Death Ray Manta SE lands on Steam, September 17th. Its author officially terrible at getting press releases out on time.
Fishy frolics abound as the defiantly indie and “ridiculously talented” Rob Fearon’s cult hit “Death Ray Manta”, once the greatest punchline to a videogame joke, finally comes to Steam. Rejigged and recreated for 2015.
An arena shooter that fuses searing neon graphics, arcade sound effects and pounding legwarmer-chic music, Death Ray Manta is an arcade game where you shoot lasers to kill bad guys, flash lights at yourself and move to the next screen to do it all over again in 60 fish per second of throbbing neon glow. Or in other words: “it’s a bit like Robotron if Robotron were more like Space Giraffe but sort of neither of those things either”.
“I wasn’t especially happy with the idea of putting the original game onto Steam. Not that it was bad but it’s 2015 now and it could be better. So I rebuilt it from scratch with my bare hands like the monster of a game developer I am. It runs at a lovely 60 frames per second, throws a heapload of particles around and after the five hundredth person asked for it, yes, it’s now a twin stick shooter so you can all leave me alone and stop asking for that now”, commented Rob when asked what exactly made the new Death Ray Manta stand out.
“It’s only a little game but it’s my little game and I’m immensely proud of getting the chance to make it even better than before”
Launching for just £2.79 because, in Rob’s words, “I wanted to make this as affordable as I possibly could and that just hits the right spot between cheap and me being able to eat”. For those who prefer their releases with a little less Steam, Death Ray Manta will also be available from hot underground indie venue itch.io for anyone who likes their DRM without DRM. A Playstation version will hopefully be available at a later date.
It has cover art drawn by the legendary (and handsomely bearded) Ste Pickford of the Pickford Bros. and music by the awesome Mike Daw of Infinite State Games (Don’t Die, Mr Robot).
Reviews
“The light displays are something else, too: you’re born, each round, in the midst of a blizzard of rainbow particles, and your foes fragment in a rich neon shower under impact, staining the 2D world with their reds, greens, purples and pinks.”
8/10 – Edge
“it may look like a Geometry Wars type of experience, but DRM is a much more tightly-focused and unforgiving game. Each stage lasts seconds, buffered by a few seconds of visual transition, so there’s a strange rhythm to playing it: constant bursts of intensity with pauses for breathing.”
8/10 – Eurogamer
“…a mainline hit of pure colour and light and energy and noise and speed and then more colour and more light and lasers, lasers everywhere. It’s like opening your skull and dunking your brain in a bowl full of sugar.”
5/5 – RGCD
Death Ray Manta will be available for purchase from: http://store.steampowered.com/app/338760