Last month saw the Game Boy Color officially turn 25 and so to celebrate, a couple of developers have got together to release a brand new bullet hell for the handheld in order to mark the occasion (thanks RetroBreak!).
Dangan GB 2, as the game is called, is a follow-up to Dangan GB, which was released to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the original Game Boy, and is a short boss-rush style shoot 'em up featuring six unique boss enemies, two playable characters (the pilot Allie and technician Tally), and the ability to save and record your high scores.
It is the work of the programmer, artist, and designer snorpung and features a soundtrack from the talented chiptune composer David Couzelis, as well as a background story, which you can read below (though none of this is actually revealed in the game itself):
"To maintain a sense of security, the Dangan Empire decided to downplay the importance of the Eshus incident. Allie the pilot and Tally the technician were quietly promoted and reassigned to the Ganuka system, deep within Dangan space. Due to their expertise they were tasked to oversee the Empire's own dreadnought project.
These unmanned war machines are controlled by a super computer called the ALL-CONSTRUCT. The hope is that the dreadnoughts under its control will turn the tide and finally put an end to the prolonged conflict between the Dangan Empire and Houdan Confederation.
A few months pass. Allie and Tally are out on the edge of the Ganuka system when they receive a message from the dreadnought base:
ALL-CONSTRUCT. SENTIENT. HOUDAN-INFLUENCE.
All communication is lost after that. Fearing the worst, the two decide immediately to return to base."
You can download the game now for free from itch.io. It was designed to work on real hardware but should work on most modern emulators. Here's some more gameplay courtesy of ShiryuGL.