Akai Katana is a side scrolling shmup, with planes, tanks, ships, and massive amounts of bullets. There are a number of planes and pilots to choose from, offering a variety of shot types and subweapons, and three game modes with different game play and scoring mechanics.
There is a bit of a learning curve to grasp the game mechanics, however they are worth learning. The difference between a new player and an advanced player is astronomical: a new player may shoot stuff and use bombs when in trouble, while an advanced player manipulates enemies to quickly charge up their gauges and spends most of the challenging sections as an INVINCIBLE NINJA, all while collecting huge amounts of point items and looking stylish in the process.
There are many subtle strategies to learn. For example, collecting bomb items clears the screen of bullets (not just using them). Thus, you can hold off on collecting bomb items until a tough section for an easy screen wipe.
Akai Katana has three game modes. While they may look the same from the first 10 seconds, they offer different game mechanics and scoring systems (one of which is drastically different), so it's a good idea to give them all a try and see which one you like.
The scoring systems are all really fun, and make the game vastly more interesting than simply shooting and dodging. These involve creating large numbers of gold items, which you cash in for huge point spikes. It takes a while to learn, but looks awesome when correctly executed.
Boss fights are definitely the highlight of the game. At first you face a human enemy who is sort of floating there. They fire a few volleys and get you warmed up, and then things hit the fan as they summon giant battleships, planes, and cannons to fly all over the screen shooting massive waves of bullets. The in-game scale gets a little weird looking (I'm not sure why a summoned bomber is ten times the scale of a regular one) but whatever, it's seriously cool looking.
The HD sprites are fantastic, with a high level of detail and animation in them. Optionally, you can choose origin mode if you want to see how the game originally looked in arcades.
I also have the Japanese release of this game. Interestingly enough, the North American version has some additional on-disc patching that makes formatting the screen on 4:3 arcade monitors easier. This may not be important to those playing on HDTVs, but for those looking for an authentic arcade experience it's really handy. Thanks to whoever got that into the game.
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