🌟 Tanuki Justice | Review | Nintendo Switch | 8/10 | "Retro Arcade Action Not For The Faint Of Heart" 🌟 @PixelHeart_eu #IndieGames #GameDev

Tanuki Justice was quite a surprise to me. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect when installing the game but I certainly wasn’t expecting what feels to me to be a faithful interpretation of a fictional 8-bit Japanese arcade game.

It’s well designed but I do feel that its appeal will be somewhat niche.

In Tanuki Justice you – and one other friend, if available – make your way through seven high-octane stages in a bid to defeat the end of level bosses.

The visuals are really reminiscent of bright 80’s arcade games and the way in which the enemies leap on-screen and attack in set patterns, combined with your characters’ 8-way shuriken throwing with a limited distance – means that you can’t stand back and take your time, you’ll always be moving, weaving through enemy fire and double-jumping through some saucy platforming sections.

With the design being focused on vintage arcade action, it should come as no surprise that this is a game that shuns energy bars. It’s one hit, one life and only a scarce shield pickup can change that fact.

The levels are quite short and punchy, however, and on the standard difficulty, you do get a hang of the rhythms after a few tries. It’s challenging but not unfairly so. The higher difficulties however can be right little tinkers.

The control scheme is fundamentally quite standard with double jumps, shuriken attacks and a power attack that requires charging but there are additional buttons that lock attacks in a specific direction and lock your character in a certain line of movement.

I didn’t use these personally but I daresay that there are some speedrunners out there that will utilise these extra abilities to weave a route of balletic beauty through the stages, the likes of which I can but dream.

Tanuki Justice feels like a game that is designed to be mastered. At only seven stages, it may seem quite short but I think it will really appeal to those players that like to replay games from an arcade mindset, improving their scores and times.