The game is a side-on scrolling shoot-em-up. The story revolves around Ikuro, whose wife Yuri has been poisoned by Hexaae, an evil lord of black magic. Ikuro uses magic to transform into a deadly bee and vows to find an antidote for Yuri and wreak revenge on Hexaae.
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I loaded up my Amiga and discovered this shooter for the system. This is a fun and challenging shoot'em up, and it's very unusual too, since you play as an insect (and not a spaceship). You play as a wasp, and all the enemies are snails, beatles and so on. Later on you shoot fishes. It also has some huge and pretty cool large bosses. It's supposed to be within a story where some kind of wizard has enchanted you or whatever. The music is also very catchy. I didn't intend to beat it, but since it was nail hards I used some of the custumized codes that were modded into the game. It was still very hard. The last boss took forever to beat. I would recommend Apidya, if you like a unique and well made "shmup". It does not exist on any other system which makes it an Amiga novelty.
I really wanted to see this one through to the end, because I enjoyed the look and feel of it quite a lot. It's a solid shmup made by Germans who genuinely loved, and took major influence from, Japanese game design -- going so far as to make the narrative sections stylistically anime, and to give the game a Japanese name that appears prominently on the main title screen.
The gameplay is essentially Gradius--meaning, tight controls and a fun power-up system, and also an almost comical inability to power back up when you die, especially late in the game. So, it's basically about perfecting your strategies level-by-level so that you can skate through the entire thing without dying more than once, MAYBE twice. Not awesome.
The look and sound of the game, though, just about make up for its stingy Gradius-syndrome. The Amiga color palette is hyper-saturated and kiddy-feeling, and so when you get to the bonus level where you swim around inside a dead rat's carcass, it's all the more weirdly wonderful; and the music slaps.
The gameplay is essentially Gradius--meaning, tight controls and a fun power-up system, and also an almost comical inability to power back up when you die, especially late in the game. So, it's basically about perfecting your strategies level-by-level so that you can skate through the entire thing without dying more than once, MAYBE twice. Not awesome.
The look and sound of the game, though, just about make up for its stingy Gradius-syndrome. The Amiga color palette is hyper-saturated and kiddy-feeling, and so when you get to the bonus level where you swim around inside a dead rat's carcass, it's all the more weirdly wonderful; and the music slaps.
Surprisingly charming for a game where one of the bosses is a maggot-ridden rat carcass in a sewer. A solid entry point for me into the world of Amiga shmups; soundtrack filled with wall to wall bangers and well-conceptualised stages, enemies and hazards - many of which are genuinely unsettling, bookended with hilarious Wife Guy germanic-anime melodrama.
On a side note, the credits for this game are adorable. 90% padded with the devs thanking everyone they know and love, including their passions and influences.
On a side note, the credits for this game are adorable. 90% padded with the devs thanking everyone they know and love, including their passions and influences.