Akane The Kunoichi Title Theme Animatic (2011, Haruneko)
2I had expected a better theme for Akane the Kunoichi. I had very good luck with indie games that had amazing themes. This one's not going on the playlist. Good game, unfitting music to start with.
Akane the Kunoichi is an indie platform game by Italian studio Haruneko. It was originally released for the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Indie Games service in 2011 and was later ported as a budget title for the PC Windows (Steam and Desura), Windows Phone 7 and iPhone / iPad platforms.
The game's protagonist Akane is a kunoichi female ninja who secretely loves her feudal master Goro. When he is kidnapped, Akane goes off to rescue him from the evil ninja Hiromi and her minions.
Akane the Kunoichi was met with mostly favourable critical reception, including being a finalist at Dream Build Play 2012 in the Windows Phone category. Game Informer described the Xbox 360 version as a "fine" example of an "old-school platformer" for "one measly dollar". Brutal Gamer gave it a 7/10 score and wrote, "For 80 Microsoft Points (or $1), which is less than most iOS games on the iPhone, it’s hard to not recommend this game, despite some of the rather high level of difficulty and any issues I had with it. If you like modern games with a very old-school mentality, then you would probably like the challenge of Akane the Kunoichi."
Digitally Downloaded awarded the XBLA version five stars out of five, and opined "Akane defines what a downloadable title should strive to be: loaded with content, affordable, and genuinely fun," adding it "stands out as a game that could have nearly been a budget DS release, but is instead available for the price of a can of pop." It also received a 8.5/10 from ZTGD, who opined, "If you are in the mood for a trip back to the 8-bit era, Akane the Kunoichi is worth your time and money." New Gamer Nation gave the iPhone version nine stars out of ten: "Overall, this is a great action game with no real flaws to mention, and any fan of the old-school classics mentioned at the beginning of this review who want a similar experience on their iOS device should not hesitate to grab this off of the App Store right now." Other reviews scores included four out of five stars from Armless Octopus, C+ (above average) from Extra Guy,[13] 8/10 from HonestGamers, and 6/10 from Next Gen Nerds. AppAdvice review of the iOS version stated, "All things considered, Akane the Kunoichi is a fun action platformer. Its platforming elements, as well as its artwork, are reminiscent of retro games of the past. Put simply, it is a breath of fresh air from the endless piles of junk that line the App Store these days."
Diehard GameFAN declared the game "controls like the offspring of Shinobi and Ninja Gaiden. Its straight-forward design leaves very little to go back to when your done and the sharp difficulty toward the end of the game might cut some players a little too deep, but it features great, challenging level design and very eye-catching use of color to engross players." Gamers with Jobs called it a "very competent Shinobi imitator" and commented on its high difficulty level: "Let's call this one an eight on the ten-point Bloodborne scale. It's hard, though not as hard as Bloodborne, but fair, though not as fair as Bloodborne." According to GAMINGtruth, "Overall the title was an awesome Xbox Live Indie Game and provided a new quality of gameplay that isn’t usually found in these independent releases." Tekyu in a Jar wrote, "Just buy the damn thing, alright? If jumping and shooting were ever a staple in your gaming library, this deserves a spot in your collection. For a buck, I actually feel guilty because I like the game so much."
Some others, however, were more critical of the game. Arcade Pixels gave the Steam version a score of 5/10, stating, "Overall, Akane the Kunoichi is a game with a lot of promise that sadly fell flat of expectations, but at its price point of US$2.99, many players will be quite happy with the amount of content available and the fact that the game at least does not suffer from anything that is game-breaking." According to iFanzine, who gave the game only a 2.0/10 score and write that "the fact that Akane the Kunoichi is a bland experience will still remain true no matter how you control it, or the platform you play it on.