There are still plenty of fans out there who appreciate a good "shmup" - shoot ‘em up, for short - especially the "bullet hell" variety.  These are shooters where ammunition comes flying at you from every single angle, and you need split-second timing or a hell of a lot of power-ups just to stay in...

Cave returns with another of its trademark bullet-hell shooters, but is this the best shooter on Xbox 360? Find out in our review.

Why are fighter pilots battling bombers and flying supervillains in the skies over Japan? Who knows: we don't speak Japanese, and only Akai Katana 's ending videos offer subtitles. But that doesn't diminish the excitement of dodging bullets in this wild side-scrolling shooter.

+ Unusual resource-gathering mechanics add an absorbing layer of shape-changing strategy; + Completely insane local co-op sessions

? Why so few English subtitles to go with all the Japanese speech

Akai Katana is a side-scrolling Shmup set in an alternate history Japan that sees you piloting your aircraft through Taisho era Japan in a constant easterly direction. Each of the five stages follow the same formula: you take down lots of smaller enemies before meeting the mid-boss, take that...

There's nothing quite like a good old-fashioned shoot-'em-up to get your pulse racing and your thumbs twitching. And if there's one company that knows a thing or two about hurling a barrage of beautifully crafted bullets at you, it's Cave.

Intricate and clever stage design; Multiple modes offer lots of depth; Over-the-top retro visuals; Plenty of challenge for seasoned players

Main campaign is very short

Cave lets loose another barrage of bullets that may not fly *quite* as far as before.

I simply love companies like Rising Star Games . They do their utmost best to bring us niche titles that big publishers simply would never touch. We have to thank them for bringing games like The King of Fighters XIII , the Harvest Moon series, Half-Minute Hero , Muramasa and Little King's Story .

European gamers take another trip to bullet hell thanks to Rising Star Games. Unlike most modern games, reading the manual for Akai Katana is essential. Not only is the games entire story contained within (threadbare even for a shoot ‘em up), it is also vital for understanding the more complicated...

Some innovation comes from combination, "mashups" as they are fondly known in the Tech start-up world. In the gaming world, we see this with trends like Action/RPG games, where developers try to bring out the best in both genres.

Ever since reviewing Sine Mora , I've been on a bit of a prolonged shooter binge. Granted, I'm rubbish at these kinds of games, but there are few genres that can send me into such a trance-like state as a good shooter-even more so if they are of the bullet hell variety.