Kokuga Is One Part Shooter, One Part Trading Card Game

Under Siege developer G.rev has an interesting shooter in development for the Nintendo 3DS. Kokuga puts players in the drivers seat of a tank. The slide pad makes the tank move and B fires shells. Players have to manually aim the cannon by pressing the L and R buttons.

Kokuga’s levels (named A-L) are arranged in a triangle with final stages at each of the corners. Players can pick their path by choosing any adjacent level somewhat similar to Darius.

What makes Kokuga unique is the game’s power up card system. Players get 20 cards when they start a stage. Four are displayed on the bottom screen. Touch a card to activate rapid fire or restore shields by using a support card. Cards are consumable and randomly distributed so you don’t know what will pop up after using one. That’s pretty much how trading card games like Magic the Gathering work, but Kokuga players also have to dodge enemy fire on the top screen.

Kokuga is slated for release in spring 2012 on the Nintendo 3DS.