And that’s only a slight exaggeration. TxK is without a doubt the best reviewed game Llamasoft has ever made. Check out the responses so far. They are still coming in .

So far we have a Metacritic score of 86. Our LOWEST review score was 3.5/5, and the lower scores we’ve had have mainly been from Space Giraffe fans who don’t think TxK was as boldly adventurous in design as SG. And maybe that is true, but this time I wanted to make a game that was not only good but also broadly accessible, and in that I think we have succeeded very well, as evidenced by the number of 8, 9 and above scores .

And we even have THIS!

Looking very good so far!

US Gamer: Masterclass Blast from the Past

Eurogamer: TxK is Minter at his finest

The Vita Lounge: TxK is exemplary in near every way.

Edge Online: TxK isn’t just one of the best games on Vita: it might just be the best Minter’s ever made.

Hardcore Gamer: The Vita’s OLED screen has likely not seen a game as simple and beautiful as this yet.

PS Nation: The game is pure awesome from beginning to end.

Gamespot: TxK is a masterful example of doing it right.

Joystiq: TxK is challenging and thrilling throughout.

Metro: one of the best arcade games ever made.

Eurogamer.it non solo il miglior titolo in circolazione per PlayStation Vita, ma anche una killer application per lo stesso handheld di Sony.

Games! Ein Pflichtkauf für jeden Vita-Fan!

Kaiju: Exceptional. A significant cut above the crowd.

Straits Times: Llamasoft’s TxK is the work of a virtuoso studio at the top of its game

gaminglives: For people who want a quick hit of gaming adrenaline, there’s probably not a better option out there on any console.

gamesblip: TxK is an ace assault on the senses.

GertLushGaming: This game will consume you

Pocketgamer: Like the best psychedelic albums, or the rarest scotch whiskies, TxK is a luxury item.

Gamestyle: Just buy it now and thank us later.

Brave New Gaming: auf der Vita ist TxK ein Fest für die Sinne

New Gamer Nation: With TxK, arcade shooters are brought back into a modern world, and they translate exceptionally well.

PSmag: un brillant hommage aux jeux d’antan, amenant le meilleur de l”époque et utilisant les capacités de la Vita, son ergonomie et son écran au top.

Candy Crush Copeland: Sometimes words get in the way of greatness.

God Is A Geek: The entire package is put together with humour, warmth and class

VideoGamer Portugal: Décadas de experiência pesam nos ombros de TxK e transformam-no num shooter de excelência.

iLLgaming: TxK is something every Vita owner must own. A masterclass for gaming in general.

Fotogrames.es: 100 niveles honestos, sin trampa ni cartón, todos brillantes y perfectamente ejecutados.

Codec Moments: TxK is a beautiful and simple arcade shooter that does what it does very well

geekculture.dk: Det eneste, der afholder TxK i at opnå seks stjerner er, at Space Giraffe allerede findes

weareplaystation.fr: http://abyssahx.blog.weareplaystation.fr/archive/2014/02/13/test-txk-psvita-102013.html

Defunct Games: It’s not hyperbole when I say that this is the most exciting portable game I have ever played.

Desconsolados: TxK es de los mejores juegos indies en llegar a PS Vita

Zeboyd Games: Short review: Get this game. Long review: Get this game NOW.

Shock2: Die 100 rasanten TxK-Level lassen mein Herz als alter Minter-Fan höher schlagen

Hobby Consolas: Un clásico “moderno” que cualquier fan de los shmup debería probar.

They Were Our Gods: TxK is a straight shot of perfect arcade gaming.

PW Gaming: Blends a number of elements together into one fantastic shoot’em up game. Go play it.

les inRocks: TxK est aussi un jeu d’arcade imparable

The Gamer With Kids: This is the Tempest 2000 Successor You’ve Been Waiting For

3D Juegos: Excelente

TxK OST Now Available!

I’m sure by now you’ll be well aware of just what a cracking soundtrack there is in TxK. Just as in T2K, the soundtrack really completes the game perfectly. It’s just not be the same game with rubbish tunes.

What perhaps most people don’t know is that the soundtrack came together in a most amazing way. Over on the Yakyak forum there are a bunch of talented musicians who hang out on the Moosicians subforum. Now at the time I started the TxK project there wasn’t any way on earth I could actually afford to hire musicians to develop tracks for me, so I asked in the forum if anyone would be interested in donating tracks for the upcoming project.

A bunch of guys pitched in and the results are I am sure you will agree rather exceptional. I asked for tracks “in the style of T2K” and everyone had their own take on what that meant. I’m amazed how excellently all the tracks fit together and how perfectly they suit the game. The result is a soundtrack that surpasses its original inspiration to become the best soundtrack any Llamasoft game has ever had.

It was awesome of everybody to have offered us these tracks to use in game just for the love of the TxK project and a fondness for all things Llamasoft, but we thought it would be nice for the musicians to at least be able to benefit from their work in a more concrete way (apart from the streams of job offers for work doing soundtracks for games that will inevitably flood in as a result of being in TxK of course ) and we thought it would be a good idea to make an OST available to buy, with the musicians sharing the proceeds amongst themselves.

Accordingly the soundtrack is now available, remastered, re-edited and better than ever – get it on Bandcamp right now!

Click here to buy the TxK OST!

This time I’ll illustrate things with a few little videos. I’m going to put the Youtube videos inline here, but as they are not the best quality I’ll also link to some mp4 files of the same sequences which are much less compressed. Download those and play them locally for best effect.

First off here’s a video of the very start of the game, from the title screen, briefly into Level Select (which isn’t really shown much here as we go straight into level 1), then playing through Level 1 itself and transitioning through to the start of level 2.

Click here for the mp4 file

There isn’t a separate tutorial mode in TxK (it’s really quite a simple game so a tutorial section isn’t really necessary). But if you begin on any of the first three levels you will begin with “tutorial labels” activated. You can see these labels in this video, indicating “shoot me” on the enemies, and “collect powerups” when a powerup is generated. These labels aren’t permanent, and will just occur when new items appear for a few times, telling you what is expected.

In this demo the last powerup is collected as we leave the playing surface, which gives a special “Yes Yes Yes” bonus. This bonus makes every warp bonus collected as you go through the hyperspace sequence a maximum 2000 pointer (accompanied by a heart pixelshatter and the lady noise). You get hyperspace bonuses by steering through the centre of the hexagons by tilting the Vita. Normally they range from 250 points to 2000 depending on how accurate you are.

The lady noises aren’t definitely final – I think they are a bit of harmless fun (and they were also present in T2K) but I’ll see what people think of them and if people think they are a bit OTT I’ll scale them back.

You’ll note that with careful timing and extension of your claw’s “arms” it’s possible to pick off enemies from the rim of the surface. This is a bit risky and suboptimal really though since you don’t score any points for enemies at the rim (or for enemies shot while you are jumping). So just cowering in a corner and hoping for the best, or “jump scumming” your way through a level may get you through a tight spot – but you’ll want to go back and do it better when you become a better player! Shooting enemies far away scores the most points.

And speaking of replaying levels to improve your score, we have implemented our usual “Restart Best” level unlocking method, which for each level records your best ever state at the end of a level (score, lives earned and bonus multiplier), allowing you to carry on from that level with those recorded stats at any time. People really liked this in our other games and it works really well with TxK.

Next up is a few seconds of gameplay from a level in the second chapter (the game is organised in “chapters” of 16 levels each, with webs changing colour each chapter, and new major enemies getting introduced at the start of each chapter).

click here for the mp4 file

This level is called Bull Ride, and I am sure you can see why – an enemy type called a Spinner rotates the playing surface, which is also rippling and bucking, and the overall effect is one of having to hang on tight (although in terms of pure shootingness the level really isn’t *that* tough). By shooting the Spinners on the surface you can stop the spinning.

Finally here’s a look at the entry into a Bonus Round, and a flight through the first Bonus Round environment.

Here’s the mp4 file.

To get into the Bonus Round you simply have to diligently collect the Powerups that occur in each level. One item in the powerup chain for most levels (not on really short levels) will be a Warp Token. Collect 4 of those, and the between-levels warp sequence will be different and will lead you into the Bonus Round.

In the Bonus Round you have to complete a dexterity task – here flying through rings, in others it may be following a path which may or may not be green; there will be a variety of Bonus Rounds in the final game. If you fail you won’t lose a life, so the bonus rounds should be considered as a nice chillout break from the main blasting action (and the music changes accordingly to reflect this). But if you do make it to the end your overall Bonus Multiplier goes up by 0.1 – it starts at 1.0 and by completing Bonus Rounds you’ll raise it up so that everything you score scores that little bit more .

Once again don’t consider the lady noises to be final. I think they are kind of cheeky and fun but I’ll see what others think before I decide .

Unlike in T2K bonus rounds don’t warp you forward at all. Some people felt they were missing out on scoring opportunity or missing favourite levels with the T2K bonus level skipping, so here the Bonus Round just affects your bonuses.

So I’m pretty happy with things at this stage, and feel that we’re over the hump with the creation of this game – all the parts are there now, and it plays nicely, difficulty is feeling good, it’s smooth and pretty (do download those mp4s to get a better idea of what it really looks like). Moving forward I’ll be populating all the levels with baddies, adding more Bonus Rounds, and refining and polishing the effects and gameplay. We’re nicely on track to be completed and out this year.

I’ll update again when we head into Beta!