Awwww. I admittedly haven't played as much of Orange_Juice's works as I'd like, this included, but this is a safe contender for my favorite of their games. There's a great sense of rhythm to the game's combo/Big Rocket system, since it has potential to feed endlessly off itself provided there are enough targets to shoot. Between that and the surprising amount of complexity to the narrative - branching pathways naturally reacting to the player's actions in natural gameplay - this is a game that very naturally invites a TON of experimentation from the player. Easy to see in effect, too - try warming up the combo meter on the early rush of seagulls. Or, don't, if your instinct in a SHMUP is to gun everything down.

Special shout-out for the presentation! Flying Red Barrel strikes a big visual contrast with Orange_Juice's other stand-bys in QP Shooting/Xmas Shooting/SUGURI, with its focus on bold outlines and soft cel-shading. I also love that character banter is baked cleanly into the gameplay, like your Star Foxes and your Kid Icarus Uprising. And people react to what you're doing, too! I know I said that already, but man is it fun to see Fernet get indignant with an impatient Marc. And Marc's such a fun protagonist, too! A good, solid worker who just wants to fly and wants all the annoying, ill-tempered people to go away and learn some manners. What a good kid.

For years, the only way you could get this in English was to buy it off Amazon games. It must've been an exclusive or something. since for the longest time you could get all the main games highlighted in 100% Orange Juice on Steam except Flying Red Barrel. Very glad that's been resolved now, Flying Red Barrel definitely warrants the exposure.