Bangai-O (DC)

Shoot em ups nowadays seem to concentrate on 2 things, graphics and sound. They go for all out mega 3d experiences with soundtracks from ace artists and look the biz. However they lack the great gameplay associated with the great shooters of the past. Remember Nemesis, R-Type, Xenon ? All these games were at the peak of the genre, awesome 2d blasters that stuck to a few simple rules. Search, shoot and destroy (oh and power up on the way) Bangai O marks a glorious return to that ideal, controlling the worstly described character ever (Rick the ultimate man of all men) you must traverse 44 levels of insane blasting action to save the world (or something ...  Read the complete review

Treasure have become something of legend amongst shoot-em-up fanatics in recent years. Beginning with the classic Gunstar Heros on the Megadrive they have produced a body of work which whilst resolutely two dimensional, has never failed to show innovation or lack playability. Bangai-O is their first and probably now last title for the Dreamcast and it is unsurprisingly given their track record a 2D shooter. The plot is unimportant and to be honest rather confusing manga-esque stuff so I’d best stick to the basics. You play a robot with two pilots, each of which fires a different gun. The aim of the game is to shoot as many things as possible and fight ...  Read the complete review

"2D is dead" ... however, evidently nobody told Treasure that, as they've produced what is probably one of the Dreamcast's premier games using precisely that viewpoint. From the initial look of it, this is nothing special. No fancy 3D environments, titchy sprites, rough sound ... and then you start to play it. And it's amazing - when you've managed to pull off a 999-explosion "400 max" special move, nothing can come close to the fun of seeing 400 homing misiles flying around the screen in front of you. I'm getting ahead of myself though ... Bangai-O is a 2D shooter, with you playing a flying robot thing trying ...  Read the complete review