Tumiki Fighters

Creator: Kenta Cho
(Home Page)
Genre: Shooter

We can't really have much of a discussion about doujin soft without the name Kenta Cho coming up from time to time. He's one of the first game makers to really rise to prominence in the field over the last decade, putting out a number of interesting games at a steady pace. One of his early efforts was the side-scrolling shooter Tumiki Fighters (2004).

"Tumiki" is a variation on the word "tsumiki", which means building blocks. In the game the player takes control of an airplane made of these blocks, and blasts up wave after wave of enemy ships also made of blocks, with a nice boss fight at the end of each level. Unlike his other games, Tumiki FIghters does not use random enemy or level generation. It's a far more structured experience with a defined ending.

Like Kenta Cho's other games, Tumiki is a very solid experience. The controls are bang on, the visuals have a more abstract look to them, and the music is appropriately peppy electronic fair in this instance. The game provides a very respectable challenge with a lot of incoming enemy fire both during the stage and the boss fight at its end.

If you're unfamiliar with his work, Tumiki Fighter is as good a game as any to see what Kenta Cho is capable of, and there is the added advantage that this game is available not only on Windows, but also for the Mac and Linux (the game even got a commercial release on the Wii last year via Majesco). Check the links below for download files for your respective OS if you feel like giving this game a shot.

Tumiki Fighters Windows
Tumiki Fighters Mac
Tumiki Fighters Linux

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