Jeff Minter’s Akka Arrh - coming 2023 (Steam/Switch/Xbox/PS)

[m.sniffles.esq]

Okay, this thing has grown on me like a fungus (and I sorta had a feeling it would).
Don't get me wrong, it still occasionally makes me want to snap my controller in half.

Question to my PC brothers and sisters: Have you tried playing with mouse/trackball? I almost feel it would feel a bit better controlling as such, but I'm unsure. (if this is true, I'm definitely going to be grumpy I got it on the Switch)

[Necronom]

I decided to wait on Minter's Akka but I played lots of the original arcade version on the Atari 50 compilation. There, I felt mouse control felt very natural and better than my xbox controller.
Same with Quantum btw.
Switch version is still nice I guess because it's the ultimate portable one

[mrsmr2]

I find mouse makes it easier to play than with controller. I'm much more accurate with shots when it gets hectic.

[m.sniffles.esq]

Thank you (I had a feeling)


grrrr...

Switch version is still nice I guess because it's the ultimate portable one

I actually played again undocked this morning as I was curious as to whether the game was just bad to learn portably, or just bad to play portably period.
Unfortunately, I felt it was the latter for the same reasons I stated before. A good portion of the play-field is empty, little red enemies are too small, too dark, and blend into the background too easily, and text is too small to be readable. The last one really sours something I find pretty great about the game:

Minter's games are always encouraging--"great!", "good job!", etc--but Akka Arrh manages to be both encouraging and helpful. Telling you what you did well, what you didn't do so well, how much better/worse you did than your last run, WHY you did better/worse.

It's definitely a game of opposing forces. On one hand it's fucking with you and being obtuse, but on the other, it's being helpful and guiding you through it's obtuseness. I'm tempted to say it's both one of his most refined titles, yet also one of his most haphazard. And I kind of get the feeling that isn't an accident.

[m.sniffles.esq]

Big-ass article on Polygon