Tenta Shooter (PC) Review

The fairy rescue operation plays out in a manner typical of the shmup genre. Take control of Kei as she flies through five stages of increasingly intense action. Wave after wave of woodland creatures will assail the heroine, spewing hundreds of bullets. As one would expect, massive bosses await at the end of every stage. Their every intention is to crush the fairy with superior firepower. For anyone with some familiarity with STGs, getting into this one is as easy as turning their own palm. Achieving mastery is an entirely different story.

In order to have a chance of success in the nightmarish forest, players must familiarize themselves with the Bullet Counter. This special ability will "catch" any and all bullets that are close to the fairy. Those bullets are then converted into homing lasers, which destroy any foes that happen to be close by. The more bullets that get caught, the more destructive of a force the lasers become. Counters also award a multiplier bonus, making every kill worth up to 32 times its original value.

However, one must also be aware of the Bullet Counter's limitations. After it's been used, the player must then wait for a gauge to replenish. Collecting dekopon fruit will hurry the process along. These treats - which resemble oranges - will appear whenever an enemy is destroyed, or a success counter is performed. This is all the more reason to know when to counter. Enemies will sometimes hesitate before firing off their entire payload. In other words, don't waste the counter on one or two bullets. Read the situation, wait for an opportunity, and then make an impact.

Numerous other factors go into the high score. Secret items such as tentacle tokens and shining fairies are worth truckloads of points. Most are obtained from destroying everything, though a handful requires secret conditions to be fulfilled. Be sure to check out anything that looks suspicious. Though a playthrough of this game only takes about twenty minutes, there's a lot of replay value in learning each stage.

Before the game begins, players can choose their fairy type. This determines Kei's weapon, her speed, as well as the effectiveness of her Bullet Counter. As the game suggests, beginners should start with Type-B, as its powerful spreadshot will make short work of anything. Although, Type-B is limited in that It makes the fairy very slow. Additional fairy types are unlocked through continuous play. One of them, Type-C, completely changes the Bullet Counter. Under this type, the counter stays onscreen as long as the corresponding button is held. It drains the gauge at a rapid pace and high combos are more difficult to achieve. Still, the chance of survival greatly increases. It's practically to the point of being overpowered. Without a significant understanding of the game and how it works, players won't be able to scratch their Type-C scores with any of the others.

Death is handled quite a bit differently compared to other shmups. Instead of lives, Kei has a death gauge. Any damage she takes will fill it by one-third. Eating dekopon fruit will drain the gauge. It's an interesting spin on the system, and does a great job encouraging players to perform exceptional bullet counters. One of the unlockable modes is called "Dying." Simply put, the death gauge fills on its own, prompting the collection of as much fruit as possible. It's the greatest challenge for anyone who believes that they're the best at the game.

The Shock Mode is a curious addition. Whenever the player achieves a specific task, they're awarded a card. These cards can then be used in Shock Mode to change various parameters. They can make the game easier by increasing the strength of the fairy's weapons, or make it tougher by having the enemy fire more bullets. It's a neat feature to play around with, but won't last long. Someone is more likely to spend all of their time just trying to unlock the cards, as the challenges they're tied to can be quite difficult.

These unlockable cards have a secondary feature. When the "hentai filter" is turned off, they'll display various pornographic images. The theme here is tentacles and… Yeah… Let's just leave it at that. Fair warning: there's no innuendo or creative censorship here; this is explicit tentacle porn, something not a lot of people can stomach.