The Japanese development studio Suzuki Plan has announced it will be bringing its next shoot 'em up Battle AirForce to Steam later this year.
The game is intended as a sequel to last year's title Battle Marine and is the studio's first orthodox vertically scrolling bullet hell since the 2013 title NOKOGI Rider.
Much like Battle Marine, the game will be built using a custom SDK, which was originally designed to create projects for the studio's VGS-Zero console — a virtual game machine that features a Z80 16MHz CPU, an old-fashioned style custom VDP, and a chip-tuned sound system that plays retro style games. The developer has stated this new project will be written in Z80 full assembly language, with the ultimate aim being to achieve "a level close to the limit of VGS-Zero".
According to Suzuki Plan, Battle AirForce will feature four distinct areas, with four different phases and 16 enemies types per phase. This is in addition to an unlockable ZAKO RUSH mode that gives players infinite lives and records "their number of times played", as well as their number of perfect runs, and their high scores.
Here is a description of the plot, taken from Steam:
"Three years after the deadly battle of Battle Marine.
You were rescued by an enemy soldier and became a soldier of the enemy country.
In your homeland, the commander who lured you into a trap has become emperor in a military coup and is expanding his territory by invading formerly neutral countries as colonies.
You have risen up to thwart his ambitions with Battle AirForce."
No precise release date has been revealed just yet for the game beyond a vague announcement that it will arrive sometime in Q2 2025, but you can wishlist the game over on Steam now to support the developer and keep up to date with the project.