Gunbird 2

"What do pirates, potions, and Psikyo have in common?"

I'll admit- the only reason I bought this game is because it has Morrigan in it. Yeah, I enjoy shmups and I am a big fan of Psikyo's work, but well... MORRIGAN! NOT IN A FIGHTING GAME! That's enough to go against my very ordered and organized view of reality.

Now that THAT is out of the way...

GAMEPLAY - 6

I love playing this game. Seriously, I do. But to be perfectly honest, it could have used some more variety. The boss fights are either wickedly difficult or waaaay too easy. The reason? The melee attacks. Super-mega-busted-wicked powerful, these attacks are. There's almost NO reason to use the dubious charge attack when you have these at your disposal. Most bosses will succumb after about 6-7 of these attacks (on normal) and it's just too easy to charge the attack when you're empty. The game is also sinfully short, with a scant 7 levels that take about 3 minutes each to complete. Also, where is the boss attack mode? Where's an original mode, or a time attack? On the plus side, every character has two endings and every pair of characters has an ending.

There IS a nice variety of characters to choose from, however, and each of these characters is varied enough to warrant a play through with each one. Also at the heart of every good shmup is a subtle-yet-ingenious device that increases your score to phenominal levels, and Gunbird 2 is no exception. When collecting the coin powerups, you can grab it when it's facing the screen and flashing (fraction of a second timing) to get a big score boost. Also, you can chain these to get an even more impressive score.

It's a pretty bread and butter shooter with some subtle touches that make it stand out, even if just a little. In all, it's pretty standard Psikyo.

GRAPHICS - 8

It's pretty! The palette is a bit muted in the north pole levels, but the mecha design and character portraits are detailed and crisp. Explosions abound and bullets are all thankfully the same orange color, making it so that dodging is not a question of guesswork. Unless there are a lot of explosions, there usually isn't any trouble dodging the enemy shots.

No super big special effects or tricks here, just sprites overlaid on stage boards. Not too shabby.

SOUND - 8

The music is standard fare for the graphical style - it matches the mood (upbeat and cheerful) and the sound effects are abundant and clear. Nothing is ever tinny or discordant, and the explosions peal out gorgeously. Not a whole lot that's totally memorable, but it complements the overall action nicely.

You might not rush out to find the soundtrack, but you won't go scrambling for the volume knob, either.

STORY - ???

Well, I honestly don't know what the hell they were thinking. The Almighty Potion is at the top of everyone's wish list, and there's some amusing endings to be had, but the bottom line is that, once again, there really isn't much to follow here. Just blow stuff up and laugh, really.

OVERALL - 7

Gunbird 2 is a classic example of decent gameplay. It keeps the traditional feel of most shmups (progressive powerups and alternate attack options) that has proven successful for the big names in the genre, but it doesn't expand on those ideas much. All in all, if you find it used for 10 bucks or so, pick it up and play with a friend. It's not a bad way to spend 30 minutes.

Alucard was originally going to be cut out of the game, but thankfully, his attorneys were able to settle out of court with Konami of Japan well before the game's release.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 07/27/05