The Genesis / Mega Drive has always had a solid reputation when it comes to hosting intense shmups, but a new project by a trio of talented homebrew coders is aiming to push the platform to its absolute shining apex.
Developed by @birt_shannon, @Carsten1349 and @laurent_crouzet, LUFTHOHEIT (King of the Sky) is a Thunder Force-style blaster that is making Sega's 16-bit console do things never previously thought possible.
As you can see from the video below, it not only contains smooth sprite scaling but also boasts more on-screen colours than normal and throws an insane number of sprites.
If you check out the video below about the 3:30 mark, you'll see footage of the game in action:
(By the way, the rest of the video – compiled by the guy behind the amazing Castlevania: SotN port for the Genesis / Mega Drive – is well worth a watch if you're interested in homebrew games on the console).
It's shaping up to be a good year for Mega Drive shooter fans, as Yuzo Koshiro's studio is also working on a new shmup for the console, entitled Earthion.