Bangai-O Spirits is a hardcore, manic shooter that channels all that was wonderful (and not-so-wonderful) about 16-bit shooters. The game is a sequel of sorts to the equally manic Bangai-O on the Dreamcast and Nintendo 64, in which the chief mechanic was the player’s ability to switch between two ships (well, giant robots) on the fly, one of which had homing shots, the other had ricochet shots. Both had a “burst” move called an EX attack, which sends up to 100 missiles flying in all directions, causing some serious damage to nearby enemies and real estate. Finally, the title had a completely, utterly insane storyline surrounding the chief collectible – pieces of fruit. Yes, fruit.

Bangai-O Spirits eschews the storyline and ship-switching (but keeps the fruit) and complicates the formula by adding an offensive “dash” attack (which allows the player to butt into enemies), and the ability to mix the various types of shots, which are no longer limited to bounce and homing shots. The game allows players to kick enemy butt using homing, napalm, rebound, break, direction, reflector, and freeze shots, and you’ll need to mix, match and finagle all sorts of combinations in order to best the game’s devious arrangements of obstacles and baddies. Finally, the game allows players to attack different types of levels in any order they please.

Gamers can opt to play the clever puzzle stages, attack “Treasure’s Best” action levels, or other stages (which may be boss or action levels). There’s no order to the stages (aside from increasing difficulty) and any given stage can be accessed at any time, giving players some necessary breathing room. After all, this is a tough game to master. The action is frantic bordering on insane, with unheard-of numbers of projectiles cluttering the DS’ tiny bottom screen at any given moment. This causes considerable slowdown at points – it really is a 16-bit shooter – and makes Spirits a real test for the reflexes.

Gamers not up to snuff may want to spend extra time in the tutorial mode – which actually surprised me with its own difficulty curve. In fact, this is the first game I have ever played where I actually died in a tutorial stage. It sets a perfect tone for the rest of the game – as crazy as the action may be, this is a deep, strategic game – you have to go in with some kind of plan or you’ll be blown to pieces before you can grab your first space banana.

The presentation explodes (literally) with an old-school 16-bit sensibility. The graphics and music are nothing fancy, but when several hundred sprites are zooming around your screen, you won’t have time to notice if they’re perfectly rendered or not. Slowdown does pop up often, but it’s understandable considering the sheer number of things going on onscreen, and the DS toughs it out admirably.

The level editor is actually one of the coolest features in the game – it allows the player to mess with any of the existing stages or make their own and share with others using a funky “sound load” feature. That is, levels are translated into sound data that can be picked up by a receiving DS. It’s a very cool (and innovative) system that fits right in with the whole 80s-ish robots and anime vibe.

Since the title offers such variety – with multiplayer, boss stages, action stages and puzzle stages; and features an ample level creator, it’s safe to say that stalwart players will have plenty of game to sink their teeth into here. Others may wimp out before they’re able to really appreciate the game’s finer points, which is a real shame.

This is a must buy for fans of the original Bangai-O, Treasure addicts looking for an excellent, sustained fix, and old-school shooter fans of all breeds. If you hate shooters or lack twitch reflexes, you’re better off elsewhere, but I’d recommend giving the game a whirl if you’re the least bit curious. If nothing else, you can create a few nice easy stages in the level editor.

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