Game Reviews

Sakura Slash

Star onStar onStar onStar offStar off
|
| Sakura Slash
Get
Sakura Slash
|
| Sakura Slash

As far as endless games go, Sakura Slash has more in common with a lightgun shooter like Point Blank than Canabalt.

It's an extremely simple and oddly compelling little number, with very little in the way of technical prowess or even innovation, but it has just enough character and compulsiveness to keep you coming back for more. For a little while, at least.

You play as an unseen swordsman, tasked with slashing down weird eyeball-body enemies who dance around in neat formations. A quick swipe of your finger cuts them down to size, and each lethal slash is accompanied by a satisfying 'snikt' sound effect that makes you feel like a feudal Japanese Wolverine.

No Eye In Team

As you romp you have to watch out for tricky little eyeballs that dart out from the pack and float menacingly towards the edge of the screen.

If you don't cut them down before they reach the border they take a huge chunk of your health with them. In fact, it only takes a couple of hits for you to see the Game Over screen, and even on a good run the chances are you won't last longer than a couple of minutes.

Thankfully, there are a few extra weapons available in this war on evil eyes. If you hit the screen with two fingers you activate a slow-motion smartbomb - perfect for offing the tricky little runners and a surefire way to rack up points.

Eye For An Eye

Also, as you slice eyeballs in two the screen fills with collectible orbs that you can trade in for power-boosting upgrades in the post-game shop.

It takes a serious amount to actually buy anything, though, so you'll either have to play a hell of a lot of Sakura Slash or take the classic shortcut and purchase some orbs from the App Store.

Ultimately, though, Sakura Slash's novelty wears off extremely quickly, and while it's perfectly playable and enjoyable for the ten minutes it lasts it's tough to recommend it above the sea of top quality games on iOS.

Sakura Slash

Sakura Slash is a slice of fun but throwaway screen-swiping nonsense
Score