Ser can’t stop drooling over the reveal of the TurboGrafx16 Mini. We’ve got another full show on our hands this year, y’all should give it a listen!

Mail us at our new email Mailbag@presspauseradio.com, leave a voicemail at 469-PPR-TALK, and be sure to stop by at our Forums if you haven’t already registered and post your thoughts about the show. Finally, make sure to rate and subscribe to us on iTunes and YouTube, follow us on Twitch page and Twitter, and finally take part in our Facebook and Steam group!

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Bullet Heaven EX -- PAX East 2012 PREVIEW: Crimson Dragon

In this special episode of Bullet Heaven EX, we get hands-on with Crimson Dragon for the Xbox 360 Kinect at PAX East 2012!

As always, questions and comments are not only welcome, but encouraged! if you'd like to support Bullet Heaven, you can help by checking out Ser Flash's music at http://smpmusicproductions.bandcamp.com! All proceeds go directly back into productions to bring you even better footage and production not to mention exciting new content!