Shmup fans in the western hemisphere were understandably disappointed when Otomedius Gorgeous was release as a Japanese-exlusive title. At lease we can look forward to the sequel, Otomedius Excellent, later this year on Xbox LIVE Arcade.

Otomedius Excellent mixes Gradius-style gameplay and power-ups with three-person co-op, online and local. There will also be nine characters "on-disc." I think we can assume that on-disc means that Otomedius Excellent will follow the lead of Konami's other recent shooter, Hard Corps: Uprising, and deliver additional characters as DLC.

Screenshots here .