Sakura Stars

Description
When hordes of Youkai threaten the world, the Tanukis send a messenger to choose human girls to receive magical powers to defend humanity. They are known as SAKURA STARS.
Take on hordes of youkai in this 8bit horizontal shmup and defend humanity from supernatural beings.

Sakura Stars is a game made on Pico-8, a retro fantasy console with purposeful limitations and low-resolution to simulate an 8-bit era console.
But like modern shmups, the player has a small hitbox, indicated for a circle, allowing a greater number of enemy shots on the screen, as well as patterns with closer shots.

The characters have an artistic style of Japanese anime, purposely made in low resolution to create, together with the music, a more casual and relaxed atmosphere.

Features:
Three characters, each with a different shooting pattern, and different speed. Choose the one that best fits your playing style.

Enemy waves have a fixed pattern, encouraging them to be memorized to facilitate gameplay. Just like old arcade games.

Four levels in retro style. Face Youkai girls at the end of each one.

Soundtrack by authors of classical music, in chiptune style

Made on Pico-8, a fictional virtual console, created to impose the limitations and low-resolution of the 8bit era and simulate the sensation of playing a game from that time.

Anime like pixel art style. Drawn pixel by pixel, in a 16-color palette.