If you appreciate animation and frequent Cartoon Network, then you're probably familiar with a lone Samurai known simply as Jack. Samurai Jack is a popular series primarily for its beautiful 2D artwork and original presentation, but it also offers powerful stories about patience and benevolence. Of course, Jack's attempts at peaceful resolutions don't always work (he does have a bounty on his head), so there's plenty of room for traditional arse kicking.
Jack's situation is a rather unusual one. As a child, his village was plagued by the evil shape shifter Aku. At one time this demon spawn was imprisoned, but he escaped to wage revenge upon the man who caged him (Jack's father) -- and rule the world. As chaos enveloped Jack's village, Jack was smuggled out of town with nothing buy an ancient sword (the very one that originally defeated Aku). After years of training to be a samurai, Jack returns to his hometown to find that everyone has been enslaved by the evil Aku. During his rescue attempt, Aku flings Jack into a time portal that sends him to the distant future. Jack learns that Aku has become an all powerful ruler -- so Jack takes it upon himself to return to his own time, stop Aku, and save the world from enslavement.
Samurai Jack: The Shadow of Aku isn't based on any particular SamJack episode. The developer Adrenium worked closely with the show's creator Genndy Tartakovsky to create an original storyline. Because of Jack's frequent time travel, Shadow of Aku could fit in anywhere in the SamJack timeline. In Shadow of Aku, Jack is continuing his quest to find a way back to home. During his search, he encounters four different races that need help ridding their lands of Aku's shadow.
Each area (which includes an ancient village, forest, and Aku's City) acts as a world hub where Jack can embark on five or six quests. Locals ask Jack to deal with Aku's minions in exchange for clues leading to a time portal. Jack might have to rescue villagers from a burning building, destroy a statue of Aku, put out fires at a tree house, or find the great tree spirit. The objectives aren't too complex, but they accurately resemble Jack's quests in the show.
While Shadow of Aku's storyline and art direction have been influenced by the cartoon, the game is resembles other action titles like Maximo. Jack's equipped with the standard weak and strong attack, but as he progresses through the 24 levels he'll find scrolls that let him perform the ancient art of combos. These are fairly easy to trigger -- just hold down the left trigger while hitting the requisite button combinations. These combos are usually supernatural feats, presented in cinematic slow motion. Jack might spin through the air like a shuriken, whirl around in circles in a "Windmill Attack" or perform a massive slashing sword combo known as the "Cobra Strike".
When your combos aren't sharp enough to cut through the slew of enemies thrown at you, Jack can trigger Sakai Mode (which is sort of like bullet time). Handy for handling multiple foes, Sakai Mode also causes more damage to enemies and lets you target the weak spots. Without it, you'd have a hard time beating an early boss that only takes damage if you hit a large button on its back (most SamJack enemies are robots), without Sakai Mode . Jack also has an arsenal of shurikens and a bow and arrow.
One of the more visually pleasing aspects of combat is Jack's ability to deflect projectiles back at the enemies that shot them (ala Star Wars). While this doesn't really require any skill besides holding down the block button, it is a nice inclusion. Also, if the daring time it correctly, the weak attack can be used to deflect poison or fireballs too.Continues