Spidersaurs is a run’n’gun platformer that dares to mix the world’s scariest animals

rockpapershotgun.com:

Dinosaurs are cool and scary right? Spiders aren’t so great but they’re definitely biologically intimidating to humans too. Combine the two and you get Shantae developers WayForward’s Spidersaurs, which describes itself as a 2D co-op run’n’gun action game. It’s coming to Steam soon, say WayForward. Try not to get the theme tune stuck in your head when you watch the trailer below.

The game isn’t a new one per se, having launched along with Apple Arcade back in September 2019. There’s a reason why it seems very like a Saturday morning cartoon mixed with Contra: Spidersaurs was developed by the team who made Contra 4. You play as the relatively prim gun-toting Adrian or axe-wielding – in the guitar sense – punk-rocker Victoria. Or you can be both if you team up with a pal for co-op. WayFoward say there’ll be unlockable arcade and speedrun modes – I can see this ending up as hearty fodder for Games Done Quick.

The spidersaur enemies are, of course, dinosaurs crossed with spiders. Good grief, the sheer horror of it. I guess WayForward couldn’t go with ‘Diners’ for the name, but that’s a more apt description of how the spliced monstrosities act towards humanity. There’s twelve weapons to use against the spidersaurs, ranging from your standard guns all the way to footballs that explode and “bass-heavy electronica”, apparently. You’ll fight across six levels themed around spidersaur-friendly locations such as volcanoes, the jungle and labs, working your way to defeat the cause of the mutant menace.

Spidersaurs is due for release on Steam sometime this year. They will forever stalk my nightmares.