Gaurodan (PC/Linux/Ouya)

[This review was originally written by J. Monkman for indiegames.com, and has been reposted here with the editors permission].

A mere five months in development, Locomalito's homage to Choplifter, Defender and the classic monster movies of yester-year has been unleashed into the wild! Destroy the puny armies of mankind, battle collossal creatures and lay waste to the sleepy towns of the sun-drenched Canary Islands, all in glorious vintage coin-op-o-vision whilst Gryzor87's thematic chip tunes blast out in the background! Oh yes, there is a whole lot of authentic 1980's fun to be had in Gaurodan.

However, the big reveal - and indeed the reason why this particular release is so special - is that Gaurodan is the first Locomalito game to be released on a console as well as PC. Enter centre stage... the Ouya.

In a recent conversation with RGCD and Wide Pixel Games (who assisted with Ouya testing and technical support), Loco declared that he'd been dreaming of releasing games on a freeware-friendly console, something that the Ouya made possible with relative ease. Does this mean we could we see Hydorah or Maldita Castilla arrive on the machine? Possibly, but for now he has only confirmed that he plans to support the niche indie platform with his future releases.

I've been fortunate to have played Gaurodan pretty extensively over the past few weeks, and can happily confirm that the free-scrolling shmup is typically Locomalito hard - despite my best efforts I've only seen as far as the first boss battle. Despite its harsh difficulty, the game is a perfectly crafted tribute to a bygone age and often-overlooked genre, and I cannot recommend it enough. If the bargain price of FREE offends you, consider sending Locomalito a donation to help fund future projects.

Download the PC/Linux version here (from the developers website).
Download the Ouya version here (from Total Ouya).