If you’re here on this site, you probably enjoy side-scrolling shoot-em-ups like Gradius and R-type. Beyond the fact that the rise of indie game development caused this sub-genre to creep back into vogue, there’s always been something so uncomplicated and fun about flying through a level and shooting enemy craft while dodging terrain.

Unless you’re creator ” 8bit4lif3″, who has started a one-man project to create a side-scrolling shooter that gives you the ability to destroy the environment as well as the enemy.

In symbol of Destruction, you are able to destroy any part of the stage itself and use it in various clever ways. Besides employing bits of the scenery to squash enemy fighters, you can also use it as makeshift shielding. There are also simple mechanical puzzles that require you to find ways to use the environment to bypass various checkpoints, as seen in the above video.

Symbol of Destruction is a one-man project, and the creator does state within the video’s comments that he is coding this game while balancing a full time job and his duties as a father, so no approximate date can be given as to when the game might be available. For now, you can keep up with his progress on his ModDB portal.