Gunbird 2

"Sure it look old, but gameplay can't be beat!"

Gunbird 2 is one of those game that so defines the genre that it would be easy to generalize detractors as simply not liking shooters. Sure, the graphics are NOT going to impress you, and there is little revolutionary about the game play. Nonetheless, GB2 scores in all the right areas making it the standard for games of this type.

STORY 9/10: OK, shooters typically don't have stories. The 9 is an inflated score, but given that there are 7 characters, each with their own story line AND two unique endings (not to mention special two player endings), this is actually one of the few shooters you'll be playing just to follow the story. Of course, the stories themselves aren't really very much--sort of treasure-esque odditites, but it is certainly an added incentive rarely present in shooters.

GAMEPLAY 10/10: GB2 is classic vertical scrolling shooter action done to perfection. If you like shooters, you'll love the way this plays. Some may be dissapointed that you can't select different weapons, but with 7 unique characters, this isn't a real issue. There are 4 levels of power, so if you get hit, you won't be spending -forever- trying to get your ship back up to speed. You also have the classic screen clearing bomb, as well as two new attacks--charge shot and vicinity attack.

In this regard, GB2 DOES have some innovations, though they may seem subtle compared to games like Mars Matrix and Giga Wing. The charge shot is like a super in Street Fighter. Get it up to level 3 and you'll have enough power to decimate a boss (Aine for instance can take out most bosses in one hit with his level 3), but you lose your super meter every time you get hit, so actually getting a level 3 can be challenging.

The vicinity attack is another new feature--not as impressive as the charge shot, but in some cases it can get the job done. Using one level of your super meter, your character basically whacks whatever is in front of them. I tend not to use this that often, but I could see situations where a large enemy is hemming you in, and this would be useful.

As to the game mechanics themselves--expect all the classic shot patterns here. GB2 does a great job at pacing. Depending on difficulty level, you can be fighting for every inch.

CONTROLS 10/10: Everything is fine here. There is the necessary delay in the charge shot--but that's kind of the idea. Of course, if you don't like the button config, you can change it around. Oh, and as you might expect from Capcom, there is a rapid fire button, even though holding down fire in the arcade released the charge shot.

GRAPHICS 6/10: Well what did you expect. Here is the proof that professional game reviewers are nothing but graphically fixated. By all standards (except graphics), Gunbird 2 is one of the best shooters out there, but instead we get another critically panned shooter, and for no good reason. Yes, the graphics are sprite driven, and they look OLD. On the other hand, they have a lot of charm. For a game that has received so much flack mostly due to graphics, there is a lot of detail to be found here--a great deal of which is very humorous. While you are bowing up towns you'll see the inhabitants come out of their homes shaking their fists at you. In one of the boss fights, when blowing up a section of the boss, you'll actually see the queen pirates look a bit surprised and retreat from the damaged section. Ironically, as good as Giga Wing 2 looks, it doesn't have this much detail. Depending on how you look at it, I suppose that GB2 actually has very good graphics, but trying to convince other people of this will be very hard, and in general, in showing the game to others, their impression will be that this game looks 5 years old (or older.)

AUDIO 7/10: Nothing terribly spectacular here, though I find a number of the tunes rather catchy.

REPLAY 9/10: For me, GB2 scores very high in this department simply because the gameplay is so strong. Still, other incentives include 8 levels of difficulty that actually do just what you would expect, versus Mars Matrix where the easiest level is still extremely hard. Also, with so many different endings, you'll want to play through to see all of them. The combination of rewardig game play, different levels of challenge and WAY too many endings make this one a favorite in my DC.

Buy or Rent: Well, you can currently pick this one up from Best Buy for around $10, so renting would be futile. Basically, if you like shooters, there is no excuse not to own GB2, it is really a staple of the genre. If you don't like shooters, why are you reading this?

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/14/01, Updated 06/14/01