Psikyo Shooting Stars Bravo (REVIEW)

Psikyo Shooting Stars Bravo puts the anime into aerial combat with six wacky wave based games centered around an unusual roster of characters. Included in this bundle is a mix and match of two well renown trilogies. Including that of Samurai Aces, and GunBird. Each sporting their own plots, settings, mythologies, and mechanics. All done up in both side-scrolling, and top-down shoot 'em up fashion. It's fast and frenetic gameplay with new optional bells and whistles to help you see each game through to the end beyond the staple quarter munching mockery, and seven different difficulty settings. If you are a fan of shmups, bullet hell, or even brick breaking of the retro kind this might just be the ultimate collection for you!

Having played the Bravo entry of the Psikyo collections I do believe this is by far my favorite. With two trilogies including Samurai Aces', and GunBirds' interesting library of games it makes for a fun time spent on the go, in short sessions, or while shooting for that record breaking highscore. With The Samurai Aces set you get 'Samurai Aces', 'Tengei', and "Samurai Aces III - Sengoku Cannon'. Each complete with their own unique cast of anime inspired characters of the feudal fantasy sort. Including everything from a genius doggo to a big breasted shrine maiden, and even an eye patch sporting samurai among others. 

The goal in each of the Samurai Aces games vary as do the play style. In 'Samurai Aces', for example, you get a healthy roster of piloted aircraft that each feature a named pilot as well as a different shot type, and bomb type. There's several characters to choose from, and each will play through top-down wave based stages that end in a boss fight that has multiple phases. At your disposal is your base shot, and bomb. As you down mechanized mythical monstrosities you will get bomb refills, shot power-ups, and hidden coins for added score. The power-ups in particular change the width of the shot, and add-in homing missile projectiles that fire alongside the base shot. The more power-ups collected the wider the shot, and the more homing projectiles you will get.

With 'Tengei', and 'Samurai Aces III - Sengoku Cannon" the screen scrolling orientation switches to that of a side-scrolling presentation. It ditches the piloted aircraft, and has you flying around as the characters with a single shot type, and multiple shot types within the third entry. Bombs are brought over as well as are the power-ups. In 'Tengei' it's a basic wave based affair with end stage bosses, and lesser enemy mobs between. You have a set stock of four lives, and two bombs to begin with. By powering up via the power-ups your shot spread will once again get wider with added homing projectiles that will assist in targeting enemies not directly targeted with your basic shot stream. The shot types differ according to character as do the bomb effects. Bombs will not only damage, and destroy enemies, but will also act as a shield to the onscreen bullet hell spray shot from enemies. 

All of this applies to 'Samurai Aces III - Sengoku Cannon', but with a deeper play on gunplay mechanics. By that I mean you have a shot that shoots a direct stream while slowing down your character, a wide shot version of the same stream that allows for quicker movement, and a single burst shot that does combo damage, produces coins, and adds to a score multiplier. Bosses in the third game are also different in that their life is governed by an onscreen life bar that must be depleted for the defeat. There's also an end score point tally in the third entry that takes in account your life stock, time spent, and your overall efficiency throughout the stage's playthrough. Characters in all three games vary with a couple returning characters, and some new/missing selections that will play into the story's textual, and art panel inclusive lore. For the most part you will be rescuing a princess, and getting a reward for services rendered to the shogunate.

The GunBird trilogy ups the ante when it comes to anime antics. This more modern take on the anime art style has an interesting assortment of characters including Alucard the vampire, a flying witch named Marion, a robot, an elderly carpenter, and other oddities thrown in to make the playthroughs to be had all the more colorful. From 'GunBird' to 'GunBird 2', and onto 'Gunbarich' you'll find that the shoot 'em up screens are all of a top-down upward scrolling variety. Filled with pseudo-Japanese inspired stage locations done up in a sort of sky pirates theme that plays into the rival treasure hunt that the games encompass. In each of the first two titles you get only a handful of characters to choose from. Each character has their own shot type, and own bomb type. That holds true in the first two entries only. The gameplay is your basic shmup thoroughfare with the end goal being to clear the stages of lesser enemies, and a final boss. 

After each stage is complete your chosen character will offer up dialogue pertaining to their hunt for the pieces of a mystical mirror or the elemental potions they are in search of. Ultimately concluding the journey on the final stage against the last boss. While the first two games hold those things in common, more or less, the third game 'Gunbarich' is a completely different experience all to itself. Featuring the returning Marion, and an anchor riding pirate boy you will be using the pinball flippers in front of you on the top-down static playing field to break bricks, score bonus points, and collect gameplay effecting power-ups. It is basically a brick breaking shmup set to a timer with boss battles, and story intermissions included. The anime art syle compared to the previous two entries is more cutesy, and akin to games like Wayforward's "Shantae" series. It's an overall nice assortment of games with something really different for the final entry.

The Presentation ...

For the most part all games in both trilogies feature a slim screen coverage with attached wallpapers. The screen can be rotated in the PLUS button menu. The wallpaper can be changed as well. When it comes to life stock that can be increased to 9, and continues set to unlimited. Visual tweaks come in the form of a scanline filter that gives the games a more authentic retro feel. As far as sound goes the soundtrack seems to contain the original effects, and music once again making the collection true to it's origins. Text in the game is translated to English for the US audience as is the feature listings. It's a competently done collaboration in an easy to access rotary menu style setup that gets you in on the action fast, and out just as quickly.

The Verdict ...

After having played both Alpha, and Bravo of the Psikyo collections I have to say that Bravo is my favorite by quite a margin. Though the Samurai Ace trilogy does feature some unfair bullet hell situations brought back from that quarter munching arcade cabinet era it's enjoyable enough. The GunBird collection makes up for all that though, and offers bullet hell with rhyme and reason that isn't cheap, and does not sneak up on you out of nowhere. The last game, Gunbarich, is also noteworthy in that it deviates from the standard shmup styles of play to give the player something different in the brick breaking vein. Once again I'd strongly suggest you getting a physical copy of this game if you can. Pre-order it if you have to. I have no doubt it's value will only go up in price as time goes on. It gets the Gaming Inferno's seal of approval!