We previously covered the Psikyo Shooting Stars Alpha Collection, and now the time has come to continue on and look at Psikyo Shooting Stars Bravo. This collection contains six games, GUNBIRD, GUNBIRD II, GUNBARICH and the Samurai Aces Trilogy. Each of these games are excellent in their own right, and the games have a variety of options for display, including TATE mode, and a number of other options to suit your needs as a gamer. Now on to the actual reviews, these will not be as extensive as the reviews for Alpha, and I will be covering multiple games at once instead of all individually.
Samurai Aces, Tengai and Sengoku Canon
Samurai Aces is a vertically scrolling shooter and a decent one to start with. This is not the best game in the collection, or even the best vertically scrolling shooter in the collection, but it does give you a taste of what to prepare for. It has good music and visuals, but the action takes a little while to get going. Its not bad by any means whatsoever, and in fact I rather enjoy it, but it lacks the oomph that other games in the collection have. I will say that playing this in TATE mode is a must for this game, in order to appreciate everything that is here.
The sequel to Samurai Aces, Tengai, shifts the view from a vertical shooter to a horizontal one, and the result is a much lusher visual feast for the eyes. The game uses prerendered visuals for its look, and they have aged surprisingly well all things considered. Besides the visuals though, the shift in perspective makes this a very different playing game, and I compare it to Sol Divide, but done better. You scroll horizontally, but also descend downwards and upwards at various points, when moving through the stage. This gives you a sense of real exploration and is an aspect I enjoy. The action is well managed here, and the boss fights are enjoyable. With good musicals and amazing music, this is a standout game, but the issue is that the pacing is not the best in this game.
Sengoku Canon aka Samurai Aces III is the best of the trilogy. Keeping the same view as Tengai, the game now has an expanded story mode and a faster pace to it. The action is more intense, and the screen filling specials pack more of an oomph to them. But most of all, is that Sengoku Canon is a very polished game and lacks the faults Tengai had, where the pacing would feel off at times. The story mode is good no matter what character is chosen, and you will want to replay this one constantly to see everything there is.
GUNBIRD, GUNBIRD II and GUNBARICH
GunBird and its immediate sequel are two of the best vertically scrolling shoot em ups ever made. Excellent visuals that you will want to use TATE mode for, fast paced action, and a great soundtrack, these games have it all. GunBird’s only flaw is that there is some slowdown at times, but this is corrected in GunBird II. There is a colorful cast of characters to choose from, and excellent powerups to obtain. GunBird II is more of what is found in the original, but with more characters, more action and more polish. These are just good looking and fun playing games, and have a refinement that is lacking in most others. Gunbarich is a very different game, being a mix of a shoot em up, breakout and pinball. This isn’t a bad thing though, as the game is perhaps my favourite on this collection. This game has two main characters to choose from, but really the main draw is its offbeat nature. It is an addictive experience, and one that should not be passed up. It has a good amount of objectives and twists and makes you want to just keep playing. I love that something different was tried here, and it was a complete success in my opinion.
Psikyo Shooting Stars Bravos is a magnificent collection and I feel it surpasses the first one. The two GUNBIRD shooters alone make this a must, and GUNBARICH and the Samurai Aces Trilogy just sweeten the deal. Bottom line, this is a must have collection for shoot em up fans and there will be no regret with this.
Disclaimer: A review key was provided
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