Bangai-O

"Games with giant robots are always good!"

Did I say giant robots?

Remember a little old game company called Treasure? Well a few years back they released a 2D shooter called Bangaioh for the Nintendo 64, but it was never released to the states (boo!). However later a port of said title was made for the Sega Dreamcast and brought to our humble shores. This port is entitled Bangai-O, unlike its counterpart, and is actually said to be worse.

It seems Treasure has been chomping down those “special” brownies again! You’ll take the role of two hot-blooded youths named Riki and Mami, as they pilot the super hyper neo ultra powerful robot of doom called Bangai-O. Riki and Mami must take on the bungling goons of the SF Kosmo Gang, for they have infiltrated Riki and Mami’s home of Dan Star. Now this part isn’t too weird, but the minions of evil leader Gai are far out there. Aiding the SF Kosmo Gang, the pulsating green energy core named Koa-Zo is out to destroy you.....and become a lawyer? Then there’s Mr. Saraman - he’s pretty normal....except he has an unhealthy fixation with our protagonist, Riki. But wait - there’s more! A sheep that speaks like a novel, a girl that uses pictures to talk, a street urchin that claims to be Riki’s brother, and even a tree person that gives advice. Simply put every character is brimming with weirdness! The plot isn’t any better - you’ll be confused pretty early on. Doesn’t Treasure know that winners don’t use drugs!?

Bangai-O sports 44 levels of shoot ‘em up mayhem, and each level is different from the next. Fundamentally every section of a stage can be classified as either wide or narrow. This becomes very important as you learn as how each of our heroes weapons work. Our blue-haired battling boy Riki fires homing missiles. These menacing missiles are the weapon of choice in the spacious sections of each stage. Mami on the other hand has rays of energy that bounce of the walls. This artillery is extremely powerful in those nooks and crannies of the levels.

However Riki and Mami will need a more than just rays and missiles to destroy all those
vile enemies. If you decimate enough of the enemy force, than Bangai-O will store up to five scatter bombs. With a push of R button, Bangai-O will eject a barrage of missiles or rays throughout the entire screen. This technique is amazingly effective, and you’ll be able to clear a whole screen in no time. But when you utilize this skill is rather important. The more enemies or firepower on the screen - the more missiles or rays you’ll shoot forth.

Getting these foes to rear their heads isn’t too difficult. The sheer amount of goons can increase very quickly. This is mostly due to diminutive generators that constantly spawn more robots to blow up. However Bangai-O isn’t just brawns, for you’ll need to use your brain a little.

Some stages have simple puzzles to solve. For example in one level you’ll need to shoot a section of explosives to blast away a wall, but you must do this before going past a certain point (a door closes behind you and you’ll be trapped). Other puzzles including killing certain enemies to open doors or breaking certain blocks, as to avoid a cave-in.

What could hinder Treasure’s game? The answer is their own tinkering with the resolution. The resolution has been pushed up so much that every sprite has become too small! The newly petite graphics allow enemies to easily hurt you. This can be frustrating because your power meter decreases extremely quickly. If you throw in the fact that Bangai-O can shoot up to 400 simultaneous missiles along with the plethora of foes on the screen, you can see why you’ll blow up so many times. It will become impossible to distinguish yourself from an enemy or an enemy’s shot from your own. But even with this in mind, Bangai-O is still a very interesting shooter with changing characters on the fly, interesting bosses, and many excellent stages.

Even if they’re small, you can still make out the fine details of the sprites - that is if you have REALLY good eyesight. But there little to no animation with much of the foes. There are some enormous foes, but they appear too pixilated and stretched out. The backgrounds on the other hand are beautiful. The colors are lush and vivid, and the detail etched in each background is simply astonishing. However I would much rather have preferred the original Nintendo 64 graphics because then I would have a better sight of the enemies.

*Gasp* What is this? Slowdown in a 2D Dreamcast game? Usually when you throw about 300 to 400 missiles in a scatter bomb, the game will begin to move at a snail’s pace. This can sometimes make you accidentally fly into enemy fire because you won’t be able to brace yourself all too well.

The sound effects are top-notch. The explosions are thunderous and bring the clash of battle to life. In addition there are a slew of zany Japanese voice samplings. You’ll hear people yelling a few taunts, goons wailing, and even a cat meowing. Each voice fits perfectly into the weird mood of Bangai-O.

I can tell this was a N64 game - the music is bland and boring! The soundtrack consists of a handful of tunes with a minute long melody that repeats over and over again. The actual synth is also dry and without emotion. Bangai-O could have really benefited from a CD soundtrack, but then again that would have cost Treasure extra money.

Bangai-O is a great shooter that could have been better. If Treasure hadn’t bumped up the resolution so much, than Bangai-O wouldn’t have been so frustratingly difficult at times, and we could have seen those animations. Buy Bangai-O if you’re looking for an interesting shooter for Dreamcast. However if you have the chance to buy the Nintendo 64 version, get that one instead.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/17/03, Updated 06/17/03