Gunbird 1 & 2 - Compilation & Gunbird Special Editio

[ST Dragon]

What’s the difference between these two games?

Gunbird 1 & 2 - Compilation by Atlus / X-Naut – Psikyo (2004)
Gunbird Special Edition by Xplosiv

Does Gunbird Special Edition feature both Gunbird I & II or is it a completely new title, which uses elements from the previous 2 games, same as Sonic Wings Special on the PS-1 & Saturn?

I have the DC version of Gunbird 2, but I don’t like the fact that the display uses a very small portion of the screen in Yoko monitor mode & two huge, annoying black, vertical borders are visible on the sides of the screen.
This is as bad it can get… I’ve never seen larger vertical black borders in any another shooter before!

Is this as bad in Gunbird SE on the PS-2?

Gunbird SE is available for 20Euros.
Is it worth it?

Thanks in advance.

[Ord]

As far as i'm aware Gunbird Special Edition (Xplosiv) is just the European name for the Gunbird 1&2 Compilation that was released last year.

[ST Dragon]

What about the Yoko dsiplay mode?
How good is it compared to the DC version?
DC was too small.

[kawaijb]

yoko mode is good on Ps2, I mean a real yoko mode

[it290]

Borders? Is this specific to the PAL DC version or something? I haven't played the Original 1 or Original 2 modes of GB 2 in a while, but I don't recall seeing any borders at all in the US version.

[Kiken]

Does Gunbird Special Edition feature both Gunbird I & II or is it a completely new title, which uses elements from the previous 2 games, same as Sonic Wings Special on the PS-1 & Saturn?

As stated above, this is simply the Euro title for the Japanese Gunbird 1 & 2 Collection. The two games included are Gunbird and Gunbird 2, however, they are far from being "arcade-perfect".

I have the DC version of Gunbird 2, but I don’t like the fact that the display uses a very small portion of the screen in Yoko monitor mode & two huge, annoying black, vertical borders are visible on the sides of the screen.
This is as bad it can get… I’ve never seen larger vertical black borders in any another shooter before!

The DC version of Gunbird 2 in Yoko 1 and Yoko 2 uses the standard ~75% screen display. The black bars to the left and right of the screen should consitute no more than 13% of the screen each. They are not huge, and in fact match virtually every other Yoko mode available in a Tate screen shmup that is ported to a home console.

Is this as bad in Gunbird SE on the PS-2?

Gunbird SE is available for 20Euros.
Is it worth it?

It depends. There are two Yoko screen modes in the Gunbird collection disc, however, they are completely different to virtually every other Psikyo homeport. Instead of Original 1 and Original 2, the Gunbird collection features Normal and Stretched. Normal is a MAME-esque 33% screen mode, allowing full view of the play area at the cost of shrinking it to 1/3 the screen. Stretched simply takes Normal and makes it 3 times wider, causing everything to appear quite fat.

None of these modes are a proper replacement for Tate (Normal feels too small), which is available in both versions, with a pad rotate option. As far as the PS2 version goes, many have complained about a lack of 60Htz support in the Euro release. Also, the version of Gunbird 2 on the disc is altered in numerous places, where-as the DC rev is almost exact to the arcade.

[ST Dragon]

My favourite console Yoko screen mode so far, is the Raiden Project (PS-1) Panorama Mode, that stretches the display to fit the whole screen like MAME.

Is it the same in Gunbird Special Edition?

[Zigfried the Trizealot]

... you edited.

//Zig

[zyloj]

As far as the PS2 version goes, many have complained about a lack of 60Htz support in the Euro release.

This compilation has 60Hz selector in PAL version. But Gunbird 2 is better in Dreamcast. Ps2 has filtered graphics and longer (and annoying) loading times.

[takohiko]

I notice Aine's endings (you know, those endings) have been censored in the PAL version, presumably to keep the 7+ rating. The final image has been removed, although the accompanying text is still there.

...

which is a shame.

Oh, and Marion's nipples have been blanked out in whichever one of her endings had nipples in it.[/i]

[ST Dragon]

OK I got Gunbird SE.

It's got a Yoko option to stretch the display to fit the whole screen like the "Panorama" mode in Raiden Project (PS-1) or the stretch in MAME.

Excellent I must say.

This is one of the few shooter son the PS-1/2 that allows you to do this.

I wish others were like that, instead of those vertical black borders.

What do you guys mean that it has "filtered graphics" by the way...

[cigsthecat]

OK I got Gunbird SE.

It's got a Yoko option to stretch the display to fit the whole screen like the "Panorama" mode in Raiden Project (PS-1) or the stretch in MAME.

Excellent I must say.

Please tell me this is an elaborate ruse.

[Ganelon]

What do you guys mean that it has "filtered graphics" by the way...

Probably that there's an unremovable filter that tries to smoothen the graphics by blurring the pixel colors together.

[ST Dragon]

Well, I liked Gunbird in SE better than Mobile Light Force & liked Gunbird 2 in SE better than the DC version.

[Rob]

That little Marion loading icon was really cool in the game, huh St Dragon?

[CMoon]

Oh, and Marion's nipples have been blanked out in whichever one of her endings had nipples in it.

Uh...isn't Marion only 12 in Gunbird 2???

[Xexyz]

Yes but she does wish to be 17 or something close to that in the endings. You know, she grows up. I remember ending A turning here into the planet or something like that but can't recall ending B.

[IlMrm]

It's probably in the two player ending with Alucard.

[hikarutilmitt]

It's in Marion's ending with Ash in GB1. It's fairly blatant too, nothing really hidden too well. I don't remember any in GB2, though.

[ST Dragon]

That little Marion loading icon was really cool in the game, huh St Dragon?

That's nothing a hardened AMIGA veteran can't handle. Most AMIGA games were like that, so that little icon that appears before you fight the Bosses didn't bother me at all.
It doesn’t last that long either.

I liked the Yoko Wide Screen (aka Panorama from Raiden Project) & for that reason alone I prefer it over the DC version where the Yoko mode is very small.