Air Twister

Air Twister is a fun arcade-feeling game directed by Yu Suzuki that has a great soundtrack and a decent gameplay loop. Though, it can get very repetitive if you are trying to play for long spurts of time.

Shenmue III was a bitter pill to swallow for people waiting for that damn game to come out for the previous decade and a half, but also an even harder pill to swallow for its creator, Yu Suzuki. After more than a decade outside of the gaming industry, the once revolutionary developer was now standing out as a dinosaur behind the times. Where would he go next? Another Shenmue was clearly out of the picture, and he wasn’t ready to retire just yet. The logical conclusion would be reverting bac...

Overall, Air Twister is a fine arcade title. It’s initially fun to play, and its trippy fantasy visuals do a decent job of drawing you in. However, once you’ve managed to topple the final boss and are treated to the end cutscene, there really isn’t much to keep you playing or cement the game in memory. The main story mode becomes just what you grind on to afford better butt dressings. I think the fallen swan deserved better.

If that wasn’t enough, bizarre operatic music that feels like a tonal riff on Queen blares throughout, complementing the mind-bending environments and creatures in a surprising way. I’ve never seen such a tone in a game, and was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked the very weird clash between everything on screen. Like Space Harrier before it, this is a completely unique world that Suzuki throws you into, which I can respect.