The core gimmick at play in Bangai-O, minus the unique movement and level structure, is the ability to basically counterfire against enemy projectiles, with the intensity of the attack depending on how many projectiles are targeting you prior. Just so you know, this game was also a test of hardware to see how many projectiles could fire at you.
There are a lot of projectiles.
I'm taken aback by how unbelievably fun this game is, it should have gotten tiring with how oppressively consistent the gameplay is, but the ace up its sleeve is that you'll only get the full extent of the insanity dependent on the insanity of the level design, thanks to you requiring enemy projectiles to do anything truly awesome, and Treasure has endless fun with this. Some levels are like big playgrounds for you to stomp around in 'till you find the boss, others are intensive gauntlets of nonstop fire at you and some border on puzzle-esque elements regarding your knowledge of the games systems and various objects, all training you to improve yourself in a naturalistic way as the game goes on. Every part of the game is constantly stimulating your brain, even if just a little bit, and there's a surprising amount of semi-conscious thought that goes into aimlessly blasting missiles and lasers at everything. First of all the movement + aiming requires constant attention to maneuver around while still locking onto enemies, which is a heavy factor in survival when enemies are so plentiful and swarming you, but the risk-reward you're constantly weighing out in your brain is near unmatched. To do anything effective in this game, you have to actively get yourself into danger and get pummeled. There are no invincibility frames in-between hits; if you're bombarded and fuck up, you're toast. Therefore, to actually get things done, you need to be putting yourself in the face of death, but you're also putting yourself in the face of death in the near future as it's relying on your ability to continually recharge your counterfire, which is likely to recharge but it's not guaranteed you'll do it perfectly, adding an element to consider for going all out. The response the player might consider is that they shouldn't go all out if it's too much of a risk, but this itself starts being a problem as the game goes on. Levels are meticulously designed in ways to pummel you with near instakill death traps and pits of enemies firing bullets at you, with little details like one-way doors, slow domino effect explosive chains that can soft-lock you and walls that are receptive only to one type of fire (often at specific angles to utilize) littering the level design. This means any moment of passive play is actively fucking you over as you go on, and it's wonderful how well this all incentivizes the core fun of the gameplay: blowing everything to hell.
Focused design, focused levels, questionable bosses but an extremely solid circle of player psychology going on either way; check it out!
There are a lot of projectiles.
I'm taken aback by how unbelievably fun this game is, it should have gotten tiring with how oppressively consistent the gameplay is, but the ace up its sleeve is that you'll only get the full extent of the insanity dependent on the insanity of the level design, thanks to you requiring enemy projectiles to do anything truly awesome, and Treasure has endless fun with this. Some levels are like big playgrounds for you to stomp around in 'till you find the boss, others are intensive gauntlets of nonstop fire at you and some border on puzzle-esque elements regarding your knowledge of the games systems and various objects, all training you to improve yourself in a naturalistic way as the game goes on. Every part of the game is constantly stimulating your brain, even if just a little bit, and there's a surprising amount of semi-conscious thought that goes into aimlessly blasting missiles and lasers at everything. First of all the movement + aiming requires constant attention to maneuver around while still locking onto enemies, which is a heavy factor in survival when enemies are so plentiful and swarming you, but the risk-reward you're constantly weighing out in your brain is near unmatched. To do anything effective in this game, you have to actively get yourself into danger and get pummeled. There are no invincibility frames in-between hits; if you're bombarded and fuck up, you're toast. Therefore, to actually get things done, you need to be putting yourself in the face of death, but you're also putting yourself in the face of death in the near future as it's relying on your ability to continually recharge your counterfire, which is likely to recharge but it's not guaranteed you'll do it perfectly, adding an element to consider for going all out. The response the player might consider is that they shouldn't go all out if it's too much of a risk, but this itself starts being a problem as the game goes on. Levels are meticulously designed in ways to pummel you with near instakill death traps and pits of enemies firing bullets at you, with little details like one-way doors, slow domino effect explosive chains that can soft-lock you and walls that are receptive only to one type of fire (often at specific angles to utilize) littering the level design. This means any moment of passive play is actively fucking you over as you go on, and it's wonderful how well this all incentivizes the core fun of the gameplay: blowing everything to hell.
Focused design, focused levels, questionable bosses but an extremely solid circle of player psychology going on either way; check it out!
2 Comments
@HotPocketHPE Will do, just might be a while since I'd rather play it on the real hardware with DS games instead of "legally playing it" like I am now.
This comment was deleted
HotPocketHPE
4 months ago