ACECRAFT is at its best with the 1930s rubber-hose animation, a wonderful ode to the classics like Tom & Jerry. The cloud-hugged realm of Cloudia, with its sugary landscapes and whimsical floating islands, is a living cartoon that helps to make each dogfight exhilarating in the visual sense. Its marquee “bullet absorption” function, of turning pink enemy projectiles into screen clearing counterattacks, lends satisfying strategic depth to the typical shoot them up outline.

Cooperation is where the game really lives up to its “WE FLY TOGETHER!” mantra. Taking part in a friend for some role splitting, with one character tanking bullets while the other spams firepower, leads to thrilling bursts of synergy amid rapid in-game features allowing communication between team members. Randomly combined rogue like skills and over 100 unique stages help round out the replays, no two runs have to be the same. The game is of a lot of interests and fun, if you don’t have a try, you will never know how exciting a shooting game can be, and this game can fulfill your needs and demands and make your boring life not boring and tiring any more.

It's a shame, then, that this charm is sacrificed to aggressive monetization. 70 pull + ace pilot minimums and SCANT free gives a jarring contrast to the early repeat recharging offers in only Chapter 1. Promised “100 free pulls” are hidden behind tedious tasks, and Tom and Jerry tie-in characters are unavailable until you pay for them. These options tick away the casual crowd attracted by the art style.

For those little quick, tension-relieving sessions, ACECRAFT is there. But its more-is-more paywall approach keeps it from becoming the cooperation shooter that could’ve been truly special, which is a shame given its imaginative core.

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