In 2022, renowned creator and industry figure Yu Suzuki revealed that his development studio Ys Net was creating an arcade-style shooter exclusively for Apple Arcade. Now, publisher ININ Games has revealed that the very game — which is a love letter and spiritual successor to Suzuki's Space Harrier — is coming to consoles, including Switch, on 10th November. (Thanks, Gematsu!)
Air Twister is a pretty interesting-looking shooter and was the first game released by Ys Net following Shenmue III. It caught our attention last year because of its similarities to Space Harrier, and Suzuki has also cited numerous influences from Sega rail shooters such as Panzer Dragoon and Rez. Instead of piloting a spaceship, you're a princess who rides a swan all while over-the-top music complete with choir singing (from Dutch composer Valensia) blast out of the speakers.
Intrigued? Here are some more details from the game's Apple Arcade page:
Soar through the sky battling against invaders in this all-new fantasy endless shooter from legendary game creator, Yu Suzuki. Players will assume the role of Princess Arch fighting back against bizarre invaders to save their planet from destruction. They’ll rain down their homing arrows to trace graceful arcs of light across beautiful, artfully crafted stages, before they pierce their foes. With a fun and easy touchscreen swipe-shooting gameplay mechanic, the destiny of the planet is in the player’s hands.
• Find something new every time you play in each of the 12 stages!
• Over 20 different creatures of the Vanguard will thwart your way and 10 unique bosses await your challenge at the end of the worlds!
• Collect Stars to power up your Princess and unlock new game modes!
• Simple touch controls make play fun and easy! Or connect a gamepad for an arcade-like experience!
• Shoot for the top and compete in score and ranking categories with players all around the world!
Physical versions for the Switch version will be available to pre-order from 18th July, though distributors have not been announced yet. Keep an eye on Air Twister's official website for more details.
What do you think of Air Twister? Are you happy to see Suzuki revisit his roots? Let us know in the comments.
[source gematsu.com]
Comments 29
Looks great to me! This is a Fantasy Zone I would love to dive into. Space Harrier with Panzer Dragoon lock-on mechanics, and a physical release, nonetheless!
"Get Ready!"
This looks awesome. It looks like a game like Panzer Dragoon.
I'm totally into this.
Looks pretty good, but it's published by ININ so I'll be skipping it. They lost my support with their Space Invaders collections. They first released a collection that was supposed to have a separate download for Arkanoid vs Space Invaders, but the download didn't start for some people, myself included. And then they released another, much more complete collection just a few months later. So yeah, I got my fingers burnt once, and will not give any money to ININ anymore.
Repeating ground textures, check.
Comically huge alien mushrooms, check.
Unexplained environmental polyhedra, check.
Welcome to the Fantasy Zone it is!
@KoopaTheGamer You sure we shouldn’t be blaming Taito themselves or maybe SquareEnix (who owns them). They sure seem to love overcharging and underwhelming whenever Space Invaders or other top tier Taito IP’s are involved (Bubble Bobble and Darius as well).
@masterLEON I don't know, but I've heard stories of something similar happening with ININ's Wonder boy releases. Apparently they released a small collection first and larger later (the same thing as for Space Invaders), but the large one had some fixes that never appeared on the first collection. While most of their releases are probably fine, I don't trust them enough to keep buying their games.
It looks extremely late 90s/early 2000s. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, I love Panzer Dragoon Orta.
It's got Dreamcast jank. I love it.
Well,I was hoping this would come to Switch when it was revealed for Apple. Happy dance!
@PtM There ain't no dragon, but there are similarities. Flying across psychedelic sci-fi landscapes, firing homing lasers at enemies, etc. Not exactly the same, but in the same vein I'd say.
well, that was something.
When I saw the riding on a giant swan I was hoping it would play more like Panzer Dragoon, but looking at the footage, even when riding stuff, its clearly more like Space Harrier - a far mroe mechanically simple game. That said, this looks fun and creative - if its reasonably priced for an arcade like experience, I'll give it a whirl.
Suzuki is a legend of course. Personally, Space Harrier was always my least favourite of his classic games. Very creative graphical style though and I always loved the colour pallettes & music.
Anyone who likes Space Harrier should check out https://asobitech.itch.io/maomao from the awesome Quang from Asobitech. Its brilliant (and I find it a perfect expansion on the Space Harrier gameplay to the point I find it a lot more fun). Quang is a friend of mine, but the games he makes (including Gameboy titles!) are genuinely great and I'd recomend them without bias.
Looks goods and brings back fond memories of my Saturn and Dreamcast days. Wish they would bring Shenmue 3 to the Switch.
I’ve got this on my iPad and my Apple TV. It’s superb.
Great to see this coming to consoles, seen this ages ago looks fantastic. Definitely physical version will be purchased.
@samuelvictor LAst time I checked, I had the top score for that game.
@GrailUK Awesome! Quang is an absolutely lovely guy. And also has the biggest collection of rare consoles and prototypes I've ever seen. Possibly in the world? haha. As I said, I'm not the biggest fan of original Space Harrier (especailly without the hydrolic arcade cab) but I love how he expanded on its mechanics with Mao Mao Castle.
You guys are in for a treat. It’s not been off my iPhone since release. The game is NUTS and has a theme song by someone who sounds just like Queen.
Yeah, this one is a super-weird one, but worth the trip.
The gameplay mechanics and progression are not the greatest but I still had fun with it (I played it in my Mac)
The music matched with the art styles ripped from classic rock album covers is the highlight.
I’m in! Now give us some more Ys Magic!
I spent way too much time playing Space Harrier in Shenmue. This looks amazing. Gonna be keeping an eye out.
Soundtrack by Valensia? There’s something I didn’t expect to see.
you had me at Space Harrier
I’ve enjoyed this one on Apple Arcade… excited to play it on switch and Xbox!
This is literally YSNet first game on the Switch as we never got Shenmue 1-3. Definitely will check it out. Also for people who kept asking why YSNet never make any Ys games, that's because it's not pronounced YsNet (ease-net), it's pronounced YSNet (why-es-net) which is short for Yu Suzuki Network.
That's great to hear but can we also get Mistwalker's Fantasian as well, please? (For those who don't know, that's an RPG from the studio behind Lost Odyssey. Fantasian is currently an Apple Arcade exclusive)
Overall looks great, but I have to say that I'm not a fan of the practically constant "swish" sound effect!
To be fair, it didn't seem to be there during actual gameplay, can one of those who have already played it like confirm it's not there or at least much less frequently @norwichred @RadioHedgeFund @aaronsullivan @Nermannn?
@JohnnyMind no that high-pitched swish sound is just there for every transition in the trailer. Not in the game!
@Nermannn Good to know, thanks!
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