I played this game co-op with a friend of mine, and we just did the Story mode. Its basically what its advertised as. My friend and I both appreciated the system where, before each mission and upon every death, you can change your equipment/enhancement loadout. At first you can only equip a few, but you unlock the ability to equip more as you play (I think its based on total number of points you've accumulated from your overall playtime). I did find the enhancement that makes it faster to get an extra life to be pretty worthless since, even with 2 of those equipped at once (the max), it still took too long to get another life.
As for actual complaints, shmups commonly have a problem with too much screen clutter making it hard to keep track of potential hazards, and unfortunately the retro black-and-white movie aesthetic adds to that since there's no color to help differentiate all the things you're seeing.
Also, foreground objects should NEVER obstruct actual hazards. This doesn't happen often, but it shouldn't be happening at all.
Aside from that, the only thing else that kind of let me down was that I wish they could've done a little more/better with the 1950s aesthetic. Specifically, during cutscenes, I wish they would've sprung for using actual models/props instead of a 3D model of said asset. For example, there's a level towards the end (I think its level 8) where the setup is that giant monsters have been unleashed on a city and you have to fly in to stop the assault. The giant monsters are obviously supposed to be a homage to those old rubber suit monsters you'd see in like kaiju movies, but in the game, they're obviously just 3D models. Yes, I understand that it would've been more expensive and time consuming to make an actual rubber monster suit and film that and then use the 3D model just for the in game portion, but still.
Regardless, if you're a fan of shmups and want one with a very unique aesthetic, then give this one a shot.
