Gamma Bros

Gamma Bros

Details
Name	Gamma Bros
Author	pixeljamgames
Genre	Shooter
Published	2006-10-29
In-Game Awards?	No
Gameplay Style	Space Shooter
Upgrade System?	Yes

Gamma Bros is a 2D Neo-Retro space shooter game, resembling an 8-bit era game, with a total of three large levels. You play as one of the two protagonists and you may use a variety of upgrades and powerups to beat the bosses of the game.

Controls[]

The player can move and shot in all directions on a 2D space. The Arrow Keys are responsible for the movement and WASD is responsible for the direction of the shot. Those are semi-customizable. Pressing Spacebar pauses the game.

Gameplay[]

Boss1 — The player in a spacesuit against the 1st boss

It's a simple 8-bit space shooter. The player can take control of one of two characters: Buzz and Zap. Enemies will appear from all sides, but not all need to be destroyed. The objective is to survive. After a monster dies, a few coins may be dropped. Periodically, a small drone passes around the screen with items on his tail available for purchase with said coins, such as upgrades to your main weapon or Health packs.

The player will face many threats, such as stray space debris and enemy spaceships. However, there are many power-ups floating around to aid the player on his survival quest, along with ship upgrades.

After each Level, there is a boss fight. If the player takes too many hits, he will lose his ship and will stay alive in a spacesuit until he takes a couple more hits. After dying, the other character appears in his ship. If both die, it's Game Over.

Power-ups[]

There is a total of 8 power-ups.

Speed Boost: Makes your character move faster around the screen for short period of time.
Weapon Boost: Makes your fire rate increase dramatically.
Life Up: Replenishes the player's Health by a short amount.
Shield: Gives the player a shield that lasts until he takes a hit.
Smart Bomb: It vanishes any enemy that may be on the screen every time the player shoots it, until it goes away at the side of the screen.
Invincible: Makes the player invulnerable to damage for a short period of time.
Life Max: Completely replenishes the player's Health bar.
?: They make your shots stronger for a while.

Weapons[]

There is a total of 7 weapons in the game, one of them being specially overwhelming.

Double Laser: Makes the player shoot two beams per shot permanently.
Triple Laser: Makes the player shoot three beams per shot permanently, with a spread.

SupahLazorz — The Super Laser obliterating enemies

Twist Laser: It's basically a Double Laser, but the shots move in a wave-pattern. It's more powerful than laser weapons.
Triple Twist: It's basically a Triple Laser, but the shots move in a wave-pattern. It's more powerful than laser weapons.
Rapid Laser: Two flashing beams that wave around in a seemingly random pattern. Extremely powerful.
Slice Laser: It's a red, powerful laser beam that travels a straight path without stopping at enemies. Can kill a line of enemies in a heartbeat.
Super Laser: It annihilates anything that crosses its path. Multi-shot. You come equipped with that weapon if you use the cheat "super". However, badges will be unattainable on that run.

Enemies and Bosses[]

Droid: The very first enemy in the game. They are very basic and harmless. The blue variation shoots laser beams at the player.

Bat: They are also harmless, and always come in groups. The red variation is more resistant.
Head: They spawn out of nowhere, in groups, and hurdle towards the player. They are somewhat resistant and hard to hit, and take damage recoil. They appear in a variety of colors. The crimson/red variation shoots pellets and is more resistant.
Bug: They come in groups and shoot large laser beams at the player.
Blaster: They usually appear in small numbers from the sides of the screen. Their attack consists of stopping and shooting a gigantic horizontal laser beam, heavily damaging whatever it hits.

Battleship [Also Boss 1]: They are big and powerful, until killed they will disappear from the sides of the screen and appear as a shadow on the background. The first Boss is composed of 3 Battleships, all colored differently, and have a variety attacks, ranging from guided missiles to powerful spread laser beams. They drop Gold Coins and Power-ups when killed.
Bomber: They drop Power-ups when killed and come in groups. They throw bombs with large blast damage and laser beams.

BomberSpace — Various Bombers and a Spaceman

Spaceman: They are very resistant and drop a lot of loot when killed. The wander around and shoot small laser beams, pretty much harmless. The red variation is far stronger.
Brainiac [Boss 2]: He is a droid with two mechanical arms and a brain preserved in a bowl of glass. He lacks other body parts. He's very simple and spawns enemies at regular intervals. He's pretty much the easiest boss in the entire game.
Boss 3 [Last Boss]: He downgrades your weapon to the lowest level. He shoots laser pellets and spawns drones, who may drop power-ups. When he is defeated he reveals his true form of a floating skull.

Shop[]

You can spend your coins here. He appears periodically in the midst of levels. At the start of Level 2 and 3, he will appear with a new ship. "Ship 2" is worth 100 coins, and "Ship 3" is worth 200.

SuperLazorz — The drone selling the Super Laser

The player starts out with 14 coins. Each small Silver Coins collected adds 1 to your money, large silver adds 5, and small Gold Coins are worth 10, while large gold coin are worth 25. The most expensive item is the Super Laser, at 500 coins.

[GEMS]: It is currently unknown what is the use for gems; however, one use for them is used to revive another player if they died and you come across a gem shop. It costs 20 gems to revive the other dead player. The gems come in many shapes and colors, all of which add one gem to your gem count. They can be attained by destroying meteors that appear in the middle of levels, and in large quantities after each level.

Plot[]

The Gamma Brothers spend their days working in a huge space station near Jupiter. No one works harder than Buzz and Zap. What could they possibly be working on? Something very important, no doubt.

The Gamma Brothers also understand the importance of not working. Every day at quitting time they hop into their commuter vehicles for the long, difficult journey back to Earth. Every day on their way home they are besieged by ships and creatures of unknown origin. Every day, to and from work, they must survive many vicious and clever alien attacks!

It is up to YOU to guide the Gamma Brothers home. Prepare yourself for the ultimate space commute battle! After all, it is dinner time on Earth, and the Gamma Brothers' families will not be pleased if you don't get Buzz and Zap home safely.

Soundtrack[]

Mark DeNardo - Gamma Bros Theme

The soundtrack was composed by Mark DeNardo. This is the "Gamma Bros Theme".

Badges[]

Defender of the Universe Badge

Gamma Bros » Defeat the final boss without using any passwords except the one for level 2

Trivia[]

The game can be played in a bigger screen setting using this link.
pixeljamgames expressed the desire to produce a sequel to Gamma Bros. However, it never came to realization.
There used to be Gamma Bros T-Shirts for sale, but, unfortunately, the shop is now closed.
The password to Level 2 is golvl2 (the only allowed password). Using it makes the player start with 189 coins (175 + initial 14) and Triple Laser.
Other passwords are: "golvl3", "ship2", "ship3", and "super".

There is an extra big ship and an extra little ship.
There are two extra ships to your left when you are picking your character. They are the ships driven by the droid for the aforementioned "shop".