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Gothenburg, Sweden – April 09, in the year of our Lord 2024 – Bitwave Games, a video game developer and publisher specialising in retro entertainment and part of Embracer Freemode, announced today the fourth and final volume of the definitive arcade shoot ‘em up collection, with the Toaplan Arcade Shoot ‘Em Up Collection Vol.4 available to purchase on Steam® and COG today!

Spanning an epic four volumes, the Toaplan Arcade Shoot ‘Em Up Collection comes to an epic conclusion with the release of Vol.4, providing shooter fans with a definitive library of the best in arcade shmup’ action!

Saving the best until last, Vol.4 delivers four superlative games, each with the signature imagination and challenging gameplay made so famous by Toaplan shooters, standing as master examples of the genre.

As fans as have come to expect from the Bitwave Games series of Toaplan shooters, Toaplan Arcade Shoot ‘Em Up Collection Vol.4 has once again brought each game to PC with the utmost care, concentrating on authenticity while bestowing each title with a raft of quality-of-life features, offering considered enhancements, and broadening the appeal to players with varying degrees of skill.

Proudly featuring on Vol.4, the following games close out the Toaplan collection:

Grind Stormer - Grind Stormer, aka ‘V・V’, is a vertically scrolling shooter with gorgeous pixel art graphics and an upbeat FM soundtrack. Developed by an all-star team at Toaplan, the game is a superb early example of a manic shooter, a precursor to the ‘bullet hell’ shoot ‘em up genre so popular today. The Japanese version of the game, called V・V (pronounced V Five), features a selectable power-up system with gauges, providing a strategic gameplay element where the key to success is to use the appropriate weapon for each level and enemy encounter.

Twin Hawk - Take on powerful tanks and battleships with in this military themed vertical arcade shoot ‘em up by Toaplan! Summon friendly fighter planes to avoid emergencies and increase firepower. A vertical scrolling shooter, gamers must defy the oncoming army and navy barrages, assisted by calling up a formation of six friendly fighters. In Twin Hawk, a strategic approach is the key to success, but the challenge ramps up when the last stage is cleared, entering Round Two of the conflict with the difficulty getting progressively harder with each loop of the game! Like the Japanese title of the game Daisenpu (Great Whirlwind) implies, the game will eventually come at you with full force, never letting go!

Truxton II - The sequel to Toaplan’s shoot ‘em up masterpiece, Truxton II is a thrilling slice of space action with an unforgiving difficulty level. Enjoy the visually stunning pixel graphics and vibrant music as you dodge the high-speed bullet rain and take on tough bosses. Casual players who dare to play Truxton II can take solace in the added easy mode, and the modern features of rewind and quick save that gives players a fighting chance to advance through the quick bullet rain and tough bosses.

Dogyuun - A science fiction-themed vertically scrolling shoot 'em up game known for its stunning detailed pixel art, gigantic bosses, and menacing difficulty. Quite possibly the most rock n’ roll shooting game of all time, Dogyuun is packed with a huge enemy variety, providing a tough challenge even for hardened shmup’ veterans. Dogyuun is a visual spectacle of amazing pixel art graphics and detailed animation under the artistic vision of Hayashi Miho and Koetsu Iwabuchi and marks the debut of manga artist Junya Inoue as one of the graphic artists.

Familiar for fans of the Toaplan Arcade Shoot Em’ Up Collection, the fourth and final volume once again delivers several quality-of-life improvements, enhancing the action for modern gamers, without altering the finely tuned balance made famous by the arcade originals. From minimal input lag and pixel perfect or full screen scaling, to quick save, practice mode and Steam Achievements, Toaplan Arcade Shoot ‘Em Up Collection Vol.4 is accessible for the novice and perfectly suited for the expert. Mirror Mode has once again been included for all the games included, allowing a new dimension of challenge for the shmup’ professionals! Additional features include:

Minimal Input Lag: Emulation, input processing, and rendering all complete on the same frame.
Online leaderboards for Single Credit, No Assist, and Assisted plays.
Rewind the game between 10-18 minutes, depending on the action.
Experience the game in Mirror Mode.
Assist Features such as auto-fire at multiple rates.
Very Easy Mode: Lower the difficulty to breeze through the adventure.
Rotate the gameplay in 90-degree increments.
Choose between Raw Input on Windows or Steam Input.
Hone your skills in the ultra-customizable practice mode.

As a further celebration to mark the final release in the collection, Bitwave Games is also releasing the Toaplan Arcade Shoot ‘Em Up Ultimate Collection. Ideal for shooter fans who have yet to dive in to the Toaplan world of shooters, the Ultimate Collection brings together all 16 games featured across the four volumes for one price of €69.99/$69.99.

Niklas Istenes, CEO of Bitwave Games said, "We’re proud to bringing such an epic collection of shooting game classics to an end with this, our fourth and final volume in the Toaplan collection. Whether a seasoned veteran or new to the genre, each game featuring on Vol.4 could rightly be considered a masterpiece and richly deserves a place in any self-respecting shmup’ fan’s collection. We believe we have saved the best to last and look forward to fans getting the opportunity to complete their collection.”

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