I didn’t think the day would ever come, but Hyper Bounce Blast [official site] is actually a platform ’em up. That’s not silly shorthand, it’s half platformer, half shoot ’em up. Isn’t that beautiful?

Well, it’s mostly a shmup, but with the added mechanic of jumping and bouncing on certain enemies: not touching the floor gives you a score multiplier and makes you invulnerable to enemy bullets – in fact collecting them in this form gives you even more points. It’s out now, with a launch discount which brings the price down to £3.39.



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There are three kinds of enemies in Hyper Bounce Blast: red enemies are regular enemies that need to be shot down, while blue enemies can’t be killed by bullets, but only by jumping on their head in classic Mario fashion. Green enemies can be dealt with in both ways. While you’re in the air you become invulnerable and can collect bullets, which fill up your hyper bar.

Developers Flump Studios seem to like doing these “Shmup but” – in Super Killer Hornet you had to do maths while you survived the bullet hell, and last year’s Horizon Shift had a different platforming twist on the single-screen shmup formula. It has good reviews, too.

Hyper Bounce Blast also has a great name – I can imagine it enthusiastically shouted by a 90s arcade cabinet. Can you hear it? No? You can only hear Iggy Azalea go “Bounce“? Well, that’s good enough.

Hyper Bounce Blast is out on Steam, for £3.39/4,24€/$4.24.

Go Hyper-Bounce in peace, my friend.