Nuclear Throne is the latest game from Vlambeer, the geniuses/indie masterminds behind Ridiculous Fishing, Super Crate Box, and Luftrausers, and it's out as an Early Access alpha, available on
Steam for $12.99, or from the
website (Steam key included). It's due for release on PS4 and Vita once it's done, and the developers will see if they can port to Mac and Linux (notoriously difficult for games built in game-maker) at a later date.
It's a twin-stick shooter roguelike-like-alike (think of Gauntlet with guns and mutants), with bullet hell elements, and some Hotline Miami style twitchiness. The idea is simple, kill enemies, pick up bullets, weapons and health to stay alive, and collect the little rods of plutonium they drop in order to level up your character and buy perks between levels. There are a couple of small twists to keep things fresh too, the most notable being you're only allowed to carry two weapons at once, making switching weapons often enough to ensure you don't run out of ammo paramount to success. There are also several different characters to pick from, each with their own unique ability, ranging from an incredibly useful shield, to lowered max HP for increased XP gains and the ability to use "explosive revenge" (that is, BLOW UP ALL ENEMY CORPSES ON SCREEN). Anyway, the ultimate aim is simple; finish enough levels, and sit the Nuclear Throne*. Easier said than done though, as like any good roguelike. Also, since the game isn't finished, there is no Nuclear Throne. Once you finish 6_1 (Labs), the game loops and things just get loving insane.
The pixel art/animation/character designs and music are as good as you'd expect from Vlambeer, and likewise the core gameplay doesn't disappoint either. The audio and visual feedback makes all the weapons in the game, (and there are many, many weapons in the game) incredibly satisfying to use, there's a great variety of enemies and bosses to test your mettle against, and well, despite being in alpha and a liiitle bit rough, it already feels like a fairly complete package. Every update contains new content. Saying that, there's forgetton of content still in development and being added on a weekly basis: more levels, types of enemies, new characters, and all sorts of secrets and assorted craziness are planned before the game is "out" proper.
If you don't wanna spend your money right away, play the old prototype from the Mojam bundle! (not as good)
Wasteland Kings:
http://vlambeer.com/3/You can follow along with development on these streams as well! (but for now, the guys are at GDC, so no development is going on at the moment.)
Main development livestream + gameplay -
http://www.twitch.tv/vlambeer (Tuesdays & Thursdays)
In-game art (animation, character design, etc) -
http://www.twitch.tv/pietpietMusic -
http://www.twitch.tv/kozilekmusicSound design -
http://www.twitch.tv/kissa3m0Promotional artwork -
http://www.twitch.tv/justinchansAlso, the community of this game is great! Here's a link to the wiki and a couple of youtubers who play this game.
Wiki:
http://nuclear-throne.wikia.com/wiki/Nuclear_Throne_WikiSleepCycles, a let's player:
https://www.youtube.com/user/sleepcyclesgaming/videosTengu Drop, makes videos explaining the latest and greatest updates:
https://www.youtube.com/user/TenguDrop/videos 
