In addition to also firing at enemies, these heads act as shields, absorbing any enemy fire that they come into direct contact with. Naturally, this is easier said than done.Īs Cerberus, you control a single-headed body, while your 2 additional heads float off to either side of you. All the while, the player must frantically dodge a constant barrage of counter-fire while also not running into the enemies. However, instead of engaging in direct physical combat, Cerberus fires projectiles at his enemies, much like a spaceship would in a standard arcade “shmup”. (Or the early Zelda games, to a lesser extent.) Players traverse a sizable level map, battling monsters and searching for a few scattered treasures, frequently moving on to new sections of the level by simply walking off the screen. Unlike conventional “shoot em’ ups”, such as either the successful Raiden or Gradius series, Chasing Styx features gameplay and level design more reminiscent of late 80’s/early-90’s console adventure games, such as Crystalis (for NES and GBA) or the Y’s series. Their cuteness is distracting the dead from the misery of eternal torment! Or was it the torment of eternal misery? Either way, it is now your job is to kick the bunnies out! Naturally, this will be nowhere near as easy as it sounds. Hades, the Lord of the Underworld… your boss… is pretty pissed about you allowing the bunnies to enter his domain. That’s right, bunnies! This one’s safe for the whole family, folks! Well, the game is. One day, while napping on the job, you inadvertently allow a group of bunnies to enter the land of the dead. You play as “Cerberus”, the 3-headed demon dog that guards the gates to the Underworld. It is no longer available for download on that console, but those that purchased it prior to the Marketplace shutting down can still play. The game was also one of the last released on the Xbox 360’s now defunct Indie Games Marketplace, selling for the low price of $1. Chasing Styx is currently available for free download on Steam.

The game was developed by an indie company named Forepaw Studio. Chasing Styx is a 2016 “bullet hell” shooter with 16-bit “adventure game” aesthetics.

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