The Hurricane of the Varstray

Developer:	Studio SiestA
Release date:	December 21st 2015

The Hurricane of the Varstray (ヴァルシュトレイの狂飆) is a shmup by Studio SiestA in 2015, initally released as doujin DVD game and then later to STEAM. The game is divided between two versions, one is Collateral Hazard and the other one being Threat of the 3rd Force.

The game is a Star Soldier styled shmup combined with CAVE elements, featuring an insanely high bullet density.

Collateral Hazard has 12 stages, while Threat of the 3rd Force feature 4 long stages. Both versions have an optional 2nd loop known as "Special Dimension".

For replay videos, visit the Video Index.

Gameplay Overview

The player controls a ship that can fire the main weapon, including a sub-weapon as well. The Baryon gauge is used for 2 things, Baryon Shield and Baryon Laser. The Baryon Laser consists of a Hyper weapon that can fire multiple spread lasers, and killing enemies and cancelling bullets with it will release gold items, and if the player lets go the shot button during the Baryon Laser duration, the gold items can be attracted. Collecting gold items will fill up the Grabuster gauge. Grabuster is a force field that gives i-frames to the player and also allows smashing enemies with the ship safely. Smashing things around with the Grabuster will also reveal medals. When the player collects a G item, the Baryon gauge will be instantly filled. If an F item is collected, it will instantly fill both Baryon and Grabuster gauges.

Controls

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• Button 1: Shot
• Button 2: Baryon Laser
• Button 3: Change between main and sub.
• Button 4 Slow movement
• Button 5 Change sub-weapon variants

Scoring

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Scoring consists of destroying enemies and things with Grabuster to collect medals, cancelling bullets and stage performance.

If the player clears a stage without getting damaged (Baryon Shield activation), the player will recieve 1000000 pts.

If the player clears a stage without dying, the player will recieve 1000000 pts.

The Baryon Laser bonus is 200000 pts., and is multiplied by a determined amount.

Remaining lives bonus are 200000 pts., and is multiplied by a determined amount of lives left.

Characters

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• Takatsuki Miho:

Features a wide shot coverage on front and back.

• Pushpa M. Valammpati:

Has the widest firing coverage on the front.

• Wilma Toreau:

She has a partially forward firing shot style.

• Tatiana Ivanovna Volkogonov:

She can fire widely and from the sides.

• Leontina Tudor:

Has a forward firing type.

• Aurelia Weidenfeller:

Has a wide coverage on the front.

Leontina and Aurelia are the only 2 available characters in Threat of the 3rd Force.

Modes and difficulty

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-Modes

• Arcade: The normal game mode. It has an optional 2nd loop.
• Story: A single loop mode that features unique story scenes for each character.
• Challenge: Features special caravan modes.

-Difficulties:

• Novice
• Standard
• Advanced

Items

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	Power-up: Increases shot power
	Max Power: Instantly boosts the shot power to MAX. Only appears after losing all lives.
	Gold item: They appear when destroying enemies and cancelling bullets with the Baryon Laser. They fill up the Grabuster gauge.
	Medal: These medals appear when smashing surroundings with the Grabuster.
	Secret target: Grants a Special Bonus when collected.
	Hidden panel: Grants a Special Bonus when collected.
	G item: Instantly boosts the Baryon gauge to MAX.
	F item: Instantly boosts both Baryon and Grabuster gauges to MAX.

Trivia

• The hidden panels are 8-bit pixel versions of the Trouble Witches characters.
• The bullet color formula are similar to DoDonPachi.