This game was originally covered as part of our Nindie Round Up series that sought to give coverage to a wider breadth of Switch eShop games beyond our standard reviews. In an effort to make our impressions easier to find, we're presenting the original text below in our mini-review format.

Akihabara - Feel the Rhythm Remixed is a blend of a puzzle game and rhythm action with a focus on precision timing that has to be juggled with its Tetris-influenced gameplay. Also featured are an anime-inspired aesthetic and a techno soundtrack that gets you appropriately pumped and rhythmically involved while playing.

Gameplay involves dropping two blocks which can be swapped around horizontally. The idea is then to line up four or five of the same kind of block in a row to remove them. The rhythm aspect then comes into play as you destroy the rows by hitting a white line that glides across the screen, hovering over the row you wish to obliterate. The skill factor comes from hitting the row in time with the music for maximum points.

It’s a simple formula, but one that gets addictive quite quickly and manages to make you think, as you must prioritise whether you focus on the two falling blocks or the white rhythm line. As you progress through the campaign, you’ll learn to juggle the two and improve at managing timing with block choice. You are also limited to using the D-pad rather than the joystick, though this is the optimal choice considering the static gameplay.

While the concept is unique, the presentation is a bit lacklustre. The anime images are bland and generic and even the colour palette looks a tad washed out at times. The soundtrack, however, is groovy as heck and offers you three albums to choose from, each with ten tracks, which can be played in an arcade-style mode after completing the campaign.

All in all, Akihabara is a fun blend of genres that uses its Tetris-inspired roots to produce some fine puzzling. However, the lack of modes, repetitive gameplay, and poor presentation make this one for the more hardcore puzzle fans alone.