hidden gen
In every level, the only control of your character's movement you have is to the left or right. This means that your character will automatically run through the level, stopping for boss fights and to wait for you to destroy certain objects. This does not mean that you can't affect the speed of the game; every level has a timer which ticks down from 99, and after boss fights and other events you get added time. Take too long on boss fights or other things, and the timer will tick down to 0, creating a life drain until you die or get bonus time. There is one side-scrolling level where you have a little more freedo, but you still need to move quickly.
The game's action is extremely intense, fast-paced and brutally difficult. Enemies will fly at you from all angles, doing a variety of attacks that you need to dodge or deflect with your sword. Both of your shooting modes are automatic, with the manual aim doing about twice as much damage over time as a lock-on. Using your sword is also necessary to take care of enemies that get to close or deflect missiles or other projectiles to kill bosses and enemies. Expect a miniboss or boss fight every 30 seconds to a minute. Even on easy, you will probably eat up quite a few continues as you master the controls, and the game has several difficulty modes.
Each of the game's admittedly few levels is completely different, and you will tackle everything from giant demons to intense swordfights to a Metal Slug-esque side scrolling level.Every boss is unique and memorable - one notable boss is actually a wall of rocks where you need to deflect the missiles it shoots onto specific rocks to stop some of its attacks and destroy a large part of the wall at one.
Due to the game's extremely fast nature and control setup, playing on a Gamecube controller is a very bad idea. Your thumbs will be stuck on the tiny D-pad and C-stick for the entire game, and your fingers will cramp up from mashing the shoulder buttons. I would definitely reccomend picking up a Classic Controller just to play this game.