By Sim Cheng Kai, a freelance writer and ardent console gamer

ENJOY breathtaking scenic views, sample delicious local cuisine and get up close and personal with devious demons.

These are just some of the things you can do on your whirlwind tour of a mythical ancient Japan in Muramasa: The Demon Blade.

Play is set against the reign of blood-thirsty shogun Tsunayoshi Tokugawa who wants to amass legendary swords to reinforce his political position.

You pick from two different travel itineraries. Begin from the eastern province of Edo and head westwards for Kyo or do the reverse.

In Plan A, you play the possessed princess Momohime whose body has been taken over by the spirit of master swordsman Jinkuro after a soul-transfer goes wrong. Highlights include a gross stop where you are swallowed by a boss demon and have to fight your way out of his belly.

In Plan B, you are the amnesiac ninja Kisuke who reunites with lost love Torahime, a slain princess temporarily brought back to life to retrieve a cursed sword. Enroute to seeing Torahime, you will ascend the steps of Osaka castle while fending off deadly ninjas and poisonous moths.

Later on, test your strength against a dragon god on Mount Fuji.

Whichever route you choose, there is a lot of 2-D side-scrolling ground to cover. Thank goodness the heroes sprint at Sonic the Hedgehog speeds.

All you have to do is hold the analog stick in one direction and marvel at the beautifully animated vistas. Occasionally releasing the stick and flipping it upwards gets you to higher ground where you can collect items like health-restoring rice balls and sake.

You will be periodically interrupted by enemies, during which dash-and-slash combats ensue.

The controls are so simple that even casual players can become experts. Tap the A button to attack and hold it to guard. While guarding, push the analog stick around to execute dash attacks that lets you rip through your enemies like butter.

The game is short.

It took me 15 hours to complete both quests on the harder Shigurui difficulty level. On the default Musou, 10 hours should do.

For extra mileage, you could become a frequent fighter. Kill enough enemies to gather soul points to unlock increasingly stronger blades until you have all 108, a pre-requisite for unlocking the final of three endings for each of the two characters.

The boss fights are amazing but to get to them you must run from county to county, all the while fighting off the small fries hurled at you. This gets repetitive and boring.

What is nice are the graphic touches. Like delectable morsels of food which you take bites off with the A button and the warping scenery behind Osaka castle. Surreal.

What stops Muramasa from attaining action gaming nirvana is the lack of a strong end-game replayability element, like a boss-rush mode that will keep you entertained until you have unlocked all the blades.

Nevertheless, this is one of the best games on the Wii yet.

This story was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life.

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