Akai Katana (Xbox360): "The Shmup Genre At It's Finest!!!"

Those of you who follow me on the various social sites that I frequent will likely have heard of my quest to obtain a review copy of 'Akai Katana'. It was by mere chance that I happened upon a trailer to this game while doing my routine search for review material earlier this year. Unknown to some of you I have actually been trying my best to secure retail games for review, and for the most part that venture has been a failure. It wasn't until I contacted 'Rising Star Games (The Developer Behind Akai Katana)' that a small glimmer of hope began to shine for me. Rising Star Games was more than glad to send me a copy of the game, and I'm truly grateful for that. While I do admit I was a little bit impatient in my wait for it's arrival I'm definitely glad I finally got it. If you guys don't have a clue what 'Akai Katana' is then allow me to enlighten you with my review of the game.

When it comes to shmups I have never seen one so brilliantly portrayed as 'Akai Katana' is. Every pixelated micrometer of this game is dolled up with some of the most breathtaking visuals you will ever lay your eyes on. While I'm not 100% sure what the background story of this military based shooter is I do know that it involves a merciless empire who's only intention is to cause bloodshed with two very powerful relics, the Akai Katana. As sinister as the situation sounds all hope is not lost, because there are a handful of rebels who are willing to sacrifice their all just so there can be peace. These pilots fight for their own individual reasons, but ultimately what they do will decide whether, or not the empire prevails.

There's definitely a lot of features in 'Akai Katana', but I think it's best I start off with the smaller stuff and work my way up. When it comes down to graphics 'Akai Katana' is a beautiful, and vivid game that takes full advantage of HD quality. The entire UI (User Interface), and game is beautifully rendered with top notch anime style artwork. Like most shmups these days (Otomedius Excellent ... ) Rising Star Games went for that 16:9 screen size to give the game a more arcade-like appearance. You'll also find that certain modes such as "Akai Katana Origin" were designed with a bordering wallpaper to give it an arcade cabinet look. While I'm not a huge fan of widescreen video games I found no problems with it. It may be because I have an HDTV that sizes everything up as if it were fullscreen though. The quality on an HDTV is likely much better than what you'd experience while playing on a standard television, so I'd suggest playing this on an HDTV if you can afford such a luxury.

When you begin playing 'Akai Katana' you'll immediately notice the great attention to detail that the game designer has implemented in the game. Nothing in the game looks half-assed. Everything from the special effects (blood sprays, explosions, bullet hell sprays, point tokens) to the terrain details (trees, snow, sky), and various military vehicle designs all have minute details that put a lot of games within the shmup genre to shame. It's no surprise considering that 'Rising Star Games' has 'CAVE' backing them up. When it comes to shmups 'CAVE' is king, and 'Rising Star Games' is exactly as their name suggests, a rising star. If this game gets the attention it deserves I can see a lot more awesome shmup releases in the future. Without getting to far ahead of myself though, let us move on ...

Akai Katana features three different gameplay modes, that could easily be classified as individual games. When you first start up the 'Akai Katana' you will be required to assign the usual storage device, and all that standard stuff. After that is through you will be brought to an interactive menu of sorts. If you press the directional pad/Left Thumbstick to the left or right you'll notice that the background image changes. There is a reason for this. With each background change there is a new game mode you can play. The one you are immediately shown is called "Akai Katana Slash". This mode is the most unique out of all the available game modes. Before I go into details though you should know that there are two sub-modes to each mode. These sub-modes are titled "1P Deploy (campaign)", and "1P Score Attack". Deploy is basically the campaign of this 2D/3D side-scrolling shmup. It encompasses several levels that span various terrains, and boss battles. The "Score Attack" on the other hand is a mode that's purely about gaining the highest score possible.

In "Akai Katana" you take on the role of one of three different pairs of fighter pilots. There's Botan, and Kikyou who fly an older war plane called the orchid. You also have Tsubaki, and Sumire who pilot a military jet. Last, but not least there's a team made up of an older lady, and a younger girl (Shion/Suzuran). Their plane is an older dual engine sea plane (Sakura). Each pilot/s flies in their own unique airplane which has it's own unique bullet spray. Each set of characters also has a unique epilogue that plays out when you have defeated the final boss. Other than that final ending there's not much story involved. There's not any cutscenes, or anything of that sort. In that sense the game is more action, and less plot.

The control scheme of 'Akai Katana' is kept simple so that the player can focus more on the complex point system. Within 'Akai Katana' you will use controls similar to a lot of shmups out there. There are some minute differences though. For movement you will use the (Left Thumbstick). To fire your basic shot you will use the (A) button, and to drop one of your limited bombs you will need to press the (B) button. At your disposal you are also given a summon ability that allows you to transform into an anime style phantom character. This summon feature is where the heart of 'Akai Katana's' gameplay comes to life. You will definitely need to learn how, and when to switch between the basic airplane and the summon form. I will do my best to explain this detailed process to you, but int the end I think it would likely be best if you watched the in-game tutorial for yourself.

There are three game types in 'Akai Katana' (Slash, Origin, Climax). "Akai Katana Slash" utilizes a more combat heavy approach with katana, and steel orb projectiles combined with energy/weapon pick-ups. Next up you have "Akai Katana Origin", and "Akai Katana Climax" which play out in a more defensive manner. In "Slash", as in the other game types you pilot an airplane that has a satellite harnessed to it. Both your plane, and the satellite fire bullets/projectiles. As you shoot down enemies in this mode you will be awarded with steel orbs if using the (Right Trigger), or with katanas if you are using the (A) button as your shot type. Once you have accumulated enough katanas/orbs from the fallen foes the weapons will begin to visually materialize around your plane. Switching back, and forth between your plane form, and your summon form (X) will cause the collected projectiles to head in the direction they are facing. Movement effects the projectile's path so pay close attention to where they are aimed .Whenever one of the steel orb, or katana projectiles pass through an enemy you will be awarded with score multiplier tokens. This is ultimately how you obtain your high score in "Slash" mode. I should also mention that in "Deploy" you have unlimited continues, but in "Score Attack" you are only given one life.

When it comes to the "Origin", and "Climax" modes playing it safe is the key to success. Both game types rely heavily on more defensive tactics. When it comes to differences 'Origin' is the basically the original version of 'Akai Katana' while "Climax" is a more hardcore version of the original. When you first start off in either game type you will be flying in your standard plane form. This can be altered as you collect green energy orbs that gather around your plane's satellite after you kill enemies. When you release the shot button the green energy will be absorbed. It's the same with the score multiplier tokens you earn. Once your green energy meter is filled up (HUD Display) you can use your summon ability to transform into your phantom character. To do this you simply press the (X) button. Transforming in any of the three game types is executed in the same manner. After your plane transforms into it's summon from you will gain score multiplier tokens from any enemy you shoot down. Keep in mind though that this transformation is limited, and will run out as the green energy drains from your meter, or from the dial around the phantom character. One thing you also need to keep in mind is that there are two functions to the summon form. If you don't press the fire button the summon form will be in defense mode, and will not be effected by bullets. On the other hand if you are firing your shot you will be vulnerable to enemy attack. If you are hit by certain bullet types you will be reverted back to the standard plane form. There are tactics shown both online (Youtube), and in the game (Tutorial) that will better explain the advance tactics used for gaining a high score.

Aside from game modes 'Akai Katana' also has a lot of very cool features. I mentioned in an earlier paragraph that the game uses wallpapers to give it an arcade cabinet appearance. I didn't actually count how many different wallpapers were available in the game settings option, but there were over 10. Each of the available wallpapers looked quite impressive, and featured anime art depicting the various characters of the game. If you are a soundtrack enthusiast there's also something in this game for you. If you wish to hear the game in different ways there are in-game settings that allow you to change the soundtrack between "Arrange", and "Original". I should also mention that there are settings that deal with HORI stick setups, and various other adjustments concerning the controls. For all those achievement hounds out there I bring you even more awesome news. Akai Katana has a total of 50 achievements! It's the most I've seen in any Xbox 360 game. This definitely adds to the quality of the game ... I know I should have mentioned this previously, but your plane in the game does have a visible hitbox that is highlighted as a green circle. This allows the player to know if they are safe or not in the midst of the bullet hell sprays. It's a necessary detail that should not be overlooked.

If you've made it this far into my review then congrats! You are lucky enough to hear my opinion of 'Akai Katana'. I know it's been a long journey getting to this point, but I assure you it's worth it. I can honestly say that Akai Katana is amazing in every possible way. The visuals are truly superb, and the overall game is better than any shmup I have played up to this point. I kid you not. The anime art style was definitely a plus in my opinion. It wasn't too cute, and had a more serious tone/quality about it which was quite pleasing in my opinion. Even though I did not fully understand what was going on within the plot of 'Akai Katana' I could tell the conflict between the characters was grand in scale. The gameplay was more epic than I had imagined further embellishing the game's mysterious plot. When it came to learning how to play 'Akai Katana' properly I definitely spent a decent amount of time figuring things out. Learning how to achieve a respectable score required my full attention. If you have the patience to learn how to play this game properly then you'll get a lot out of it. In closing I can't stress enough how great this game is. If you don't have 'Akai Katana' yet get it while the getting is good! Games like this become hard to find later on. Trust me. I know from experience.

FEATURES

- Full HD 16:9 Support
- Three Modes Of Gameplay: (Origin/Arcade, Slash, Climax)
- Online Leaderboards & Replays
- Local Two Player Co-op

MSRP: $39.99

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