As a fan of the genre, I’ve seen my fair share of modern scrolling shooters or “shmups” as they’re often called. Yet, after the magnificent Gradius V back in 2004, I haven’t seen very many that actually look modern. Even some from this year tend to look like something you might’ve seen in the arcade as much as a decade ago.

That’s the first of many ways in which Sine Mora sets itself apart. The game is gorgeous. There’s a real sense of depth to the environments that manage to strike an effective balance of being attractive without being distracting. Colors are often vibrant, environments are varied, and giant bosses are real spectacles to behold thanks to art direction from Grasshopper.

And yet, as great as the visuals were, it was the unique mechanics developer Digital Reality put into the game that kept me coming back for another try. Sine Mora is not about one hit kills or traditional health systems. Sine Mora is about time (in more ways than one). While you’re playing, the clock always counts down. Killing enemies will send the clock backward a bit, while getting hit drastically reduces your time. When the clock strikes “00″, you die.

This game of chronological tug o’ war creates an exciting sense of urgency, while forcing you to prepare for the worst by playing smart. You may be able to get to the boss and avoid his attacks, but if you played the part of the pacifist beforehand, you might not be able to defeat him in time before your imminent death. It’s far easier to hoard time by killing off small enemies than breaking parts off a boss, and seizing the opportunity to do so can be a matter of life and death.

Time can be manipulated in more ways than just what’s left on the clock. You also have the ability to slow the game down while retaining your own movement speed. Of course, this ability is very limited and should be used wisely.

Like most shmups, there are a variety of power-ups to acquire, including primary weapon upgrades, secondary weapon ammo, and refills for your slowdown gauge. The primary weapon I had in the demo would spread increasingly wider as I picked up upgrades. But, every time I took damage, they would fly out of me, allowing me a brief chance to grab them again. My secondary fire (of which the full game will have several) shot a barrage of heat seeking missiles. One of the most interesting things, though, was that by collecting time beyond a certain limit, I was able to generate a temporary shield to avoid further damage.

The stages I played in the two available demos were quite varied. I flew through the bright, blue sky, submerged my ship into an aquatic stage, and maneuvered through tightly crafted caverns with acid-spewing worms bursting through the environment. Each boss encounter was equally diverse, pitting me against some sort of boat fortress, a robotic squid-like creature, and a multifaceted weapons train. Even these individual encounters often mixed things up by dividing the battles into several unique phases with their own attack patterns.

Sine Mora hopes to attract both newcomers and hardcore players which was expressed very well by the two demos I played. The Story Mode, which was set on easy, was quite manageable and I was able to complete it with relative ease. The second demo featured Arcade Mode and was set to insanity. On insanity, enemies explode into bullets when you kill them, similar to Ikaruga (minus the ability to absorb them). Try as I might (and I visited the booth for quite a few tries), I couldn’t quite finish this mode, but I was always left with that “Just one more try!” feeling instead of frustration. The various game modes, in addition to a dynamic ranking system that changes enemy behavior based on your performance, should suit players of all skill levels.

Of all the games I managed to play with my limited time on the show floor, Sine Mora turned out to be my game of the show. Digital Reality and Grasshopper Manufacture have a real winner on their hands with this one. The unique mechanics and beautiful art direction make this a game you won’t want to miss.

"An over-the-top brawler powered by absurdity."

No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle is the newest game from the twisted mind of Suda 51. This time around, the zany brawler comes in a more streamlined package than the first, trimming the fat to bring you more ridiculous action.

Desperate Struggle stars Travis Touchdown, the anime/videogame loving assassin, as he battles his way up the ranks of the UAA once again. This time, Travis is trying to take down the number one assassin to avenge the death of his friend, Bishop. But even if you haven’t played the first game, jumping into the second shouldn’t have you too confused. In fact, the characters even playfully break the fourth wall in the beginning to mention that some players are skipping the first game and don’t care about the past events.

No More Heroes 2 is, for the most part, a brawler. The controls feel very similar to the first game, though combat is a little more fluid this time around. You no longer have to be locked on to perform an emergency evade (dodge roll) and the camera now does a much better job of following you. Travis can perform attacks both with his beam katana and with his fists and feet. These attacks are performed using buttons with the angle of the Wii Remote determining a high or low attack. Switching between high and low as well as between slashes and punches can lead to extended combos.

When an enemy’s life is almost depleted, it’s time for a deathblow. Though this is technically a Quick Time Event (a mechanic most gamers dread by now) involving a swing of the Wii Remote in a given direction, it actually feels great and accents the button-based combat brilliantly. This is largely due to how forgiving they are. The purpose of the QTE’s becomes a chance to pull you into the action rather than to give you an opportunity to fail. The combat is a great mix of buttons and motion control that rely on neither too heavily.

"You can buy clothes... like Space Glasses."

If an enemy is stunned, you can perform a wrestling move on them. This is also done with well executed, motion-based QTEs. Unlike the first game, Travis will automatically stab an enemy after the wrestling move, eliminating the need to do so manually. This basically turns wrestling moves into an alternate form of deathblows, speeding up the combat in the process.

If you can deal enough damage without taking damage yourself, you can enter Darkside Mode. There are several different things that can happen, depending on the results of a quick slot machine. While some are fairly ordinary like slowing all enemies down, another involves you transforming into a tiger.

There are several different beam katanas you’ll acquire throughout the game. While these don’t have any visible stats, they effect your fighting style greatly. Some are better for taking on faster enemies, others for larger groups, and so on. It’ll also be convenient to obtain extra beam katanas since they each have their own battery gauge. While you can recharge any katana by shaking it, it’s often best to switch weapons instead when you’re in the heat of battle.

The game’s strongest aspect is the boss battles. Each fight feels unique and, with a few exceptions, the bosses are very memorable. While one battle has you dodging wall lasers and missiles fired from a cult leader/hip hop artists’ ghetto blaster, the next has you fighting a football player in a giant robot made out of his own cheerleaders. Almost every boss is a treat. Strangely, though, a few of them don’t have stages leading up to them which is a bit disappointing. Luckily, those are the minority.

"Each boss battle has its own unique flavor."

While the ranked battles that progress the story are now free to enter, you can still do odd jobs to earn cash for clothes, beam katanas, and stat upgrades.  These jobs (with the exception of one) are done in 8bit mini games. For the most part, they are pretty fun. One has you playing a version of Pipe Dream where you must run around and pick up the various pipe fittings and carry them, Captain N style. Another has you playing a Mach Rider clone to deliver pizzas.

You’ll also play retro games to increase your stats. There are two gym mini games; one for health and one for attack. With each success, they get both harder and more expensive.  The problem with this is that you must pay for each attempt. If you fail to do well enough, you won’t get the stat increase and your money will still be spent. You can easily blow through your cash with failed exercises if you’re not careful.

The open world of the first game has been completely removed in favor of a stylized menu. Rather than padding the game by forcing you to drive through a mostly empty city, you’ll spend the extra time fighting 50% more bosses (that is definitely a good thing). There are still collectibles to accumulate in your motel room, but they’re all found within the ranked battle stages. While at your motel, you can play with your cat, change outfits, and even play a SHMUP on your TV among other things.

"Training and side jobs are both accomplished through 8bit mini games."

To mix things up a bit, you’ll play as two other characters for a small portion of the game. These characters, Henry and Shinobu, each have their own abilities. While the boss fight as Henry is a nice diversion, the Shinobu missions felt lackluster. This is mostly because Shinobu, unlike other characters, can jump. Unfortunately, she can’t jump well and there are some incredibly frustrating platform sections that feel really sloppy. The game was obviously not designed with jumping in mind. There are also a few optional Revenge Missions. But other than an aesthetic prize from completing them all, there’s not much point to them as they seem to award you very little money.

The visual style looks better than ever. Both the menus and the in game graphics look great, and the music works well, too. On the flip-side, there are a few aesthetic aspects of it that lack polish. You’ll find plenty of invisible walls throughout the game and enemies will often repeatedly spout the same line over and over again. It’s hard to tell if this is another result of Suda’s strange sense of humor or an honest oversight. Either way, it gets a bit annoying.

It should be noted that, while I would consider much of the game to be “immature”, the game has a “Mature” rating for a reason. Despite being stylized, Desperate Struggle is quite violent, has plenty of swears in the dialogue, and has its fair share of sexual themes. It’s far from subtle, so if you’re offended by this you should steer clear.

No More Heroes 2 is very fun. While the combat isn’t especially deep, it’s very satisfying. And thanks to the streamlined setup, you’ll be fighting more than anything else. Playing the first game after finishing the sequel feels like a convoluted mess by comparison. While not perfect, Desperate Struggle is a delightfully absurd action game worth checking out.