More freeware goodness

[DarkDragoonX]

Alright, so I figured I'd link to some of the best freeware games out there. Everybody loves free games, right?

-----------------

G-Type - A shooter that combines the best from both Gradius and R-Type, this game is an excellent homage to both games, and an amazing shooter in it's own right. The game sports five huge levels that span three difficulty settings, each difficulty taking you through a different path (with different bosses, as well!). Thus, there's actually an incentive to play through on every setting, giving the game a lot of replay value.



Download:http://www.acid-play.com/download/g-type/

-----------------

Engage to Jabberwock - This game resembles a mix of arena shooters and zelda-like dungeon exploration. The basic premise? You're in a a dungeon. Every room is full of enemies. Find your way out. This would be a lot easier if it weren't for all those locked doors, controlled bu switches that will unlock one color of door while locking another color. Defeating all the enemies in a room will award you with a treasure. Treasures can increase your max HP, max Mana, heal you, give you new abilities, or they might just be one of the keys you need to unlock a boss encounter.



Download: http://zenjohost.com/~hunty/platine/jabberwock.zip

------------------

Missing - A first-person adventure game (think Deja-Vu) that has you exploring an old hotel, trying to find out what happened to your missing family. An amazing game, definitely a must-play.



Download: http://www.studioeres.com/ccount/click.php?id=2

------------------

Noitu Love and the Army of Grinning Darns - An action platformer that bears a (very) mild resemblance to Mega Man. Noitu Love sports both great boss battles and excellent level design.



Download: http://www.konjak.org/noitulove.zip

------------------

Valdis Story - A really, really, really good game similar to the new-style castlevania (ie, "castleroid") games. Level up, collect items, and whup some ass. The game's highlight is without question it's spectacular combat system. Still in developent, so this is only a demo. Regardless, a must-play.



Download: http://www.endlessfluff.com/misc/valdis_story.zip

------------------

Last Scenario - An RPG crafted using RPG Maker XP. But wait, don't let that scare you off! Unlike most RPG Maker games, this one is actually really good. Tons of sidequests, a collectible card game (what IS it with RPG and card games, anyway?), and a plot that may seems generic and cliched at the start, but definitely picks up, this game should NOT be missed... and hey, it's a full-length, high quality, SNES-style 2d RPG for free! What more can you ask for? Screenshots are huge, so the link is to the game's main page, rather than a direct download.

Link: http://forums.somethingawful.com/sho...readid=2474929

------------------

La-Mulana - Most of you are probably already familiar with this game. For those that aren't, it's a platformer similar to "castleroid" games, with heavy influence from maze of Galious, and the MSX computer era. I can't praise this game enough, as it is certainly one of the best freeware games available... Aeon Genesis has both an mirror for the game and an english translation patch, so go get it now! Again, screenshots are on the page linked.

Link: http://agtp.romhack.net/project.php?id=lamulana

-------------------

Ether Vapor - Holy crap, this game is freakin' awesome. A shooter still in development, but with three big levels to fly through in the demo. This game has it all. vertically scrolling levels, side-scrolling levels, amazing weapons and variety, and astonding visuals. Your ship is loaded with three weapons that you can switch between at any time. A gating gun, a spread gun, and a homing laser system. In addition, you can charge the gatling gun to unleash a powerful forward blast, or the spread gun to create a large explosion that doubles as a shield to protect you from enemy fire. Yet in spite of the awesome power and deadly elegance of your weapon system, you'll still have it tough. Enemies will constantly attack in formations requiring you to quickly switch between your weapon systems, and bosses will force you to swap constantly as well. Attacks can also come from the background and the foregound. It's really rather hard to describe just how amazingly fluid the gameplay is. Whether you're a shooter fan or not, YOU WANT TO PLAY THIS GAME. GET IT NOW.



http://edelwiss.sakura.ne.jp/works/e...vapor_1_07.zip

-------------------

Well, that should be a good enough collection to keep you entertained for quite some time. Feel free to add to the list if you want.

[Dark Nation]

You forgot Cave Story!


http://www.miraigamer.net/cavestory/

[Brasel]

Awesome. I'm going to try a couple of these tonight. I didn't know there were so many freeware indie games out there.

[DarkDragoonX]

You forgot Cave Story!

Cave Story is well-known enough that I decided not to add it. Still, I suppose it doesn't hurt.

Also, a couple shmups I forgot to add the first time:

---------------

eXceed 2nd Vampire REX- Pretty fun Ikaruga-style vertical shump. It has only 4 stages, but a lot of fun nonetheless. Aim for an eXceed ranking!



Download: http://www.tennen-sozai.com/eXceed2n...REX_tri001.zip

----------------

Blue Wish Ressurection- Vertical shmup with manic tendencies, though not quite a curtain-fire game. Has an interesting system where getting hit will remove a bomb from your stock instead of killing you outright.



Download: http://www004.upp.so-net.ne.jp/x_xga...rks/works.html
(Contains the main games page with links to the creator's older shumps, which are worth playing as well!)

[Kairyu]

http://www.armageddongames.net/forum...ad.php?t=96306

[Daarkseid]

------------------

Missing - A first-person adventure game (think Deja-Vu) that has you exploring an old hotel, trying to find out what happened to your missing family. An amazing game, definitely a must-play.



Download: http://www.studioeres.com/ccount/click.php?id=2

------------------

This game delivers. Thanks for posting this.

[{DSG}DarkRaven]

Man, that Jabberwock game is a blast. You know how to tell that it's a really fun game? My hand is killing me. Is there a translation patch for the game and/or manual anywhere? It'd be nice if I knew what all these books and orbs and whatnot did.


Also, I'm surprised that you could mention Noitu without mentioning another fantastic Konjack game: Chalk. It's a weird sort of drawing shmup. Maybe? It's a lot of fun. Found it on Something Awful just the other day.

http://www.konjak.org/chalk.zip


EDIT: Is anyone else having an issue with Jabberwock, where upon resuming a saved game after closing the program, none of the controls, except for movement, work?

[DarkDragoonX]

Man, that Jabberwock game is a blast. You know how to tell that it's a really fun game? My hand is killing me. Is there a translation patch for the game and/or manual anywhere? It'd be nice if I knew what all these books and orbs and whatnot did.


Also, I'm surprised that you could mention Noitu without mentioning another fantastic Konjack game: Chalk. It's a weird sort of drawing shmup. Maybe? It's a lot of fun. Found it on Something Awful just the other day.

http://www.konjak.org/chalk.zip


EDIT: Is anyone else having an issue with Jabberwock, where upon resuming a saved game after closing the program, none of the controls, except for movement, work?

I haven't gotten around to playing Chalk yet, to be honest. I should stop putting it off, but I just haven't been able to work up the will to actually play the damn thing.

As for Jabberwock, I don't know what's going on with the control bug you're experiencing... I haven't encountered it, myself.

As for a translation, there is none, but I can give you the quick and dirty instructions:

Esc: View the map and collected items(once you get it).
[b]z:[b] FIre bullets. Hold down z to strafe.
x: Deploy a shield that blocks standard bullets. Requires an item you get by clearing the either the first screen, or the screen directly south of the first screen (can't remember exactly). uses mana, and mana does not regenerate while the shield is active.
c: Allows you to dash once you have obtained the boots. Drains mana.
Shift: Hold to slow down time and dodge tough bullet formations. Drains mana while active.
Left Ctrl: use a yellow magic book, functions as a smart bomb. Limited supply.
Space bar: Hold space bar to draw a magic circle in front of your character. Once the circle is drawn, continue to hold space and you can move around the room while your circle remains stationary. Pressing z while holding space will fire a large red beam attack towards the circle. Bosses have a similar attack, with a blue beam. By attacking their beam with yours, you can push the bosses' beam back until your beam begins to hit them, causing a counterattack and doing massive damage.

Boss rooms are the rooms with an nothing but an orb with a symbol on it. Find the book with the matching symbol and return to the room, and you can fight the boss. Defeat enough bosses and the teleporter to the final boss will become active in a certain room.

[Gleeok]

No betrayal at Krondor? I havn't played much so far, but I don't think I could name a better rpg for the pc. Did I mention it's free?
http://www.alt-tab.net/games/betraya...ndor/download/

[Glenn the Great]

If you haven't played Cave Story by now, something is wrong with you.