Fans of shoot-em-up games have had it good on iOS devices. Between arcade ports such as those from Cave, classic revivals from companies like DotEmu, and original efforts like Sky Force 2014, the library of titles is impressive in both its depth and breadth. Well, get ready to add one more to that list, but with a bit of a caveat. The classic bullet hell shooter from Alfa System, Castle of Shikigami ($5.99), has hit the App Store for the price of $5.99, but it’s an untranslated version of the game, so everything down to the description in the store is in Japanese. Even with that in mind, fans of Cave’s games, who might be a bit disappointed at the slowdown in their releases, should jump right on this since it’s very much in the same vein.

Originally released in Japanese arcades in 2001, English gamers got their first taste of this game with the budget-priced PS2 release that was stripped of its story scenes, retitled Mobile Light Force 2, and with a cover that looked like Charlie’s Angels fan art. The second and third installments of the series, ported to PlayStation 2 and Nintendo Wii respectively, kept the original Castle Of Shikigami title and were more faithful to the Japanese versions. Like most shooters, this one has a special scoring system, based around getting as close to enemies and bullets as possible to boost your multiplier. The graphics are a mix of polygonal backgrounds and sprites, with the occasional polygonal boss to mix things up a bit.

This version of the game windows the action, leaving a fairly large area for you to put your finger on to control the action. It’s important because more so than in many shooters, enemies in Castle Of Shikigami love to sneak up behind you. The controls will be familiar to anyone who has played one of Cave’s iOS games, where your character automatically shoots while you move them around with your finger. Your character’s bomb attack can be used by double-tapping on the screen.

It’s a very faithful port of the original game, and that $5.99 purchase gives you the whole game, without any IAPs to be found. It’s hard to say if English language support will ever be added, but really, it’s a shoot-em-up, so it’s not like it’s all that important whether you can understand the cut-scenes or not. With any luck, we’ll see ports of the later games in the series follow. In the meantime, enjoy blasting weird Japanese demons with charm papers as you fly over the city of Tokyo.