Akai Katana Shin Switch XCI Free Download Romslab

Akai Katana Shin Switch XCI Free Download Romslab Think Gradius or R-type but with a lot more stuff on your screen, and you’ve got the basic idea of what Akai Katana is. Your task is to survive seven stages, end the boss at the conclusion of each, and — if you’re a real shooter player — secure that high score. Anyone can eventually see the credits roll if they just continue enough times, but only the lonely can do it while minimizing their loss of life and maximizing their leaderboard position. I’ve played a bunch of Akai Katana, and I enjoy it, but I’m still not exactly sure how it all works. The game struggles to explain its intricate mechanics to the player, even with a tutorial video (Pro Tip: Hit “B” at the title screen). ROMSLAB.COM Best Switch Games

Akai Katana Shin Switch XCI Free Download Romslab

What I’ve gleaned is that there are two modes of fire that draw two different types of resources from enemies. One type can be spent to summon a phantom to fight for you, and when you deactivate the phantom the other type is spent to send giant swords — the titular Blood Katanas — flying across the screen causing massive damage and earning massive point bonuses for you. So there is a rhythm, a cadence to the gameplay. Fill one meter, switch to the other fire mode, fill another meter, summon phantom, unleash hell, repeat. Oh, and you have to dodge bullets all the while. It’s an amusing affair that grows on you the more you play.

Training: Specify a stage and adjust your unit’s condition to carry out individual training.

But it’s not quite enough to land Akai Katana in the upper echelon of 2D shooters. Ikaruga is cleverer. Sine Mora is more beautiful. The chunky vehicles remind me of Donpachi, but Akai Katana doesn’t have a strong visual identity of its own. Enemy designs lack personality and too many opportunities for dazzling eye candy are missed. That’s fortunate, because there’s certainly not much of a story to keep you entertained. You play as a rebellious pilot dedicated to blowing up your former masters. The who and why are buried in the manual; all you’re given is a choice between three different rebels, each with their own craft and special power. Pretty Girls Rivers Switch NSP

Akai Katana Shin Switch XCI Free Download Romslab

The craft they pilot are modelled after World War II-era planes, but despite their apparent age, they have the uncanny ability to fire waves of laser bullets and unleash devastating energy attacks. Those bullets are put to good use throughout all six of Akai Katana Shin’s stages, where you pilot your fighter across great-looking retro 2D backdrops set across land, sea, and air, and blow the living crap out of a range of tanks, planes, and turrets. Of course, they don’t go down without a fight. There are streams of bullets to negotiate, some of which create mazelike patterns for you to navigate your way through, while others home in on you, requiring you to weave your way through the tightest of spaces to survive.

Score Attack: See how far you can go with only one life. No continues or restarts allowed.

Akai Katana Shin is challenging but also satisfying to play. There’s a great feeling of accomplishment when you make your way through one of the intricately designed 2D bullet mazes unscathed. The slightest twitch of your thumb can take you from a dangerous situation to a high-scoring one. If a bullet does hit you, all is not lost. You have three lives with which to make it through to the end of a stage, as well as three smart bombs that destroy all the bullets onscreen and deal damage to enemies. You also have the option to use a special support character called a phantom, whom you can call upon to dish out some mega-damage. Pretty Princess Party Switch NSP

Akai Katana Shin Switch XCI Free Download Romslab

What exactly you can do with the phantom depends on what mode you’re in. In Origin mode (a straight port of the arcade original), your phantom can deflect bullets, but only for as long as you have energy, which you collect from destroyed enemies. If you ration out your special ability, an extra layer of strategy is added to the action, making it more than just a test of your reflexes. That’s just the tip of the iceberg in Akai Katana Shin. Load up Slash mode and a whole heap of new features adds a huge amount of depth. Here, your ship has two modes, attack and defence, which are activated by holding down the attack button or by pressing it repeatedly.

Make good use of Soul-shift to turn the tide in your favor and earn a higher score.

Akai Katana is a perfectly fun arcade shooter that unfortunately took a wrong turn on the way to your Xbox 360. What could have been an inexpensive downloadable game is a retail product. Still, it’s an enjoyable effort, if not an amazing one. Akai Katana has its own rhythm that, if followed, unleashes giant blood swords that crawl through every enemy in sight. So that’s pretty cool. You’re encouraged to strategize and plan out where flipping back and forth between defence and attack modes, and between the phantom and your fighter, nets you the highest scores. It’s an addictive and entertaining experience that keeps you wanting just one more go until you get it spot-on.

Akai Katana Shin Switch XCI Free Download Romslab

It’s enough to make you forget that Akai Katana Shin is otherwise a very short game; with just six stages and a handful of bosses to battle, you can whiz through it in under an hour. This affects which pickups you receive, as well as the speed of your ship. In attack mode, you gather energy and move more slowly, and in defence mode, you gather steel and move faster That price tag is Akai Katana’s real handicap. Sine Mora is the better, more exciting, more interesting shooter in every way, and it’s a Xbox Live Arcade game. These cheap thrills might be more enticing if gamers could download them for cheap, but right now Akai Katana costs the same as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Prime World: Defenders Switch

Add-ons (DLC): Akai Katana Shin Switch XCI