Akka Arrh Reviews
To be sure, Akka Arrh is a niche game: to enjoy it, you not only need to enjoy old school arcade shooters, you also need to enjoy Llamasoft's specific brand of psychedelic weirdness on top of that, as well as the weird idiosyncrasies in the game design. But if all of that appeals to you, then the good news is that Akka Arrh exists, and it's pretty fun.
If you’re a fan of a bit of craziness mixed with tripped out and colorful colors, and can live with sketchy gameplay, it may work for you
There are times when I really did start to feel like I was getting Akka Arrh, that I was so close to slipping into that state of bliss the best arcade games can provide. Inevitably though, some new mechanic would show up and knock me right out of it. That’s not to say I didn’t have fun with Akka Arrh, it’s an incredibly interesting game worth a look from fans of classic arcade games and fans of Jeff Minter, but the same issues that kept that original prototype from the 80s from seeing the light of day are still present and stop it from being a must-play.
Make no mistake, this reimagining is easily the definitive take on Akka Arrh, especially if you compare this modern entry to the original in Atari 50 and see just how much Minter was able to evolve the concept test marketed all those decades ago, and finally realizing it in an addictive fashion that modernizes the game a while also adding great scorechasing elements, just like he did with Tempest before.
When it comes down to it, Akka Arrh is a fun arcade game but probably an acquired taste. If you think back to the old days when you walked through the arcade, you could watch the game’s demo before you decided to slip a coin in. If I go by this logic, I would slide in a few coins and play Akka Arrh. But I’m unsure I would return to it once I had my fill. If you love your retro or looking for a quick arcade fix, I absolutely recommend Akka Arrh, and if this leads to more relics from the past getting tuned up and re-released today, then I’m all for that.
A remake of a never-released prototype might seem overly ambitious, but Akka Arrh certainly lives up to the mystery of its source. It may even be too simplistic for today's players, used to more elements and options, but here's a game that deserves to be known, especially by fans of Atari's legacy.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
If this is what Atari will keep releasing from now on, I’m game. It might be a brand new title, but Akka Arrh feels like the perfect marriage between the Atari of old and the technology of today. It’s also weird as hell. It took me a while to understand what on Earth I was supposed to do in this game, but once I got the hang of it, I had a blast with this bizarre mixture between a space shooter, a puzzler… and a golf game.