According to the Youtube description, this is an upgraded version of “Aqua Kitty: Milk Mine Defender” on the PS Vita portable (and still coming for a variety of other systems, including Windows, if the final chunk of their Youtube video is to be believed). Xbox Live Indie Games is its first stop on consoles, and the big upgrade here is a two player co-op mode.
This is not your father’s “Defender” (unless your father works for Tikipod, who published the game, in which case… it is, at least sort of). Anyway, back on track.
The comparison to Defender is obvious, but with a very different feel and feature set. You have a secondary weapon that requires recharging, so use it carefully. You have varying playfield heights. You have a campaign mode with multiple routes to select through it. In addition to the campaign mode, you have a survival mode for those who can’t get enough and want to play forever. And you have customisations such as auto-fire on/off as a way to handicap the game’s difficulty. It looks great (with a visual aesthetic that reminds me of late ’80s and early ’90s Amiga games), plays silky smooth, and is easily XBLA quality. It costs $2.99, but could easily have justified a higher price. Well worth a download.
Oh, and bonus points for “The milk must flow,” an apparent referenced to “The spice must flow” from Dune.
Here’s what the developer (Tikipod) has to say about the game:
“When the milk ran dry, cats desperately sought out a new source. Then deep under the ocean, vast amounts of what appeared to be naturally forming full fat milk were discovered. A hazardous extraction followed. Get ready for fast paced submarine action, defending the kittens from disruptive mechanical sea creatures in this retro arcade shooter.”
Writings of Mass Deduction 