Trouble Witches Final! Episode 01 Daughters of Amalgam

We're very much in my territory with this release - as an avid fan of classic shooters, mostly thanks to the efforts of Japan's Cave developer and James buying every special edition known to man, I've come to both know and love the classic Japanese shmup, none moreso than the wonderful sub genre of cute-em-up. Konami led the way for me on the SNES with Twinbee and Parodius, but I entered a wider world of titles once I found out how to import from Japan. Then I just started going and bringing them back with me.

Originally a doujin title that made its debut way back in 2007 at Japan's Summer Comiket 72, Trouble Witches Episode 01: Daughters of Amalgam quickly gained a following. The kawaii aesthetic, memorable witches and retro pastel palette made it both friendly and appealing, while the classic side-scrolling shooting action made it familiar to many gamers in what was rapidly becoming a world of 3D open-world action games. 

The game had the fidelity to go the distance too, the tight and tactical shooting action making it a mainstay for fans, in much the same way Cave would create their own long-running Witch shooter with Deathsmiles. Of course, both owe a tip of the witch's hat to Cotton 100%, so much so in the case of Trouble Witches that she even makes an appearance in this release courtesy of DLC.

Explosions everywhere and the bosses are terrific!

Updated and refined over arcade cabinets and Xbox Arcade (which I reviewed back in 2011!), the game has popped up plenty over the years, and if you're a fan of the shmup genre, chances are you've played a level or two in your time. Of course, as the latest iteration of the game, all of these previous updates are present and correct, so at time of writing, this is the game at its finest - and that's a high bar.

The game features twelve witches, each with their own attack style to vary the game somewhat. To bolster their abilities, they also come with a familiar, be it a flying elephant, stuffed bear, crow or even a turtle in an genie's lamp (yes, I picked Raya for the Arabian Nights aesthetic!) and each of the characters is rated for difficulty on the selection screen. If you pay £4.49 you can add the adorable Cotton to the mix, so I was in for that almost as soon as she hit the store. Curiously she's rated for "Beginners", which seems an odd choice for DLC, where most people would be coming for more content after becoming proficient with what's on offer from the other 12 available characters, but she's an excellent addition regardless. 

There's a witch for every style and type - mine's Raya

Once you've selected your magical girl, the shooting action on offer is absolutely first rate. On top of your weapons, you have a magical shield ability which throws up a barrier which not only deflects bullets, but turns them into coins. This feels very generous in early levels, the ability to essentially profit from a "duck and cover" technique seems too easy, but you'll be relying on it massively later on, as the absolute flood of projectile magic makes it a necessity to survive to the end. Of course there's a drawback - after the effect has worn off, you'll be vulnerable for a brief time, but that's all it takes to go down in flames. It's not a tool to be overused, but deployed strategically as part of your arsenal. 

In fact, the game could best be described as a tactical risk and reward obstacle course - the aforementioned coins need to be collected to use in the game's store, a hot-air balloon manned by Pumpkin-hatted Ptheny, who floats into each stage and gives you the option of buying additional items to increase your power. When she pops up and what's on offer is entirely random too, so you can't "learn" a strategy to attack a level, you have to work with what you're offered and the coinage you've earned. The random nature adds a lot of value to the game, as it just doesn't get old. The items on offer range from extra attack to decoys, but your time in the shop is limited so you'll need to be decisive. 

The little shop of delights

This mechanic provides the game's biggest dilemma, as you'll have to navigate taking down enemies and collecting the coins they drop, which can be done in one of two ways; fly in to catch them, which is incredibly risky given the number of other enemies on screen, or stop shooting and cast magic to pull the coins toward you. This of course leaves you in the unenviable position of not shooting, allowing enemies to amass while you pick up your bounty from their friends. It's a real balancing act that has enough elasticity to allow you to decide what your priorities are, how you want to attack each level and whether taking risks to make life easier in the long run is a better strategy than just taking down enemies with weaker attacks. 

And it's all the more wonderful for it.

While technically a playthrough of the game's six distinct levels doesn't take long, variety is the key here. Six levels with four difficulty levels and a stock twelve witches to pick from, coupled with the random store mechanic means that there are plenty of approaches that can be taken to wring the most out of the game. You also have the different game modes - Arcade, Score Attack, Valpurgis Night (a special "expert" mode), Boss Attack, Endless Mode, Arcade Cabinet and Practice Mode. Phew.

The game settings can be tinkered with too - You can edit number of lives, show things on screen like player hits, boss weaknesses, auto magic card, auto magic circle and even turn world ranking on or off. It's pretty comprehensive and honestly the only thing I would have liked to complete the package would have been a gallery mode in order to enjoy all the wonderful illustrations and some display options to mimic older screens, though the latter is a bit of a cheat since the game originated in 2007 so scanlines wouldn't have been evident at the time of release. 

It doesn't matter how bratty they are, I still feel bad for 'em 

It was clearly a labour of love from the outset, from the wonderfully imaginative graphics to the enemy formations and risk vs reward mechanic. The design is just *so* tight that it's a joy to play each and every level. We've had so many fantastic shoot-em-ups this year that really have been spoiled, but finishing the year on this absolute banger is just the triumphant cherry on an already incredible cake. 

Oh, and if you love the art as much as I do, there are a bunch of free wallpapers on the ININ store! (You can also pick up the Collectors Edition with a soundtrack and artbook if you're a physical collector too).