Air Twister is a rail shooter video game developed and published by YS Net and released on June 24, 2022 for iOS and macOS via Apple Arcade.[1] The developer later partnered with ININ Games to release the game on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One,Xbox Series X/S and Microsoft Windows[2] of which these versions were released on November 10, 2023.[3]
| Air Twister | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | YS Net |
| Publisher(s) | YS Net (iOS/macOS) ININ Games (Consoles/Windows) |
| Director(s) | Yu Suzuki |
| Producer(s) | Yu Suzuki |
| Composer(s) | Valensia |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release | iOS, macOS June 24, 2022 PS4, PS5, Switch, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S November 10, 2023 |
| Genre(s) | Rail shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Development
editIn 2008, Yu Suzuki created his video game incubation studio YS Net.[4] The studio has produced a few small scale mobile games and the kickstarter funded console game Shenmue III. Air Twister was the studio's first big budget internationally released smart phone game.[4]
A 3-D Space Harrier concept for smart phones was first shared by Suzuki with Polygon in a 2015 interview.[4] However, he is reluctant to call Air Twister a spiritual successor to Space Harrier.[1]
For Air Twister, Suzuki took inspiration from numerous sources: vintage floppy disc games Mystery House, the Ultima series, to other Sega rail shooters, namely Panzer Dragoon and Tetsuya Mizuguchi's Rez.[1]
Upon release, there were many game modes that were labeled as coming soon; by the end of August 2022, all game modes were available with the release of Version 1.1.[5][6] The new modes included two new bonus stages in the stardust mode as well as a Turbo mode and an unlockable island in the adventure mode.[5][7]
Soundtrack
editSuzuki, a long time fan of Dutch musician Valensia, reached out to him via Facebook to compose the music, to which he agreed.[1] The soundtrack features 19 tracks.[8] Some tracks are completely new, other tracks are new renditions of known Valensia compositions, including his hit song "Gaia" from his 1993 debut album, Valensia.
- Track listing
- Disc 1
- "Symphony of the Swans"
- "World's Gone Crazy"
- "Air Twister"
- "Maia"
- "Michelle Mambo 2022"
- "Phantom of the Opera 2022"
- "Into the Realm of Nature"
- "Aglaea 2022"
- "Princess Mystique"
- "Blue Rain 2022"
- "Gaia 2022"
- Disc 2
- "Act of the Silver Squid"
- "So White the Swan"
- "The Battle of the Black Swan"
- "Arma Et Alas"
- "The Triumph of the White Swan"
- "Inside the Crystal Cave"
- "The Black Swan"
- "How the World Was Won"
- "We Have Come Home"
- "Requiem Somnia"
Release
editThe game was released June 24, 2022 exclusively on Apple Arcade.
References
edit- ^ a b c d Hilliard, Kyle (31 May 2022). "Shenmue Creator Announces Air Twister For Apple Arcade". Gamespot. Archived from the original on 14 June 2022. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2024-06-23. Retrieved 2024-12-22.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Air Twister coming to PS5, Xbox Series, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC on November 10". Gematsu. 2023-06-26. Archived from the original on 2023-07-12. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
- ^ a b c Leone, Matt. "Two hours in Yu Suzuki's kitchen". Polygon. Polygon. Archived from the original on 15 June 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
- ^ a b "Yu Suzuki's 3D rail shooter Air Twister gets new content update". MegaVisions. Archived from the original on 4 October 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
- ^ "What's New in 1.1". YS-Net. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
- ^ "What's New in 1.2". YS-Net. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
- ^ Carpenter, Nicole (2022-05-31). "Shenmue creator's new game looks like Space Harrier, sounds like Queen". Polygon. Archived from the original on 2023-03-06. Retrieved 2023-03-06.