Astral Bounty is a brutally hard 2D arcade sidescroll shooter straight out of the 90s. Shoot your way through hand-built formations, earn credits as you go, and spend them on upgrades, checkpoints, and revives. One difficulty setting, four ships, no mercy.
Astral Bounty is a demanding arcade shmup and a modern love letter to Blood Money on the Amiga, developed solo by Markus of Weepel Games. The demo contains one handcrafted stage of around 12 minutes, built around precise handling, satisfying destruction, money-driven upgrades, in-level shops and optional checkpoint insurance. Destroyed enemies fund an arsenal that grows throughout the run, until skilled players can tear through carefully arranged enemy formations. Using a checkpoint invalidates the 1CC, and repeated revivals become increasingly expensive until the run ends for good. The public Steam demo launches on September 8, 2026 at 15:00 UTC. These keys unlock the finalized RC2 build immediately. There is no embargo. The campaign is aimed particularly at creators who enjoy shmups, arcade games, retro-inspired action and score or 1CC play. Gameplay videos, livestreams and first impressions are all welcome. AI disclosure: Some visual elements began as AI-generated source material and were extensively manually edited. AI also assisted with translations and programming. All design, gameplay and final implementation decisions are mine.
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