AZATHOTH D
circle : Nitro+
genre : racing
score : ****1/2
azathoth d [ the title obviously is a parody of initial d ] is a nice demonbane version of a mario kart-style game by nitro+ [ demonbane, chaos head ], featuring identical system [ including usable items that can be dispensed to antagonize your opponents during race etc ] and gameplay of the mario kart series. the game primarily features an all female cast from the demonbane franchise [ depicted in their cute, sd form ] as playable racers each with their own unique kart and stats.
being a self-proclaimed fan over the loli trinity [ al azif, etheldreda and another blood ] i was somewhat intrigued to check on this one soon after i get to discover 2 of the featured cg [ which can be unlocked by winning the 4th cup in the medium grand prix mode ], so i went down to doujin style and spend like 30-50 minutes in retrieving the game; by the time i got home and had the rar / zip file extracted i quickly became immersed to the game in no time. in fact this very post is conceived right after a number of play on the said game :3
the game is divided into two modes, the grand prix and time attack mode [ the latter which i am yet to give a try since i am pretty weak in such play ]. the grand prix mode is further divided into 4 different races / cups sporting 4 unique courses each, with the final course on the fourth cup being the trickiest [ but not that hard to beat ] especially when the map is disabled and the course itself was dark beyond your point of sight. over each course[s] lies a number of elder signs which can be converted into many usable items ranging from a homing fireball to speed boost, and yes of course it all comes in random packages. much like the series it was inspired from [ mario kart ] these items definitely provide much of the interesting aspect of the gameplay; i for example find it fun to evade the yellow blob-kun[s] and orbiting ithaqua shots deployed by them opponents so to stall / stun my azif-mobile :3
the following is a definitive list of items found within the game :
01. cthugha : a red fireball which moves in a straight trajectory.
02. ithaqua : a homing blue fireball that circles around from where it is shot until it smashes onto someone's kart.
03. yellow blob-kun : served more like a mine which would stall your kart when it is run over to.
04. red elder sign : conjures a brief force field that protects you from nasty bumps + it also provide temporary speed boost.
by default only 4 characters were made available for you to start on; the lolicious al azif, elsa the perverted battle android, leica the henshin nun and the busty brat ruri hadou of the hadou concern [ owner of the titular mech in demonbane ] while 4 other is available to be unlocked [ mai waifu etheldreda >///>, another blood, the nekomimi witch nero / ennea and hazuki [ ? not sure if that is her name ] ] by winning the second and fourth cups in easy mode. each of these characters had their own high and low in stats and thus a good strategy is a must if you intend to win all of the cgs [ including the nice, final cg which requires you to unlock the other 8, meaning that you'll need to complete a race as nero who is an epic slowpoke ]
and here's a slight overview on each chara :
01. al azif : an average racer yet one of my fave in the game.
02. etheldreda : same as al azif but is much easier to manuever, from my perspective that is.
03. another blood : the bestest of the loli trinity.
04. ruri hadou : one of the best racer in the game for i get to score 4 consecutive 1st in a cup when playing as ruri.
05. elsa : prone to crash especially from a side bump. still i need to unlock her and nero's cg so to get the final one :3
06. hazuki : truly a speed devil. she can be darn hard to manuever when boosted.
07. leica : haven't tried her yet.
08. nero : my least favorable chara since she's such a slowpoke.
in due respect i find the game to be pretty addictive, plus the overall design from characters to the graphical interface is pretty much impressive. the cg art was cute [ those i've seen so far ] enough to force me over repeated attempt to unlock all of them. the featured courses were seriously good indeed as well as providing much challenge to your race, and you will never grown bored of it as well, no matter how many times you had play the game :3 those who've played the demonbane series of games [ as well as watched its 12 episodes anime adaptation ] might find the bgm familiar to your ears :3
