I finally got my hands on Muramasa: The Demon Blade for the Nintendo Wii. It was developed by Vanilla Ware, the studio that did Odin Sphere on the PS2, and localized by Ignition Software.
The game is beautifully animated and the amount of detail really shines, which showcases the amount of work that went into it. Presented in a 2D side scrolling format, the backgrounds and characters pop out at you. You have two playable characters, Kisuke (male) and Momohime (female), with whom you control using the Wiimote and Nunchuk.
I started up the game by choosing Momohime, and began with the tutorial, which did a great job of getting me used to the controls. After finishing the tutorial I began the story and found myself already at ease using the standard game controls. When I reached my first battle, I felt as if I had already mastered the combat system, and quickly eliminated all enemies on screen. Most of the attacking can be easily done by holding down the attack button while doing the moves with the analog stick on the Nunchuk. You can easily shoot left and right, up and down with a variety of attacks, disposing of enemies quickly and efficiently.
While fighting, your blades each have a gauge that keeps you informed of how much power the blade has left before it will break. If the blade breaks, you will have to switch to your other one until that one has regained its full strength. You can easily switch between blades using the C button and many times it will unleash a very powerful attack. You also have special attacks of your own, which can be unleashed using the Z button on the nunchuck.
Your health bar is actually a burning candle which shortens every time you take damage. Once the candle burns out, it is death and game over. Healing and using other items is very easy. You switch between items with left and right on the D-Pad, and press down on the D-Pad to use them.
The boss battle was a challenge, as the boss I fought had a lot of health and a decent amount of strong attacks. Just quickly shooting around the stage attacking like you would with a normal enemy wasn’t the best way to approach the fight. Watching the style of attacks and learning the routine helped figure out what attacks worked the best in taking him down.
Going into the boss battle, I noticed the voice acting kept the original Japanese dialogue and a floor rep did confirm it will be in the game. I really liked how they decided to keep that in the game, and it helped keep the feel that the game has. I also never noticed any slow down during any of the battles, even with my character moving very fast around the screen and while comboing attacks. This has quickly moved up to being one of my most anticipated titles coming later this year.
Muramasa: The Demon Blade is due out this fall and is being published by Ignition Entertainment for the Nintendo Wii.