Developed by Domi
Released for XBLIG (12/2009)
Akujin is another shmup buried within the vast amount of indie games featured on the Xbox Live marketplace. As a disclaimer, this is actually more just my impressions of the game rather than a full-fledged review as I've only checked out the trial version of the game. However, often when I only play the trial and don't feel compelled to purchase the full game it's either too expensive or low quality.
Akujin struck me as worth a download because it's a vertical shoot 'em up and I love my shoot 'em ups. The game just reeks of amateur design right from the get-go, with some pretty generic looking menus. The first thing I noticed about this game was how tiny everything is. The action is cropped by two bars on the side, but this is understandable and also very common in a vertical shmup so no big deal. What I don't understand is why everything is so small! The enemy bullets are literally tiny little dots that you'll have a tough time seeing. This design decision alone dooms Akujin as a shmup right off the bat.
Another odd design decision is that your ship has four modes of fire, one corresponding to each button on the face of the controller. Every enemy is weak to one of the buttons. This sounds like a cool idea in theory I suppose, but it works horribly in execution and just turns enemies into bullet sponges when you use the wrong shot type. Having four different types of shots to juggle through is just too demanding for this type of game and makes it feel more like a Guitar Hero style game than a shmup. You also have a shield and rockets to use as well. The backgrounds are lame and there are frequent lulls in the action to take in the lackluster graphics. Skip this lackluster effort.
Final Verdict: Don't bother wasting your time with Akujin. Even on the indie games market, there are much better vertical shmups to spend your time on.
Related Links:
Akujin - GameFAQs
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