Moon Dancer Reviews

Game is awesome and supports tate via a menu option.

This is a good one! I was a big fan of Raging Blasters (I one credit cleared it on the highest difficulty). This one is a more difficult game overall, only because it's balanced a bit differently. You don't instantly re-spawn like you did in Raging Blasters but the levels are shorter and fortunately the checkpoints are frequent. It's got a more "Panzer Dragoon"'esque lock-on system that lets you use any button for the controls which is quite handy. In practice I find the best way to play is to use two buttons, hold one down for continous firing of your main weapon while periodly tapping a 2nd button to unleash your missles on locked-on targets. I've finished this now on the normal difficulty; I'll be going for the hard now.

Excellent retro style shmup. Definitely keeps you practicing to learn the patterns of the enemies being thrown at you. The soundtrack is always great and matches the pacing of all the action. Recommended!

Its fun and I like the design, as with the previous game Raging Blasters. Both have a intentionally simple design that makes it a good entry point for new players. Moon Dancer has an additional shot system using a target lock that really distinguishes it from Raging Blasters.

Another solid release from terarin. The game is fun. The game in terms of mechanics has a minimalistic aproach. you have the directional inputs and a button. It may sound too basic even for retro game lovers but it works has the mechanics are elegant and the button has two functions that work pretty well. First functions is a multishoot (forward and diagonbals), second function is a lock on system like rayforce. there are weapon pickups for the lock on system and powerup pickups that increase the power of your shots(bot normal shoot and lockon). the lock on range depends on pick up. it may have a form of a small circular area around you ship or a square in front of your ship with sligtly more range. On rayforce you had a 2 level dimensional areas for the enemyes (one for normal shoot, other for lockon). In moon dancer you only have 1 area for both shoots. At first glance and by this description you will ask why you have the need of lock on system since a normal shoot has more range and always hits the enemy and here lays the elegant design that i spoke in the beggining of the review and i am going to explain now. to avoid this problem the designer made the elegant choice to have the normal shoot weak and the lock on shoot powerful. In fact normal shoot on is almost useless in bosses and stronger enemyes as it will take a long time to kill them. It is only useful on popcorn enemyes as you will be almost forced to use lock on. That game mechanic also increases the risk of attacking enemyes, as you will have to attack at close range often. In that sense is a shmup that relies a bit on memorization. To reward this risk you have a score system that will give points and cristal if you do multiple combo shoots with the lock on system. crystal will give you score at the end of the stage.The difficulty is low, but don´t expect the lower difficulty of other terarin games. The fact that you have to kill enemyes at close tange and you have to restart a area (fortunaly not a level) when you die increases the difficulty a lot compared to other terarin releases altough is still accessible game, don´t expect to 1cc so easily. The graphics may look primitive but they work well, because they are well animated and have a excelent bullet visibility (a trademark from terarin). i whished more games used this style. The music is good. The price is a bit high compared to other ofers in the market but ok. since it has quality. I reccomend with a slight discount. Sometimes less is more and that is the case with terarin games. They are easy, they don´t have nothing mindblowing (but always good),but they have a fun, cohesive and unique aprroach to retro shmups without the problems of that era (big hitboxes, gradius syndrome, no autofire, etc). I strongly recomend this game.

Am amazing vertical shmup from TERARIN. Only playing with a button (hold + release system for the lock-on missiles, divided in three different types, as well as the main autoshot, similar to Missile Dancer). As the previous titles by Terarin, the game is perfectly designed to put you in a challenge similar as a rhythm game when it comes to scoring. Although it may seem too simple at the beginning, this is one of the cases of an "easy to play, difficult to master", since every pattern and move is carefully designed to make you "dance" by learning the precise moments when to release the button of the tracking missiles in order to establish a chain (chains can only be made through the missiles). It is a great experience overall, an experience that makes one feel playing better each try. With this core mechanics, as well as several difficult modes, an online global ranking and a beautifully crafted (and engaging!) Caravan mode, Moon Dancer is more than a rewarding experience, it is clearly one of the best doujin "one-man-made" shmups of the year. Not to talk about the beautiful NES palette and the outstanding soundtrack. Absolutely recommended for beginners and pros.

That was fun! Fast-paced and aggressive! The different lock-on power ups surprisingly gives distinct functions. Much recommended for those in mood for more shooting than dodging.

A nice simple shooter with a very catchy soundtrack. The 'lock om' system is quite simple and feels good. I just bought this game as the former ones felt more just like development models towards Moon Dancer and looked too unpolished to me. After reading about the KS an an updated Switch version done by a 3rd party but limited just to the Switch I decided to not to buy further PC games from the developer even the decision of the Switch version is probably out of his hands from the development hell in Japan. Still recommend this one game for real Shoot'Em Up' fans for the simple but easy to learn mechanics and that damn catchy soundtrack as Steam doesn't offer a mid-thumb option.

it fast and all the bosses feel like a duel and less of a wall that takes a lot of rounds to kill, the lock on really had me moving and dancing and it feels great, the caravan mode is hard but i that afternoon spent beating it was a fun time!

I've had the luck of testing this game prior to release so I saw it grow and improve in the process. The final result, considering the speedy dev time of Terarin, is nothing short of amazing. Riding hot on the heels of the previous title, Raging Blasters (which I also recommend to try since it's very beginner friendly), Moon Dancer opts for a simpler approach, mixing the lock-on mechanic (with three distinct types of guided laser missiles) of titles like RayForce but adding a traditional coating to it, including checkpoints, which are a trademark of older era STGs. There also is a loose chaining system that (thank heavens) doesn't require stage-long chains from you as well as hidden items and some bonus enemies you can destroy for extra points. Your score and difficulty also determine que extend thresholds so it's a good incentive to get you to score well and obtain a good stock of lives to face the final stages. Oh, and don't worry though: the checkpoints and stage structures are so masterfully crafted that recovery after death IS possible, unlike titles of that era and that, for sure, is an EXTREMELY welcomed change for those looking for a challenge. The three difficulty modes are also fairly accessible but those not used to one hit deaths may still find it difficult. Nothing that some practice and stage layout learning can't fix. Most stages are fairly short but intense and very well designed in their enemy wave patterns to keep you engaged. This is one of the most accesible STGs I have played in a while and that alone warrants a recommendation but the addition of an engaging and replayable Caravan Mode as well as an amazing OST (perhaps even better than Raging Blasters, especially the first stage theme!) certainly elevates the whole experience and warrants getting the game+OST bundle. Or you can head to Bandcamp and get it there too. Specs wise, you won't need a superpowered PC to get it running, it'll detect an Xbox One pad straight out and running it through Steam Link to play it on my phone proved extremely easy although you will want a bluetooth gamepad in that case. In short: very recommended!