Akka Arrh

To be sure, Akka Arrh is a niche game: to enjoy it, you not only need to enjoy old school arcade shooters, you also need to enjoy Llamasoft’s specific brand of psychedelic weirdness on top of that, as well as the weird idiosyncrasies in the game design. But if all of that appeals to you – and to be honest, it appeals to me way more than I thought possible – then the good news is that Akka Arrh exists, and it’s pretty fun.

Akka Arrh is a great arcade throwback with some cool, vintage vibes. The cost of the game at the time this review was published is a bit more than I might jump at, but the action and trippy visuals will keep you busy testing your arcade skills for a while.

Akka Arrh is a super cool game which is impossible not to like, and very difficult to put down.

There are times when I really did start to feel like I was getting Akka Arrh, that I was so close to slipping into that state of bliss the best arcade games can provide. Inevitably though, some new mechanic would show up and knock me right out of it. That’s not to say I didn’t have fun with Akka Arrh, it’s an incredibly interesting game worth a look from fans of classic arcade games and fans of Jeff Minter, but the same issues that kept that original prototype from the 80s from seeing the light of day are still present and stop it from being a must-play.

Akka Arrh is worth investigating for hardcore shooter fans of course – it has a lot of visual appeal and is certainly something different. Everyone else may want to consider if they can truly handle this eclectic neon fever dream.

There are fifty levels to play through, and each one presents a different shape and a different challenge to overcome. If you get into what it’s laying down, Akka Arrh will keep you busy for a while. Not just in beating the levels, but also in improving your scores. The tricky thing is whether or not you will get into it, as it’s a lot more demanding than the likes of Tempest 2000 without really being more fun. Atari and Minter fans will probably enjoy it well enough, and those who want to play a very unconventional shooter might dig it too. Others may find its complicated gameplay mechanics just a little too much for a little too little.

As irreverent and disruptive as one has come to expect from the mind of Jeff Minter, Akka Arrh is a game that, rather than based around all-out cattle space warfare, requires a certain level of restraint to wring the most from its scoring potential. Learning to dally with its diverse and ever-changing threats is almost mathematical, but still liberating and rewarding to overcome. It may struggle to appeal in the long-term in the same way as Tempest or his recent Polybius, owing to its slightly less absorbing construction; and those uninitiated in Minter’s unusual thought processes may find it altogether abstruse. Nevertheless, it certainly earns a rightful place in his catalogue of psychedelic, slightly barmy, and altogether addictive score-based challenges.

Akka Arrh is an interesting experiment. Despite its shortcomings, Atari fans can still find some fun in this blaster from the past – the game just comes with a big asterisk. As much as I’m excited to see a lost piece of gaming history revitalized and brought to modern consoles, overwhelming visuals and confusing, abstract game mechanics bring the experience down.