Akka Arrh Assessment – Colourful, However Cluttered

Akka Arrh is a reimagined model of a prototype Atari arcade machine from the ‘80s. Initially scrapped as a consequence of a scarcity of curiosity, the trailer for the re-release claims that solely three cupboards have ever been seen. 40 years later, when Atari reached out to veteran designer Jeff Minter (Tempest 2000, Polybius) to remake certainly one of its video games, he selected Akka Arrh. The result’s a reimagining of the unique idea, fused with Minter’s signature psychedelic visuals and a few modern-day enhancements. Whereas the sport may be enjoyable, its cluttered visible design closely detracts from the expertise.

Akka Arrh is a top-down shooter the place you’re tasked with defending your self from colourful, summary enemies utilizing bullets and bombs. Bombs destroy most elementary enemies and create chain explosions, that are the primary manner you acquire factors. For each enemy you blow up with a bomb, you get a bullet, which you must use to destroy the larger enemies which are proof against bombs. To get probably the most factors doable, you solely need to drop one bomb after which preserve the explosion chaining for as a lot of the extent as doable. Whenever you get a very good chain going, Akka Arrh feels superior; waves of geometric shapes destroy enemies earlier than they even hit the bottom, and the identify of the chain listed on the high of the display will get more and more sillier.

This sport can be very exhausting, even on regular mode, which is typical for a sport of its period. In an arcade, it pays to have video games with extremely excessive ability ceilings to maintain gamers coming again for extra. In a readjustment for a contemporary viewers, the sport saves your highest-scoring makes an attempt from every stage and permits you to soar again in everytime you need as an alternative of forcing you thru the gauntlet of all the degrees that got here earlier than. Nonetheless, ranges that had me stumped had been simply as exhausting, even once I had full well being and a very good bullet rely. It’s much less of a matter of lowering the issue and extra of a matter of comfort.

Whereas I typically revered Akka Arrh’s difficult gameplay, one component persistently irritated me. The sport’s digicam follows your cursor, which supplies you free rein to fly across the stage. It doesn’t seem to be that may be a foul factor till you notice how incessantly bullets and enemies spawn off-screen once you’re aiming too far in the other way. It’s even worse when you have got a power-up that kills enemies from far-off, and also you kill one which launches bullets on dying with out even realizing it. One hit ends your entire chain, and in a sport as intense as this, it’s irritating to have your rating tousled by an element that feels out of your management. 

That connects to my important gripe with this sport: the cluttered artwork path. In a common sense, the flashing psychedelic visuals, whereas disorienting, had been one thing I grew to tolerate. For anybody with delicate eyes, there’s an choice to disable them within the settings, which is a pleasant contact. However the visible components that basically trouble me are the simultaneous lack and extra of knowledge on the display. As your chain will increase, the sport congratulates you with explosions, swirling textual content, and large, increasing symbols, however the sport requires such a excessive stage of focus that this usually melts into one layer of distracting noise. It’s particularly irritating when there’s data I want the sport was extra upfront about, like how a lot well being I’ve left or which power-ups I’ve energetic.

It’s clear plenty of care was put into the enemy design, the foolish textual content, and the audio cues, however plenty of the sport is so summary that it’s exhausting to parse what’s occurring. Generally the display flashes pink, however I couldn’t inform if it was good or unhealthy. Generally I heard a pulsing sine wave, however I had no thought what brought about it. The textual content I learn was usually humorous, however when it’s organized in a spinning circle and I’m frantically making an attempt to blast killer polygons, I simply don’t have time to learn it. 

Ultimately, I put a few of the items collectively. For instance, the pink flashing display occurs once you kill a particular enemy, the pulsing sine wave often means an enemy is invading, and if the middle of the display isn’t too busy, you possibly can see how a lot well being you have got within the distance beneath your ship. Akka Arrh isn’t a sport of unsolvable mysteries or indecipherable gameplay, however the adjustment curve on the highway to having the ability to play it with full understanding is far steeper than it must be, particularly for a sport promoting its modernized sport mechanics. 

Akka Arrh is an fascinating experiment. Regardless of its shortcomings, Atari followers can nonetheless discover some enjoyable on this blaster from the previous – the sport simply comes with a giant asterisk. As a lot as I’m excited to see a misplaced piece of gaming historical past revitalized and dropped at trendy consoles, overwhelming visuals and complicated, summary sport mechanics convey the expertise down.