Gunbird 2 is originally an arcade game, released by Psikyo in 1998. The Dreamcast version was released by Capcom on 9 Mar 2000. I have seen the arcade version, but haven't played it, so this review is based entirely on the Dreamcast version.
Gunbird 2 is a rather standard 2D, top view, vertical scrolling shooting game. There is simultaneous two-player co-operative play. The player controls a flying character, who shoots everything which appears and dodge their barrage of bullets. Besides the standard shot and the emergency bomb, there is also a "level meter" which is charged by shooting at enemies. The meter can be expended for either a charged shot or a close-range attack. Effective use of these are very important in killing threatening enemies quickly before their firepower overwhelms the player's bullet-evasion abilities. The meter charges much more quickly at low levels: one can use the low-level charged shot and the close-range attack frequently, when one isn't trying to charge up a powerful high-level charged shot to use against the boss.
One game (one loop) consists of 7 stages. The first 3 stages are chosen randomly from 4 scenes. The fierceness of enemy attacks is adjusted according to the sequence in the current game, so there is always a smooth progression of difficulty within a game. The game is set in a fantasy world of magic and mecha, somewhat similar to the settings of the animations Laputa and Nadia (but with some magic and vampires tossed in).
There are 7 different characters (player "ships") to choose from. There is a good deal of variety in their abilities. For example, while Marion the witch's charged shot is just that - a charged shot similar to that in good old R-Type - that of Valpiro the robot or Hei-Cob the Arabian magician creates several turrets (robot punches and lamp genies respectively) which stay on the screen and keep shooting for a while. To the original arcade cast of 6 characters, Capcom has added to the Dreamcast version Morrigan the succubus, with her set of characteristic attacks.
For players who are not satisfied with just blowing things up and evading enemy fire, and want also to play for a high score, there are a few scoring elements too. Certain targets leave coins when destroyed. A coin spins, and when the player picks one up, the score value is determined by its facing. (For easy recognition, the coin flashes when it is at the highest point value.) There is also some chain bonus for picking up flashing coins in a row. In every stage, there is also a hidden bonus pot. When the player finds it and shoots at it, it spits out a number of gems which yield bonus points. It can sometimes be tricky to get the flashing coins and the gems, when enemy fire is interfering.
The home version suits both the casual shooting game player and the "shooter god", thanks to the 7-level difficulty setting. On the default "normal" level or higher, veteran shooting game players can find a challenging game with numerous, fast bullets, and if one clears the game without using any continues, he enters "loop 2" which provides more challenge. The "easy" difficulty levels provide just the right amount of challenge to casual shooting game players who prefer to deal with slower bullets, and the easiest levels (called "child" and "baby") are available for, besides children and babies, players who want a relaxing game rather than a challenging one.
Since a ship which is blown up releases part of its power up as items for the next ship to recover, and the fierceness of enemy attacks is lowered for the new ship, the player is always given a fair chance even after he dies. There are unlimited continues, but continueing in a late stage returns one to the start of the stage.
Although the Dreamcast version does not support the VGA Box, the graphics are quite good. The sounds are good, too. The story lines are short and shallow, and the endings are mostly one-line gags. Thus, the voice acting adds but just a little bit to the game. The character designs are done by NATSUMOTO Masahito, and are quite nice and cute. There is a "gallery mode" with some design sketches. However, part of the gallery is locked, and one has to download the unlock key from Capcom's site. This is, in my opinion, a stupid, unnecessary inconvenience. In the Dreamcast version, there is a "one player two character mode", which allows a single player to play the game using two different characters alternately, so that one can see the two-player stories when a second player isn't around. However, the player can only choose from 3 characters in that mode. The user needs to suffer more of the same stupid, unnecssary inconvenience if he wants to use the other characters in that mode. This is clearly abuse, rather than utilization, of the internet capability of the Dreamcast.
Gunbird 2 is originally a shooting game on a vertical screen. The Dreamcast version supports three screen modes. "Original 1" is on a fixed, letterboxed screen, but the width-height proportion of the screen is still not right. Reportedly the game balance has been adjusted a bit to accomodate for that, but I still feel that "Original 2" mode, in which the screen scrolls up and down along with player ship movement, works better. The "Arcade" mode is for use on a vertical monitor. It is an adequate arrangement: any player should be able to find a screen mode which suits his environment and preference. There is also an auto-fire button to save aching fingers. However, the unstable (imprecise) +-key on the Dreamcast standard controller may feel a bit inadequate for this game.
As an orthodox 2D shooting game, Gunbird 2 provides solid game play, to both casual shooting game players and dedicated "shooter gods" alike. The use of the level meter prevents the game from becoming too monotonous. There are a good variety of enemies, and some of them lay down interesting bullet patterns, so that some strategic cleverness is called for, in addition to raw bullet evasion technique. Despite some stupid abuse of the internet capability of the Dreamcast, Gunbird 2 is a well-balanced, quality game recommended to players who still have some interest in the 2D shooting genre, be that interest steady or occasional.
Copyright 22 Mar 2000 Alan Shiu Ho Kwan
Capcom official homepage (this game)
Alan Kwan / tarot@netvigator.com / created 22 Mar 00