As much as 1UP would love nothing more than to praise Arc System Works and Aksys for bringing Shikigami to the Wii, it's a shame that gamers have been relegated to arcade ports as their only new shoot-em-up offerings these days -- no wonder people have lost interest in the genre.
As a port of the arcade game, Shikigami certainly succeeds in delivering the same level of shooting intensity at home on the Wii -- it's just that, fundamentally, this is a game that really only the most hardcore shooter fans will truly master and then enjoy. Thankfully, for the rest, there are plenty of great shooters already available on Virtual Console, where $40 will go quite a long way.
Dabe writes "Here is a top 5 list of the worst video game voice acting work, including a special mentions section at the end for some truly incredulous entries that couldn’t make this list of horrendous proportions. Anyways, without further ado, descend the page and descend into the madness of poorly scripted and translated Japanese imports..."
I agree Resident evil had some bad voice acting, and lets not forget the horrible FMV as an intro, but let's be real here, that was part of the charm of that game, it was for me anyways.
The Laser writes: "Adding a few twists to the classic vertically scrolling shooter genre, Castle of Shikigami III brings solid, arcade-style shooting action to the Wii. With ten unique characters, there's plenty of variety in attack styles, along with challenging gameplay modes. Players can choose to battle the foes alone or in co-operative mode, and play in boss attack and dramatic battle modes as well. The game's unique Tension Bonus system which allows you to build up extra shooting power and score multipliers adds a strategic element to the gameplay. Shikigami's fluid controls allow for screen-filling bullet battles and epic boss battles to create a solidly entertaining title that should please fans of the genre."
Thunderbolt writes: "Alcaland is in trouble. In danger of being wiped of the face of the map, in fact. Not from war or pestilence or anything you might expect; up until now, the country has been thriving under its monarchy. No, this crisis is beyond the constraints of human comprehension. The legendary Swan Castle has reappeared in the skies, blotting out the sun and is now slowly descending onto the helpless populace. Thousands of people have suddenly vanished with the return of this ancient behemoth, and there's no telling if they've been killed or sent to some other dimension. Those who remain face a far more terrifying fate; they're being hunted down by the legions of otherworldly monsters spawned from the castle's arrival. Not all is lost, though. A handful of psychics and their shikigami partners have arisen to stop the bloodshed, and you'd better pray they succeed. If left unchecked, Alcaland and the rest of the world could be consumed in darkness…"
Pros:
-A nice assortment of gameplay modes.
-Ten characters with varied playing styles.
-Levels are satisfyingly tough.
-The dialogue is so awful it's great.
Cons:
-Does absolutely nothing new for the genre.
-Only five stages.
-Steep pricing for relatively little content.
