Yu Suzuki is known as the creator of Shenmue, Virtua Fighter, dozens of other classic Sega arcade and console games, and Space Harrier, which is perhaps his most relevant game compared to the announcement of his latest project, Air Twister.
Air Twister arrives exclusively at Apple Arcade on June 24 and is a recurring arcade shooting game. The game follows a character named Princess Arch as she waged a war against alien invaders and helps rescue the giant geese swans that are native to her planet.
In a briefing for the game in which GameSpot participated, Suzuki shared his love for classic floppy disk games like Mystery House and Ultima, and how it got him excited about working on a game that felt closer to his arcade roots and was straightforward and replayable. .
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Suzuki slapped what he called a touch-panel shooter for Apple, but hesitated to call it a Space Harrier spiritual successor. Suzuki said he’s always had this idea for a fantasy shooter, but back in the ’80s, the limited technology available led to the Space Harrier. In 2022, his idea came with the new technology and approach to Air Twister. “This is my ideal fantasy shooter. I think when you play it, you will see that it has a very different feel,” Suzuki said. Outside of the Space Harrier roots, the game also seems to take some inspiration from Rez and Panzer Dragoon with weapons that lock onto several enemies by pushing over them on the touch screen. Suzuki confirmed that the game can also be played with a controller.
Footage from the game showed Princess Arch hovering over a sea filled with giant mushrooms and dodging giant floating fish pulling giant balloons with houses behind them. Suzuki said that Princess Arch’s hair, clothes and face can all be changed with different unlocks, but since this is an Apple Arcade game, these customization upgrades will not be microtransactions.
The game’s soundtrack is surprising and contains 19 original tracks in full length from the Dutch composer Valensia. Suzuki said he was a longtime fan of Valensia and was able to get in touch with him on Facebook to pitch him about creating music for the game, which he agreed to.
Air Twister will be released for Apple Arcade on June 24. Apple Arcade is available for $ 4.99 a month and gives subscribers access to a large library of select iPhone and iPad games.