Release Date: 21 February 1991 (Arcade)
Date Played: 5 December 2021
Introduction:
This was the second arcade game released in the TwinBee franchise which was extremely popular in Japan. The game received several ports that were also only released in Japan and we're looking at the Playstation Portable Version here. It was released on a compilation of most of the TwinBee games and is considered an arcade perfect port. 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 has plenty of cut scenes between the levels to fill you in on the story. Unfortunately, I don't speak Japanese and can't get a good grasp of what is going on. I know that the TwinBee games are considered to be an anime in shmup form series, but that interests me far less than the series fanatics.
Presentation:
The game is gorgeous with bright colors, interesting enemy and boss designs, and a light hearted feel. You can see that it draws its inspirations heavily from Studo Ghibli's move Castle in the Sky. It is definitely a cute 'em up and has playful characters and enemies that look like they're taken directly from Hayao Miyazaki's mind. I think this was a really good idea and helps this game stand out from others in the franchise that all seem to be based off of toys and candy. The music is outstanding and has that cartoony and whimsical feel that suits it quite well and is a standard feature in the series. Being the 5th overall game in the series but only the 2nd arcade game, the graphics have been given a huge bump from the previous 3 console only releases and it really shows. While not as technically or graphically impressive as some of the TwinBee games that came after it, Detana!! TwinBee can certainly hold its own in the aesthetic department.
Gameplay:
Unfortunately, this leads us to the real downfall of the TwinBee series. My favorite quote to offer up when asked about these games is, "Everything is great about TwinBee except for the gameplay." Of all the games I've ever played, there are none that I so desperately want to enjoy as much as the TwinBee games... but just utterly despise playing. Detana!! is pretty much the same as all of the other TwinBee games and is just a vertically scrolling shmup. You play through 7 colorful levels that have mid-bosses and final bosses. Some of these final bosses have really cool designs that are primarily aquatically themed with jelly fish, crabs, and ships. You're given a charge shot this time around and learning to find time to charge it and knowing when to let loose is one of the main gameplay mechanics. 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. Like the other games in the series, it feels like it has 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. These enemies also have very erratic patterns that were designed to basically troll you. 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 to some minor 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. There are so many times where I'm repeatedly shooting a bell and trying to get it to cycle to a powerup that I desperately need, and some stupid enemy will fly in at lightning speed and fire off a barrage of fast bullets right into my path that causes me to have to dodge and miss my chance to grab the bell powerup. You spend all of this time working on shooting these bells and a majority of the time it's all for nothing because you can't grab the bell when you need to, you don't have a chance to shoot it enough times to cycle to what you need, or you accidentally shoot it when it IS on the powerup you need because of an enemy getting in your way.
Conclusion:
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. If you've ever played a Konami shooter like Gradius, you'll be very familiar with the fact that they LOVE to recycle content over an over. In that series, you'll have the same volcano levels, Moai heads, solar flares, and speed levels. It makes the games hard to distinguish from each other. Since TwinBee is also developed by Konami, it's the same case here. All of these games recycle content and are almost indistinguishable from each other. Since Konami decided to recycle some content for this game, I decided to do the same. I was reading through one of my older reviews about a TwinBee game, and realized that it was basically just the same review for this game. So, I copied and pasted over a lot of my feelings for that game to this game... and it seemed to fit perfectly. If you've played one TwinBee game, you've played them all.
Final Status: Beaten
Final Score 4/10 (Bad)
No comments:
Post a Comment