Imagine flying around in your little mech and having literally 1,000's of enemies coming at you at once. If this sounds like fun to you then Bangai-o is the game for you.
At first sight I know many people will automatically think this game is pure crap. Taking one look at the game makes you think WHY is this on Dreamcast. Truthfully this game could have been done on any of the 16 bit systems but to me that was one of the main appeals. The sprites are extremely small but that's only because of the sheer mount of enemies on the screen at one time. These may all seem like short comings but if you can get past all that I promise you there is a lot of fun to be had. Now I've played tons of shooters in my life and this has got to be one of the most intense games I've ever played. Only coming in a very close second to Mars Matrix.
The game starts out with a completely wacked out story. You play the role of Riki Makishi who is a hot blooded teen from the planet Dan Star which is populated by Hot blooded guys?? HUH?? Anyway you are also joined by your sister Mami who feels she just has to help you. Anyway you are on a quest to stop the kosmo gang from stealing and selling valuable Space fruit!! TO aid you in this quest you are piloting the mega mech Bangai-O.
The gameplay is simple. You pilot your mech and the X,Y,B and A buttons shoot in their respective directions while the D-pad controls your movement. The L button switches between Rikis and Mamis weapons Rikis being heat seeking Missles and Mamis being lasers which bounce around the level when they hit walls. This is where the strategy comes into play. Each weapon is best suited for certain levels and situations. The main draw to the game is the cluster bomb. See when there are a ton of enemies on the screen you press the R button and you release a cluster of missiles or lasers. Just like every other game. However, its not that simple. Depending on how close the enemies bullets are to you determines how strong your bomb will be. Basically how this works is the closer the bullets are the stronger the bomb will be. The game also strings together how many explosions are on the screen at once so you want to get as many explosions on screen at once to get as high a score as possible. That is where the replay value comes in. The game starts out fairly tame but once you get farther into the 44 level that's right 44 levels of game play you'll be praying for the enemies to let up a bit.
If you're an old school gamer looking for a good solid shooter, I don't see any reason why you shouldn't pick this game up. If you decide to however you might have a hard time finding it cause its pretty rare now.
Gameplay: 9/10
Very simple (as are all shooters) but then with added explosion bonuses the game has gameplay in spades. Simple to control not too hard to master.
Graphics: 6/10
The weakest aspect of the game. Extremely small sprites but I feel that the amount of enemies on the screen somewhat makes up for the graphics. THey could have been WAY better but whatever.
Sound: 7/10
Bleh they get the job done though I like to blast all my shooters through my speakers so it sounds like WWIII in my room.
Overall: 8/10
Great game one of the better shooters out there. Very fun and considering it has 44 lvls you'll be playing for high scores for a while.
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