MolaMolaAdventure

I had to fight a bit to get a controller mapped properly to it, but once I did: What is this? You go through the first stage and this looks like a throwaway cheap Shmup, but then it opens up to something actually rather good. No. Really good at times. I don't really want to spoil anything, but there is quite the atmosphere being built at times with the beautiful music and the use of shadows and transitions, throwing in gimmicks every now and then to liven things up. The bosses take on a horizontal Touhou style of multiple phases indicated by multiple life bars and there is good variation and imagination at play with the bosses. To help new players there are upgrades which can be purchased at the start of every run in the menu, including health, power and replenishment. I'd say the replenishment of health and bombs makes some of the moments a bit trivial, but then you get to the end. Even with all the health in the world, you will still need to learn something. The hitbox on the MolaMola is small, but it's not visibile so it's hard to gauge gaps at times. It's only February, but this has been my most pleasant experience with a Shmup this year. I'm really glad to have stumbled on…

It's fun little danmaku shmup with plenty of personality and nice looking visuals. The boss fights are well-made and it's fun going through their different phases. The length of the game is perfect for my tastes and I didn't mind going through the game two times in the same day.