"Samurai 20XX"

The Sega Genesis, home of countless shooters, has allowed some quite innovative shooters to come out and entertain fanatics. However, in most cases, the aforementioned innovations pertained mainly to the settings and subtleties mindless spray about; they would rarely change the real shoot-'em-up approach. M.U.S.H.A. falls into this category, and its differentiating factor is how the setting is actually a wacky medieval one, in particular a Japanese one.

Indeed, where one has gotten so accustomed to 'mere' robots or any other high-technological mechanical vehicles battling against others of the same kindred, M.U.S.H.A. instead opts for a setting where everything makes you think of a Samurai. And, by everything, I really mean it; vehicles, weapons used, even stages. While other games would merely put the action upon a chaotic world, M.U.S.H.A tries to give it a purpose with such genuine backgrounds.

In this regard, your screen alter ego, in the form of a ship that undergoes changes as it powers up, spews knives, the ones used by combatants such as Samurais and Ninjas, instead. As if that alone wasn't indication enough of the stylish settings of M.U.S.H.A., the enemies themselves will be more liable to prove it. The game itself begins with a twist as your comrades get killed, thus leaving you alone to fight the legions of foes bumped upon you.

As you consciously plod through the first streams of enemies vaguely wondering what the background reminds you of, you see dojo-like infrastructures depicting what resembles a town. Except this is a town that actually exists in air as layers upon layers of steel enable these same 'buildings' to stand afoot, round turrets surmounting most of those. Of course, when, at the same time, a Japanese temple slowly moves towards you amidst the desiccated far-away background, you obviously should not request further proof. The Japanese temple itself stands as the first boss; yes, this yellow temple, with a skull adorning its top section, is actually a boss.

Later, in the second stage, sections of the backgrounds, in the form of pillars, converge upon you and attempt to crush you. Of course, given how they always do so in a purely straight path and never diagonally, avoiding them when they're approaching isn't that tough. However, the middle of the stage, where a mid-boss in the form of a face that will spray bullets upon you, combined with this pillar attack, may prove too much. At the same time, the extraordinary music accompanying this stage should be enough to give you that much required adrenaline boost. Overcome the double cannon, complete with flame shots, that challenges you at the end, and stare in awe at yet another inspired background.

Here, what begins as a decidedly black stage develops into something unfathomable as tiles disappear to reveal a lava pit from which enemies suddenly appear. Granted, by now, this overwhelming aspect of M.U.S.H.A. won't come as much as a surprise after the onslaught of enemies you had to face during the first two stages, but the way this is done is eerie. These enemies that almost magically present themselves near you, expecting a handshake, are as devilish as the mechanical spiders that suddenly sprang across the edges of the screen during the previous level.

M.U.S.H.A. simply takes you by the throat as soon as the game begins. If anything else, a quick survey of the fourth stay, which culminates with an impressive boss, will show this. Dark, foreboding clouds partially cover a town as the weather itself predicts something evil lurking ahead. Logically, the presence of these clouds, which also cover a decimated town, could enable enemies to hide until the proper moment they attack you. And, even more logically, they don't actually hesitate to do so. Other mechanical threats such as chord-spinning robots, minuscule planes, and countless other freaks, come to salute you.

Unfortunately, beyond this breathtaking fourth stage, the game fades into an uninspired shooter with a feeling of deja-vu. The fifth stage, which allows you to glide swiftly across a forest, studded with desolate brown patches of arid soil, can be seen as merely average and you may or may not like its setting. The two final stages prolong this air of deja-vu. Sure, in the sixth stage, the flashing light effects makes the lava appear more threatening and it's clear how the action is now quicker, but it sadly feels like trekking through the third level again. And I particularly hate this state of affairs in shooters.

Of course, it would be ridiculous to judge shooters by their settings and backgrounds alone. The main factor of shooters still remains the weaponry system found within. Unluckily, this is where M.U.S.H.A drastically fails to be charming. M.U.S.H.A.'s weapon system, which includes only a limited number of power-ups, is extremely weak. Sure, your tiny side-cannons, which can nevertheless be smeared into oblivion, can be assigned a role among half a dozen ones, but even that isn't enough to conceal the primary weapon's limited power-ups. In a final try to hide this, your alter ego itself changes each time it powers up, the whole of which is very reminiscent of Macross.

Indeed, you will soon find out that your ship is actually changing into a robot. Some of these temporary forms can be quite hilarious, as one of them even seems to have humans (the guy in Goldorak?) as legs. The graphics make up for any goofy appearance though. M.U.S.H.A. looks stunning, and the animation remains smooth, without any slow-downs. Your Samurai-esque entity, whether it is in its simplest form or after having evolved several times, is visually impressive. Some later forms even go as far as looking like big mechs, which is awe-inspiring, considering this game is a mere horizontal shooter.

To make things even more impressive, M.U.S.H.A. boasts a nice cast of opponents. Other than the normal enemies that never seem to run out of fuel as they constantly fly across the screen, the bosses look superb. The first boss, a Japanese temple on wheels, has a downright hypnotic feel with a towering skull upon it. It is true that the bosses you will encounter in the couple of stages after it do not manage to be as visually appealing, but there's more eye-candy than imaginable in here. The gigantic ship of the sixth stage should please even the most finical gamers, with dozens of turrets and laser beams making your life a nightmare.

To accentuate the medieval Japanese atmosphere, a lot of mechanical warriors actually look like such things as Samurai. In particular, the gray or yellow robots that either swing chains or use more orthodox weapons remain the finest opponents throughout the game. As a matter of fact, they remain the sole reason why I'd play the game again.

Putting its slight innovations aside, M.U.S.H.A. safely opts for a traditional techno soundtrack. The first two tracks are simply brilliant. The second one in particular feels extremely upbeat although it alternates between long strings and short, more exciting ones. I often find myself playing up to this second stage, seeing the whole of it, and resetting the game to play until this same level again. Call me crazy, but that's how good this music is.

Yet again, there is that same let-away feel about the music as in the settings of the stages. The only difference is that, this time, this insipid fall in quality occurs as early as the fourth stage. While I personally don't really like the third stage's music, I do acknowledge how it is wonderfully orchestrated and anyway, to bash it would irritate all those who, between unrelenting fights of Tekken, never stopped recommending this game to me. I have no doubt you will agree with me as far as the remaining tracks are concerned though. They are utterly middling and I was as indifferent to them as I was when I got my now-deceased Virtual Boy.

While M.U.S.H.A. has only seven levels, these are quite long, with the last two being somewhat exhaustive. I am however willing to bet I felt like this because I was bored though. And, although some bosses (including mini-bosses) do not deserve their appellation and the streaks of ammunition granted upon them, M.U.S.H.A. remains a relatively hard shooter. Ironically, it happens that a few 'normal' enemies overshadow these bosses in both style and effectiveness in opposing your quest.

Had the developers taken the time to grant all the levels the same ingenuity as the first four ones, and had they actually thought of a decent weaponry system, I have no doubt M.U.S.H.A. would have made a damn fine title. As it is, only half of it is actually worth seeing, and moreover, the game seriously lacks replay value (it's a vicious cycle, really). Remember one thing though: the half that is good isn't just that, it's awesome.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 07/25/05