Since XS Games also excised any semblance of storyline from the game, you’ll have to turn to the instruction manual to learn anything about the factors behind Shikigami no Shiro. (Yes, I prefer that title.) Here's the basic shooter setup: For some reason, a schoolboy-cop, a young priestess, a werewolf detective, a bratty witch, a Korean martial artist, and a mysterious woman are enlisted to combat a variety of vengeful spirits.

Like the protagonists of Cave’s brilliant ESP Ra. De. , the player’s chosen character drifts through the skies above modern Japan, taking on everything from Akira-esque teddy bears to brainlike aerial blobs to bullet-spewing armored dragons. Each character has his or her own forms of projectiles and bombs, along with a unique special attack performed by holding down the firing button. For instance, the lycanthropic Hyuga Gennojo launches tethered energy-draining beams, the broom-riding Fumiko Ozet Vanshutien (gesundheit!) has a long-range bomb, while martial artist Kim De Jon sprouts a double-sided laser blade.

Some of these attacks are easier to use than others, thanks to the hails of enemy fire that clog the screen throughout the five stages of Shikigami no Shiro. This time, however, there’s a twist: in order to boost your score (and eventually, your lives), you’ll want to get as close to enemies and their bullets as you possibly can without getting hit. Whenever a boss unleashes a furious burst of shots, players are tasked to maneuver through them as tightly as they can, reaping proximity-based points as they slam home their counterattack.

And this isn’t merely some cheap gimmick tossed in to enhance a mediocre shooter. The programmers at Alfa System (makers of both the lousy gun game Horned Owl and the exquisite gun game Elemental Gearbolt) packed Shikigami with enemy patterns that are intense and daunting to the reflexes, but ultimately survivable. No matter how frustrating the general enemies and frequent boss encounters get, there’s always an evident way to make it through, and always a reason to try again should you fail. And even though there are only five levels, a limited continue system fixes it so you won’t see the last stage without practicing.

It’s fortunate that the game challenges players so effectively, because there isn’t much in Shikigami to look at. Most of the sprites have a soft-focus look reminiscent of homemade PC shooters, while the backgrounds vary from a detailed cityscape to far more primitive scenery. The designers try to even things out with some sparkling CG effects, but the results are rather distracting, and the player’s character constantly glows for one reason or another.

Furthermore, everything in the game is slightly smaller than it would be in the standard shooter, possibly due to Alfa System’s desire to cram in more bullets. XS Games made the problem worse by removing Shikigami’s TATE mode, which allows players to rotate their TVs and run the game on the entire screen. Instead of using this helpful feature, Mobile Light Force 2 players will have to settle for a letterboxed view that makes it hard to see the game, especially on any sets smaller than 19 inches. And I fear for anyone who tries to play this on a mobile monitor.

XS Games also made the peculiar decision to replace Shikigami’s Japanese voice samples with English quotes. The outcome isn’t pleasant to the ears, though at least the recordings are usually too distorted to make out. When you can hear them, however, it’s unintentionally comical. Just imagine watching your character launching a screen-clearing attack while spouting “You damn fool” in the same tone that a bored secretary would use. Still, I suppose I should be thankful that producer John “HB” Suarez and QA tester Jason Last didn’t insist on renaming characters after themselves like they did in Mobile Light Force.

But while we'll bitch for years to come about the hackneyed translation and ugly packaging that turned Shikigami no Shiro into Mobile Light Force 2, it must be said that the result is still somewhat engaging, provided that you’ve got a large enough TV. Mobile Light Force 2 never reaches the same level as Ikaruga or the shoot-‘em-up classics of old, yet it’s a marginally fun shooter that not even a bad localization can completely spoil. And hey, it’s cheap.

C+