Hover Attack

I just bought this game for the full price, $17.99. I cringe when I pay this much for a AAA game, which I usually buy on sale, like Death Stranding, which I bought for less than this. But a week ago, I bought most of Mindware's games during a Steam sale for super cheap, and I loved all of them. I left comments on all the games, and next thing I know, the game developer strikes up a chat with me while I'm on Steam. He's so passionate about the games he releases, and he spends hundreds of hours troubleshooting his games and adding updates (he currently has over 500 hours logged into Hover Attack). I only needed to buy this game to own Mindware's entire collection on Steam. I researched this game and found that it was the inspiration for Bangai-O, a popular shooter from the past. I had to buy this. I saw in this game's discussion that a user was already creating mods for this, and I added some of his creations to the game. Nice! I have to say I love the way this developer puts so much work into these new renditions of the game. I wish all classic games got this much attention. I will put a lot of effort into this game, I feel like a kid sitting in front of my TV with my old game consoles back in the 1970's and '80's when I play this!
EDIT: Just had a Steam chat with the developer, I asked him what the '3671' meant on some of his games, he said the following: "For the first time in Cosmic Cavern, 3671 was given a title. The Japanese title is very long when translated into English, so it was named Cosmic Cavern, but since this name violates the trademark, 3671 was added to the end of the title. This was done by the American translator. I didn't know what it meant at first, and when I asked what it meant, I was told, "It's your birthday." I was born on March 6, 1971."
And there you go. It's all in the details. Gotta love this company! So much fun playing Mindware games! When I'm playing Hover Attack, the developer is usually online on Steam and also playing Hover Attack! How cool is that? :)

A fun game from a great dev, looking for a challenge? You found it :) send some game play tips my way! and send some love to:

History:
Hover Attack 3671 is a remake of a game that first showed up on the Sharp X1 in the form of a set of BASIC code in Japan's I/O Magazine in 1984 for the Sharp X1, and when it hit big time with youths that were dreaming of being a hero like Amuro Ray from Mobile Suit Gundam, the game spread onto the PC-88 and FM-7, and even had a fan port to PC by a Japanese fan in 2019.
Mindware picked this game up to remake it with permission from Mr. GEPPI! (typo I forgot to correct), who is the author of the original Sharp X1 version. This game is part of a series of remakes from the early days of Japanese computing, under the 3671 moniker.
Graphics - The visuals have not changed much when ingame, but the new graphics they have are suitably retro as well, with a stylized dot-matrix font for text. Animations are also touched up, like missile trails and such. Overall, the original graphics still hold up.
Sound - The soundtrack is in OGG format, but it's clear that retro hardware, software and/or plugins were used to create a suitably retro soundtrack which turns out to be an absolute BANGER. From high-intensity tracks to ones that remind you that in-universe, this Attacker job is serious business.
Gameplay - Hover Attack 3671 is a straight upgrade to the gameplay beats of the original, and has some additions. The basic gameplay is that you can only attack to the left and in one of 3 directions, diagonally down, diagonally up, and straight forward. The enemy can attack in all 8 directions strictly, so it turns into a game of outmaneuvering and shooting at the right time, which is made easier by the fact that the game no longer operates on a grid.
Mechanics - You are paired up with a portable hover carrier, that provides radar if you hold down while docked and automatically refills your missiles. Both your mech (the Attacker) and the hovercraft have limited HP, and the moment one of them goes out of commission, it's game over. The main goal is to destroy the base on the other side. Moment you dust that base the level's complete and you move to the next underground base.
As for additions to the gameplay, there are 2 extra mechanics available, depending on what Attacker you pick: a missile pack or a grenade pack. The missile pack adds 10 missiles to your missile pod and ignores the maximum it can hold, and the grenade pack lets you chuck grenades at your enemies in the event you're pinned down or don't want to catch hands from a sneakily-placed defensive position.
Controls - This game has full support for Xinput devices, meaning you can get started right away if you prefer a controller, but the keyboard controls are also quite intuitive.
Pros - Fun little game with a challenge that awaits you. Often cited as a direct inspiration for the Bakuretsu Muteki Bangaioh series, you'll definitely see why people say that.
Cons - If you're a fan of high-end graphics, you'll easily be turned off by the lack thereof. However, give it a try still.

This is a very unusual run-and-gun game. The levels are large and partially non-linear, but you always face left and can only fire at three angles. Finding the best path to approach the deeply entrenched enemies feels like a puzzle. Despite the fast action, this game is very strategic.

Excellent game.