Today's featured news item comes from 1up, which seems to be the only video game news site that really hunts down today's new with the retro in mind.
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3162744
Kickass Japanese Developer Treasure has announced this week that their next game will be yet another remake of one of their classics. This third remake will be of Bangai-O originally released on the Nintendo 64 and Sega Dreamcast.
3 years ago, Treasure remade their classic Guardian Heroes on the Gameboy Advance. Guardian Heroes was originally released on the Sega Saturn back in 1996.
Guardian Heroes is considered the benchmark for the beat-em-up genre, featuring a pure blend of leveling, brawling, and balance between all playable characters, much like Golden Axe and Gauntlet. Something that Guardian Heroes really expanding on move-sets, so it had all the moves of a fighter, but was a 5 or 6 player co-op brawler.
There really hasn't been any game since then to top the this wonderfully designed arcade style classic.
In 2004, Advance Guardian Heroes was released with very disappointing results. I've never played it, nor owned it, but I have seen it around for pretty cheap, so perhaps I'll pick it up at some point.
The US version of Guardian Heroes fetches a pretty hefty price on ebay these days. Luckily, I was able to snag a Japanese copy for about $26 while studying abroad. ^_^
Right after Advance Guardian Heroes, Treasure set forth to remake another one of their classics, Gunstar Heroes. Gunstar Heroes was actually Treasure's first game, right after Masato Maegawa and a bunch of his friends split from Konami.
Gunstar Heroes is a character shmup. You play Blue or Red as you blast away hordes upon hordes of enemies that never stop coming. You just keep killing and killing and killing. It's great fun ^_^ and is considered one of the best shmups of the sub-genre.
Gunstar Heroes was made for the Sega Genesis and made full use of the hardware. It was released along side Sega hardcore Arcade lineup and found an excellent home.
In Oct of 2005, Treasure released Gunstar Super Heroes for the Gameboy Advance. This release also saw a disappointed release as the public really had no idea what Gunstar Heroes was.
Despite the poor sales, It's really an amazing game. It's Treasure's love letter to Sega fans, using several themes of the Arcade Genesis it was originally released with, like After Burner and a couple other ones I don't quite remember.
Gunstar Super Heroes is damn awesome, so you should pick up a copy at your local Toys R Us for about $15. Also, Gunstar Heroes is available of Wii Virtual Console for $8, which is also a damn good buy.
So, that brings us to today. By the end of the year, Treasure will release it's third remake on the DS, entitled Bangai-O Spirits.
Bangai-O is in a weird genre. It's a free-roaming shmup, where you explore around the level and reach the boss at the end. I guess, technically, it would be a side-scrolling shmup, except you fly in all directions whenever you want. The point of Bangai-O is to make massive explosions with bombs laying around the stage and destroy as much as possible with various chains of explosions.
It was originally released for the Nintendo 64, but found a home on the Dreamcast as well.. that's the only version that was released in the states.
ugh.. I'm god awful at this game. I really couldn't figure out how to play it, and I ended up just getting really frustrated with it.. Some people consider it to be one of Treasure's best games, but I don't really see it.
New Features: Unlike previous remakes, this Bangai-O Spirits looks like it adds a ton of stuff. Multiplayer (both Co-op and versus), Map Editor, Full map on the top screen.. this actually sounds pretty badass.
This all comes rather timely, as Microsoft, at their pre-TGS conference, finally officially announced that Ikaruga will be coming to Xbox Live Arcade next year. Ikaruga is my favorite Treasure title, and I also deem it as Treasure's best game.. hands down.
Ikaruga is a beautiful horizontal-scrolling shmup featuring the Zen of fighting light v. dark. Enemies are of both light and dark, and you are able to combat and absorb their powers by flipping your side, back and forth, between light and dark.
Stunning game.
Also, along side Ikaruga, Rez, Every Extend Extra, and Trigger Heart Exelica will also be making their way on XBLA. Nice!