We previously reported on prolific indie publisher Eastasiasoft’s announcement of the console releases of Shockwave Triggers, a new arcade-style bullet hell vertically scrolling shoot ‘em up by developer Shinu Real Arts, and now, we’ve had the chance to experience the game’s shockwaves and also its, er, triggers for ourselves, and here are our thoughts…
Shockwave Triggers’ developer already has strong form when it comes to developing arcade-style shoot ‘em ups, having previously developed 2020’s superb horizontally scrolling anime-style shooter Wings of Bluestar.
Much like that previous game, Shockwave Triggers employs a beautifully realized anime-influenced pixel art style, offering truly beautiful candy-colored arcade action and anime-inspired cut scenes, but whereas a great many modern retro-inspired 2D games draw on the 8-bit or 16-bit eras as influences, Shockwave Triggers firmly sets its targets a little later, looking more like it would’ve been found in the arcades of the late 1990s, or in homes on the 32-bit Sega Saturn.
So then, there’s absolutely no doubt that Shockwave Triggers certainly looks the part, and the game’s use of sound, too recalls the arcades of yesteryear, with its generous deployment of sampled speech and its pounding soundtrack, which skilfully ramps up the tension.
Shockwave Triggers also plays well, with slick movement, intuitive controls, and well-thought-out weapons with which to engage. On the version we’ve played (XBOX), the A button fires a less powerful bullet, whereas the X button fires a more powerful beam attack, with the trade-off being that the more powerful attack slows down your movement, making it more difficult to dodge enemy fire, which adds a degree of strategic thinking to the arcade blasting in the game. Also effective, and, indeed, integral to the game, is the ‘shockwave’ special attack of the title, which is deployed on XBOX via the B button, and which sends out a shockwave that turns enemy bullets into collectible gems, which is a very neat mechanic. The first push of B sets off the shockwave, with a second push sending the shockwave forwards, to both deal damage to your enemies and neutralize their bullets.
As with pretty much all games of this genre, there is a fairly perfunctory story involving rescuing captured loved ones, but, to its credit, Shockwave Triggers does tell its story particularly effectively, with its gorgeously rendered pixel art images and some genuinely amusing retro gaming references that I won’t spoil here.
Another nice touch in Shockwave Triggers is that you can earn money to buy features in the in-game shop, which include additional credits, a boss rush mode, a gallery of the game’s stunning artwork, and a jukebox of the game’s BGM tracks.
Shockwave Triggers is certainly one of those games that you could happily come back to time and time again after finishing it, and there are several features that help to extend its longevity, such as the aforementioned unlockable boss rush mode, as well as local co-op two-player mode, and both local and online leaderboards. The game also has a choice of two distinct, but equally appealing playable characters, each offering distinctives strengths.
While Shockwave Triggers perhaps isn’t a particularly original game, it is a very well-made and very nice-looking bullet hell shooter that offers some nice ideas, and that really does feel like it’s bringing an authentic arcade experience into the home, and despite being developed by a solo developer, and published by a small indie publisher, Shockwave Triggers somehow manages to pack pretty much as much firepower as the shooters made by heavy hitters such as Cave. And if you’re a fan by shooters by that particular developer, we’re sure you’ll have a great time with Shockwave Triggers, as it’s an expertly-made vertically scrolling bullet hell shoot ‘em up that absolutely deserves to find an audience, and with its choice of difficulty levels, Shockwave Triggers is equally suited to shmup masters and shmup newbies alike.
Previously with Wings of Bluestar, and now with Shockwave Triggers, developer Shinu Real Arts has emphatically proven that it really understands what it takes to make a high-quality arcade-style shoot ‘em up, and we hope that Shockwave Triggers is a huge success upon its console release, as it certainly deserves to be, and we also very much hope that Shinu Real Arts returns to the genre in future as we’ve certainly had a blast with its shumps so far…
Shockwave Triggers has been developed by Shinu Real Arts, and it was published by Eastasiasoft today (October 14, 2026), on PlayStation 4&5, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One & Series X|S (version reviewed), having previously been self-published by Shinu Real Arts on Steam last year.
