General Information
Katana Zero is a 2D side-scrolling action game in which you control a katana-wielding swordsman across a dystopian city that exudes a decidedly cyberpunk vibe. The retro/neon aesthetic extends past the city environments too, as the game's menus/UI reproduce an impressively accurate VHS look and feel. Tape, in fact—both VHS and audio cassette—actually features heavily in the presentation.
At the beginning of every level, Zero puts on headphones and presses Play on his Walkman. As the cassette begins to play the stage music, the game gives you control of the character; which is a slick way to signal "game on". Each attempt you then make gets presented as if it were one possible course of action that could happen—as opposed to something actually happening right now. Failed attempts display a "No…that won't work" message, while a successful run will produce a "Yes, that should work" and shows you a black-and-white replay of your winning actions. It's all very reminiscent of Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, but also extremely vaporwave. I love it!
Anytime you fail in a level, time automatically rewinds to the beginning of that screen in a way that looks like you just hit rewind on the tape rented from Hollywood Video. And you might see that rewind animation a lot, because Katana Zero's combat features instant-death.
Enemies (generally speaking) fall in just one hit, but so does your swordsman. And a lot of your enemies will be wielding guns. The action is fast and furious, sometimes just downright frantic. This creates a situation not unlike a puzzle platformer, where you have to consider how to approach each enemy, in each room, in the right order. It also makes maintaining the element surprise (via stealth) an advantageous—though not completely obligatory—strategy.
Luckily you do have a few tricks that give you the edge in battle. One is a dodge roll that gives you a moment of invincibility to evade danger. This very handy when you know you're about to shot at—especially by multiple projectiles at once—or when you need to move past laser traps. Then there's your ability to deflect bullets with a swipe of your sword, and return them to sender. Actually hitting the projectiles requires super precise timing, unless you use your most potent trick… You have the (limited) ability slow down time to a crawl, making it considerably easier to evade attacks or deflect projectiles.
And wow, the gameplay here is rock solid! Running and slashing, rolling and slicing, picking up objects to throw, reflecting bullets with your sword; everything feels slick and expertly crafted. Even the wall jumps have the perfect weight, stickiness, and momentum. Controls are responsive and Zero handles precisely, just as you'd want him to. The game remains challenging, mostly because the action ramps up quickly and a lot gets thrown at you, but it always feels fair, like you can control the chaos.
All of this action is lovingly rendered in glorious pixel art, which warms this 16-bit lover's heart. The art and overall aesthetic is not only executed perfectly, but the retro noir vibe really taps into the current zeitgeist. And the slightly cartoonish look is appreciated as the game gets rolling, because Katana Zero is extremely violent and gory. Blood will spray as Zero slashes through his foes, getting splattered on the walls as he eviscerates pretty much everything in his path. (You can turn the blood off, if you prefer.)
Beyond its action gameplay core, this game also tells a story about an amnesiac hitman discovering details about his nightmarish past through investigating his drug-running employer in the present. The narrative is dark, very dark in fact, and honestly rather depressing. Story beats are told within conversation trees which, for the most part, only provide the illusion of choice. Though that illusion is actually pretty solid and allows you to interrupt people as quickly as you can select a retort. So you might not notice that you don't have any real choices most of the time.
While the conversation trees are novel, and the narrative elements of war, trauma, loneliness, depression, and drug addiction aren't handled badly necessarily, I still can't say I enjoyed the story very much. It actually reminded me of Mark of the Ninja quite a bit, with a jet-black narrative that involves a stealthy, sword-wielding protagonist steadily spiraling into psychosis. (How come we never get any happy, well-adjusted ninja assassins?) That said, once you complete the story you unlock Speed Run mode, which removes the story scenes entirely.
The story in Katana Zero greatly slows down the pace of the game. For many players going through it the first time, these slow moments might be a welcome respite from the game's breakneck action. But even if you enjoy the story, I doubt you'll want to experience it again. So Speed Run mode (once unlocked) is definitely the best way to play.
Honestly, this is an amazing game, and the $15 price tag on Switch is well worth it. It you like 2D action games, if you like ninja games, if you like time manipulation games, if you like neon-retro dystopian vaporwave noir drug-fueled crime stories, or if you're just nostalgic for the age of VHS, then you have to give Katana Zero a try.
