Bangai-O HD: Missile Fury

[Yoshi]

The developers at Treasure sure know their way around shooters. With classics like Gunstar Heroes under their belt and the launch of Sin and Punishment: Star Successor for the Wii, Treasure has been giving gamers around the world a serious taste of action for years. Shooter fans are in luck, because the developers aren't stopping there -- Bangai-O HD: Missile Fury is heading to Xbox Live Arcade this November.

A sequel of sorts to Bangai-O Spirits for the Nintendo DS, Missile Fury is meant to represent the true Bangai-O experience by offering players a wealth of levels and some of the most action-packed challenges around. I had the opportunity to play a pre-alpha version of Bangai-O HD a few weeks ago and, despite suffering death on more than one occasion, I had a great time with the game.

It should be noted that the build I was shown was very early and there's a lot that could change by the time the final game is released. But at its core, Bangai-O HD: Missile Fury is a 2D shooter that puts players in control of a heavily armed robot. By using the left stick to move and the right stick to shoot, players will need to survive an absolutely insane amount of projectiles in order to clear the game's 100 or so levels.

Even in its early form, Missile Fury seems to have it all. The game comes equipped with a full level editor which will enable gamers to share their creations online with friends. There will also be the standard addition of leaderboards and more. There isn't any multiplayer to speak of, but there looks to be plenty of content to keep people busy.

Most levels have targets that need to be destroyed, which are marked on the mini-map in the corner of the screen. In order to get to those targets, some thought needs to go into solving in-game puzzles. Gates will often block the player's path, which need to be opened by triggering an explosive fuse, for example. This might sound like an easy puzzle to solve, but with hundreds of missiles on screen, there's a lot of action to keep track of.

Don't worry though; your trusty war machine has a few tricks up its cybernetic sleeve. There are three different weapon types that can be picked up during play: Bound, Break and Homing. Bound power-ups give your mech a beautiful collection of lasers, which bounce off of walls and down corridors with devastating results. Break missiles chew through enemy fire like a hot knife through butter, and Homing missiles (as you might have guessed) track nearby enemies. I originally assumed that Break missiles would always be the best choice, as their potency against incoming fire is absolutely critical in a pinch. But after playing a level that was set in very tight passages, I soon came to appreciate the Bound power-up as well.

The mech can also use a short-range dash to smash enemies, but this is only useful in close quarters. The most devastating technique the mech can employ is a super move which fills the entire screen with missiles (or lasers). This technique needs to be charged and players can't move during this charging phase, but pulling off the attack is immensely satisfying.

Bangai-O controls well and seems like a lot of fun, from what I've seen so far. I love how much happens on screen at one time and I'm equally taken with how much giant fruit needs to be picked up to keep alive (Fruit refills your health meter, obviously!). Shooter fans should keep Bangai-O HD: Missile Fury on their radar, because this action-packed downloaded has some serious potential.

Link

[Drum]

:o

Fruit refills your health meter, obviously!

Um ...

[MrMonkeyMan]

Fruit probably fills you bomb meter, or whatever people like to call it, just like in the N64 game and Spirits.

It sounds more like a sequel to Spirits than the Dreamcast version, which I find a little disappointing. I prefer just flying around and blowing everything up over slowly pushing blocks around the screen.

I also don't like twin stick shooters. I much prefer digital movements and aiming in these kinds of games, but I imagine that won't be an option.

[Vexorg]

Sounds like this will be at PAX, so I'll be sure to check this out there and report back. Bangai-O is one of those games on the DC that is fun to play, but I could never quite get used to the controls.

[Drum]

Not loving the graphics too much. Effects like smoke and bullet trails look smeary and photoshop-y.

[bcass]

Really hope they go back to the roots and base it more on the N64 version. The DC version felt watered down and the less said about the DS version the better. Surprised they've gone with this instead of what everyone really wants to see on XBLA - RSG HD.

[Drum]

Really hope they go back to the roots and base it more on the N64 version. DC version felt watered down an the less said about the DS version the better. Surprised they've gone with this instead of what everyone really wants to see on XBLA - RSG HD.

I would much, much rather see this, but I am like you in that I don't want it like the DS version.

[E. Randy Dupre]

That's interesting - I thought that the DS version received almost universal praise and I was the only person who thought it inferior to the original game (DC version, that is).

The biggest problem with the DS version, as far as I'm concerned, is how everything was handed to you right from the start and the game made no effort whatsoever to introduce you to the properties of the different weapons or the requirements of the different stage types - like Treasure developed all the gameplay ideas before they thought about structure or presentation, then decided that working on structure and presentation would cost too much so just stuck what they had so far into a retail box and washed their hands of it.

[bcass]

Yep, the DS version feels unfinished. I thought it was total crap, but it seemed to be quite popular.

[Dandy J]

the godfather of juice has returned

[charlie]

oh, i'm a little disappointed that it's based on the DS version. I couldn't get into that one much.

I loved the Dreamcast one though, that was great! Never played it on N64.

Cheers
Charlie

[MathU]

I couldn't get into the DS game at all. I played it for a week maybe when it came out and then went right back to Space Invaders Extreme.

[spadgy]

I did enjoy the DS version enough to play it all through. I had a lot of fun too. I would prefer to see this one go back to roots, but either way, I'm optimistic about a new change to play Bangai-O. If it includes a decent local multiplayer, I'm especially keen.

[brokenhalo]

hopefully it has a whacked out story mode. that was my favorite aspect of the dc version.

[Elixir]

- Directed by D3 Publisher (Oneechanbara, Dream Club, Earth Defense Force)
- 800 MSP
- November release
- Stage editor
- 100+ stages

If the stage editor lets you download and upload stuff, this is gonna be a ton of fun.

[cj iwakura]

Yeah, bring back story mode.

The DS game was hardly bad, it's just different. And those challenges were insane.

[Acid King]

I had fun with all of the versions, but I liked the Dreamcast version most because it had the best pacing. This should be a good time and I'm just glad this hasn't been relegated to a handheld series.

[evil_ash_xero]

DC version was awesome. Never played the N64 one.

Spirits I think had a lot of good ideas, but was on the wrong hardware, big time. It just couldn't go for broke, and it looked like shit.

I was hoping for a HD DC Bangai O, but i'll give this a shot. After SP2, i'm game.

Wait a sec though...they didn't have the manpower to make Radiant Silvergun HD, but they had the manpower to make this? I mean, it may rock, but I think RS would be more of a guaranteed success. It may take more time though, with all the work they'd have to do with the polygons(basically redo them from scratch). I don't know which takes more manpower, polygons or HD Sprites.

[TaygetaVendetta]

I've never played any of the previous versions, but I'm very interested based in this iteration, the screenshots look insane.

[MrMonkeyMan]

1up put a up a preview video.

http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3181152

[E. Randy Dupre]

The biggest disappointment I found was that Missile Fury is structurally the same as the DS version, so the completely bonkers story and characters of the Dreamcast game have been neglected once more in favor of jumping right in and out of the action.

Balls

[bcass]

Very disappointing.

[ROBOTRON]

Nope.

[bcass]

Highly disappointing.

[MrMonkeyMan]

Well, this time it is only a $10 downloadable title, which is what Spirits kind of felt like. The action looks a lot better in this one than in Spirits though. Large open spaces with enemies firing hundreds of bullets and missiles at you.

[mesh control]

Holy shit, those backgrounds are terrible.

[MrMonkeyMan]

Actually, everything is pretty ugly. The Dreamcast version is more visually appealing

[evil_ash_xero]

Why do I have to watch this clown talk about the game? It's worse than listening to that British chick who does the previews for..uh..hmm...well, the British chick.

Now I have to look at this guy?

Anyway, the graphics are bland. Might be fun though. Backgrounds are empty.

[Elixir]

I think people are forgetting Bangai-O DC's story creator wasn't part of Treasure's staff. Considering this is going to be the cheapest Bangai-O available, wanting an additional story mode in an 800 MSP game is asking for too much.

[E. Randy Dupre]

I'm not fussed about the lack of a story mode (although I don't agree that an 800 MSP price makes wanting something like that unreasonable - plenty of XBLA games released for that amount have managed to include numerous modes before now).

My issue with Spirits is how it's one of the least welcoming games I've played in years. Or, as a friend on another board described it:

its "Well? What do you want? Get the fuck on with it already. Bitch." structure.