Knowyourmobile: The vertical arcade shooter tends to be associated with Japanese developers like Cave, thanks largely to amazing titles such as DoDonPachi and Espgaluda II, amongst others. However, Shogun: Rise of the Renegade proves conclusively that Western devs can produce experiences that are just as dazzling, addictive and downright playable.
AR: Mobile shmups generally come in two flavors: there’s usually the remakes/ports of classic games that are absurdly difficult. Hardly accessible, but also extremely pure. Then, there’s the modern games made to support modern touch screen devices. these are usually a lot easier to control, but aren’t as pure in difficulty. Shogun: Rise of the Renegade bucks the trend! This is bullet hell as it was meant to be. There’s lots of bullets to dodge, and giant ships to destroy. Players do have a shield bar, that serves as a way to soften the blows that bullet hell games dole out in spades, but also works as a way to introduce players to bullet grazing. Flying near bullets without hitting them refills the shield bar.
Shogun takes your average bullet-hell shooter and kicks it up a notch. The game itself isn't on par with ESPGALUDA II, but it certainly makes itself comfortable in my new iCADE. I took into consideration how ESPGALUDA II was about four times the price of Shogun, and the game does play very consistently. Bullet-hell games have been around for a while, dating back in the arcade days with games like Raiden and DonPachi. We all know that CAVE's specialty is danmaku (弾幕, meaning bullet curtain), but coming from an indie developer, this game is actually quite entertaining.
Pocket Gamer - Despite the insistence of hardcore gamers that the iPhone isn’t a ‘proper’ games system, 2D bullet-hell shooters have found a highly receptive audience on platform.
Titles such as DoDonPachi Resurrection and DeathSmiles would normally have been the preserve of truly dedicated otaku who think nothing of selling a kidney to import the latest limited edition box set from Japan, yet they're now playable on a mobile phone at a price point which is only slightly higher than a pint of beer.
