Trouble Witches Neo!

By: Derek Yu

On: June 10th, 2011

Trouble Witches Neo! is notable for being one of the few doujin games that’s been granted a worldwide release (on XBLA), thanks to developer Adventure Planning Service and publisher SNK Playmore. The original game, titled Trouble Witches, was developed for the PC in 2007 by the independent Japanese team Studio Siesta, and was ported to the arcades (as Trouble Witches AC) before this new version hit XBLA earlier this year. Neo! adds two new characters to the game (one as DLC), as well as additional play modes.

The core mechanic in this cutesy danmaku shoot ’em up is a Magic Barrier that catches bullets and slows them down. Killing the enemy that fired a caught bullet destroys the bullet and releases gold coins that you can collect for score and spend at the shops that appear twice in each of the six stages. At the shops you can purchase MP upgrades, lives, or spell cards that temporarily augment your firepower and give you even more score.

It’s a simple system that’s easy to learn and fun to play with. Xbox 360 owners who enjoy the genre should check it out, as it’s a pretty rare occurrence that a doujin game sees a release like this.

  • Gio32k

    sucks that its only for the 360…Well, at least I imported this game a while back for pc..

  • Conker

    Buying this

  • Whatever

    The dubbing is… muy terrible. Can't wait to hear more!!

  • Theon

    WHAT'S UP WITH THE SHITTY, SHITTY DUBS!?
    Every. Fucking. Time.

    Also, why is there no news about the release of Jamestown?
    That game is wonderful :]

  • Beel the Bub

    Danmaku, magical girls, anime style, hmm… Does it remind you of something?

  • Kusoiggy

    Twinklestar sprites?

  • TomaMoto

    “Welcome to p-pumpkin-head girl-shop.”  I don't think they cast their voices from an English-speaking country.  At least I hope not.  The voice qualities vary, but the acting consistently blows pretty hard.  Stil, that's hardly an excuse to dismiss this as a shooter.  I just think of it as a sloppy coat of glaze on an otherwise good-looking, good-feeling game.

  • renkin

    Deathsmiles light? :) Looks interesting with the coin mechanic and shops. I might get it later.

  • ZarathustrA

    It's too reminiscent of many things. The Cotton series, Touhou games,  Hitogata Happa, the previously mentioned Twinkle Star Sprites,  Lunaria, Magical Chase — in fact, I think a couple magical girl danmakus come out every year! So, what was your point, Beel the Bub?

  • ZarathustrA

    I will add that I am jealous that there is no PC release yet. Even though it's nearly the same as Trouble Witches (the original), which I've been playing for years, I'm still interested! I hope it does well on XBOX 360.

  • ZarathustrA

    Good call. BEAUTIFUL game!

  • http://twitter.com/2disbetter Matt Mueller

    how do you actually buy the PC version. I've tried the linked site, and no dice. Anyone have a good link for accomplishing said task?

  • Guest

    ZUN invented shmups.