Ikaruga and Castlevania just crashed together!!! The Result; NEAT.
The story is very well told, and very well written, though, as to make this spoiler free, I will not get into it, but let's just say, few surprises, the narrative is good and the cutscenes are neat.
Graphics are very dark wit a few color touches here and there, it is posible that when you first see this game you will think back and remember another dark little game called Limbo. The motion is pretty accelerated, even if you are playing on a 60Hz TV, it looks as though you are playing on a 120Hz TV screen, ad that is very cool. Backgrounds are rendered beautifully, and the few light sources that exist within the ingame world makes them look that more dramatic.
Now, onto the gameplay, when you first start playing you think "Hey, another 2D platformer", and at times that is true, you run - very fast I might add - and get you weapon - MVC 3 Fans are in for a treat, the game has some kind of air combo system - you can bounce off walls - Megaman X fans are going YAY!!! right abut now - and then the games goes all flashback and bam!!! You are a few thousand years back and you get a new challenge - Ikaruga fans please rise - As mentioned before, this game is a mixture of a 2D scroller and the shooter called Ikaruga, there are two types of energies, light and dark, and much like in Ikaruga, Light force field absorbs light energy, and dark energy kicks you A** when in light mode, and viceversa.
Since the game is pretty fast paced, it can be tough to overcome some obstacles, but that is what makes it interesting, that goes al throughout the game and makes it all that FUN. You explore, you kick but, and all this while changing spiritual energy that could kill you.
So, if you are looking for something to do over spring break, weekend unemployment and/or if you have a trust fund and don't have to work because you are filthy rich, well for a mere 800 MP you will have some hours of fun and if you are an achievement hunter you will have more hours of fun.
Final Score.
Graphics; 9.0
Gameplay: 9.0
Music: 8.0
Story: 9.0
The fact that they went and combined Two of everyone all time favorites: 10
Cheers: ONI mike