Muramasa Rebirth

There have been a lot of ports on PS Vita this year, and some of them have been much better than others. The difference between good and bad rests on whether the developer puts in the effort to tailor the experience to the device.

Muramasa Rebirth is definitely a port made with care. Originally a Wii Remote title from 2009, this portable version has been transposed for the Vita's analogue controls wonderfully.

And on that OLED screen it looks simply gorgeous. It's a shame the gameplay can't keep up with the slick visuals, but Muramasa Rebirth is still a force to be reckoned with.

Muramasa Rebirth follows the connected stories of two katana-wielding ninjas. Both possess demon blades, and are capable of cutting down enemies as quickly as they pop up.

The game is a 2D hack-'n'-slasher, with a large emphasis on chaining together gorgeous combos and switching blades mid-battle to gain the advantage. Each of your demon blades comes with its own abilities and stats, and keeping blades on the fly to gain an advantage gives Muramasa a real edge.

The game mainly consists of dashing across terrain, collecting lost souls, and occasionally being accosted by enemies of all shapes and sizes. The action is fluid and tight, and you'll eventually feel like a real boss once you understand how it all flows together.

But while the world is expansive, and even has an element of of Metroid-like progression, it's the visuals that will really turn heads.

Muramasa Rebirth is an utter delight for your eyeballs, with rolling backdrops and nippy character animations that look incredible on the Vita's screen. It's the perfect game for showing off what the Vita is capable of.

There are numerous options for those people looking to expand on the base experience, such as forging new blades, levelling-up characters, and purchasing maps and items from the various salesman around the world.

But despite Muramasa Rebirth's gorgeous regions, much of the world feels wasted. You pelt through area after area, running then fighting, running then fighting. There isn't a whole lot of variation to this formula, and it slowly but surely starts to feel like a bit of a grind.

This is emphasised by the game's large-scale backtracking - you'll be constantly going back and forth through areas you've already seen, and being forced to fight the same enemies over and over. It can be a bit of a drag.

What it comes down to is that Muramasa Rebirth feels like a good experience, but not a great one. You're constantly yearning for something just that little bit more to complement the visual splendour, but it never truly comes.

Regardless, Muramasa Rebirth still does plenty right, and does it with style. Finding a game for the PS Vita that looks much better than this will take some doing.