![HorgiHugh [ホーギーヒュー] Game Sample - PC/Doujin](/images/yt/na/horgihugh-game-sample-pcdoujin-lpvxo.jpg)
HorgiHugh [ホーギーヒュー] Game Sample - PC/Doujin
35I was a little surprised by the amount of appreciation for Pixel's retro Doujin throwback of "Kung-Fu Master", "Fire Dragon Master Fist Xaiomei", so I figured I would show you another one of their works. "HorgiHugh" (also seen as HORGIHUGH) is a simple homage to 16-bit shooters of old and their ability to round up former employees from big-name companies to work on indie projects has gained them some traction (they have a few interesting titles in the works for 2020/2021). It's also touching that the main character, Hugh, is based off of an actual rescue dog during the "Great East Japan Earthquake" of 2011 who bonded with the Pixel founder through unlikely circumstances.
It is visually reminiscent to a late 80s / early 90s Arcade shooter and has a few notable credits. With music from the legendary Konami composer, Motoaki Furukawa (best known for his work on the "Gradius" franchise, early "Metal Gear" games, "Snatcher" & "SD Snatcher", and "Policenauts"), character designs by Makoto Yabe (or KOU who currently works for Inti Creates and is known for his work with the "Mega Man ZX" and "Shantae" series) and pixel graphics done by the Neo Geo background artist, Kengo Tanaka (who is best known for his work on the rather expensive "Chotetsu Brikin'ger" or "Ironclad") and Hidekunki Sasaki (King's Giga), Horgihugh overall has a small but talented cast at the helm. As a portmanteau of "Horizontal", "Husky" and "Corgi" (the actual dog is a husky-corgi mix), the game is a hori-shmup that takes place on a planet very similar to Earth and replaces all the humans with anthropomorphic animals as they deal with murder, war and struggle for peace.
One of the world's most renowned scientist, Dr. Howard, went on a journey spurred by his lamentation of the world's struggles and found a mysterious stone purely by chance which, after extensive research, had the powers to nullify any and all modern weapons and transmissions. Before he could get his creation into the spotlight, the war had ended, but it would ironically create a new war six years later as invaders from space called the "Gozarean" suddenly attack to reclaim the glowing stone. The only hope for survival now rests in the hands of two plucky pilots who evaded the war eight years prior, Hugh and Figaro, whose vintage planes avoided the weapon-nullification tech found in Gozarean's machines. The game's action is spread out over seven levels (one of which is a boss rush level for stage six) and includes a small surprise ending.
The audio / visuals are quite nice within the scope of 16-bit titles and I have no major complaints but there are two things to point out: The game seems to slowdown significantly on stage 3 (and based on feedback from numerous players, there seems to be no fix) and may even be intentional due to the various obstacles you face and the game has no final boss theme which made the finale feel a bit anti-climatic, but the soundtrack is pretty neat overall. The logo is even designed in part like the Gradius logo and if you're even the slightest shmup fan, then you'll hear an unmistakable sound when you start your game up ;)
The gameplay is a little Gradius with in-stage shops (think Forgotten Worlds, Fantasy Zone, Ordyne, Trouble Witches, etc.) with a little Sky Kid (or the wonderful Doujin, "Magical Zone", made well before this) and is pretty easy if you're used to your bullet-hell titles. Not only is the game more forgiving with your barrel roll ability which makes you temporarily invulnerable, but you can recover from shots by pressing the buttons rapidly before you hit the ground which prevents you from losing a life; while this action consumes half your bomber gauge, you will fill it up almost immediately as it builds from grazing bullets or obstacles (which is perhaps an oversight). There are also "familiar enemy waves" and, If you really need help, you can also visit Angela's shop to buy a few permanent upgrades which can be toggled on or off.
The shooting is standard stuff -- Dr. Howard will occasionally fly in to offer you basic power-ups to upgrade you basic shot, missiles and air-to-ground bombs as well as have your feline friend, Figaro, come to your aid. However, the better power-ups come from Brown's shop which cost crystals you obtain from defeated enemies and you can buy permanent power-ups for Figaro which are helpful. Whatever gems you have during a "Game Over" will carry over to Angela's Shop. Overall, this game is pretty neat and while it's a bit pricey, it is on sale from time to time. The game is also getting a minor update for the Nintendo Switch under the name of "HorgiHugh With Friends". This is a video of the game in action showing a few things. You can get it at:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1046980/HORGIHUGH/
Enjoy.
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