Castle of Shikigami III shoots up Wii next spring

by Jason Dobson { Dec 17th 2007 at 10:15AM }

Once upon a time sprite-based shoot-em-ups, or shmups as the kids would say, were all the rage, casting players in the role of spaceships, witches on broomsticks, and even penguins as they blasted away at anything that moved while deftly avoiding a seemingly nonstop stream of bullets. It was a simpler time, and while the industry has long since moved on, those of us with an eye for nostalgia and one foot firmly rooted in the past can jump in excitement at publisher Aksys' plans to bring Castle of Shikigami III, a vertical 'bullet hell'-style shmup to the Wii this coming spring 2008.

Thankfully checking motion sensitivity at the door, the game follows 2004's Castle Shikigami 2 and its hilariously covered prequel Mobile Light Force 2, both of which made it to these shores care of indie pub XS Games. While both of those titles were released at a budget price point, its unclear if Aksys will follow this tradition. What we do know is that Castle of Shikigami III will feature two player co-op and 10 selectable characters, making this certainly one to watch for those of us who refuse to grow up and recognize the polygons as our lords and masters.

Tags: aksys, Castle of Shikigami, Castle-of-Shikigami, CastleOfShikigami, mobile light force, mobile-light-force, MobileLightForce, shmup, shooters

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Poops @ Dec 17th 2007 10:24AM

"Deafly avoiding a seemingly nonstop stream of bullets," eh?

I suppose the deaf do have the same advantage in dodging bullets that the blind have in dating The Elephant Man: their fear is not an issue, for they know not to be afraid.

I see what you did there.

Princess Skittles @ Dec 17th 2007 10:40AM

I'm pretty sure most of the graphics in this game are polygonal. They do a very good job of looking like sprites though.

jeffx @ Dec 17th 2007 10:50AM

I am teh buying. Thanks AKSYS!

Lord_Quinton @ Dec 17th 2007 11:09AM

Too bad the translation of this probably won't be as awesome as CSII.

"I like girls... But now, it's about JUSTICE."

B1gC72 @ Dec 17th 2007 1:24PM

but isnt that part of the fun? gotta love that Engrish!

Starfeeder @ Dec 17th 2007 11:19AM

I love those kinds of games, shooter to mean means the old school vertical or horizontal scrolling shooters. Vertical is my fav.

http://starfeeder.com

B1gC72 @ Dec 17th 2007 1:41PM

wow Starfeeder, that is a quality site you have there. not really a Starcraft fan myself but thats a nice site none the less.

BPM - The Revenge @ Dec 17th 2007 11:24AM

I've sometimes wondered about picking up Mobile Light Force 2, as I've heard good things about Shikigami no Shiro... But I'd REALLY hate for anyone to see that terrible, Charlie's Angels-inspired boxart in my collection (which had absolutely NOTHING to do with either game it was used for; I think this should go down in history as "a boxart worse than Megaman 1!").

Maybe I'll get Castle Shikigami 2, though. It has Engrish, which is always good. As for #3? Can't see a reason not to get it, either.