High-speed retro sequel headed to Steam

Inti Creates' hyper-kinetic platformer Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 will be bringing its fast-paced sci-fi ??action to PC later this month, following on from its previous release on PS4, Nintendo Switch, and 3DS.

Gunvolt 2 follows dual storylines, as protagonist Gunvolt and his close rival Copen both battle through challenging, enemy-filled stages in order to rescue their respective damsels-in-distress: Muse and Lola. Daubed in lush pixelated graphics and with an energetic techno soundtrack, Gunvolt 2 hosts unique mech?anics, such as action-dynamic sound and the "Kudos" system, which alters our heroes abi?lities as they get their streak on.

You can check out the trai?ler for the?? Nintendo Switch edition below.

In related news, it also appears that Inti Creates will be holding a "virtual concert" for the franchise, complete with live performances of the Azure Striker Gunvolt soundtrack performed online by socially-distanced musicians. The show will take place on June 9 at 21:00 JST, and can be viewed live on the Inti Creates YouTube channel.

Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 launches on PC via Steam June 22. It is avai??lable now? on PS4, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo 3DS.

Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 coming to PC June 22 [Gematsu]

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It's $2.99 for the video

A lot of eastern game properties are getting their own anime adaptations these days, and I love it. Even if it's just in th?e form of an OVA or a movie, it's nice to be able to see another slice of something across a new medium.

That's just what Inti Creates is doing with Azure Striker Gunvolt: The Anime, which will launch worldwide next week on February 9. The short OVA will cost you $2.99 on the 3DS eShop, an??d will allow for both English and Japanese voiceovers.

You can get a fee?l for both languages by checking out the trailers below. I think I'll stick with Japanese for this one -- the voices, especially Gunvolt, are a lot more dramatic and tense.

Gunvolt [Inti Creates]

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A few challenge levels

Inti Creates is rolling out the DLC for Azure Striker Gunvolt 2, and unfortunately, none of it involves a sequel to Mighty Gunvolt (even if Mighty No. 9 is taken out back and shot, I still want to see a follow-u??p with Gunvolt and Ekoro).

As for the DLC that you can buy now in Japan (it'll likely come over at some point), you can get a new song, an extra recipe that boosts credits and experience earned, two score attack missions, and a speed run mode that dis??ables the Electromagnetic Barrier as well as the save feature.

Unfortunately its sold piecemeal, ranging from 150 Yen (roughly $1) to 30??0 Yen (roughly $2) per bit.  If it ever came over here I'd buy the missions for sure, but I can probably govern my own speed run, thank you.

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Bring it on

With its sequel fully released and certified in quality, Azure Striker Gunvolt has cemented itself as one of the marquee modern platforming franchises. It did everything Mighty No. 9 set out to do and more, and it k??ind of just did it under the radar...twice.

Speaking to director Yoshihisa Tsuda, Nintendo Everything found ??out that developer Inti Creates would very much like to keep this good thing going "with Gunvolt at the? helm as the protagonist," and that he has a "rough idea" for the premise of a third game. It's all a "pretty long way away," but it's on their minds, which is important.

My guess is if Azure 2 sells well enough it'll get a Steam port just like the first, so keep an eye on that if you aren't big on the 3DS. The only thing I really want for a third game is a followup to Mighty Gunvolt

Inti Creates wants to make a third Azure Stri??ker Gunvolt? game [Nintendo Everything]

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Light it up

While Mighty No. 9 didn't really deliver on everything it set out to do, Azure Striker Gunvolt was always there in the background, waving its hands frantically at Mega Man players.

It never got the traction that Inafune and his team did with their drama-filled Kickstarter, but the truth of the matter is it's the closest to the return of the Blue Bomber as we're going to get at the moment. The sequel might not have the Mighty Gunvolt?? bonus game under its belt, but it's just as satisfying.

Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 (3DS)
Developer: Inti Creates
Publisher: Yacht Club Games
Release: September 29, 2016
MSRP: $14.99 (Azure Striker Gunvolt: Striker Pack with both games $29.99)

I feel like I say this often, but this is a really Japanese game. No joke, it has maids, idols, and a heavy J-pop soundtrack. It's not enough that the AIs actually speak to you -- they're basically magical girls with spirit bodies, a la Cortana. And I feel like I also say this often, but this is ??my jam, so I'm good with all of it. You might not be, ??so be warned!

With that disclaimer out of the way, note that you're getting a lightning-quick action platformer that's built around speedrunning. Except this time the narrative is framed around two characters, both of which have vastly different playstyles. Gunvolt is basically the same (which doesn't necessarily make him less fun), and can still tags enemies with his gun to blast with his tracking area-of-effect volt powers, while recharging his EP (energy) like a Dragon Ball Z chara??cter with ??a swift double-tap down on the d-pad. He's built around floaty movements, with lots of gliding about and a more consistent sense of movement.

Copen, returning from the first title as a playable character, is zippier and sports a jetpack. You're going to get bigger, longer dashes with his Bullit Dash, and instead of tagging folks from afar, you'll need to actually Bullit into them to get a lock. He's much more mobile in general, with a Batman NES wall-bounce that's so deliciously retro it makes me smile. The amount of work that went into making Copen so unique on multiple levels (his straight, dour no-nonsense tone works well off of Gunvolt's absurdity, much like Crowe and Gosling in The Nice Guys, which yo??u sh??ould totally see by the way). It swiftly dispels the notion that this is just a level pack.

That said, the levels themselves aren't as memorable this time, which is a pill that's slightly easier to swallow when you're running through them as Copen. The problem is that Inti Creates seemed to have shown its hand with the zoomed-in camera, and a lot of stages are mostly centered around verticality, with horizontal layouts spanning only several screens in many cases. Perhaps it's that desire to build around the speedrunning score attack mentality (there's even an option to turn off dialogue to speed things up), but I found myself wanting a little more.

They still got it when it comes to those bosses, though. From puppeteers commanding robots that are as strong as most big bads in other platformers to just about every anime trope in the book (killer hair is something that isn't explored that often outside of Guilty Gear), they really go HAM with some of these. Having them offer up a challenge is a good wa?y to help me buy into them, too (as is the Shovel Knight amiibo bonus boss fight, compliments of new publisher Yacht Club Games).

Azure Striker Gunvolt 2's levels play things a little close to the chest, but the sheer breadth of tactics ope??ned up by the inclusion of Copen make it even easier to recommend than its predecessor. It's a jolly old platforming time, and I hope it reaches the level of success it was destined to hit.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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People actually know what this IP is

Mighty No. 9 put the cart before the horse. It put a whole bazaar before it, actually, as Inafune and his team banked on the fact that everyone would love the idea of show??ing up Capcom enough to connect with newcomer Beck and his inaugural game. But that didn't really play out as well as he'd hoped, and now they have all of these planning stage projects like an anime, TV show, movie, and toys to work with.

But Inti Creates took their time with Azure Striker Gunvolt. The first game in the series lau??nched two years ago, did well, and was ported to PC. Now they're gearing up to release the sequel on 3DS this month in the west (it's already out in Japan), and they've secured a publisher in Yacht Club Games. They're doing everything right, and later this year, they'll have an anime OVA from LandQ Studios.

You can watch the trailer below for the wor?k that's meant to entice both new and old fans.

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Yet, the sequel is still on track digitally

The Azure Striker Gunvolt "Striker Pack," which contains both the already released origi?nal and the upcoming sequel, has ?been pushed back.

Originally it was lined up for the end of September, but now it's been delayed to October 4. The good news is, Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 (which looks fantastic) has not been delay??ed, and will still hit the 3DS eShop digitally on September 29. So if you don't feel like waiting less than a week for the box, or perhaps already own the first game, you can just go digital.

But for a Mega Man-esque series like this that will likely withstand the test of time, far beyond the expiration dat??e of the 3DS eShop (I'll definitely be playing the first in 10 years), I strongly recommend considering the physical edition.

Striker Pack Retail Update and Gunvolt 2 At PAX? West [Yacht Club Games]

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Happy Friday

Sometimes you just have to let your ??????????????????????????inner 12-year-old out, and today is one of those days.

Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 have unveiled new bosses Asrock and Jibryll, and the former speaks to the aforementioned immature spirit animal. Maybe I'm just particularly giddy because Frank Ocean's ??latest album is suppos??ed to drop today (and hasn't...yet).

In other Gunvolt 2 news, the sequel is still set for a September 30 release date in the US, and will come with a retail edition (with both games), published by Yacht Club Games, who managed to inject a little Shovel Knight into the proceedings in boss form.

Any other old school Mega Man fans getting a Mega Man X3&nbs??p;Bit and Byte groove from the boss fight in the below video (starting at 3:40)? This project sounds better every time I hear about it.

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Dat downthrust

Maybe this shouldn't come as a surprise following last week's news that Yacht Club Games will be working with Inti Creates on a retail package for Azure Striker Gunvolt and its upcoming sequel, but the Blue Burrower himself will be making a guest appearance in Gunvolt 2. The bonus boss battle will be accessible using the Shovel Knight amiibo and can be fought with either of the ?game's protagonists.

He looks pretty tough! Guess you don't bea??t your own retro action game without picking up a few t??ricks.

A Shocking Surprise! [Yacht Club Games]

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Coming to 3DS on September 30

Today at Anime Expo in Los Angeles, Inti Creates announced a partnership with Shovel Knight developer Yacht Club Games to bring Azure Striker Gunvolt and its sequel to retail as a phys??ical package.

The "Striker Pack" will include both titles on a single Nintendo 3DS cartridge for $30, Inti Creates says, and will be released in tandem with the $15 digital version of Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 on September 30.

Also announced was an anime based on the property, which is currently sla??ted for a winter release.

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Again, we'll have two Azure games before one Mighty No. 9

Inti Creates streamed some new Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 footage last week, and Nintendo Everything was there to capture it.

In a surprisingly informative bit of video, the demo shows off some new gameplay mechanics (like dashing into enemies), and the new character Copen. The stream is a bit disorganize?d in its presentation, but the demoer holds it together and does a good job of showing us everything Copen can do.

To me, it looks different enough compared to the first game, which wa??s fantastic in its own right, so I'm sold.

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Can't wait

Azure Striker Gunvolt was a highly underrate??d game, and I c??an't wait to play the sequel.

Thankfully more news is coming later this month, as Keiji Inafune will deliver a keynote on April 26 ??with additional information about the game. The first one had a relatively quick turnaround as it was announced in March of 2014, and hit the U??S that August, so I hope there's a similar release schedule afoot here.

In other news there are two playable characters, two new "divas" that play into the story, which deals with Gunvolt and Copen teaming up to defea??t the evil union of Eden.

Azure Strike Gunvolt 2 [4Gamer via GoNintendo]

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That makes two Azures and no Mighty No. 9

I know I've said this before but I still find the whole Mighty No. 9 delay situation hilarious. At this point we have not only one, but two Azure Striker Gunvolt games that will likely come out by Inti Creates (who is co-developing Mighty) before it's actually released -- and they were both announced after Mighty was Kickstarted.

But let's focus on the present here. Azure Striker Gunvolt 2, it looks great! And it's coming in the summer of 2016, based on yesterday's Nintendo Direct. Players will be able to select both Gunvolt and Copen??, and the game itself will be priced at $14.99 on 3DS. No word on a PC port yet.

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Revealed at MAGFest

Keiji Inafune was over at MAGFest this past weekend, and in addition to confirming that Mighty No. 9 still existed (that's good news), they also showed off Azure Striker Gunvolt 2. At this point there will have been two Azure Striker games released, both of which were announced after Mighty started development, before Mighty is out. In fact, with i??ts track record, we may even get three.

You can see the gameplay trailer for yourself compliments of Nintendo Everything below. It looks...mostly the same? That could be fine if it's just more Azure Striker with new levels.

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