GameTunnel's October Monthly Round-Up was recently posted.

Here's a summary, presented Famitsu-style:

Beast Invaders 2 is a remake of an old Space Invaders hack by Jeff Minter for the Atari 2600. Only one of your shots can remain on the screen at any time, though enemy projectiles are not restricted in such manner.

The aim of the game is basically to earn a decent high score by shooting at enemies and picking up coins or plates of curry. Fans of classic shooters will want this in their collection.

Name: Beast Invaders 2
Developer: Retrovision
Category: Shooter
Type: Freeware
Size: 10MB

Alligator Garden is about two blokes who have to move crocs back to the ponds in each level safely. Bulldozers block your way but fortunately these can be driven and used to push boulders into holes.

Puzzle elements include tight spaces and limited vehicular movements. You can't climb into a bulldozer from the front or back either, though it's possible to drop the docile reptiles by pressing the enter key. Includes an editor as well.

Name: Alligator Garden
Developer: Anahara Masataka
Category: Puzzle
Type: Freeware
Size: 1MB

Ebyss is a decent Game Maker production that has a strange shot system adapted from Taito's RayStorm and RayCrisis. Your lobster can only fire at enemies after getting a lock on them. The game design is innovative but controls are poorly implemented.

Pretty innovative but it's inaccessibility will discourage most players from getting very far. A great example for budding GM developers to learn from.

Name: Ebyss
Developer: Anahara Masataka
Category: Shooter
Type: Freeware
Size: 2MB

A testament to the popularity of Microprose's classic series, the turn-based strategy gameplay can now be experienced using Pocket PC devices. Pocket UFO is an excellent freeware to have if you're always on the move.

Gendo Ikari recommends downloading version 1.24, since it's the most stable. (Thanks!)

Name: Pocket UFO
Developer: SMK Software
Category: Strategy
Type: Freeware
Size: 5MB

Two of the best turn-based strategy games involving squad and resource management, X-COM: UFO Defense and Terror from the Deep downloads have been patched to run without problems on any modern rig.

Shoot down enemy UFOs, trap your enemies and salvage their technology to improve your own. Night missions tend to be extremely suspenseful, especially when your team is whittled down to it's last few members in an area packed with aliens.

Many sleepless nights were blamed on this series. The first episode requires a little configuration since it's map scroll speed is set to maximum.

Name: X-COM: Terror from the Deep
Developer: Microprose
Category: Strategy
Type: Demo
Size: 5MB

Two of the best turn-based strategy games involving squad and resource management, X-COM: UFO Defense and Terror from the Deep downloads have been patched to run without problems on any modern rig.

Shoot down enemy UFOs, trap your enemies and salvage their technology to improve your own. Night missions tend to be extremely suspenseful, especially when your team is whittled down to it's last few members in an area packed with aliens.

Many sleepless nights were blamed on this series. The first episode requires a little configuration since it's map scroll speed is set to maximum.

Name: X-COM: UFO Defense
Developer: Microprose
Category: Strategy
Type: Demo
Size: 5MB

Spherical is a rather bland Sokoban clone but for a freeware there really isn't much to complain. What is interesting though is the author's attempt at getting the game published, and an online journal which I believe will be taken down shortly since it contains the replies from all major publishing portals.

Name: Spherical
Developer: membrain
Category: Puzzle
Type: Freeware
Size: 2MB

Slimy Pete's Singles Bar is the second experimental project by Kloonigames, in which Petri Purho attempts to create a new game with only seven days worth of development time.

The objective is to make a match of three thought bubbles in a row. Move your mouse pointer over a character to stop them from thinking up of more conversation topics. Each match will make Jesse and Celine move closer towards each other. Pretty innovative.

Name: Slimy Pete's Singles Bar
Developer: Kloonigames
Category: Puzzle
Type: Freeware
Size: 5MB

N'vaders is a rather unique Space Invaders tribute by TehSilentOne. Enemies are made out of blocks which you can destroy part by part, while collecting blue orbs will increase your energy count.

Hold the Z key to shoot, and press the X key to execute your special attack. A worthwhile mention if nothing else.

Name: Nvaders
Developer: TehSilentOne
Category: Shooter
Type: Freeware
Size: 5MB

Mark Incitti's (of Grid Wars fame) Polarity+ is out. The trial version is available for download now.

Reviewed by the2bears and Shmuptacular.

Name: Polarity
Developer: aZaCreations
Category: Shooter
Type: Demo
Size: 10MB

Ad Nauseam by cactus is one of the earliest SHMUP-DEV competition entries released in a playable state.

Current version includes five power-ups to collect and seven types of enemies to deal with. Expect more content soon, including new enemy types and boss encounters.

Gameplay is far better than what the screenshots may suggest. Definitely worth a try.

Name: Ad Nauseam
Developer: cactus
Category: Shooter
Type: Freeware
Size: 1MB

Separate Dimension is an arcade shooter that offers more than what the screenshots seem to potray. The new mouse controls work flawlessly, signalling that the more conventional method of flying a ship using the keyboard is outdated and could possibly be improved. An option to translate all text to English is included in the options menu, something that Japanese programmers should perhaps aspire for.

You can resume playing from any of the missions previously attempted. Hold the left mouse button to shoot, right click to activate your thrusters and scroll up or down to swap weapons. Tap the middle mouse button to bring up a pause window.

Targets are marked clearly with a handy radar shown at the top right of the screen. Recommended for all Thrust fans. The 20MB download is on the same page, though it could be a little difficult to distinguish from all the other columns in the table. Instructions on navigating the Vector site can be found in the FAQ.

Name: Separate Dimension
Developer: PrePrayer Power Soft
Category: Action
Type: Freeware
Size: 20MB

Kimagure 2 and Kimagure 2 Mouse Version are two shmups with the same gameplay engine but different level designs. Tap the space key to shoot, or hold it to charge your special weapon. Press the Z key to activate a power-up.

There are no boss encounters, though in terms of difficulty the keyboard and joypad version is slightly harder to play. This is because you're forced to start from the beginning of each stage when your character loses all her health.

Name: Kimagure 2 Mouse Version
Developer: Unknown
Category: Shooter
Type: Freeware
Size: 10MB

Kimagure 2 and Kimagure 2 Mouse Version are two shmups with the same gameplay engine but different level designs. Tap the space key to shoot, or hold it to charge your special weapon. Press the Z key to activate a power-up.

There are no boss encounters, though in terms of difficulty the keyboard and joypad version is slightly harder to play. This is because you're forced to start from the beginning of each stage when your character loses all her health.

Name: Kimagure 2
Developer: Unknown
Category: Shooter
Type: Freeware
Size: 10MB

Kimagure is an older Gradius clone that pales slightly in comparison to it's superior sequels. Tap the space key to shoot, or hold it to charge your special weapon. Press the Z key to activate a power-up.

There are no boss encounters, but the player still has to start from the beginning of each stage when the protagonist loses all her health. Kimagure.zip is the name of the download file.

Name: Kimagure
Developer: Unknown
Category: Shooter
Type: Freeware
Size: 5MB

Diner Dash 3: Flo on the Go is the latest in a series of restaurant simulations developed by GameLab and Playfirst. It's now possible to dress Flo in all sorts of outfit and apparel before sending her out to take on each assignment.

As usual, the game involves serving customers in the shortest time possible before any of them runs out of patience and leaves your establishment in anger. New challenges have been included to break the monotony, though turning off the lights in an attempt to hinder progress is more of an inconvenience rather than anything else.

This production isn't not going to attract new fans but it'll delight those who favored the first two.

Name: Diner Dash: Flo on the Go
Developer: Playfirst
Category: Puzzle
Type: Demo
Size: 10MB

Captain Binary is a decent action game that attempts to emulate the Metal Slug series and Alien Hominid. Consisting of three short levels, one hit is all that your muscled hero can take although there's plenty of lives and credits to use.

Weapon upgrades can be collected to increase your firepower. Does not include gamepad support or difficulty setting.

Name: Captain Binary
Developer: Twin Bottles
Category: Action
Type: Freeware
Size: 50MB

Reviewed by Maenny (www.runtime-hq.com)

Gate 88 is an excellent mixture between RTS, Asteroids and a horizontal/vertical shooter. Sounds crazy? Well it is: Gate 88 combines traditional gameplay-elements and creates something new and unique out of it. Hard to learn, but really worth the time. Better begin with the tutorial, before you plunge into an exciting deathmatch multiplayer game.

Gate 88 is not easy to learn, but very rewarding, once you get the hang of it. As soon as you destroyed your first enemy base notice the big smile of satisfaction on your face. The apparent complexity may be intimidating at the beginning. This may be one of the main reasons why Gate 88 until now did not get the attention it deserves.

And it deserves all your attention because it really is a clean programmed game with ingenious gameplay, a property which is hardly found even amongst commercial releases. If you like to experience something new concerning the game play, you definitely should try this asteroids/ strategical/ action-title.

The graphics are marvelous simple, but fit excellent in the game and really add to the unique atmosphere you will experience. Like the soundtrack does, which really is good, you should grab the copy with music.

Read the entire review at www.runtime-hq.com

Name: Gate 88
Developer: Queasygames
Category: Strategy
Type: Freeware
Size: 12MB

Blast Miner is a physics based game where you use TNT, gasoline and stones to cause huge explosions that blast through the earth. There's a comprehensive preview and developer chat with one of it's creators on Game Tunnel.

They have also released several other freeware projects in the past including Carious Weltling, Carious Weltling 2, Viviparous Dumpling and Clubby the Seal.

Name: Blast Miner
Developer: Cryptic Sea
Category: Action
Type: Demo
Size: 15MB