Game of the Day - Cyvern

It would be difficult to overstate how good Cyvern is.  It's a vert shmup that looks and plays great.  You choose from several souped-up (genetically enhanced?) dragons to join the fight.

The first thing you'll notice is just how great the graphics are.  There are many dragon-based shmups and this one, along with a previous GOTD - Dragon Blaze - are by FAR my favorites.  There are a lot of tank, train and ship looking things to shoot and plenty of enemy fire in the air at all times.  It borders on too much chaos and certainly makes it difficult at times to watch the beautiful scenery go by.

You have two buttons:  Shoot & Bomb.  However, the shoot button is also a charge weapon if you hold it down.  There is a gauge called "banish" at the top of the screen to indicate how much more charge you have.  It slowly replenishes over time.  Of course there are also the requisite power-ups and scoring boosts.  For instance, if you use the banish/charge to defeat certain enemies, they drop medals for you to pick-up and score big.  These can chain together if you get them all and thereby increase the value of each one.  Long periods of banishing everything and collecting all the crap is the key to big scores.

The charge weapon and bomb are, of course, related to which dragon you choose to fly.  The first dragon is the old school one as his banish is a nice stream of fire - just as it should be.

The reality is, for superficial players, the details don't matter.  It's absolutely beautiful, the controls work great and feel spot on, and the fun doesn't end.  Saddle up a dragon, and go do your business.