Bangai-O is a certainly a strange game for a few reasons, and I’m not sure if all of the reasons are intentional on the developers behalf or not. Because for how high the quality value of this game is, the translation was clearly not a priority during development. Almost every character interaction is nonsensical, and it doesn’t help that the game has a kind of whacky comedy feel going for it as is. Now obviously this translation is bad, but it doesn’t hinder your enjoyment of the game, if anything it improves it. Because Bangai-O is a game of extremes, and these insane character interactions only get funnier the longer you play the game. But the gameplay itself is also so over the top and absurd, it feels like the translation and writing might have actually been an intentional match. Bangai-O is a 2D, multidirectional-shooter puzzle game, yes I said puzzle game. You must traverse 44 levels throughout the game, flying in the Bangai-O mech and destroying thousands of enemies in the process. Bangai-O’s mechanics are simple at first glance, but the game actually requires a great deal of skill to beat. You’re able to fly the mech freely around the open-ended levels, you can aim in eight different directions by either using the analogue stick or by pushing a direction on the d-pad without shooting, the d-pad is also used for movement. Now for those who haven’t seen a Dreamcast controller, you might not realize that it would be impossible to use the d-pad and the analogue stick at the same time due to the layout of the controller. So immediately you must adjust to a very specific type of movement, in which you must move in eight directions with the d-pad but also get used to stopping and starting to fire your weapon so you can adjust your characters aim – because while shooting you are locked into the direction you begun shooting in until you stop firing. You have only two weapons throughout the game, by swapping between Riki and Mami as pilot you will also swap firing types. Riki has a homing missile attack which is useful for enemies who move a lot and for general crowd control due to the explosions they cause. Mami has a thin laser attack which bounces off walls and penetrates enemies, this is good for when more accurately placed shots are required and is extremely useful in smaller levels due to the damage you can stack by having these lasers bounce in and out of enemies multiple times. You can swap between these two firing types very quickly with ease. But I wouldn’t recommend this game so highly if you just shot at enemies with two different attacks for the entire game. Because Bangai-O’s best mechanic is also its simplest. By causing explosions and defeating enemies you will recharge a special attack meter, you can fill this meter five times at once, and each special attack drains one bar. These attacks can also recharge the meter as well. These special attacks depending on your weapon at the time will shoot at a barrage of projectiles in all directions surrounding your character, but the closer you are to enemy fire, and the more enemy fire there is around you at the time the more projectiles you’ll fire. This could have so easily been a cheap mechanic, imagine, you just take a bit of damage then while in your I-frames you would just surround yourself with as much enemy fire as possible and annihilate everything. So the developers took the best and arguably the most extreme path and simply, removed your I-frames. Yes, you heard me right – no I-frames. Got a few projectiles coming your way which you don’t avoid? Every single one will hit you, and you will probably die within the blink of an eye. I can’t emphasize enough how important this decision was to making the game as fun as it is, it creates such an incredibly fun and tense dynamic between your character and the enemies. Because you are fighting literally hundreds of enemies per level, and at any point you could die within seconds, but if you play well you’re also able to completely screen-wipe enemies with ease. Again, this is a game of extremes. But at this point it probably just sounds like an insane shooter game, well you’d be right. But Bangai-O takes its design a step further just to make sure it really sets itself apart from other games. Throughout Bangai-O levels are filled with obstacles, little grid based walls and structures which behave differently to one another. There are so many different mechanics throughout the game which are mixed around for creative combinations, genuinely changing the way the level plays out. The game also loves using these mechanics in again, extreme ways. There are entire levels which just revolve around one simple little mechanic, but are utilized so well that it actually works, and are such a blast to play through. This is why it's considered a puzzle game, because amidst the destruction and chaos you’re also required to constantly figure out solutions for tricky situations.

Extremely over rated game IMO. Any time the action actually gets exciting, the fps slowdown ruins it. The rest of the levels are really frustrating platforming and out of place puzzling. Maybe my expectations are too high based to the fanboy gushing that this game receives, but honestly it's just a mediocre game. Oh and the art style is awful with their gigantic pointy noses. Like who thought that looked good?