Release Date: 4/19/1995, 1/25/2007 (PSP)
Date Played: 7/20/2021
This was the final arcade game released in the TwinBee franchise which was extremely popular in Japan. The game received 3 ports that were also only released in Japan. These were for the Sony Playstation, Sega Saturn, and the Sony PSP (in the form of a compilation). Even though there was TwinBee fever in Japan for well over a decade, the games never really made it to the United States (other than the rebranded, "Stinger" on the NES). Even today, you have to import these games to have the opportunity to play them. This is, of course, what I did to to get the PSP compilation.
The TwinBee franchise has a lot of story and lore associated with it. It centers around the main characters having to fight Queen Melody and Archduke Nonsense for a magical harp... or something. I'm not sure, and it doesn't really matter. Just be aware that all of the characters in this franchise are quite beloved in their native Japan and have spawned a whole assortment of collectables, plushies, cartoons, comic books, food, action figures, radio dramas, and everything else you could imagine. This game in the franchise has fully voice acted cutscenes that are taken from the radio drama that was surprisingly popular. As they are fully voiced and scripted in Japanese, I can't really read them and have no idea what they are trying to say. They do look nice though and seem to add to the experience of the game.
The game itself looks amazing and is the best looking game in the series by far. It is definitely a cute 'em up and has playful characters and enemies that look like they're either toys or made of candy. Obviously, everything is quite colorful and the game even features a lot of impressive scrolling and scaling effects. Sometimes, a miniature cut scene will take place in a small window on the screen during gameplay. This was surely a technical marvel at the time and looks great even now. The music is outstanding and has that cartoony and whimsical feel that suits it quite well. The game is nothing short of a true delight to see on the screen. This is especially true when viewing it on a CRT television.
As for the gameplay, it is pretty much the same as all of the other TwinBee games and is just a vertically scrolling shmup. You play through 6 colorful levels that have mid-bosses and final bosses. Some of these final bosses have really cool designs (like the giant doll) while others seem pretty basic. The twist with this game is that this time around, you can select your playstyle before starting the game. You have 4 different charged shots to choose from and they include a standard fireball, boxing glove, option multiplier, and an explosion. After this, you select a difficulty and jump right into the action. Everything else about the gameplay is just standard TwinBee stuff. Meaning... it's bad. I know, I know, up until now I've been giving the game a pretty glowing review. So, if you thought you were going to hear me herald the greatness of these games... you thought wrong. The TwinBee series seems like something I would absolutely love, but it's marred by such an incredibly terrible game design feature/flaw that it squarely places itself into the top echelon of most frustrating video game experiences I've ever encountered. This specific game seems to have gone out of its way to select elements from other games that intentionally frustrate me... and I feel personally attacked and offended. Allow me to explain in detail further.
The real issue with the TwinBee games (including this one) is the powerup system. Scattered all throughout the levels are clouds that, when shot, toss out a bell that falls towards the bottom of the screen. What you're supposed to do is shoot the bell to juggle it and keep it from falling off the bottom of the screen. After several shots, the bell will change colors and act as a powerup if you collect it. These powerups include spreadshots, speed increases, shields, options, and more. The issues with this system aren't minor and they basically control and ruin the entire experience. Firstly, you don't know what color/powerup the bell is going to change into. So, if you need a specific powerup, you might have to shoot the bell 20 or 30 times to get it to cycle to the one you need. Secondly, if you get the bell to cycle to the color you want, and then you accidentally shoot it again, say goodbye to that powerup because just a single shot will turn the powerup back into a regular bell and you'll have to do it all again. Thirdly, you usually have a handful of bells on the screen that you're juggling simultaneously. Trying to get one to stay the color you want without without accidentally hitting it again is so difficult to maintain with all of the other bells bouncing around. Fourthly, the bells block your shots when you hit them. This game has an insane amount of enemies zipping all over the screen. Most of them try to kamikaze directly into you and when they come into view, you can't even shoot them because there are 5 or 6 bells directly between you and them that block your bullets. Lastly, you spend so much of your time and attention dealing with these stupid bells that you don't even get to focus on playing the rest of the game. Ninety percent of your deaths will just come out of nowhere from an enemy you didn't even notice because all of your attention is elsewhere. The game has terrible Gradius syndrome, meaning that if you die and lose your powerups, the game is too difficult to continue. So, you essentially have to finish the game without ever dying to have a chance. Because this game is so unforgivingly difficult, you die all the time. This leads you to have to focus on getting more powerups to have a chance, which leads to spending more time juggling bells, and less time allocated to learning the levels and enemy patterns. In addition to this, most of the TwinBee games have a Xevious mechanic where you have to bomb ground units with your crosshair while simultaneously dealing with the stuff in the air. I'm not a fan of this mechanic usually, but it's extra bad in this series. Because most of your movement is focused on staying below these bells to either keep shooting them or to catch them, it's difficult to take out the ground units at all. Luckily, this game allows you to bomb the ground and shoot in the air with the same button. Even with this little upgrade, it doesn't help the situation in any meaningful way.
In regards to the shot, as mentioned before, this game is focused on charge attacks. They are essential to success in this game and the four different options give some variety and strategy on different ways to tackle the levels and bosses. Unfortunately, even this carries with it some serious negatives. Because you charge your shot by holding down your fire button, there's no autoshot in this game. You'll wear out your hand from constantly tapping the fire button. It's exhausting and makes the game more of a chore to play. The charge shots themselves pass through everything on the screen... including the bells. So, that sorts out the bells blocking your shot problem... so tome degree. But, what it introduces is the extremely troublesome issue of your charge shot hitting bells multiple times as it passes through them and causes them to cycle past the upgrades you need. After you die, you can't even use the charge shot when you need to because it will prevent you from grabbing any upgrades. Considering the enemy encounters are centered around the charge shot, this can be very problematic.
Also, this game has added horizontal scrolling into the mix. This was lifted directly from the Raiden series. While you're scrolling vertically, a portion of the screen to the left and right stays off camera and as you approach the edges, the screen shifts over to reveal a wider play area. The issue with this is that there are often enemies right off screen and as soon as you scroll over, they appear and pop you in the back with a bullet and ruin your run. It's something you can get sort of used to in Raiden because only 30% of the playfield is off screen. In this game, the visible playfield is only about 30% of the total width. That means you can scroll left and right for distances that are about the same size as the middle of the playfield. This just increases the chance of funning into an enemy offscreen and having it snipe you out of the air. I've always hated this mechanic, and having it be 3 times larger than usual just adds another big red mark on the things this game does wrong.
Lastly (and this isn't a game ruining issue, but it's just such a huge slap in the face after dealing with all of the other terrible decisions of this game that I had to mention it), when you encounter a boss/mid-boss or a cloud full of bells, the game displays in giant letters the word, "SHOOT!" with a freaking arrow pointing to the thing you're supposed to shoot. To make matters worse, it never goes away and stays there for the whole fight. Seriously?!? Not only is it annoying and insulting to the player, but it takes up a good portion of the real estate of the screen causing more visual clutter to look at and obscuring incoming shots. Why would anyone think this is a good idea?
I don't think the TwinBee games are good. In fact, I think they're downright bad, unfun, unfair, and miserable to play... but they have an endearing charm to them that raises my opinion of them slightly. This entry in the series is one of the worst offenders and, despite its fantastic presentation, is grating to experience. The other games in the series are annoying, but just mediocre when all is said and done. This one's aesthetic can't even raise it to mediocre status nor save it from being slightly despised in my eyes. I can't help but think that Japan was more in love with the cutesy characters from the series than they were the actual gameplay. I don't know why anyone would subject themselves to actually learning this game well enough to 1 credit clear it on even the normal difficulty. There wasn't more than just a few seconds of enjoyment that I experienced during my time with this game.
Final Status: Beaten
Final Score 4/10 (Bad)
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