Bullet-hell type shoot'em-ups have certainly had their dash on the App Store and much like any fad its appeal, even to genre fans, starts to fade even despite the attractive, eye-popping visuals and challenging, fast-paced gameplay. Undaunted by this, developer Colobox has released its own beat/rhythm based bullet hell title 'Wave - Against every BEAT!', but sadly its unique ideas fail to excite despite cranking every aspect of the game up to eleven.

Waves upon waves of neon-shaped enemies dubbed 'cubes' (despite their actual shape) will pour out of space-time orifices and it's up to you to beat back the tide with your nimble ship by dragging it quickly back and forth across the screen with a swipe. Thumping electronic beats are supplemented by the firing of your weapons and the flashy explosive deaths of each enemy, while lasers crisscross, swirl and pulse their way up the field to ensure nothing stays alive for longer than a second. To counter your beams of death, enemies quickly become beefier, faster and begin to pour out at an increased rate, becoming living projectiles that create the 'bullet-hell' scenario that requires quick thinking to survive.

Three game modes are available, with the Aracde mode unlocking up to five different objectives; a Survival mode for the obligatory endless variant; and a 'Free Play' mode that is supposed to generate levels based on the music you select, however this feature did not seem to be working as intended at this time. Once enough stars are collected from destroyed enemy waves, one of several mini-game modes are made available, with each one featuring unique controls that give you a temporary boost to your destructive power.

In theory all of these features sound perfect for the kind of over-the-top SHMUP 'Wave' is trying to be, but the gestalt is a confusing cluster of sight and sound that makes it more of a 'Bullet-what-the-hell?' than the fast-paced action shooter it's trying to be. Enemies quickly blitz their way down the screen (seemingly oblivious to your destructive capacity) and attempting to identify any potential safe path is rendered nearly impossible as you try to differentiate between your weapons; exploding enemies; point-scoring items; regular enemies; and the background itself.

'Wave - Against every BEAT!' is far from a terrible shooter, but it's far from impressive either. If you don't mind a mild, persistent state of confusion and you don't get enough neon-explosions in your day-to-day gaming, this might just be for you.