Really bad. Have you ever found "cumbersome" to be a good description of any shmup? You probably haven't. Tekkaman Blade is cumbersome. I'm sure you can make a solid case for melee attacks in this genre, but Tekkaman Blade sure doesn't. The bosses switch to a 1v1 fighting game type deal, and Tekkaman Blade is not a good fighting game either. You will either cheese your opponent or run out of time trying. I don't think this game gets anything right that it tries to do, honestly. Don't bother with it.