KAMUI was originally released back in 1999, over 15 years ago: It was a shmup that hit the Japanese PC doujin scene. Now in 2014, it has finally made its way to the Western market on Steam and other digital storefronts. And despite its age, it’s still as fun and inviting as ever.
The game does have a story, but it’s a little inconsequential, as it’s told during the game’s ending rather than in an attract mode. But for those concerned, the game is a part of the Tale of the Alltynex trilogy, with KAMUI being the third game chronologically in the overall story, yet the first released to market. The gameplay is pretty much like other shmups, but the twists comes in how the mechanics interplay with the standard shooting. Your ship can takes several hits before the shield strips away and leaves you with one hit left, but you can collect power-ups to restore shield power. There are also power ups to strengthen your cannons. Instead of screen clearing smart bomb abilities though, the game has a self recharging meter that lets you perform a homing lightning attack that lets you take out enemies that are on a plane that you main guns can’t reach. Holding the button down will allow you to lock-on to multiple targets. In addition, holding this button down while shooting with the main gun will unleash a powerful laser that can erase incoming shots. Also, the game has a kill-streak combo meter that lets you rack up points. And while the game is still challenging, it’s a much more welcoming game than other shooters, and even more to the point is that the game has unlimited continues, ensuring that players can finish the game’s five levels without issue. Although the real goal of any shmup is to get high scores, speed-run, and 1 credit clear the game in one sitting: All on varying difficulties.
There isn’t much wrong with the game, but some things could have been done. While it is the same game from 15 years ago, there are some things absent like resolution settings or upgraded visuals or music. The music is decent, but it uses MIDI synthesizers instead of something higher quality. But altogether KAMUI is a game worth looking into for any shmup fan.
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Be sure to check out the ALLTYNEX Second review here on Gametactics as well. You can buy each game individually
or buy all three games for an amazing price here on Steam.
