Nothing is more encouraging than developing an enemy AI just right to the point where you're saying, "It's fun now!"

...and this is practically an evolution of the Shiro Ninja games.

Cleaned up the HUD for visibility.

The background is temporary. The tiles, we'll see. I can't say I like drawing elaborate backgrounds, despite my previous game's gratuitous use of scaling BG effects.

Heavy enemies take a bit more work to stun, much less defeat. The guy here takes four punches in a row to stun, or a powerful-enough shot. Regular bullets don't move him an inch.

Three reasons to be going after the treasure:

A brief preview of the gameplay. Nothing's final yet.

A few details not in the video:

There are plans for multiple types of guns.

The combo meter (little yellow meter) can build up to 4 Charged attacks. At max, you use the electrifying screen-nuke. Otherwise, you do a crowd-control spin attack.

...well... This is awkward.

Yes, I CAN make an animated background within a matte, with a shifting color palette. However, I realize this doesn't look like lava, no matter which way you shake it.

...the effect's cool, though.

You never know when you're gonna need an attack helicopter.

Also, I know I like drawing vehicles like they're low-res CG models from the '90s.

Meet the DemoBots.

They have only one function: Demolish stuff.

Of course, one wonders why they're human-sized and carry hammers. It helps keep debris to a minimum, and makes them approachable to humans.

What's taking me so long? Designing assets for the volcano level. Also, allergies.

Boom boom acka-lacka-lacka boom, boom boom acka-lacka boom boom.