G.G Series: Dark Spirits

Genre: Shmup

Players: 1

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Review:

Dark Spirits is a Shmup released on the Nintendo DSi via the DSiWare service in 2011 as well as being released on the Nintendo 3DS eShop. In this game, players control a magically flying man with four “familiars” floating around him, commanding those familiars to take on different formations as they blast away at enemies.

The presentation here is pretty good, if somewhat minimal. The game uses 2D pixel art for its visuals, with your character having his well-animated coat constantly flapping in the wind, and bullets satisfyingly filling the screen at times. This is backed by a surprisingly catchy soundtrack, with synthesized themes that seem like they would have fit in a game like Castlevania. For some examples, check out the themes for Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, and the Special Boss Theme.

The game itself is a solid Shmup, though I think its central mechanic doesn’t really work as well as one would hope. Grabbing a power-up with a different color than one of your familiars changes its color and the type of attack it uses, and grabbing one with the same color powers it up… however, there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason deciding which of those two things will happen when you have familiars of multiple different colors. Will grabbing that blue power-up level up your current blue orb, or will it replace your already powered-up purple orb? The uncertainty of this sort of thing may make you hesitant to grab power-ups you want just because you don’t know if the game will put it to use the way you want to.

Also, I understand the reason why a Shmup may slow down your character while firing, to give the player some motivation to not be firing all the time… but that doesn’t make it less frustrating, especially when your movement in the game is already pretty slow.

It’s a shame that these issues mar this game, because otherwise Dark Spirits is a pretty satisfying entry in the genre. Granted, it’s a bite-size entry in the genre, but it also only sells for a bite-size $2. If you’re looking to add another fun Shmup to your Nintendo 3DS game library, this one is well worth its small asking price.

tl;dr – Dark Spirits is a Shmup that has you playing as a magically flying man with four “familiars” floating around him. The game’s power-up system has some issues, and the movement speed is a bit slow, but otherwise this is a satisfying entry in the genre, and one that’s well worth the small $2 price tag.

Grade: B-

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