Bangai-O is back. Years after its Dreamcast debut, D3 Publisher revives Treasure's robot-powered blast-a-thon for the Nintendo DS with Bangai-O Spirits. It's not entirely perfect, as its lack of a cohesive story mode and mounting difficulty level may turn-off some. If you're up to the challenge, however, step right up.
Bangai-O is a fully functional robot that arms itself with various weaponry. Not a typical laser cannon, mind you, but hundreds of missiles locking on to any targets in the vicinity. For up-close encounters, you can also use a sword, dash attacks and a Louisville Slugger-like baseball bat for the best results.
You'll need every weapon you can get because Treasure built this game for hardcore shooting fanatics. The difficulty level is downright ridiculous, as enemies throw everything at you. Fortunately, you can counter-balance your weapons for each of the game's 160 stages, and there's always something new to try if one doesn't work. For instance, if you don't like the freeze technique, the rebound one is a suitable alternative. Just make sure to pick up as much fruit as you can – it restores missing energy to replenish your weapon levels. Better still, you can select the order of levels as you see fit. If one can't be beaten, you can move right on to the next and come back later.
Bangai-O does just enough in the presentation department. While the visuals aren't exactly up to DS standards, they get the job done. Treasure packs enough explosions and fancy visual effects to make this game a feast for the eyes. It slows down often, but it's not a big deal. As for the audio, the music is a solid collection of techno remixes and battle themes, although they get drowned out with all the booms and bangs surrounding you.
Along with the multiple main and puzzle stages (which require more thinking on your part to finish), a detailed level editor lets you modify current levels or create your own from scratch. D3 Publisher even went the extra mile with a new sharing tool called Sound Load. Your levels transform into sound waves, which you can then play through your headphones into the microphone of your buddy's DS sound system. It may not be as speedy as game sharing, but it's effective.
As for involving your friends, Spirits also has a four-player co-op mode, and in a game such as this, you'll need all the help you can get. Playing with three others through multi-cart play is lots of fun, an endless barrage of bullets and explosions that never gets stale. It's just too bad that D3 didn't include single-cartridge support or Wi-Fi Connection features, such as leaderboards.
If you can get past the enormous difficulty curve and the lack of a Story Mode, Bangai-O Spirits is bullet heaven. The weapon-balancing gameplay is wonderful and the abundance of existing levels and creation options are extraordinary. Fans of shooters and Treasure games will love it.
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