Released on the 3DS eShop courtesy of Level-5, Liberation Maiden is a part of the Guild01 series of games. Each of the four games in the Guild01 series was developed by Level-5, but designed by recognizable Japanese developers. The impact of Goichi “Suda51” Suda and his team at Grasshopper Manufacture is unmistakable on this game. Few others would concept out and help bring to fruition such a nutty game.

The teenage protagonist, Shoko Ōzora, has assumed the presidency of New Japan after her father’s passing. She’s inherited a hell of a mess too. So much so that she takes to the skies of New Japan in a giant mech to combat the troves of enemies siphoning the country’s energy. She gets much assistance from Kira, her second-in-command, who chirps in constantly to feed her status updates and mission objectives.

Controlling Shoko with the circle pad, I could freely move her anywhere in the 3D stages. Pressing the left shoulder button enabled a strafing mode, locking her movement to the sides. She had two types of weaponry; one locked onto enemies as I dragged my stylus across the screen and released when I did. The other was a simple laser that attacked where I touched. I didn’t prefer one to the other and found both equally usable. Finally, there was an added strategic element due to her ammunition also acting as a barrier from damage.

There are five stages in the game, playable via the story and score attack modes, and they’re completed briskly. It took me about an hour and a half to beat and another hour to unlock 90% of the backstory and character bios. I’m partial to Suda51’s work and enjoyed the nutty narrative in Liberation Maiden. More than that though, I enjoyed the gameplay. The bosses that capped off each stage were repetitive and Kira constantly chiming in created a stop-and-go effect, but I enjoyed my hours spent.