Microsoft has unveiled its Games With Gold lineup for Xbox Live Gold subscribers in June. It includes WayForward’s Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse and Toge Productions’ Coffee Talk for Xbox One. On the Xbox 360 side is the original Destroy All Humans! and classic shoot ’em up SINE Mora. Check out the trailer below for more.

Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse will be available from June 1st to 30th. The slight Metroidvania elements, gorgeous visuals and fun gameplay are worth checking out, especially with the latest title in the franchise, Shantae and the Seven Sirens, out tomorrow for PC, Xbox One, PS4 and PC. Coffee Talk is a nice little narrative adventure with a dash of fantasy that might be to one’s flavor. It’s available from June 16th to July 15th.

Then there’s Destroy All Humans!, which will see its remake releasing in July. The Xbox 360 title is available from June 1st to 15th. SINE MORA is an absolute must-have for shoot ’em up fans and comes from the wicked minds at Grasshopper Manufacture. Grab while it’s available from June 16th 30th.

In case you’re just joining us, and want a quick lowdown of the game, Sine More is a 2D sidescrolling shoot em up, in the vein of classic NES and SNES games in the same genre. It is visually rendered in three dimensions, however, although gameplay is only restricted to two axes, leading to a rather striking effect- something that is only accentuated by the gorgeous art style of the game, designed by Akira Yamaoka, the man behind Silent Hill’s brilliant graphics. The graphics come together with the great soundtrack to create a stellar experience as far as the storytelling goes. Really, for an Arcade game, Sine Mora’s production values really are top notch. The graphics and the sound come together to create a treat for the senses, and one of the best looking games of the year from a purely artistic and aesthetic standpoint.

Sine Mora isn’t just about the flash and the panache, though. There’s more to it than just that, some real substance behind those gorgeous graphics. As mentioned several times, Sine More plays like the old 2D sidescrolling SHMUPs from the 16 bit era. It emulates those old games well, which means it was already a great game to begin with. It’s new mechanics, all of them well thought out and all of them excellently implemented, are just icing on the cake.

Take, for example, the health system, which is nothing like anything you have seen in a game before, and might send you for a spin at first. Sine Mora uses time as a central mechanic, both in its gameplay, and in its storytelling, and it dispenses with health entirely. Instead, you have a time bar, which continues to tick down to zero at all times. Taking damage speeds the process up, and if and when the meter ticks down to zero, you’re done for. The time bar can be refilled using the pickups that enemies drop, and it also adds to your overall score. It all plays a bit differently from traditional SHMUPs, and it leaves Sine Mora the better game for it.

This, in addition to powers that manipulate time, slowing everything else down while you speed up, add up to the appeal of the game greatly. Sine Mora is, in general, a game made to appeal even to modern gamers in spite of its genre, and its Normal difficulty should be breezy for most veterans of the genre, while newcomers will find it challenging enough. If, however, you are aching for the unforgiving difficulty of SHMUPs of old, then you can always switch to Insane difficulty, where things really start getting hectic. There’s a lot going on on screen, and essentially, your survival relies on your twitch reflex response, because a single hit might be enough to kill you.

Sine Mora has three modes, the main Story mode (which tries to give context to the action via a story that is absolutely incomprehensible), a Score Attack mode, and an Arcade mode. The titles are pretty self explanatory, and each mode adds something unique to the mix, and lends the game with a lot of replay value.

Ultimately, how good is the game? It’s as good now as it ever was. Roughly half a year wasn’t enough to remove its sheen, and it still remains a fun and gorgeous game. Sine Mora is equally recommended now as it was back then, and if you haven’t played it on a PS3 or Xbox 360 already, now’s the time to change that. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what system you play it on, the core game remains as good as ever and is highly and fully recommended.

This game was reviewed on the PC.

Our review here tells you a lot about the game.

“Sine Mora is a really refreshing game, and is one that is created with a lot of love and affection. People who are fans of this genre shouldn’t think twice about picking this one up; it is possibly one of the best Shmups I’ve ever played.”

Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

As a “bullet hell” title, wherein navigating the screen among the flurry of bullets is as much a challenge as completing the level, Sine Mora works as a horizontal shooter where time is as important as finding ways to combat the freakish enemies. A Story Mode and Arcade Mode are featured, allowing players to manipulate time and employ 50 weapon combinations to overcome the odds (and a scaling difficulty) for overall victory.

Check out the new trailer below for a glimpse into the mechanisms and madness of Sine Mora.

About Sine Mora:

Game Overview:

Sine Mora is a horizontal shoot’em up (shmup) that provides a unique take on the genre as now time is the ultimate factor. Mixing classic shooter sensibilities with contemporary HD presentation, Sine Mora is a gorgeous shooter that offers a Story Mode that weaves an over-the-top tale and an Arcade Mode that provides deep, satisfying gameplay to challenge fans of the genre. With many ways to manipulate time, Sine Mora features over 50 weapon combinations to complete each beautiful stage that adapts to the player’s skills with scaling difficulty.

Publisher: Kalypso Media (PC)
Digital Reality (PS3 X360)

Developer: Digital Reality

Platforms: PS3, X360 and PC

Release Date: 9/11/2012 (online) (PC)

Stay tuned to Gamingbolt.com for more news and updates.

Featuring a Story Mode, Arcade Mode and over 50 weapon combinations with stages that automatically adapt to a player’s skill level, Sine Mora is a horizontal shoot ’em up that channels the classic shooters of yore but with a fresh coat of paint.

While the genre has seen some amazing additions in the Super NES, Sega Saturn and Playstation days (to say nothing of the classic arcade titles of yore), it’s seen a bit of a low-key presence in the past decade.

It’s a shoot ’em up game and so far the reviews have been pretty positive. We reviewed the game as well, and you can check that out over here.

“Sine Mora is a really refreshing game, and is one that is created with a lot of love and affection. People who are fans of this genre shouldn’t think twice about picking this one up, it is possibly one of the best Shmups I’ve ever played,” I wrote in the review.

The game costs 1200 MSP on XBLA, and releases today. Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

Sine Mora is a Shoot ’em up (Shmup) for Xbox Live Arcade, created by Grasshopper Manufacture and Digital Reality. I wasn’t expecting the game to have such a cinematic flair and expert camera positioning. Needless to say, these things do a great job in immersing you in the game. And what a game it is! It makes a great first impression with splendid audio-visual flair, and once you start the Story mode, you will be surprised to see that the entire thing is in Hungarian. Although, I have to say, it was a pretty unique way of presenting a game.

The writing is top-notch, and before you start each level -sixteen in total- there is a big description that attempts to explain the events that occur. In the Story mode, the game guides you between levels, and you don’t really have the choice of picking any ship, but in case people just want to shoot at things, they can do so in the Arcade mode. Since the game is exclusive to XBLA, it is quite similar to Soldner X2 on PSN, although, it’s in 2.5D. Which means, when the camera keeps changing you can see a lot of spectacular environments. The gameplay is entirely in 2D, though.

The story can get pretty convoluted especially for people who skip text fast and just try to get into the action, and as I mentioned above, there’s always the Arcade mode for that, but the story here in this game is actually quite nicely told. It can get a little confusing from time to time, because of the voice overs, but with a little patience you can see how brilliant it actually is, and definitely manages to reel you in the game.

The main USP of the game is definitely the visuals and the soundtrack, which has been composed by Akira Yamaoka of the Silent Hill and Shadows of the Damned fame. The music is absolutely phenomenal here, and for an arcade game, it’s really refreshing to see such high production values. No wonder Microsoft is publishing this game, they have an inherent ability of recognizing talent. The game will titillate your ocular senses with its graphics, and the variety of levels  offer here is simply special.

You can also slow down time using a ‘Time Capsule’ and it’s also explained in the story about an Eternal War. Since you will be bombarded with projectiles of various colours, sizes and shapes, avoiding them can become difficult. But that’s the fun part, and makes Sine Mora a fitting representation of its genre. At the end of each level, you will be fighting well designed bosses with creative names. These bosses are designed by Mahiro Maeda, who is a well renowned Japanese Anime creator. Again, the production values of this game is simply incredible.

There are plenty of modes in the game, Score Attack, Arcade, Story mode, and Boss Training. The names are self-explanatory, really. There’s a lot of content and replayability in this game, and this is the reason why it is priced at 1200 MSP. It’s a little on the higher side, but the developers have done justice to the pricing and the game is well worth the money asked. I do have an issue with the game, however, and it’s mainly due to the time limit employed. I can’t really seem to enjoy games that don’t allow me to play as I want, but here it was a bit different. The limit is generous and you mostly won’t have any problems in completing the levels.

Sine Mora is a really refreshing game, and is one that is created with a lot of love and affection. People who are fans of this genre shouldn’t think twice about picking this one up; it is possibly one of the best Shmups I’ve ever played. The game has fantastic visuals, impressive soundtrack and most importantly, well designed levels and bosses. You really can’t go wrong with this game.

This game was reviewed on the Xbox 360.

Grasshopper Studios and Digital Reality Games have together announced a new game called Sine Mora. They will be co-developing it.

The game will be a “diesel-punk shoot ’em up”.

Have a look at the trailer above, it’s pretty good.

The game will be released this winter on the PS3 and Xbox 360.