TUMIKI Fighters is not your typical Kenta Cho game. There's no semi-random (or even completely random) stage progression or bullet patterns here. The game definitely has an ending, which is more than can be said about most of Kenta Cho's games. The stages are all relatively the same, making the game less about reactions and more about memorization. Why is it then that TUMIKI Fighters is the only Kenta Cho game to get the (slightly) big screen treatment? Well, for starters, it's his most innovative game.

TUMIKI Fighters immediately breaks from Kenta Cho tradition in the format: it is a horizontal shmup. Not only that, but the graphics are far different from normal Kenta Cho fare. Instead of trippy, trance inducing vector graphics, TUMIKI Fighters has much more happy and pleasing graphics. Pastels, simple 3D shapes, and smooth animation offer a breath of fresh air from his typical game. This breath continues on to his audio work, which is much different from the normally hardcore, adrenalin surging music and effects of his other games. This is a big departure for Kenta Cho by all means.

TUMIKI Fighters is, on the surface, a relatively simple horizontal shmup. You fly around and shoot enemies in a variety of different stages. The controls are quite simple and there's only one real special element to scoring. It's all rather humdrum in those areas. A slight departure (which ties into the game's theme) is in the fact that you pass harmlessly through enemy ships whether they are alive or dead. Where TUMIKI Fighters begins to get really interesting, though, is in the way your ship interacts with the enemies.

See, any enemy ships you kill can attach to you, and then further enemy ships can attach to those that have attached to you, forming what can only be described as a Katamari-like ball of death and destruction. Enemy ships that are attached to you will still fire, increasing your own firepower after you defeat each enemy. It's much more clever than simple power-ups that increase your weapon with each enemy killed. On top of this, you rapidly gain bonus score for having lots of fighters attached for long periods of time. With more ships, your power and score skyrocket!

There's also a special concern with this katamari method: armor. Enemies that have been attached to you can be shot off by incoming fire, reducing your firepower. The catches are fairly simple. First, any other attached part will fall off when the hosting part is shot, whether or not it was shot. Second, the larger you get, the more likely you will be shot and lose a significant chunk of your firepower. So it's not so much a game of pure battleship-style destruction, but more a balancing act of maintaining good size and firepower. It's hard to be a sleek killing machine, and TUMIKI Fighters knows this best. Balance yourself and don't overreach, and you will find the perfect path through TUMIKI Fighters.

There's not much else to TUMIKI Fighters, unfortunately. It's still an outstanding game that introduces an extremely innovative element into the tired shmup genre. It's just not very complex beyond the strategies of balancing yourself. In a way, you must find your center and your playstyle in TUMIKI Fighters on your own and stick to it. TUMIKI Fighters can be downloaded from Kenta Cho's official site for your perusement and amusement. Enjoy yourself!

For another look at freeware games, take a peek at Joystiq's Free Game Club weekly feature!