Castle Shikigami 2 (PlayStation 2, 2004)

This game surprised me. I love shooters and know how hard they are to find in this "next-gen" world. Though it is short,only 5 levels with two parts each,the amount of charecters to choose from makes replay fun. It's no Gradius5 but it made me happy to find it on the PS2.

Castle Shikigami 2 obviously is the sequel to Castle Shikigami (better known as Mobile Light Force 2 here in the states). Like the zillions of shmups before them, Earth is under attack and it up to you to save us. Pretty cliche so far, but the storyline is not what we're here for. As for the gameplay, it's pretty standard: one button shoots, another lays waste with a special attack. You have seven characters to choose from, each with different firepower, special attacks and speed. What differs from the first is that you can choose two different special attack setting which adds an extra layer of depth. The graphics are pretty clean and slightly better than the original. The sound is little more J-pop and less Techno than the original.

So what sets this apart from the gazillion other shmups out there? The voice acting, primarily, or lack thereof. Let's just say their command of the English language is not up to par. The first time you hear it this "Engrish" it'll blow you away. It's often amusing to see what these characters are going to say next in their quaint mistranslations. Also, what is a positive trend in modern video games, you will eventually be able to beat this game. Play for six hours and you unlock freeplay mode. In addition its has extra options a debug mode and a gallery.

Bottom line, if you have a few hours to invest, you can't go wrong with this shooter. It's standard fare, plus it has very entertaining dialogue. The replay value is moderate with finding the seven characters' individual endings. For the money, you won't find a better shooter. An above average shmup, better than it's predesessor. I give a 3.5 out of 5.