Gunbird 2

"My god! A 2-D shooter on DC?! Somebody up there likes me!"

My god, a 2-D shooter on Dreamcast?! Somebody up there likes me! On to the review...

Gameplay- The story goes a bit like this: Pick one of 7 characters, and guide your way bullet-choked levels to get the many ''potions'' scattered across the land, so they can make ''the all-purpose potion''. Each character has his own set of traits, strengths and weakness that you'll have to exploit to defeat a nefarious (read: hilarious) group of bumbling pirates. Ok, it's not much of a story, but the cut scenes are quite charming and funny...besides, how many of you play shmups for the story? The gameplay, while not original at all, is STILL incredibly fun, after all these years. Destroy the one red ship out of every three blue ships, chase down power-up through hailstorm of bullets, blow stuff up, square off against against an enormously cool boss, repeat (though to be fair, the melee attacks are fairly innovative). It’s a tried and true formula, but it works. Be warned though, Gunbird 2 has a MURDEROUS difficulty. This will be one of the harder games you'll ever be lucky enough to play. It get a little easier when you play it in it's original arcade format ( gotta turn your TV on it's side though ) but unfortunetly, it completely warps the colors, making the game look like a first generation Genesis game color-palette wise. Too bad.

Control- Super smooth and responsive; borderline perfect.

Graphics- It looks real nice, but the visuals could've been spruced up a bit. A bit more animation here, a little more color there, and they needed to smooth out the sprites a bit. But it looks quite good and is more then sufficient for this type of game.

Music- You kind gamers are gonna rail me for this, but I LOVE the happy, upbeat soundtrack. The 4th stage has a notable track, sounding alot like a Mega Man game. It's sorta like the exact opposite of what you'd expect in a soundtrack of a shmup: A happy, j-poppish upbeat soundtrack, while unfitting to a degree adds alot to this games nearly suffocating charm and charisma. The sound effects sound great, and the voices... well, prepare to laugh out loud each time you hear the pirates whining and complaining. Shark, the ''busty'' leader of the pirates has a very funny voice and it fits her look perfectly. Gimmick has a suitably lecherous voice to fit his looks and personality, and the muscular viking Slash just stands there and looks cool.

Replay- EXCELLENT replay value, definetely worth the import price-tag, and with the domestic ringing in at a sparse 29.99... well if you're looking for the most bang for your buck, this is it. Not much in the terms of meaningless extras ( it's got a art gallery though ) Gunbird 2 is so tough, it'll take ages for you to get through it.

In closing- Gunbird 2 is an absolute must buy for every Dreamcast owner out there, and for you unlucky ones that havn't gotten around to purchasing Sega's uber-console... this is the perfect reason. Casual and hardcore gamers alike will be able to appreciate Psikyo's masterpiece. Now where's my Cannon Spike?!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/22/00, Updated 01/11/01