What a little treat. Beat 'em up, bullet hell shoot 'em up, crazy Russian shit and a fierce difficulty level? Yes.

Highly recommended. Has anyone else picked it up?

For PC or console?

The Red Star was never a PC title.  It was developed for XBox/PS2, but when Acclaim filed for bankruptcy, the project was apparently canceled.  XS Games took over the property, and released it exclusively for the PS2 last month.

Haven't picked up the game yet, and I'm really curious about it; seems like just the twitch-style gameplay that I crave for.  It's being sold on the cheap, isn't it?

$20 and it's total twitch action-shmup. I beat it yesterday after quite a bit of practice, and immediately started a new game+. If you like beat 'em ups and shooters this game is a no brainer. It's getting hard to find already.

How many stages is this game?

There are 19 stages with two playable characters at the onset; one is quick and doesn't do too much damage, the other is an oaf with a really powerful physical attack. After you beat the game you unlock a more balanced character, as well as 8 arenas that test your endurance in a Smash TV-esque type of brawl where enemies just keep flowing into a single room. Some of the levels are really long for a shooter/beat 'em up, with several bosses throughout. I would say there are at least 50-60 boss encounters throughout the game, including some "redux" versions of older bosses. One boss is called "Ikarius" that has a core you need to destroy like a Gradius boss, but shoots patterns like something from Ikaruga, and a few "Kontrawall" bosses that have a big red circle you need to destroy like the base levels in NES Contra.

It took me about 7 hours or so to beat the game, I would say. And as soon as I finished, I loaded up my save and started a new game+ and I just reached level 8 for the second time. This is a game I can (and will, dammit!) play over and over again.

My breakdown:

Pros: guns overheating in the middle of battle can be invigorating, great bosses, some innovative level design, awesome balance between action and shooting/dodging, cheap price, so addictive it should be sold in little baggies by people speaking a cross between broken Spanish and ebonics

Cons: guns overheating in the middle of battle can be frustrating, some bosses are absolutely ridiculous for inexperienced shmup players, some of the beat 'em up parts can get repetitive, I haven't been able to sit down since I beat the last boss (took me an hour or two)

Paying $20 for Red Star is a good idea. Paying $30 for Raiden III is not.

Got around to picking up The Red Star today.  I made it up to Chapter 5 so far, and I'm having plenty fun.  The gameplay reminds me a bit of Cannon Spike, as far as the shoot-em-up portion of the gameplay goes, but it feels much more focused.  I do enjoy the shmup aspects of the game more than the beat-em-up, but it's been a pretty well-rounded balance of both.  I'm using Makita, by the way. :)

I wish the evasive maneuver wasn't just restricted to a backwards-only flip.  There were a few times when I was trying to get out of a tight situation, and the birdseye view made it difficult for me to see which way Makita was facing to accomplish the backflip.  Also, is there a way to break a melee combo?  (Particularly the one that leaves her vulnerable when she's in a "charging up" animation?)     

Any recommendations on how I should handle upgrades?  I figured the obvious was to go for ARMOR first.  But which is more effective to level up, the GUN COOLANT or the GUN RECHARGE?