Been playing a lot of scrolling shooters lately to make some progress on the various retro game collections I've had hanging around - ironic because it really isn't a genre I have much attachment to, so if you're a SHMUP head add a half or full star to all my reviews for your own reference. That said this is one of the better ones I've played, with incredible visual design. The organic enemies are fantastic, literally the first thing that flies at you when you boot up the game is a flock of flying squids. Incredible. Plays well too, although I don't like that the power-ups replace each other - definitely prefer the games where you can load up with a crazy build, although this way you don't lose as much if you die, so there's ups and downs.

One of the best things Sega Channel ever did for me, and one of the places where Xbox Game Pass falls short, is not show the box art on games. Clicking a button that just said "Bio-Hazard Battle" in text and then having Bio-Hazard Battle happen is the reason people download huge lots of ROMs, not knowing what they are, just to hit load and go "what the hell is this" and get an answer you'd never see coming. Though, admittedly, this box art specifically isn't the best setup for what actually happens in Bio Hazard Battle, piloting a giant nematode or whatever through science hell to shoot the living fuck out of everything that pulsates. This game is sick and I miss mystery.

Um dos melhores e mais diferentes "shmups" que já joguei.

Sério, os cenários desse jogo são incríveis, e literalmente TUDO no jogo parece lembrar a natureza. Desde as paisagens em si do jogo (florestas ou cavernas) até nos inimigos do game (os inimigos merecem uma atenção especial, SÃO MUITO CRIATIVOS. Você enfrenta seres inusitados com aspectos marinhos voando em pleno céu, passando por criaturas vegetais, e organismos do reino marinhos microscópicos. O jogo faz até você lembrar das aulas de biologia).

Fora que os "personagens" que você controla tem uma aparência incrível. São naves OU quatro criaturas que mais parecem insetos, ou seres submarinos pré-Históricos.

A trilha sonora é uma AULA DE AMBIENTAÇÃO, literalmente o ponto mais alto do jogo. A direção musical é bem trabalhada, temos a impressão de que os elementos (tudo, desde inimigos até o surgimento de algo no cenário) da tela basicamente dançam ou interagem de forma sincronizada com a trilha sonora.

Fácil um dos "shmups" mais "fora da casinha" que já joguei, é como se fosse o "jogo da navinha" numa floresta cyberpunk ou algo parecido.

Apparently some malevolent spirit thought it'd be some peak black comedy to have me get sick for the last three days while I was trying to play a game called "Bio-Hazard Battle", or at the very least they were trying their damnedest to give me as many handicaps as possible since for whatever reason they preferred I didn't clear this shmup legitimately. I can go ahead and curse my relatives for bringing a cough with them to our thanksgiving dinner, but what's done is done and all that is left is sniffles. No harm done, except for that 15 hour period I sat in bed due to a migraine. Nope, no harm at all.....(it wasn't covid)

Anyways, I have a preference for the original title of "Crying - Sub-Life War", even if the boxart for the Japanese Mega Drive version is hilariously busy. It also dawned on me that they somehow committed a case of reverse engrish and turned "Avalon" to "Avaron". I dunno what in Sam Hill happened there, unless the person doing it had no idea that Avalon was a thing already, or assumed King Arthur had it copyrighted or something. It might have something to do with that mongoose they apparently had editing the manual....

Part of me really wishes the game didn't have a plot readily available, because there's some pretty fantastic visual storytelling and potential mystique that would've made my mind wander quite a bit and make the imagination go absolutely crazy. Who am I? The cute mosquito ship? What is that space station I'm departing from? Why am I fighting these bees that are just joyously doing their little barrel rolls? Is that a giant black earthworm coming out of that hut? Why is it flying? Where are we going?

We descend deeper into the caverns below....
We descend deeper into the oceans below....
We ascend high into the skies above....

Don't ask us how that happens.

Meanwhile the lovely sound design was made to be cranked as loudly as possible. It's something I didn't really appreciate until later, and I almost want to blame it on perhaps crap emulation on those compilations I played back then? Maybe my tastes just evolved as I became more and more of a fanatic for the use of YM2612, but damn are the basses absolutely quaking in this one. You're gonna feel that death, and that boss theme is gonna put your speakers to good use in making you feel comfortably uncomfortable.

In due time I knew it would come...the day I would finally beat Bio-Hazard Battle without save states. Just like the sickness that I defeated today, I will defeat this game.

I'm gonna do it! I'm gonna beat Crying Battle!

...

(sega mega drive and genesis classics 32/58)

we've switched to a more recent genesis compilation now, to expand my options some. the remaining nine in sonic's ultimate genesis collection were,,not too thrilling in my eyes, bar shining force II which is just soooo long,,,,,,

so here's a game! this is really cool. i love the whole setting of it, the aesthetic, the unnerving monsters, bosses, and even your four playable ships (which are organic). the whole thing sets up this atmosphere that is INCREDIBLY off in quite a cool way.

it's best you seek after easy mode before the other difficulties, bc while this game is fun to just plow around everything in sight with your broken sub-weapons, it also involves a lot of trial and error, especially in the final two stages. continues, from what i recall (i used save states as usual) are plentiful, so there is that in addition.

all in all it's hard for certain, but likely manageable and one of the cooler shootemups i've seen. definitely worth checking out

Not since “The Lord of King” have I seen such a limp wet towel of a Japanese original name for a game that was mercifully changed into something forgettably appropriate instead. “Crying”? Are you kidding me? Did you stub your toe at the same time you were coming up with that? What’s the sequel going to be, Giggling? Grow the fuck up, we’re calling it Bio Hazard Battle. It’s a battle, you’re fighting biological enemies, and yeah sure, I guess they’re a hazard to your immediate health. If you don’t like it, then you know who’s really going to be crying? The localization team, when they suddenly find themselves packing up their shit out of their offices because corporate just saw the sales figures for North America and realized no nineties boys wanted to buy a game called Crying. CRYING, for fucks sake

Biohazard Battle is a simple, medium difficulty STG that excels in presentation. The game feels like it begins immediately. Its OST blares over the SEGA logo as soon as you turn it on, leading you seamlessly to its start menu. After selecting your ship, the game begins as its dropped from a large mothership and the player ship descends from space through the planet's atmosphere and then finally the horizontal shooting segment that takes up the rest of the game. The slow blending of the black space and the blue atmosphere effect, the crescendoing music, the transition from the logos to the menu to the game itself, all as the OST supports these images—it achieves a unique cinematic effect that I not only haven't seen in other shooting games, but in many games period, even those whose whole purpose is to blend cinema and gameplay.

The remaining game has a sense of cohesion and verisimilitude as you travel through various biomes and take down the bug themed enemies. Its a pretty good console horizontal shooter, with caveats. The power up system is somewhat limited—there are a few different colored pick-ups as usual, but there's no upgrade system you usually see in STGs, so it makes the gameplay feel samey even though the levels and enemies have unique and interesting designs. It's always fun though. What really sets it apart is its presentation and style, not its gameplay.

Coming back to this after finding experience in various other shmups, I can say this has only really grown on me.

I wouldn't call it among the easiest shmups, not at all, but rather one of the most accessible if it makes sense. A lot of pet peeves in other shmups are solved here, notably that it uses instant respawn like Darius rather than putting you back at a checkpoint, and you don't lose your powerups upon dying, only getting a very minor downgrade instead so you can still pick yourself up. If it's too hard, there's also an easy mode in the options, which thankfully doesn't lock you out of the game early on like some other games from this era do for some reason (fuck you Streets of Rage 3, fuck you Demolition Man, etc etc).

The aesthetic they went for here is pulled off really well and helps it stand out among the slew of other shmups on the Genesis, although sometimes I see it (favorably) compared to Insector X. The downright strange OST works in tandem with the overall look and feel of the game wonderfully, though I wouldn't really listen to it outside of the game.

This is likely one of my favorite shmups so far, and one of my favorite releases on the Genesis so far as well. Would definitely recommend whether you're new to the genre or just need a quick fix. Maybe I should just make a list of all the games I've said this about.

Although I'm not a huge shoot 'em up fan I've found myself playing a lot of them lately. Bio-Hazard Battle is a game that passed me by at release in 1992 even though the Sega Megadrive/Genesis is the console I had growing up. Thanks to the Sega Megadrive/Genesis Classics Collection on PS4 I've got to play it anyway and it's actually pretty good.

It's pretty striking aesthetically using an art style which is kind of a mix of H.R Geiger's Aliens designs and the 90's TV show Lexx for those that saw it. Using, as the title suggests, bio-organic life. You start the game choosing from 4 sentient looking insect spaceships (seems aesthetic only?) and then are immediately dropped into the 2D side scrolling action.

The gameplay is ok. It's honestly nothing to write home about. You get 4 power ups that other insect alien looking enemies sometimes drop in different colours that give you a sub ship that fires different weapons like rapid shots, a homing laser etc. You also get a charge shot I found pretty useless except maybe some bosses. There are 8 levels, pretty standard affair for a shoot 'em up and most are pretty good from dropping through the atmosphere, moving through a damaged city to traveling underwater. It's a nice mix though the water level is slow and uninteresting. The low point of the game for me.

I will say the music is fantastic, it uses heavy base with electronic sounds to create this alien feeling atmosphere (Reminds me of the alien looking level in Streets of Rage 2 a bit). All in all it's a pretty fun little game. The visuals and sound especially are the highlight, I can see myself firing it up to play here and there when I've got a spare hour to burn though it's not as good as Gleylancer or Arrow Flash I've also played from that generation.

+ Cool bio art designs.
+ Nice graphics in a fake 2D 3D style.
+ Fantastic Music.

- Gameplay is just kind of fine.
- One level was slow and boring.
- Forgettable bosses.