Sure, it’s not so easy to say the name, but Akka Arrh is a new fast-paced psychedelic arcade game from Atari.
Akka Arrh was developed by Jeff Minter, who you would know from Centipede, Tempest 2000, Virtual Light Machine, Super Deflex and… Metagalactic Llamas Battle at the Edge of Time.
I’m not saying he had some kind of substance influencing his game designs, but he maybe had some kind of substance influencing his game designs. You know?
Many of Jeff Minter’s games have one thing in common: visual fireworks.
Akka Arrh is described as a “wave shooter” and “pure arcade bliss”. Which are apt descriptions.
It surely has all of that crazy visual stimulation and overwhelming amount of stuff happening that you’d hope for from a Jeff Minter game.
Cancelled Akka Arrh Arcade
Akka Arrh is based on a cancelled arcade game concept from 1982.
It seems like there were a small number of them produced for testing. Three, to be exact. And ultimately the game did not see mass production. Until now…
Obviously, the new game has been entirely recreated and is now gonna have a much improved graphics and performance. While still having that classic 70s and 80s game aesthetic.
Akka Arrh Gameplay
Game play in Akka Arrh is based on protecting your perimeter from swarms of attackers.
It’s a bullet-hell / shoot-em-up type experience with colors, shapes and sounds exploding all around you.
Surely it will be a bit overwhelming, but that’s the charm of these kinds of games.
One interesting concept about the game is the way you jump between view perspectives when you need to go into close combat with attacking ships.
If the enemies are able to penetrate your canon area, you enter a secondary zoomed mode and can address them individually.
There will be 50 levels, and you can save your progress and pick up where you left off. So you won’t have to restart from the beginning on each play.
Combinations and high scores are the goal. Survival is the struggle.
Akka Arrh releases February 22, 2023 on PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, Playstation, and Atari VCS.
Are you an Atari Fan? Have you heard about the new Atari and My Arcade console collaborations?
