Pocky & Rocky Reshrined

For those who don’t mind a short runtime and a somewhat steep price tag, Pocky & Rocky Reshrined’s old-school cool is a retro revival that evokes nostalgia while still being new. For those that appreciate a challenge, its insistence on muscle memory and pattern recognition will be just what the shrine maiden ordered.

For fans of the shooter genre, Pocky & Rocky Reshrined offers something a little different, and it’s well worth jumping into. Despite being almost 30 years old, it still feels fresh and compelling – helped by its wonderful visuals and soundtrack. Throw in a cast of great characters, each with a unique set of moves, and various modes to jump into, and there’s a lot to love here. We just wish the easy mode was unlocked from the outset.

Before Touhou existed, gamers got to be a shrine maiden in KiKi KaiKai and it's back and better than ever with Pocky & Rocky Reshrined.

Even still, I don’t want to get too down on it. Pocky & Rocky Reshrined is exactly as it promises: more Pocky & Rocky. I definitely prefer it to no Pocky & Rocky. There’s obviously a lot of love put into the final product, even though some decisions, such as locking out co-op until the main story is completed, are staggeringly daft. Seriously, I can’t get over it. If two people want to experience the game together, what are they supposed to do? Swap the controller after every level? Have someone else beat Story Mode? It boggles my easily boggled mind.

Time for a little history lesson from the legendary Japanese developer/publisher Taito. Besides games like Space Invaders and Arkanoid, the company was also known for a little arcade shooter released in the 80s called Kiki Kaikai. A few years later, Taito licensed the brand to Natsume (the Harvest Moon peeps), which then developed and released a sequel to said arcade game, which was known in the West as Pocky & Rocky. A scrolling shooter where you can control a Shinto shrine maiden and/or a t...