Should be speaking to an angel…

The retro gaming aficionados over at Hamster are persevering with on their present pattern of pulling out bafflingly weird and outrageously obscure arcade titles to your approval — And this week’s entry isn’t any totally different, with the arrival of Nichibutsu’s distinctive, star-gazing… shmup? Mischievous Angel.

Launched to arcades in 1984, (as Itazura Tenshi), this surprisingly novel little launch sees the participant don the wings of a starbound angel, who’s tasked with recreating the constellations to be able to impress his fairly angel pal. Utilizing non-linear, eight-way directional gameplay, our heroes journey by means of a gridded starscape, lining up stars in a “dot-to-dot” vogue to be able to full varied well-known star indicators and constellations, corresponding to The Massive Dipper… umm… Jerry The Cowboy… and… Alan… The Cowboy.

Try the motion within the video beneath, courtesy of YouTuber Outdated Basic Retro Gaming.

Because the not-so-mischievous angel lights up the sky, they have to additionally keep away from assault from wise villains corresponding to alien invaders, witches, and flying jesters. Worry not, as grabbing a bow and arrow will supply up momentary firepower to fend off these ne’er-do-wells. As a result of he’s additionally Cupid?.. or Child Icarus?.. or one thing. Following a number of cosmos of motion, our younger lovers have to be reunited in a recurring bonus stage so healthful and melancholy that’s must be seen to be believed.

Mischievous Angel is, regardless of its admittedly dated mechanics, a reasonably distinctive and cute tackle the shmup style, with a pleasant idea and a few candy visible design concepts. Whereas hardly a smash hit of the arcade circuit, it’s undeniably an authentic thought, and it’s good to see this quirky launch curated within the Arcade Archives vary.

Mischievous Angel is accessible to obtain now on PS4 and Nintendo Change, priced at round $8.