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Cave shmup Akai Katana for Europe

On Xbox 360, early 2012.

Cave shoot-'em-up Akai Katana is heading to Europe. Rising Star Games will publish, and is eyeing an early 2012 release date.

Akai Katana, an Xbox 360 game, is a remastered version of the older arcade original. As such, all the necessary HD support has been added.

This will be a full, boxed, retail release.

The game is side scrolling, and the screen filled with brightly coloured projectiles and explosions. It looks as though the main characters can swap between a human form and an aircraft form.

There's a vague story about industrial-age Japan and a mean emperor pursuing a new form of energy that comes from an ore that can be smelted into powerful swords that bestow their wielder with magical powers. And you, of course, must stop said mean emperor.

Akai Katana was released on Xbox 360 in Japan earlier this year.