Have you been searching fruitlessly for a game that lets you fight over pudding as Japanese android girls in SHMUP style one-on-one shootouts? If so, Acceleration of Suguri X-Edition may be the only game to EVER tingle all the taste buds on your heavily refined otaku palate. Or at least maybe it’ll keep you busy until your next shipment of Giga Pudding arrives.

If you couldn’t tell by the name, the premise, or the gameplay, Acceleration of Suguri X-Edition is kooky, extremely Japanese, and very indie. Shooter fans will be right at home with attacks and bullet patterns ranging from homing missiles to laser beams to the always infuriating circular bloom of bullets. Instead of dodging these patterns in the familiar confines of scrolling levels, however, AoSXE is a one-on-one fighting game. Each of the ten playable girls features a handful of basic and charged attacks that are performed with simple button presses (there are no complicated combos or directional motions to learn). Like most fighting games, the strategy comes in knowing the strengths of each character and properly using ranged and close-quarters attacks. For instance, one character is completely built around powerful hand-to-hand attacks, while another has medium distance chain-based attacks, and others excel by repeatedly firing projectiles from afar. After spending some time with the game, I’d say there’s really a nice amount of depth to the combat.

Unfortunately, the computer opponents just aren’t intelligent enough to grasp the complexities of the game. There are three single player campaign modes, but beyond a couple encounters where I was forced into difficult match-ups, I routinely beat the game on the hardest difficulty in under ten minutes. (Note: I skipped the incredibly wordy screens of text that are found in the story modes because I just didn’t find the plot satisfying enough to justify so much reading.) If I knocked the difficulty down to normal, I could actually complete most of the game just using one button and not even bothering to move my character. That said, you’ll receive higher rankings if you sustain less damage and string together longer combos, so there is a reward for playing the game well. And speaking of rewards, AoSXE generously spits out Trophies as I had no trouble unlocking all fourteen of them.

If you’re just going to play the Acceleration of Suguri X-Edition solo, you’ll likely burn through the entire game in under three hours. The true strength of the game is probably in the multiplayer. I say “probably”, since the game only has local multiplayer and I don’t think I’ll ever be in a situation where someone at my house wants to play this against me. If you play a lot of same couch competitive multiplayer though, this game has potential for repeat playing sessions with all the varying strategies for the different characters. It’s a shame the same can’t be said for the solo options, as Acceleration of Suguri X-Edition doesn’t present a full meal of single player content. Like most good indie games, though, the quirky and novel ideas still end up leaving a pleasant taste in your mouth… kind of like a refreshing Snack Pack.

Fair
Outstanding | Very Good | Fair | Poor | Awful

Recommended Buy Price: $5.00
Current MSRP: $5.99

Acceleration of Suguri X-Edition was provided for review by Rockin’ Android and Sony Online Entertainment. I completed all the arcade modes with all the characters in about three hours accumulating all 14 Trophies. Acceleration of Suguri X-Edition is a PlayStation 3 PSN exclusive.


Rockin’ Android was nice enough to give us three download codes to give away to CAGs. If you’d like to win a copy of Acceleration of Suguri X-Edition for PlayStation Network, just make a comment on this review. Winners will be selected at random and will be announced on CAGcast #233. Please feel free to include your favorite flavor of pudding in your comment and also feel free to check out Rockin’ Android on Twitter, Facebook, and at their official site.