{"id":1165,"date":"2023-04-07T19:30:18","date_gmt":"2023-04-07T23:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gaminginsurrection.com\/reviews\/?p=1165"},"modified":"2023-04-07T21:14:18","modified_gmt":"2023-04-08T01:14:18","slug":"gunbird-2-issue-44","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gaminginsurrection.com\/reviews\/index.php\/2023\/04\/07\/gunbird-2-issue-44\/","title":{"rendered":"Gunbird 2 \u2014 Issue 44"},"content":{"rendered":"

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This is good and clean bul\u00adlet hell fun<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Bom\u00adbas\u00adtic bul\u00adlets, bombs, and spe\u00adcial attacks. You\u2019re get\u00adting a taste of every\u00adthing in the wild ver\u00adti\u00adcal shoot\u00ader Gun\u00adbird 2 from shoot-\u2019em-up prac\u00adti\u00adtion\u00ader Psikyo. Whether that taste is enough to whet your appetite for fur\u00adther shmup adven\u00adtures is anoth\u00ader sto\u00adry, one I believe is worth at least reading.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gun\u00adbird 2 is your aver\u00adage ver\u00adti\u00adcal shoot\u00ader in that it sub\u00adscribes to bul\u00adlet hell envi\u00adron\u00adments. There are sev\u00aden char\u00adac\u00adters to choose from, each with their own moti\u00adva\u00adtions for cap\u00adtur\u00ading three mys\u00adti\u00adcal ele\u00adments and pre\u00adsent\u00ading them to their god. All of them fly around var\u00adi\u00adous stages in the Gun\u00adbird world, blow\u00ading up ene\u00admies and tak\u00ading on the boss Shark and her cronies Blade and Gim\u00admick of the Queen Pirates. The sto\u00adry is sim\u00adple to get into and won\u2019t take up too much of your time through sta\u00adt\u00adic screens explain\u00ading the sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion at hand. <\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to under\u00adstand the mechan\u00adics as well. Each char\u00adac\u00adter has five attacks: Pri\u00adma\u00adry, sec\u00adondary, charge, melee, and super weapon. The pri\u00adma\u00adry weapon is either a<\/span><\/span> con\u00adcen\u00adtrat\u00aded or spread shot with all oth\u00ader weapons spe\u00adcif\u00adic to the char\u00adac\u00adter in ani\u00adma\u00adtion. It\u2019s fun to try all of the char\u00adac\u00adters to see how their weapons ani\u00admate and behave, and it\u2019s impor\u00adtant to as well, because there is strat\u00ade\u00adgy involved. Know\u00ading when to ini\u00adti\u00adate a super weapon is cru\u00adcial for main\u00adtain\u00ading com\u00adbos and sav\u00ading your\u00adself or your team\u00admate if you\u2019re play\u00ading along\u00adside some\u00adone else. The attacks are all assigned to but\u00adtons so you don\u2019t have to do too much to move around and attack. It\u2019s sim\u00adplis\u00adtic and yet chaot\u00adic at times, but it\u2019s fun chaos.<\/span><\/p>\n

The pre\u00adsen\u00adta\u00adtion is gor\u00adgeous while you\u2019re dodg\u00ading ene\u00admies and get\u00adting shot from all direc\u00adtions. The col\u00ador palette is beau\u00adti\u00adful and the char\u00adac\u00adter ani\u00adma\u00adtion shines. And, yes, even though Psikyo car\u00adried over Mor\u00adri\u00adg\u00adan\u2019s dog-tired sprite from Dark\u00adstalk\u00aders it still works here. You imme\u00addi\u00adate\u00adly know who she is, and it does\u00adn\u2019t look to ter\u00adri\u00adble against the back\u00addrops of bul\u00adlet hell. The oth\u00ader char\u00adac\u00adters look good for late \u201990s ani\u00adma\u00adtion. While the ani\u00adma\u00adtion is good, the sound\u00adtrack is pass\u00ading, if not a bit late \u201990s mediocre. It\u2019s not ter\u00adri\u00adble, but it does\u00adn\u2019t stand\u00adout. A sin\u00adgle track caught our atten\u00adtion, which is OK<\/span>. Not all shoot-\u2019em-ups get to be Gala\u00adga Arrange\u00adment or Gradius.<\/span><\/p>\n

Over\u00adall, Gun\u00adbird 2 is a good ver\u00adti\u00adcal shoot\u00ader in a crowd\u00aded genre pop\u00adu\u00adlat\u00aded by heavy hit\u00adters. It shoots its way to the mid\u00addle of the pack, and while it won\u2019t knock your socks off, it\u2019s got replay val\u00adue and charm built into its laser.<\/span><\/p>\n