Reviewing is something completely new to me, so this will be a learning process for me, so feel free to critique my reviewing style. My reviews are based on what I like and dislike about the games, not what I think the general public will like or dislike about the game. Since I'm not a big gamer as most other reviewers, my reviews will be based on the first few levels of games instead of the entire game, so keep that in mind when reading. I'm going to try and start reviewing games that are a little less talked about and maybe even games that you've never heard of. I'm going to start with some NES and Famicom games because I've got this really cool 76-in-1 pirate cart that is full of great (and not so great) NES and Famicom games.
B-Wings
[img align=right]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/J-027/ss/ts/J-027-S-02780-A.jpg[/img]
The first game I'm going to review is
B-Wings for the Nintendo Famicom.
B-Wings was released in 1986 and is a Japan only game, so good luck finding it if you're in the US or Europe, there isn't even a copy of it on eBay right now, but there was one on GameGavel not too long ago, so they are out there, it just may be a bit pricey.
Gameplay: The game plays about the same as any generic vertical shooter, but it does have one thing that sets it apart from others that I have played. At the start of the game, you have your choice of weapons. There are ten different weapons for you to choose from. The cannon fires three shots that shoot straight in front of you, they are quite powerful, but lack any ability to shoot in other directions. "Wide" fires 5 shots that progressively spread further from each other, they are powerful and the path of destruction is great. "Multi" fires three shots, sometimes they all go straight ahead, other times one goes straight, one goes to the left and one goes to the right, and other times they fire at an angle so they all go forward, but progressively get further form each other. "Van" fires six very powerful shots that go a very short distance, but spread around you in a fan shape. "Side" fires seven shots, one that goes straight ahead, and three on each side that fire to the sides in a fan shape. "Anti" fires two shots straight ahead and two shots straight behind. "Hammer" is my personal favorite weapon and fires two very powerful shots straight ahead and also has two "orbs" that circle your ship for extra protection. "Jump" is essentially the same as Cannon, but one of the shots explodes, but it doesn't really seem to help things much. "Dyna" is an extremely power single shot that is very wide and can destroy several smaller enemies in the one shot. "Fire" is the last weapon option and is a wave of energy that is quite powerful but has a small range, and it allows you to almost continuously fire.
Once you have selected your weapon, your ship attaches to it and you're sent into space to destroy anything that comes at you. There are several different types of flying enemies to destroy as well as stationary objects to destroy. If an enemy drives into you or hits you with a weapon, you lose your main weapon and have to rely on a very small, weak cannon. If you drive into one of the stationary objects, your ship explodes and you're dead.
Throughout the game, you have the option to pick up another weapon, you can pick it up by simply driving into it if you have already lost your main weapon or you drop your current weapon and then pick up the new one. The weapons all have a different shape, but with 8-bit graphics, it's quite hard trying to distinguish and memorize what each weapon looks like.
There is also the option for 2 players, which sadly isn't co-op, but you alternate turns when one person dies the other picks up where that person dies. It's better than no second player support, but co-op would have been even better.
Graphics & Sound:The graphics aren't bad for 1986, but nothing spectacular either. I've only played through the first two levels, but the enemies all seem to be unique, so it's not as repetitive as some games in this genre are.
The sound effects and music are very nice. The sound effects are basically your average 8-bit sound effects, but the music is great. Though it is hard to hear when you're constantly blasting away.
In conclusion, this game is great, if you like vertical shooters at least. I could definitely see myself playing this game for hours on end if I had the time. If you're looking for a deep game to lose yourself in the story, well, this isn't for you then. It's more of a pick up play when you've got some spare time type game.
I gave this game a
90% because it is a blast to play, but there really isn't anything memorable about it.
