itch.io

Good news, there's actually a new version launching soon with the music completely fixed! I'm holding off because I am wanting to launch V1.7 for Neo Geo, Amiga, and the new Mega Drive version together. Currently it is the Mega Drive version holding it back because there's a different music issue in Scorpion Engine which needs to be fixed. I'm hoping that V1.7 will be the final release for all platforms, so I can move onto the next game.

I did experiment with continues, and the game became incredibly easy with them. As such I introduced the dipswitch options as a compromise, where the player can change their starting lives and how much they need to score to earn an extra life 😉 

Oops, sorry about that!

I don't know how that happened, must have been an oversight when I was making the builds.

I've fixed the download with a V1.4 NTSC ADF version. V1.5 is aiming to release later this week.

Cheers for letting me know! 🙂 

Cheers for the info, looks like I have a compatible ROM good to go, just gotta make the manual now and all should be golden for release!

Do you know what format the ROM needs to be in to work on a Backbit Cartridge?

I've just fixed what I hope will be the final bug. Pending a few playthroughs when I get the chance (and providing I don't run into any additional issues), that release will be happening this week (I hope)! 😎 

I'm adding in a visual means of better determining Boss health in the next version, it isn't a health bar (as there's no room for that on the top bar) but it should give the player a better idea when the boss has only a few hits remaining.

Cheers for the coverage, awesome video as always! ❤️ 

Cheers, I used to play Quak loads when I was younger, but could never get past World 3 😂 

I'm hoping it is compatible, the game isn't doing anything particularly esoteric on the back-end so it should run fine ("should" being the key word, I don't have a cartridge to test with myself).

I've promised myself I won't say the "T-word" in this review, so here we go...

This is an interesting spin on the falling block puzzle genre, which definitely have a place in the arcade. It takes a potentially more complex premise and distils it into something more refined, and although it borrows core mechanics from elsewhere, the manner in which the player progresses via preset puzzles instead of an endlessly evolving puzzle is actually quite refreshing.

Nice, I got through the entire review without saying Tetris once... Arrrrrrrgh! 😅

It certainly looks the part for sure, one would have to be insane to argue against that. It is definitely the solid basis for what could be a great game. I was trying to think what the gameplay reminded me of, and a few weeks later I've realised it was this:

This played like a mix of certain sections of Gorf, and also Space Invaders. And yet was also it's own thing entirely. The descending enemies do add to the challenge with the top enemy also being hidden behind a wall which needs to be broken through. The combination of what could be seen to be simplistic elements in isolation actually work quite well together to comprise a compelling core gameplay loop.

To parse this through my existing knowledge of games, this kind of plays like a reverse Space Invaders, and yet it has its own quirks of gameplay to make it distinct in its own way. I like the consistent theming, and given the simplicity I wonder if this could be enhanced by a two player mode?

I almost have to question where he found the time to make this as it is clear that a whole bunch of effort and love went into this game. It is very much a vector graphics take on the Smash TV formula, and has (likely unintentionally, yet very appreciated) small hints of Every Extend Extra Extreme here and there.

This is definitely best enjoyed with a control scheme where the player can move and shoot in different directions, for it is not an easy game in the slightest, but it does have the "one more go" appeal that is essential for any classic arcade game. I almost feel like I miss a second player being present, but that is no knock on the game, it is because I want an extra player to see how fun it is (and share in my frustration when the bug line snake thing kicks my arse for the umpteenth time haha).

I found this to be quite reminiscent of Commando, but with it's own twist on proceedings. As odd as it sounds, the environment presents it's own challenges to be negotiated in addition to the enemies themselves, and as such there's a tactical element at play on top of the arcade gameplay, which adds to the depth of the gameplay. I did like the hidden documents to collect, to encourage the player to explore and not just gun it straight to the end.

Cheers for the amazing review! Just remember if you want to adjust the difficulty there's a dipswitch menu which allows you to up the amount of starting lives and reduce the amount of points needed to get extra lives, but it is a little difficult to access on V1.2, I've made it easier to get into on V1.3 when it gets uploaded.

I liked that the game switched things up by adding an objective to the second level instead of it all just being "shoot enemies to prevent them taking you out and try to get to the end". A solid side-scrolling shooter, does exactly what it says on the tin!

When I sat down with this I was expecting to play something along the lines of Battlezone. However, those expectations were quickly shattered. What I played I thought was far more reminiscent of when manually controlling the Manta Walrus tank in Carrier Command (this is a good thing), with a side helping of the Arcade mode from Vigilante 8 (if anyone remembers that?), and I played both of those to death back in the day.

The enemies do take a pounding, and their tactics are full-on Robot Wars "ram them into the pit-of-doom", but that is also what makes this a joy to play, once you realise that you're going to be rammed from all sides if you stand still then it makes for a far more interesting game to be constantly moving and having to choose your moment to pounce!

Something I liked is that it seemed that the enemies were infinitely respawning and that progression was dependant upon the player collecting certain items. I feel this was a good choice, so that the arenas did not feel empty after x amount of enemies had been destroyed, it kept the pressure up on the player to keep moving and not let up.

I thought that the crosshair could be displayed a little lower (as I found aiming difficult), and playing in 1980s mode turned all the pick-ups into mystery pickups, but it did also add to the challenge and paradoxically I quite enjoyed that 😂 

Cheers for the awesome feedback, I'd have never have fixed one of the trickiest issues without seeing your gameplay footage so I appreciate all the time you put into playing it, and I'm glad you had a lot of fun doing so! 😊 

Cheers for the kind words! 😊 

Having played through this in single player, I can say that there's a basis for a game here for sure. It reminded me of a very basic version of a side-scrolling run and gun such as Robocop. I feel that this can be expanded upon, add in some more enemy types, perhaps some environmental obstacles for the player to traverse? There is definitely a core game loop here, and it certainly works.

I cannot rate this game, as it seems to have broken the rules of the game jam for uploading a game feature enhancement update which was not created to address a game-breaking bug before the end of the public voting, by exploiting a loophole where the files were stored off itch.io instead of being uploaded directly to the site like the other entries. The only downloadable version as of the time of writing is the updated version uploaded yesterday, and not the version uploaded before the game jam deadline.

This plays like a classic shoot-em-up, difficult, but do-able for sure! I think the only thing which holds this back is the instant game over if you collide with a wall, but I liked that the shooting and movement mechanics were solid, and I especially like the concept of the co-op mode where lives are shared between both players, that makes the game even better.

I quite liked the competition aspect of this, in that the players are competing with the CPU who are playing on the same level playing field as the players. It make it a great test of skill, and don't get me started on competing with another player present!

I also like the structure, in that in every round you have the first part (the main round), followed by the bonus round at the end. I found this to be reminiscent of the likes of Paperboy.

There's a lot to like about this game.

As a former House of the Dead obsessive I quite enjoyed my time with this game. I like the fact that it supports two players simultaneously. In an arcade this would work well with either light guns or two trackballs and a fire button and reload button each.

I also like the looping aspect of it, and how the speed seemingly increases with each loop to increase the challenge, along with enemy placement randomisation to ensure no two loops are the same. In essence, because there was no win condition I could see it is a survival/score attack game (last as long as possible and score as high as possible), and we definitely saw that a lot in classic arcade titles.

I'm in two minds that (like the original House of the Dead) the reload is instant, which can be abused by the players (at least those using mice or trackballs rather than light guns), or one could argue that it is part of the skill gap as knowing to use it, as it is part of the game mechanics.

But yeah, this was a solid entry.

I'm not sure where the game is here quite yet. But we all have to start somewhere, and although this demo version is not massively functional, I want to say:

1. This was submitted last October, months before the deadline, so it may have progressed since then.
2. There are a lot of games out there which only really come together in the final weeks before the deadline.

Do I feel it was premature to enter this into a game jam? I do, and I can only rate the game on what I see here, but I would like to see where this is going, if the programmer has decided to continue work on it.

This plays like a challenging combination of Flappy Bird and Canabalt. I'm a massive fan of the latter, and so I found it easy to get lost in this. I would personally say that this does actually meet the criteria for arcade game. Maybe not a classic arcade game, but for those who are unaware Flappy Bird has a one button arcade edition. As such, I feel that this could equally fill that modern arcade niche.

I have been going backwards and forwards in my head about this one. Because it is a cool concept, but in the context of the theme being "Return of the Arcade", I have been wondering how this would be controlled on an actual arcade machine? I've come to the conclusion that it could be done by having a joystick and a trackball, or two buttons and trackball. Although people tend to think of typical arcade control schemes when it comes to arcade titles of old, even during the arcade's heyday it was common to see games with unique controls.

I like the in-game visuals, the power-ups which rain down, and the variety of enemies, along with the challenge of making the sure player doesn't hit the walls. I am torn about the speed, as it did feel that levels were going on a little too long, but also when it came to certain sections the slow speed was certainly appreciated! With some balancing tweaks this has the potential to be a solid title.

Is this a game? Yes. Is this an arcade game? It is not an obvious one, but I would actually say that it is reminiscent of some earlier arcade titles. In addition, action puzzle games are definitely a sub-genre in arcade games, and we have seen many over the years.

The basic premise of the game is quite challenging, however I would make the following constructive criticism:

- The sound effect played when circles are colliding is far too loud.

- On the current version, it is possible for circles to be spawned overlapping each other, thus leading to an instant-lose scenario for the player. Although I understand that the circle positioning is random each time, it may be worth introducing a function to ensure that the level never starts in a state where the circles are already overlapping.

- I do wonder if the addition of a simultaneous two player versus mode could add something to the mix?

This game has the basics of something which could be built upon for sure.

Hiya, cheers for the feedback!

I'm currently sat on a V1.3 which fixes both of those issues (enemy kills rarely don't count properly, input time for dipswitch menu), which I cannot upload because the game jam rules specify that I am not allowed to upload it until after the results are announced, which is frustrating as I want the players to have the best version in their hands regardless of the game jam and such.

To address your question (and I apologise for the wall of text incoming, but I want to give a full answer from a design perspective), I didn't use a menu point because the vast majority of arcade games didn't have standard menus, and I wanted Blue And Red - Fight The Robots! Arcade Edition to be as close to arcade authenticity as possible (within certain constraints). This is hence why the dipswitch menu was also included, because most arcade games had them (or some kind of service menu), and that gave me an avenue to still have options in the game. I also wanted the dipswitch menu to be accessible by players who don't have a keyboard (such as those playing on MiSTer or the A500 Mini). However, the trade-off for this was that I didn't want it to be too easily accessible (i.e. not accessible from the standard title screen), and in many titles the service mode was only available on an initial boot or reboot. This left me with few options, and in the end I set it so it was accessible from the Kaiju Wasp logo splash screen upon initial boot. It was only when I got feedback from folks using certain emulators that I found out that some emulators don't show that splash screen for the full two seconds it is meant to be on screen, so in V1.3 the amount of time it is displayed for is four seconds instead of two. In addition as a heads-up, when inputting the directions the joystick needs to return to neutral after each direction, you cannot just rotate the joystick around all directions before pressing the fire button.

This is the full game of Blue And Red - Fight The Robots! Arcade Edition, 40 levels of heart-pumping intense robot-zapping and mecha-stomping action!

Minimum Specs: ECS Amiga, 2MB Chip RAM, 68020 processor.

Recommended Specs: AGA Amiga.

There's full information on the main itch.io page for the game, with the controls, how to play, and hints and tips. Click on 'View game page' to take you there, or go here: https://kaijuwasp.itch.io/blue-and-red-fight-the-robots-arcade-edition

Make sure you're on the latest version (V1.2, released 28th February 2026) before playing!

Main Credits:
Code and GFX: Yan
Music: Virgill GFX:
Critikill

Full credits are on the game's main itch.io page, enjoy!

Cheers for the feedback! 😊 The UFO boss (along with all bosses) has two versions, if you're on the normal version it is a case of jumping up or falling through a platform after shooting it whilst in it's path. If you're on the AMPED version then it is a combination of that, but also if it is using one of the additional attack patterns indicated by an arrow you can sometimes get a shot in from behind if you're on the level it is going to move to.

I'm glad you like the music, Virgill is nothing short of a magician with what he can do with Amiga MODs!

Cheers, I'm glad you've had a fun time with it, the first boss can be tricky but it can be defeated for sure, I hope you're able to kick their arse! 😉 

Cheers for the awesome review! ❤️ I'm glad you had a great time playing! I completely agree about the Attract Mode, the player needs to be shown any non-obvious mechanics prior to playing, it was one of the "must-haves" for this game 😊 

Cheers for the feedback, it was a pleasure to catch the rest of your stream yesterday!

Cheers for playing it, it's definitely a lot of fun in coop mode!

Cheers for the coverage! 😊 I saw your video earlier this evening and dropped it a like, I've been subscribed to your channel for a while as it is one of the best channels for retro game roundups! ❤️ 

Cheers for the feedback, I'm glad you've enjoyed your time playing the game 🙂 I would like to clarify a little something about the palette choices, when it came to the graphics Critikill was using a palette selected by myself, which I selected to maintain portability between Amiga and Mega Drive and Neo Geo, and I had also had to change the palette from some of his original designs to make them compatible with the selected palette. On a technical level, the Amiga version has 32 colours and all of those are accessible by the system at all times, however on the Mega Drive and Neo Geo they work in multiple palettes of 16 colours, and each object only has access to a singular palette (although tiles on Mega Drive can use a different palette for each corner). As such, that meant that although the palette I selected was better for portability, it also was definitely not optimal for the Amiga, and that is entirely on me, Critikill is definitely not to blame here 😅 

I've had musings about a V2 of this game (Amiga-only) when I circle back to it after the Mega Drive and Neo Geo releases, and an improved palette is definitely at the top of the list!

Cheers, I'm glad you enjoyed it! 😊