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[Yuterald]

Does this game have a story mode like in the original Dreamcast version? I LOVED Bangai O on DC, definitely one of my favorite Treasure games. I didn't care for the DS version at all and this game looks just like it. Is there at least stage progression in this game? Or is everything unlocked from the start?

I'll probably just wait for an inevitable PSN port regardless.

 

[see5harp]

Man it really feels good to get a maxed out Counter Attack in this game. Played straight through to Stage 8 last night and don't really understand what I need to do when the crazy horde of ants spawn. Any hints?

 

[Vorg]

Man it really feels good to get a maxed out Counter Attack in this game. Played straight through to Stage 8 last night and don't really understand what I need to do when the crazy horde of ants spawn. Any hints?

An item will appear immediately after you kill the giant ant. you have to shoot and grab it fast before the smaller ants overwhelm you. It´s napalm.

 

[Dachande]

Does this game have a story mode like in the original Dreamcast version? I LOVED Bangai O on DC, definitely one of my favorite Treasure games. I didn't care for the DS version at all and this game looks just like it. Is there at least stage progression in this game? Or is everything unlocked from the start?

I'll probably just wait for an inevitable PSN port regardless.

No story mode, but you do have to unlock levels. It's closer to the DS version than the DC one.

 

[Brandon F]

An item will appear immediately after you kill the giant ant. you have to shoot and grab it fast before the smaller ants overwhelm you. It´s napalm.

Grab the napalm which appears where boss was sitting, then just shoot napalm while moving exactly where your shots are fired. Keep doing this to carve constant holes in the ants until they are all dead.

 

[wayward archer]

I'll probably just wait for an inevitable PSN port regardless.

Never say never, but several years ago Treasure's president said they probably weren't going to develop or port to PSN. And Ikaruga never got ported. Maybe their stance has changed but there isn't really any indication of this.

 

[mokeyjoe]

No story mode, but you do have to unlock levels. It's closer to the DS version than the DC one.

Didn't like the DS one much. Maybe I'll give it a go anyway, it might have just been cos it was on a handheld. I don't tend to like handheld games as much. Puzzle Quest being a good example, left me cold on DS - loved it on XBLA.

 

[Mr. B Natural]

I thought people were saying there is a tutorial mode in the full game where it takes you through stuff and you actually get to try it?

That's nice and all, but...don't you see a pretty clear logic gap for anyone that wanted to play the demo to see if they wanted to buy the game or not?

 

[jooey]

It's hardly a tutorial. It does a piss poor job of explaining any of the meta-concepts or informing the player through examples how the various mechanics function. It sucks. You get an easy achievement for running through it.

The 29 page How-To-Play is far more informative

Learn by doing, dude.

Spoiler

I'm kidding

 

[purg3]

Just downloaded, game is fucking awesome. Actually got a score in the top 10 on stage 4.

 

[GhaleonQ]

Question, though: why don't they just do both? Some people like puzzle-solving, others like traditional multi-directional shoot-'em-ups (many like both). It doesn't take much engine tweaking. I hope Bangaio 4 represents all of its glorious, glorious facets.

 

[aechris]

Didn't like the DS one much. Maybe I'll give it a go anyway, it might have just been cos it was on a handheld. I don't tend to like handheld games as much. Puzzle Quest being a good example, left me cold on DS - loved it on XBLA.

I didn't like the DS one at all either, despite loving the shit out of the DC one. This one is just as fun once it starts to click. Highly recommended!

 

[SapientWolf]

Question, though: why don't they just do both? Some people like puzzle-solving, others like traditional multi-directional shoot-'em-ups (many like both). It doesn't take much engine tweaking. I hope Bangaio 4 represents all of its glorious, glorious facets.

That's an issue of level design more than game design.

 

[depths20XX]

Got this game tonight an I'm on stage 9 now.

Really loving it. I never got too much into the DS one, only played a little bit but it never caught on with me. So I'm not sure why I'm liking this one so much.

Shame that the demo will probably turn a lot of people off though.

 

[ultron87]

This game is 10,000 missiles packed full of incredible.

I love it so much.

 

[wayward archer]

Question, though: why don't they just do both? Some people like puzzle-solving, others like traditional multi-directional shoot-'em-ups (many like both). It doesn't take much engine tweaking. I hope Bangaio 4 represents all of its glorious, glorious facets.

From what i've played so far this game does have both. There are tons of straight up shooter levels in this game, i'm only on level ~20 and there have been great examples of horizontal and vertical shooters (stage 9 in particular), mazes (stage 18... amazing), wide open arena fights, etc.

There haven't really been that many gimmicky levels so far.

 

[∀ Narayan]

I'm really glad that this has the soundtrack from the Dreamcast version.

 

[d0c_zaius]

nevermind I'm an idiot, you can save replays.

Best bangai-O since DC!

 

[Mike M]

Stage 17 (I think it's 17...) has stumped me. I plow through that whole level and get to the end, only to not be able to kill the spawner because it keeps spitting out giant ant bullet sponges that absorb the entirety of my EX attack. Any tips?

Also, EMPHATICALLY not a fan of levels like this where there's no instruction that you have to kill EVERYTHING, yet has no indication outside an orange speck on a mini map that you may have missed something. Combine that with the one way gates that prevent backtracking, and that's just piss-poor level design.

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

Also, EMPHATICALLY not a fan of levels like this where there's no instruction that you have to kill EVERYTHING, yet has no indication outside an orange speck on a mini map that you may have missed something. Combine that with the one way gates that prevent backtracking, and that's just piss-poor level design.

Yeah that's just a straight up dickmove.

Getting locked out because I missed a fucking box is just ???????

 

[Daigoro]

I got to play this game all of 2 hrs on release day. Now I'm away on vacation and can't play for 5 days. :\

I brought Spirits with me though. Ill just have to suffer!

 

[Daigoro]

I never said it was a shmup, I played it like GeoWars, which is a walk in a 18th Century public park compared to this. It's utter bullet hell as far as I'm concerned, using the very loosest definition of 'bullet hell'.

Didn't mean to tread on pedant toes.

Bullet hell is specific to shmups though. You were using it as a general term, which its not. Sorry for being so pedantic. Not trying to hurt any feelings here. Just trying to clear up misconceptions.

 

[taoofjord]

This game is SO good. It's incredible how Treasure can reinvent Bangai-o with each iteration. Every one is quite different but perfectly fun and perfectly at home in the series.

 

[taoofjord]

Yeah that's just a straight up dickmove.

Getting locked out because I missed a fucking box is just ???????

There's an icon next to the map that tells you what your goal is. The explosion means you have to kill everything. The downard arrow means you have specific targets and can ignore the rest.

 

[Mike M]

There's an icon next to the map that tells you what your goal is. The explosion means you have to kill everything. The downard arrow means you have specific targets and can ignore the rest.

I must have missed that in the How to Play manual. Just when I thought I knew enough to not need a tutorial : (

Doesn't address the one way gate issue, however.

 

[wayward archer]

Stage 17 (I think it's 17...) has stumped me. I plow through that whole level and get to the end, only to not be able to kill the spawner because it keeps spitting out giant ant bullet sponges that absorb the entirety of my EX attack. Any tips?

I haven't beaten it yet either but right at the beginning of that part, before killing anything, fly up to one of the gaps and do three freezes in a row as all those little missile robots are rushing you, fire your first blast undirected, you'll damage the ant and get your ex gauge back from killing the robots outside. Do it again immediately but this time do it focused and the ant will die and you will damage the core. I'm guessing either I got unlucky or you have to do that several times.

 

[sprsk]

I love this game so much.

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

There's an icon next to the map that tells you what your goal is. The explosion means you have to kill everything. The downard arrow means you have specific targets and can ignore the rest.

Son of a freaking gun. I was wondering what that was for(I ignored the manual).
Thanks

 

[Vorg]

ugh, stage 16 is gonna drive me insane.

 

[Llyranor]

How's the netcode?

 

[ScHlAuChi]

Has anyone uploaded any custom maps yet, or am i the only one so far?

 

[iconoclast]

I haven't beaten it yet either but right at the beginning of that part, before killing anything, fly up to one of the gaps and do three freezes in a row as all those little missile robots are rushing you, fire your first blast undirected, you'll damage the ant and get your ex gauge back from killing the robots outside. Do it again immediately but this time do it focused and the ant will die and you will damage the core. I'm guessing either I got unlucky or you have to do that several times.

You don't have to kill the enemy robots, just fire your first shot directly into the hole where the ants are and it'll go right through them and kill the spawner instantly, ending the stage. You need a bunch of missiles from the robots in order to get a powerful enough counter to annihilate everything.

 

[aechris]

To continue the lovefest, I think it's amazing when I clear one that I've had a bit of trouble with (like the first vertical one), fistpump, then realize I just beat level 9. Haha, 9?? Really?? That's it!? I feel like I've been playing this game much more than that, and it makes me excited that I have that many more to go through.

 

[Mike M]

ugh, stage 16 is gonna drive me insane.

It's way easier than it looks once you figure it out.

The tanks won't fire unless they have line of sight with you, so hold RB to hover, use your homing missiles, and shoot one of the tanks in the lower corners. This will blow open one quarter of the yellow box, and only the tanks in that quadrant will attack. Just continue to hold RB and make slight adjustments to avoid incoming fire while you hose them with homing missiles.

If you're careful to shoot down any incoming missiles, the rest of the inner gray box should be intact, and most of the other tanks inactive. Just pick off each corner one by one, you won't even need to use your EX.

 

[wayward archer]

I am planning on making some levels for this game if anybody wants to add me feel free to do so:

http://live.xbox.com/en-US/MyXbox/Profile?gamerTag=Zombie Swords

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

How's the netcode?

Terrible.

Just...don't even bother.

Apparently a handful of people have started unlocking the bonus stages.

Must be nice. =/

FUCK THIS FINAL BOSS
FUCK IT
FUCK IT
FUCK IT

Treasure owes me a new controller, a new monitor, a new X360, a new bedroom, a new car, a new house, a new neighborhood, a new area code, a new country, FUCKCKCCKKCKCKCKFKUFKCUFKCUFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK

 

[Vorg]

It's way easier than it looks once you figure it out.

The tanks won't fire unless they have line of sight with you, so hold RB to hover, use your homing missiles, and shoot one of the tanks in the lower corners. This will blow open one quarter of the yellow box, and only the tanks in that quadrant will attack. Just continue to hold RB and make slight adjustments to avoid incoming fire while you hose them with homing missiles.

If you're careful to shoot down any incoming missiles, the rest of the inner gray box should be intact, and most of the other tanks inactive. Just pick off each corner one by one, you won't even need to use your EX.

It worked! Thanks dude.

 

[BobJustBob]

Okay, someone spoil level five for me. How do I kill Longai-O? I tried using dashes and freezes like the game tells me but that just isn't enough. At some point I have to use counter attacks and then he just destroys me.

 

[Mike M]

Okay, someone spoil level five for me. How do I kill Longai-O? I tried using dashes and freezes like the game tells me but that just isn't enough. At some point I have to use counter attacks and then he just destroys me.

Dash, freeze, counter attack in his direction. The closer you are, the bigger the missiles, so you don't have to give it a full charge to kill him.

 

[iconoclast]

LOOOOOOOOOOOL at stage 38

I didn't try the demo before buying this, so I just played it for the first time. Putting that stage as the third level of the demo is a fantastic troll by Treasure. Bravo.

 

[ScHlAuChi]

So you can only share levels with people on your friends list, thats pretty lame...
What a missed opportunity - should have done it LBP style....

if anyone wants to share levels - my gamertag is Schlauchii
http://live.xbox.com/en-US/MyXbox/Profile?gamerTag=ScHlAuChii

 

[BobJustBob]

Dash, freeze, counter attack in his direction. The closer you are, the bigger the missiles, so you don't have to give it a full charge to kill him.

Thanks, that helped me get past it. I practiced the dash then freeze combo a few times on the first level to get it down, then beat level five on the first attempt after that.

 

[SapientWolf]

So you can only share levels with people on your friends list, thats pretty lame...
What a missed opportunity - should have done it LBP style....

if anyone wants to share levels - my gamertag is Schlauchii
http://live.xbox.com/en-US/MyXbox/Profile?gamerTag=ScHlAuChii

Blame MS for that. They're in the stone age when it comes to that sort of thing.

 

[iconoclast]

Just finished Fury mode. Great game overall, much better than the DS version. Although, I must say, the final boss is a little overhyped... I beat stage 47 on my first try. :<

 

[goldenpp72]

What a disappointment, I miss the full level style with funny writing in the DC version, not only is this much more similar to the bleh DS version but it also looks fucking terrible.

 

[jooey]

What a disappointment, I miss the full level style with funny writing in the DC version, not only is this much more similar to the bleh DS version but it also looks fucking terrible.

sounds like you've been keeping up with the coverage

 

[epmode]

Blame MS for that. They're in the stone age when it comes to that sort of thing.

Surely you can't expect them to give away DLC for free! Why, then people might start to expect that sort of thing instead of paying $5 for some crappy weapons in Dragon Age!

 

[GhaleonQ]

jooey, not to distract from the main topic, but I'd really love your take on the series.

 

[goldenpp72]

sounds like you've been keeping up with the coverage

i did not, I heard it was announced for xbla and got excited, bought the DS game since i never played it and thought it was bad in comparison to the DC original, and to find out this xbla game is as such is pretty sad, it feels like some cheap hong kong knock off of the brand. What is up with the giant ugly as sin rockets you shoot out, the horrible art, the lack of any feeling of direction, it just feels really bland.

I'd much rather have a direct port of the DC original than this, and i still have my copy of it :/

 

[d0c_zaius]

I am planning on making some levels for this game if anybody wants to add me feel free to do so:

http://live.xbox.com/en-US/MyXbox/Profile?gamerTag=Zombie Swords

Sent you a request!

So you can only share levels with people on your friends list, thats pretty lame...
What a missed opportunity - should have done it LBP style....

if anyone wants to share levels - my gamertag is Schlauchii
http://live.xbox.com/en-US/MyXbox/Profile?gamerTag=ScHlAuChii

and you too!