Akai katana

Another game played ahead of selling from my Xbox 360 collection, "Akai Katana" was fun and beautiful, but all the game had to offer was seen in the first session. "Akai Katana" is a side scrolling bullet-hell type shooter. You have a selection of three characters to choose from, each one's military style aeroplane having a specific range of powerups. You can switch the character from an aeroplane into a humanoid versions at times, who can absorb more hits. There is some sort of story justifying all this action, but to be honest I found it impenetrable and just ignored it. It's a fun game to play but it's one where the infinite continues mean you can get through it in a single session. There are three different modes to play the game in, but if I'm honest I couldn't tell what difference each one made. You can get through all the games levels and boss fights in around 45 minutes or so. I'll say again, it was a fun time - I played through the game three or four times in total, both in single player and in co-op with my son. I suppose the challenge beyond that is one about gathering the highest score, but personally that's never been a particular interest of mine. It's a vibrant screen of classic "neo-geo-esque" sprites and there's lots of visual variety with plenty of giant screen filling sprites. The soundtrack is pretty good too. It's a classic arcade style game, and I suspect how much you appreciate it might have something to do with how much you pay for it - as 45 minutes to see all the game has to offer might be a bitter pill, had you paid £40.