Ghost Blade HD

Ghost Blade HD is a brilliant entry into the shoot-'em-up genre for both newcomers and veterans alike. It strikes the tricky balance of offering a reasonable challenge to anybody who picks it up, but makes sure that the difficulty never gets out of hand. The deep gameplay and strategy allows for a variety of playstyles, and while the two-player co-op is a let down, the score attack mode will leave you coming back for more after you've bested the main game.

Ghost Blade HD features incredible classic shoot 'em up gameplay that's as rewarding as the best in the genre. However, its lack of content and disappointingly short campaign makes it fall just a little short of greatness.

Ghost Blade HD is a pretty good old-style bullet hell (the original version was published on Dreamcast two years ago), albeit a little too derivative and not so original. You'll have probably already played something better in the past, but there are not so many games like this on the PSN, and the 2-player mode is really fun.

Ghost Blade HD lovingly embraces the history of bullet hell shooters, providing classic substance with modern polish. Though these modern aesthetics proved vexing at times, it’s an experience worth seeing through.

Ghost Blade HD comes close to being a very good shoot ’em up but visual issues and a lack of ambition hold it back. That said, there aren’t many bullet hell shooters on the PS4 and this isn’t a bad option if you fancy sacrificing your thumbs and retinas to the cause.

While shoot 'em ups are conspicuously underrepresented on modern hardware, Ghost Blade HD's presence amounts to little more than a fleeting cameo. Just because it's the only port in the storm doesn't mean that anyone will stick around after the raging winds subside.

Ghost Blade HD has the 90s retrograde down pat, delivering a nostalgic retro shooter that’ll bring you back to that favorite arcade of yours. Enough keeps this from being a must buy, but the price point makes it appealing for anyone looking for a good ol’ time.

With an easy mode, truncated (basically non-existent outside of "defeat the AI called Shira") story, and a multiplayer option, Ghost Blade HD is a great gateway drug for anyone on the fence about getting back into shmups. It has all the mechanical makings of a great shooter, it just lacks that special spark in a few major areas.

For its price and what its trying to do, Ghost Blade HD isn’t the worst time. Navigating mazes of instant death in the form of the projectiles does have an inherent value. It’s just that there are so many better examples of the genre available across all platforms. If the player is looking for something to ease them into this type of game, this will fit the bill. The bullet pattern design does play fair. The real worry is that a newcomer might play this and wonder what all the fuss is about. Already indoctrinated fans will just find themselves bored in short order.

Whilst fifteen minutes may seem an incredibly short time for a game to last these days, most arcade shoot ’em ups are short and barely last half an hour. There’s nothing really new or exciting in Ghost Blade HD, but it’s a solid entry to a genre that is almost non-existent on current consoles.