Attack by drawing your sword's trajectory with the mouse.
That's just how it's done. End of story.
In Straw Hat Samurai, you take on the role of an ancient warrior protecting your home from hoards of enemy invaders. The Aka-Ryu warlord is expanding his empire southwards, and that means his army is coming straight through your land. If he takes over your forts in the mountain pass, your kingdom is sushi. Your army is on its way, but isn’t going to make it in time. You’re going to have to hold these guys off until reinforcements arrive.
The controls are simple. Just draw a line on the screen with your mouse, and the samurai will slash his sword across it. (The official game instructions state: “Use mouse to slash!”) Aiming for the head will earn you bonus points and a nifty decapitation animation, complete with gushing fountains of blood. To make it even more worth your while, Kongregate offers an achievement for scoring 100 headshots. You’ll eventually get to use a bow and arrow, but the sword is so easy to use you will most likely only use the arrows for taking down hard-to-reach guards in siege towers. Kill all the enemies on each stage to move on. If you make it to the end, you will have to direct troops in a Risk-like game of domination before finally taking on the enemy commander. Gameplay this basic might sound like it could get boring very quickly, but it actually works quite well. You’ll completely lose track of time when you’re beheading Aka-Ryu warriors.
Decapitation FTW!
The look of the game is as simple as the gameplay, and in Straw Hat Samurai it’s a perfect fit. The Cartoon Network style visuals are fun to look at, especially when you are slicing off heads and limbs. The colorful backgrounds are just begging to be painted with the blood of the Aka-Ryu army. At the end of every stage, there is a really cool silhouetted fade-to-red effect that lets you know you’ve completely cleared it of enemy warriors.
Unlike many of the Flash games out there, Straw Hat Samurai lasts a decent amount of time. The game should probably take about an hour or so to clear completely. And if that’s not quite enough, there is a sequel to keep you slashing for even longer.
Straw Hat Samurai is simple, fun, and bloody – a perfect combination for a samurai game. If the sequels continue to be this entertaining, this will definitely be a series worth coming back to.
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A colorful (and bloody) little samurai adventure. | ||||
Game: Straw Hat Samurai | Developer: Lut!