TL;DR

Shmup in early WIP. O shoots up. X shoots down. Held and tapped shots behave differently. Don't get hit in the gold ball. Happy pew pew!

The Lowdown

This is a casual game jam game and my project for the LAZY DEVS PICO 8 SHMUP JAM being run on the Shmup Junkies Discord. It's gonna to be slow going as I don't have a ton of dev time to dedicate, but we're having a good time.

This release is titled:
You can do it, Inako! Wait, what's "honest dodging"?

In it, core movement and attacking is implemented and two stationary enemies are firing an early implementation of a bullet pattern. The "Jack" enemies are intended to be mid-tier grunts in the finished title, but the Nightmare King has temporarily buffed them up to proper mid-bosses for this release. Enjoy your brief moment of fame, Jack. Try to take them out while suffering as few hits as possible!

Not yet implemented is... well a lot. Game states, anything audio, win or lose conditions... Yeah, just shoot the pumpkins... We'll get there.

The Plot

Inako is a fox spirit and one of many Devil Lords of the Dream Veil. There she can be found ruling her divine spheres of mischief, mirth, dusk, and hearty suppers. Twilight is her demesne, where she spends the late hours dancing carefree amidst the orange and purple clouds. This blitheness was brought to an end when the Nightmare King -- Lord of terror, spite, night, and post-bedtime sweet cravings -- cursed the moon and cast eternal darkness upon the world. Now Inako must turn her power on her former companion and restore balance to the Veil if she ever wishes to see the evening light again!

Though mighty in her own right, Inako is little more than an ethereal figment amidst the realm of moonlight. Only her divine artifact, The Setting Sun, can channel her power into the darkness. But if the item were to be destroyed by the Nightmare King’s minions, then her quest would be over. Go forth, Inako, and stop the Nightmare King before the full moon completes the umbral curse!

The Game

Guide Inako through the midnight sky and defeat Nightmare King's minions! The golden orb above her head is her only means of affecting her opponents, and likewise it's the only part of her that can be harmed. (She is a divine spirit after all. Mere bullets pass harmlessly through her.)

O fires Inako's forward facing magic. Tap it to fire a burst of magic in a spread pattern ahead of her. Hold the button to reduce her speed and focus all of her magic in a narrow stream.
X sprinkles magic behind Inako to deal with threats from below. Hold the button to spread it out and eliminate minions on either side.

Other Stuff

Shmup Junkie - The YouTube channel that brought together a bunch of people who share an unabashed love of shooting pixels.
Lazy Devs PICO-8 Shmup Tutorial - The video series that got us jammin' this.