Updated with initial thoughts on the game!

Un-Christmas just came early, at least by a couple of hours. Clearly forgetting what day it is, indie freeware uber-coder Daniel Remar (creator of Iji, Hero Core, Garden Gnome Carnage and more) just released his latest game - Hyper Princess Pitch - into the wild. Heavily inspired by classic DOS shareware shooter Operation Carnage, this eschews a modern twin-stick format in favour or slightly more limited controls, but more varied arenas and progression. After the break, a trailer that’ll explain just why you’d want to see a little girl pelt Santa with bricks.

The sprites are adorable, the music is catchy, and the protagonist is the wayward daughter of the Goddess Of Explosions. What’s not to like? Also featuring a return of bright red bricks as a primary weapon, previously featured in Garden Gnome Carnage, and an absurdly powerful black cat as an ally. Oh, and just in case you hadn’t noticed the tag above, the game is FREE. Why aren’t you playing it now? Why are you even reading this? What is the meaning of life? Why am I writing this? I’m off to get my Grinch on.

Edit: Before anyone corrects me, I’m aware that due to time-zones, it may actually be December 1st wherever Mr Remar lives – probably Sweden – but I don’t care. It’s still November in Greenwich, England, and they invented time.

Update: So, I’ve had a chance to get my teeth into the game. ‘Short but sweet’ is really the only way to describe it. Four short levels, although there’s a whole boatload of alternative routes to make replaying more worthwhile. Plus, a bunch of difficulty settings (the highest of which looks brutally tough), a secret ending (which I’ve yet to find), cheat codes to unlock, hidden moves and plenty of extras. I can see myself playing this a great many times when I have 10-15 minutes to spare. If you haven’t downloaded this already, get to it – it’s ace.

[Hyper Princess Pitch]

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