ARCADE WATCH

Keeping an eye on the coin-op gaming scene

Game Skycurser Manufacturer Griffin Aerotech

For a retro 2D shoot ‘em up housed inside an arcade cabinet, Skycurser’s development process is unexpectedly modern: players all over the world have been beta testing it for about two years. Indie company Griffin Aerotech is carving out its own route into the future of arcade-game development with its debut title, with preorders officially rolling out in dedicated cabinets and JAMMA conversion kits to buyers at time of writing.

Players who have already bought a beta kit (built around the company’s first hardware unit, Airframe) have received a steady stream of Skycurser updates via physical media – and later, WiFi – to test. The official cabinet release is now loaded with the resulting launch build, the product of various gameplay tweaks, bug fixes and player feedback. Thanks to this, the game is transformed: a Splatterhouse- inspired, pixellated tangle of spaceships, cyborg skulls and floating eyeballs bursting into mechanical guts when hit by the Skycurser’s shotgun fire and katana across four levels. Dual joystick cabinets can run the new co-op mode (in which you and your friend play as pilot and talking dog), while Griffin has promised that global online leaderboards and the final two levels are on their way as free updates.

The idea of a ‘90s-style arcade game that can be updated by its devs as quickly, easily and regularly as a console title is, no doubt, an exciting prospect for both arcade owners and players. With Griffin confirming it has more games in development for Airframe, this could be the start of a whole new way of life for the arcade.