A downloadable game

IN THE LATE 21ST CENTURY, hermetic knowledge became known to bring upon strange magical powers in those attuned to esoteric practices.

THELEMA became the terms to describe these powers, which allowed adherents to manifest orbs of radioactive energy, called FORCE.

FORCE emits deadly particles that eat away at all matter, and only FORCE negates these particles.

IN THE 22ND CENTURY, technology developed to augment natural FORCE. Weapons were built to make use of the power of FORCE without the need for an adherent of THELEMA.

To combat this rise of global terrorism, the

was formed...

Stylistically influenced by Border Down, R-TYPE Delta, Cotton: Fantastic Night Dreams, and Metal BLACK,


is a Horizontal SHMUP that mixes G.Rev influenced bullet pattern
design with gameplay that emphasizes the use of Force-type mechanics to
absorb enemy bullets, while also giving your enemies the same mechanics.

Designed conceptually as a NAOMI/ATOMISWAVE title, Magic BLACK is a personal love letter to 90s 16-bit 4:3 horizontal STG design, while also being an appreciation of the late 90s/early 00s console STG as MEMORIZER: of the opaque difficulty inherent to them, the base joy in approaching them, the satisfaction found in the accumulation and implementation of knowledge in learning how to route them, and the enlightenment sought in the optimized use of your tools to take advantage of the game for score.

IN THE CURRENT BUILD

  • 3 stages built around memorizing routing and testing different scoring tools, all with formations and set pieces unique to the stage environments.
  • 3 bosses that challenge mechanical knowledge with unique attack cycles that advance independently from boss health and rank, but all change depending on them.
  • A dedicated, interactive How to Play that covers all of the core mechanics and introduces scoring basics via simplified waves and boss fights.
  • A Practice Mode featuring stage and boss select, with the ability to fine tune rank and power options, as well as playable section breakdowns for each stage.

PLANNED FEATURES

  • 5 Arcade stages with multiple levels of difficulty: Easy, Normal, Hard, and BLACK; with the fifth stage changing depending on how the player works with the Rank system.
  • Multiple Caravan modes: Let's GO!! Captain BLACK!!, a caravan in the style of Zaxxon and Viewpoint featuring the support ship; Rocket WITCH, a revamped version of the first vertical build; and East Bay Tank Police, a more fleshed out iteration of the initial tank prototype; as well as a secret mini-game for players who clear the BLACK mode...
  • A late 90s/early 2000s sample based soundtrack influenced by 90s ZUNTATA (Yack., OGR, TAMAYO) and Toshiya Yamanaka by SPIT

STAY UP TO DATE!!
Developer updates are posted here
Indepth comments on gameplay and scoring

More information

Download

Download
Magic BLACK [DEMO] (How to Play hotfix) 469 MB

Development log