Monday, September 29, 2008

Bangai-O Spirits

My last post about Blast Works reminded me of another recent four-player experience. I don't think I'd classify it as a shoot 'em up, however. I'm not even sure if the multiplayer was actually cooperative. Frankly, I have no idea what to think about Bangai-O Spirits.

Rather than offer a linear experience, Bangai-O Spirits allows the player to select from a collection of short stages. For our one and only attempt, I selected Stage 001, which seemed like a logical enough choice at the time. The very instant the stage began, we were immediately bombarded by missiles from seemingly every direction, their origins unknown. Screen-filling flares and flashing accompanied a cacophany of explosions that seemed to last forever as the slowdown took over. Eventually, we somehow completed the stage, even though I still hadn't figured out the objective. It was honestly the most baffling experience I'd ever had with a video game.

Apparently, the tutorial mode, while not strictly mandatory, is essential to understanding the game. I might give it another shot when I'm more motivated, but I don't think I'll be able to rope anyone else into trying it with me again.

3 comments:

Czardoz said...

Like Blast Works, here is a game that conjured up images of the Atari 2600 in action. Most of the time, I didn't know if I was dead or alive.

Riyuu said...

It doesn't matter if you're dead or alive, just keep shooting stuff until something storyline related happens.

Sam Kahn said...

I played this for the DS. It's interesting, but super frustrating. The tutorial is definitely mandatory. I need to give this game a chance when I have more patience.