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Shenmue’s director made a trippy shooter for Apple Arcade

Giovanni Colantonio
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Apple Arcade is getting three new titles in June from legendary Japanese developers and studios. The highlight of the batch is Air Twister, an on-rails shooter from Shenmue director Yu Suzuki that launches on June 24.

NEW YSNET GAME - Air Twister Reveal Trailer - Apple Arcade - Release June 24th!

Apple has a history of courting Japanese gaming icons to create titles for its service. It previously released Fantasian, a standout RPG by Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi. Its collaboration with Suzuki, best known for his work on Sega franchises like Virtua Fighter and Shenmue, continues that pattern.

A character flies through a sky full of balloons in Air Twister.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

His latest project, Air Twister, is a touch-controlled on-rails shooter where players fly through trippy levels and blast enemies. A gameplay trailer shows an angel-like character with a huge weapon flying through levels populated with giant mushrooms and flying houses. The game features music by Dutch artist Valensia, whose songs soundtrack each level.

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For fans of Suzuki’s career, it’s a bit reminiscent of 1985’s Space Harrier, though Suzuki emphasizes that it’s not a spiritual successor to that game. Suzuki also notes that the game wasn’t inspired by any recent releases (it bears a striking resemblance to Kid Icarus Uprising), but he notes that he previously worked on a canceled touch-controlled shooter for Sega called Sci-Fi.

While Air Twister is the most intriguing project coming to Apple Arcade in June, it’s not the only game Apple has up its sleeve. The service will get a new Cooking Mama game titled Cooking Mama: Cuisine!, which is being developed internally at Office Create (unlike 2020’s infamous, outsourced Cooking Mama: Cookstar). The title inverts the usual Cooking Mama formula by having players pick ingredients and create a meal from them, rather than following a set recipe. The title launches on June 17.

Finally, Apple Arcade will get a new Konami title in the form of Frogger and the Rumbling Ruins. The puzzler sequel to Apple Arcade launch title Frogger in Toy Town hits iOS devices on June 3.

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Giovanni Colantonio
Giovanni Colantonio
Section Editor, Gaming
Giovanni is a writer and video producer focusing on happenings in the video game industry. He has contributed stories to…
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