Bangai-O Spirits [DS]

[englishbob]

Devoid of charm, no story, no spoken dialogue like the last game, and no design/challenge structure at all, because every level is unlocked.

So, without a plot, story, ending, or anything else, and with every level unlocked, what exactly is the point of playing?

No plot? Its a shooter, I'm glad it doesn't have a plot or story. The tutorial made me glaze over!

I agree about the unlock structure though, it would be better to unlock in batches of 10 or so, just to make sure you didn't hit a sticking point.

[crocky-chocky]

Man, I'm in love with this game.

Took me a while to grasp the new style of play thanks to a slightly bab tutorial. But once it clicked I couldn't put it down until the small hours. It ticks pretty much every box for me. It's so brilliantly intense and vibrant, my thumb killed from pressing the d-pad so ruddy bloody hard. I can tell I'll still be playing this for months.

I can see why people would be disappointed with aspects of it, but to me it's getting shot down for all the wrong reasons...it plays beautifully!

[Sketcz]

No plot? Its a shooter.

Have you played the first Bangai-O on Dreamcast? Amazing story which didn't intrude on the gameplay. I was hoping for more of the same.

[Tetsuo]

Have you played the first Bangai-O on Dreamcast? Amazing story which didn't intrude on the gameplay. I was hoping for more of the same.

I'm going to resist the urge to scoff at your previous comments John, but come on: "Amazing plot?" I loved the dialogue in Bangai-O as much as anyone, but I'm under no illusions that it was the one, binding ingredient that made the original so good. If anything, Bangai-O DS proves and cements the opposite - it's the shooting.

And screw unlockables. Un-lockable "content" is the absolute ****ing scourge of modern gaming and if Bangai-O ignores it completely, then good on it.

[turrican_dx]

tbh I'm not that fond of the gameplay. I wish Treasure had waited with the sequel of Gunstar Heroes as the DS is a tastier machine for a sequel!

[SuperBeatBoy]

I was going to laugh at the amazing story comment. If it wasn't there, i wouldn't be pissy. It's a dead shame as it came out at a time when i didn't realise or appreciate Treasure really were. I picked the game up randomly in the bargain bins in electronics boutique as it had a giant robot on the cover (uk cover blows bigtime). This coming from the person who bought Mischief Makers when it first came out...

If the gameplay remains or improves on the ds version i'm all happy for it. Can't wait for next week.

[Geoff D]

Bat > all weapons, in every game, ever. Fookin' lovely.

[parkinho]

Bat > all weapons, in every game, ever. Fookin' lovely.

Hi 5!

This game is all kinds of awesome. I still laugh like crazy each time I download a new stage via the DS mic, it seems so insane. Will post more detailed impressions when I sober up but for now will link this review, matches most of my views of it.

Challenging No More Heroes for my GOTY

[crocky-chocky]

Hi 5!

This game is all kinds of awesome. I still laugh like crazy each time I download a new stage via the DS mic, it seems so insane. Will post more detailed impressions when I sober up but for now will link this review, matches most of my views of it.

Challenging No More Heroes for my GOTY

That review is great!

It's a contender for my GOTY too. Hadn't really played the puzzle levels much until today, but some of them are genius! There's plenty of light-bulb moments, and they compliment the shootier levels so beautifully too.

Of the 'Treasure's best' levels, number 18 is particularly great so far. Took me alot of attempts but the satisfaction was epic. I'm stuck on 17 though, cant figure out how to get the third target down before the blocks drop.

But yeah...it's amazing!

[Ady]

Another reason why I love the DS. An utterly solid game.

The gaming world would be a duller place without Treasure in it.

My only problem is the sound load feature. I just CANNOT seem to get this to work at all. I follow the instructions (headphones, volume high) and all I get is errors. First, it tells me the volume's too high, so I turn it down a little, and then it reports a time out error or says there's too much background noise, even though I'm attempting this in a quiet room. Other times, it comes up with an error as soon as I press the 'Start' button - before it even gives me a chance to start the sound file!

Does anyone have any ideas. I'm not finding this feature to be as good as I expected. It's a shame, as I was really looking forward to using it.

[MisterBubbles]

am i the only person who finds this Rock hard god gradius 5 feels like a walk in the park to this you any hints as well or is this just not clicking for me ??
HAPPY GAMING !!!

[Golgo]

Another reason why I love the DS. An utterly solid game.

The gaming world would be a duller place without Treasure in it.

My only problem is the sound load feature. I just CANNOT seem to get this to work at all. I follow the instructions (headphones, volume high) and all I get is errors. First, it tells me the volume's too high, so I turn it down a little, and then it reports a time out error or says there's too much background noise, even though I'm attempting this in a quiet room. Other times, it comes up with an error as soon as I press the 'Start' button - before it even gives me a chance to start the sound file!

Does anyone have any ideas. I'm not finding this feature to be as good as I expected. It's a shame, as I was really looking forward to using it.

I don't know what playback software you're using, but I'm using Windows Media Player and it works fine as long as you've got the WOW/reverb effects switched off and all sliders on the graphic equalizer set in neutral position. Maybe if you've adjusted the equalizer to the 'Rock' preset or something it could be distorting the sound? Just an idea...

[CMcK]

My copy finally arrived and I think it was well worth the wait instead of importing. What a great wee game. I was skeptical that it would work on such a small screen but it's not a problem at all.
Good balance on the weapons and some really clever level layouts. Quite a tough game as well but not so hard it'll put people off.
Thanks Treasure!

[Ady]

I don't know what playback software you're using, but I'm using Windows Media Player and it works fine as long as you've got the WOW/reverb effects switched off and all sliders on the graphic equalizer set in neutral position. Maybe if you've adjusted the equalizer to the 'Rock' preset or something it could be distorting the sound? Just an idea...

Nope. I'm using media player as well like most people, and I'm not in the habit of spoiling the music I listen to by putting on crazy reverb effects for the sake of it, so there's no issue there.... but it still doesn't work. It's either too loud or not loud enough.

The feature just doesn't work very well. I guess it just would've been too easy to use the wifi, eh?

EDIT: I just managed to get ONE file to work via the official site after several failed attempts. Perhaps the issue lies with the way some users have encoded their files. Either way, this system is very fiddly and awkward and I find it hard to hail the "innovation" when its so unreliable.

[Golgo]

Works fine for me, although it's incredibly touchy - as you'd expect - about ambient sound, e.g. via open windows. You're not farting during data transfer, are you?