Reviewed on: Nintendo Switch

Bullet Hell may be a somewhat macabre name for a genre, but it conveys well the frustration and the impossible level of challenge imposed by games of the style. Danmaku Unlimited 3 does not try to reinvent the wheel or bring revolutionary ideas… What the game does is deliver a solid, polished experience, showing the best of this very traditional category of games.

Mechanics: 10

The controls of Danmaku Unlimited 3 are quite faithful to the standards of the Shooter genre: there is a button for spread shots, one for concentrated fire and one for detonating bombs – a rare and precious resource that destroys enemy projectiles and damages all ships it hits. With the analog stick you move your ship, and you must navigate the rain of enemy fire in increasingly complex and narrow patterns. Using concentrated fire slows your movement speed, allowing finer control and adding another layer of tactical complexity.

In addition to its extremely precise and responsive controls and very well executed level design, what sets DU3 apart from other Shooters is the Graze system, which charges an energy bar when your ship passes close to enemy shots or touches the mark left by canceled enemy fire (whether by your bomb or by defeating the ship that fired it). Once charged, the ship automatically enters Spirit mode, in which your shots become faster and deal much more damage – besides making defeated enemies drop medals worth bonuses on the final score. It is vital to activate Spirit mode often, forcing the player to always balance risks and rewards, often deliberately trying to pass close to enemy fire. The idea works well and helps make the game more exciting and intense.

Audio and visuals: 9

DU3 is a beautiful game. Its sprites are detailed, the animation is fluid even in the most intense moments, and the screen in general is a lovely chaos of particles, ships and projectiles everywhere.
The game also has an excellent feature known as TATE Mode, which lets you use screens in portrait mode to make better use of their space. The feature works especially well on the Switch, letting you use the screen vertically in handheld mode.

The music suits the game well, using quite energetic rock to heighten the adrenaline and give the tension and the feeling of an impossible challenge.

Fun: 9

The combination of sounds and fluid images gives great intensity to every moment of the game. Even somewhat calmer moments serve as an opportunity to charge your special energy, so you will steer toward the shots instead of focusing on dodging them. It is quite an immersive experience, with alternating peaks of adrenaline and satisfaction. You feel like a true ace navigating inside the bullet hell, and you can’t help but smile seeing your firepower multiplied during Spirit mode.

Danmaku Unlimited 3 offers several difficulty levels, making it minimally accessible even to the curious and to beginners… But it is still a hard game, requiring concentration, practice and dedication to master.

To increase its variety and longevity, DU3 offers some alternative game modes – notably Boss Rush. In addition, everything you do goes into the score boards, always encouraging you to come back and improve your marks. Finally, there are ship customization options with different shot patterns, some of which are only unlocked after completing certain objectives in the game.

Final thoughts

Danmaku Unlimited 3 is a pure Bullet Hell and a very well executed Shooter. The game takes few risks in terms of innovation, but what it brings that is new works and makes the game interesting and different from the others. Its greatest strength is the polish, which makes this a memorable experience thanks to its precise and responsive controls and its intense but fair challenges.

Score

Mechanics = 10

Audio and visuals = 9

Fun = 9

Worth the 10 dollars? Unless you prefer to avoid hard games or ones that require a bit of dedication to get past frustrating passages, it is worth checking out! The game is a great entry point to the Bullet Hell genre, but it doesn’t disappoint its devotees.

Overall: 9.3

Played on the Nintendo Switch version