TwinBee is a vertical-scrolling, shooting arcade game developed by Konami during 1985 in Japan. It was then ported to the Family Computer (Famicom) in 1986. TwinBee, along with another game called Fantasy Zone by SEGA, started the weird fantasy themes in shooters that still exists to this day.
Whenever I get to play compilation games on the Famicom during the early 1990s, this game was always included in those cartridges along with Sky Destroyer (which I already posted about earlier).
The Story
Players will control bee-like fighters which are called "TwinBee" and "WinBee", that Dr. Cinnamon developed. And you face a wave of enemies against your single shot firepower. You can gain improvements through using the clouds, bushes, and power-ups given to you to boost yourself.
The Graphics and Sound
Even though it is not detailed, it look's nice. An early Famicom game, this game was put together well. I say it is decent with its graphic style.
An 8-bit game with a nice soundtrack, you will like TwinBee for it. There is a little burst of cheery music when you power-up, and the boss music mixing with it fits nicely.
The Gameplay
As a vertical scrolling shooter, you control one of two bee-like fighter craft (the 2 player can go simultaneously), shooting weird objects while acquiring power-ups. These you get from bells that sometimes come out of clouds when you fire at them.
Shooting the bells a number of times, you get certain colors, giving you different abilities. You can find the bullet upgrades from things you bomb at on the ground.
The bells can give you some great abilities if you can keep them juggling until they change to another color while you are still shooting at enemies. If the changed-color bells aren't picked up by then or go off the screen, you won't get the ability you wanted. This can be a bit difficult as enemies are all over the place.
While playing with a friend, you two can combine to create better firepower. For example, go into the back of your friend, and you two will spreadshot. Or, stick side by side and you'll fire a large power shot combined.
Controls are okay. B is for for shooting and A for bombing. If you get hit once, a medic power-up will come on the screen to fix you. Your bombs are for blasting on the ground, not on the air.
My Verdict
Overall, this is a good game that fans of fantasy-themed vertical shooters will most likely enjoy. If you are kind of bad at playing flying shooters, then go away.
Play TwinBee on the Famicom or NES emulators with a friend to get the most enjoyment out of it.