Rating:

ITB Games have provided a fun shoot-em-up and your very own classic arcade in which to play it. Flaws aside, Kino One is a fun and fast-paced shooter that will give even the most fickle of shmup fans a good time. Bring your epilepsy medicine.

Additional Info

Full Review

There is much to be said and much that could be said about Kino One, so let's get to it. Its developers have billed it as a retro-style shooter, and it does come with its very own arcade and retro mini-games, but this is a bit misleading. While it calls on great shooters of ages past, it bears more of a resemblance to modern shmups of recent decades.

The game begins with a tutorial from The Doc. This is probably superfluous if you are, like me, a fan of shmups but is helpful to those unfamiliar with the genre. It is done nicely and establishes the game's humorous tone. From there you a treated to a hand-drawn, narrated cutscene that establishes the story: also nicely done.

Finally, we are thrust into the game itself.

The ship has its standard, upgradable blaster ala Raiden and is approached from a top-down perspective. You are also granted modern shmup mechanics like a chargeable laser that turns enemy shots into point-giving stars (think Dodonpachi) and a warp ability that makes you temporarily invulnerable. You will need this as your shield is flimsy at best. However, it is the upgradable shot that is troublesome in that it either makes or breaks your play session. Having it leveled up makes your job infinitely easier; losing it makes it horribly difficult.

So we have standard shoot-em-up fare wrapped in a nice graphical package. Kino One does some less typical things in terms of perspective, as ships get slightly bigger as they approach your screen, and it combines 3D and hand drawn, Manga style sprites, to provide a cell shaded feel. There are also some rather nice glow effects.

My issue with the game, however, is pacing. The lovely wrapper it is placed in, voice over work and cutscenes, basic gameplay, all of this is fine. However, after a boring intro wave of asteroids, you are sent into wave after wave of the same 3-5 enemies in similar patterns. Where more masterful shmups provide you with different stages to admire, new enemies to dodge, and manic patterns to weave through, Kino One seems to give us the same stage again and again. The bosses are little exception and new levels only bring the same enemies in different colors.

Faults aside, Kino One does a great job of giving the player a very fun time and at $5 it is a steal. Try it.