SHINORUBI Review – Dodging Bullets, Chasing Glory!

by Jim Smale · May 22, 2025

SHINORUBI review – SHINORUBI delivers a pulse-pounding, adrenaline-fueled experience inspired by classic Japanese bullet hell shooters. With ultra-HD visuals, multiple difficulty levels, and a scoring system that rewards precision, this game is a true test of reflexes and strategy. Whether you’re a seasoned shmup veteran or a newcomer looking for a challenge, SHINORUBI offers an electrifying ride through waves of enemy fire.

SHINORUBI Review Pros

Beautiful graphics.
725.8MB download size.
Platinum trophy.
You get the PlayStation 4 and the PlayStation 5 versions of the game, which means you can potentially get two Platinum trophies.
Graphics settings – reduce bright effects, camera shake, motion blur, gamma, screen curvature, and refresh rate.
Shmup gameplay.
Tutorial text before a run.
Five game difficulties for the original mode – super easy, easy, normal, hard, and very hard.
You can remap the controls.
Local leaderboards.
Training mode with options for game mode, stage, pilot, bomb, and lives.
Five extra modes – boss rush easy, boss rush normal, boss rush very hard, and caravan stages 2 and 5, which are timed one-off events.
Seven arranged modes – shield, super rank, scratch, cancel, journey, pink pig, and laser shot.
Shield mode is a Pacifist mode, and you score by avoiding bullets.
Laser shot mode is where you swap between the shot types.
Pink pig mode has you trying to catch all the pigs before they leave.
Journey mode is where you complete 3 game loops with increasing difficulty.
Cancel mode is when you kill the red enemies to void all bullets.
Super rank mode is where you choose your difficulty and go for it.
Scratch mode is where you literally scratch the last bullets for score.
A wide variety of modes and settings for each mode.
Three. Button control scheme – fire (can set up auto fire), concentrated fire, and a bomb button.
Eight playable characters, and they all have unique stats for speed, power, and shot cover. They all look cool and have unique ships and fire patterns.
Fast loading times.
The game plays in 2D and you can freely move around the screen; the backdrop, or ground as it’s called, is 3D.
Collect stars that fall from enemies.
End of level breakdown.
A real visual treat with a lot of bright colors and explosions going off.
Huge end-of-level bullet hell boss encounters.
A hit counter that only resets when you get hit.
Collect power-ups and bombs as you play.
Some parts of the levels can be broken for Rewards.
It’s a very accessible shooter with tight controls and big enemies.
Six stages and a final boss fight to go through.
Build up your fever bar, and then every hit on an enemy generates a points star.
A play through takes between 30 and 45 minutes, depending on skill.
Continues are available, and you start back exactly where you were, and dog, it’s a boss; they have the same amount of health left as you died.
Enemies can come in from any side of the screen, but you do get earnings.
Great game to play every now and then.

SHINORUBI Review Cons

Quite claustrophobic with large enemies and a lot of HUD getting in the way.
You don’t get any actual tutorials, just training mode and the occasional bit of text.
The HUD is just there, and it does take up space, and you cannot edit it or move it around.
Little in the way of customisation.
The sheer number of modes can be quite overwhelming.
The story is just a series of images and text, and is very forgettable, and doesn’t feel like the focal point.
No real replay value as it’s all local leaderboards.

SHINORUBI

Official Website: Last Boss 88

Developer: Last Boss 88

Publisher: Red Art Games

Store Link:

PlayStation