Minotaur Arcade Volume 1

Minotaur Arcade Volume 1 is two games: Gridrunner and Goat-Up. Both games can run in normal 2D mode and in VR. Out-of-the box it will run using the Oculus VR head-set. If you run the game in Beta mode, your non-Oculus head-set may also work. My PiMax4K set worked fine in Beta mode. Gridrunner is a typical Jeff Minter psychedelic shooter: lots of things going on, music and sound helps you get into a zone providing a lot of fun shooting all kinds of weird objects and earning bovine "moos" and other bull references. Graphics wise not mind blowing, but the aim is to shoot for points. Two guns on the top and the side aim to kill you but eventually you'll develop a sixth sense for where they are. The game helps you along the difficulty curve and you end up in places you may not have though possible. Each level is shaped differently, like we know from Minter games. The game keeps leaderboard scores so you can compare your ability to others. You can play in "pure" mode which starts you off at level 1 each time. If you want to start where you left off last time, you can play in "casual" mode. Goat-Up is a Nebulus-like game where you steer your goat up a never ending tower. Jeff makes this a typical Minter experience by adding weird objects like eggs, goats, pies and 8-bit computers. The game is very playable but more difficult than Gridrunner. Loads of colour and action and achievements to get. Each platform is covered with grass you can eat. Keep jumping or your game is over.

GridRunner is great as ever. I'm not sure the curved play surfaces and the VR mode add anything to the game, and indeed seem to make it more difficult, but since the iOS version is no longer available this is the best version of GridRunner currently available. GoatUp was never my cup of tea but strangely the VR mode (which now finally supports OpenVR) does make it more fun by letting you look ahead to see what is coming up next.

Dear LlordLlama & friends, Pretty pretty please release your update for "looking glass" display hardware. I know you got it, you youtube teaser you. And I see that htc vive wand next to the looking glass -- vive support sure would be swell too. Pretty pretty please, been a fan since the 8o s, bring on the holograms REVIEW: Originally developed for iphone, apple deprecated functionality to break these games. Note that these work on vive tho I feel depth is lacking. gridrunner : 8o s wave shooter with contemporary visual splatter. Centipede meets asteroids meets tempest meets vanguard sound samples from time pilot, phoenix, galaxian, space invaders, defender, ... goatup -- platformer with contemporary visual splatter. vertical platformer with major eye candy the goat ascends higher and higher I recommend using a gamepad, these are twitch games. And wow won't it be even cooler when llordllama releases support for "looking glass" ! X0x0, a_usermame

Two top quality games for £10 has to be great value in anyone's books. The standout title (for me) is the latest version of Jeff Minter's classic Gridrunner. Whilst it remains true to its Centipede-inspired origins and the original 8 bit game, it introduces enough new modern gameplay elements to make it feel fresh and new - including geographical landscapes that affect the some of the game mechanics. At heart, it's a superb shoot-em-up that's fast, challenging and a real joy to play. The apparently simplistic gameplay has hidden depths that you'll really need to master if you want to get those high scores. A simply brilliant game. Goat Up is also fun (although I've played it less than Gridrunner) and challenging. In terms of gameplay, think 8 bit classic Nebulous, but with goats! Get to the top of a tower, eat all the grass and kiss all the sheepies. Combining great gameplay wtih Minter's off-beat humour, it's a strong addition to the package.

i have now become a Certified Ox Bopper thanks to this game

two games reside here one a jumpy game other a shooty game goatup is a good game because it contains goats, and youre doing things goats love like hopping, chomping on grass and taking care of some small ones. things to bump are about. the only thing i see it lacking in w my limited experience is in the gurning department, a matter all goats must endure. it is doubtful i will ever have a negative experience with goatup. gridrunner, here is a near perfect game. it's an extrapolation on the only mobile phone game that has been able to keep my attention for more than 2 days. my memory of that game is a little hazy, i don't remember when it disappeared from the stupid phone os hell store but i still get sad about not having that wonderful game as the sole blissful place on the hell rectangle. but here lies a wonderful game. i don't remember exactly how the rectangle pocket device version plays. i don't think it matters, this is wholly different and refined experience. grid is not flat but it is still a flat plane, very pleasant visual experience. llamasoft out here keeping the williams vibe alive. aural experience is good too!! nice bleep tuning for necessary cues, some samples and the obligatory animal sounds and grunts. this gridrunner is a joy to play, and is a visceral experience, it controls well with a d-pad , not so much with an analog stick, i have yet to try mouse input, but i would rather play this on a sanwa jlf than a mouse, so dpad it is. it controls well enough, there is what seems to be some momentum to digital movement but i have yet to see it as a significant problem rather than what it may truly be, a lack of skill. a hectic shooting game that has plenty of dots to dodge as the levels go on, it's vibe reminds me more of something like compile's (rip) zanac, than bullet heck dodge that dot games. strange icons fall from the screen like the game in which the original game gridrunner was an extrapolation of, other enemies come, that may or may not shoot bullets in various patterns towards you, these may often contain powerups. the game doesn't seem to telegraph which ones do contain them, but you should probably be just shooting everything on screen anyways. just move around! no other buttons just movement. the best iteration of gridrunner so far, one of the most joyous shooting games.

This game is like comfort food for me. The colours. The sounds. I will often fire it up when I need a pick me up. If you like arcade shooters, this is the one.