Gunbarich

[Shay Chaise]

I am amazed that this Psikyo arcade puzzle game came out in 2001. I do remember playing it in a beaten-up arcade in China around 2004, alongside many versions of Puzzle Bobble and Tetris and Magical Drop and the like. God, I'd love to go back there now. Back then, I assumed that they were all early/mid 90s games from the presentation but perhaps my judgement was impaired by the rundown decor, strip lighting and the thick fog of Double Happiness cigarette smoke.

In any case, it's certainly a throwback. Arkanoid is the foundation but Gunbarich quickly takes that basic bat and ball mechanic and then tosses new elements into the mix more quickly and haphazardly than you can begin to process them. For a start, your 'bat' is actually made up of pinball flippers which allow you some extra control and power to send the ball rattling around the top half of the screen. Aside from that, you have power ups, some standards like wide flippers and multiball, but some which allow you to destroy the 'indestructible' blocks, shoot destructive stars and get massive hit stun combos on the bosses.

Oh, right. The bosses. The game is structured in different worlds with varied aesthetics, though it's mostly obscured by the chaos. At least, I didn't have chance to especially appreciate the backdrops. At the end of each world (of three stages), you have a boss battle against a moving target. They also shoot at you, or past you, which causes you to be stunned, but if you can bat their shots back you'll do extra damage (I think!). It's less complicated than it sounds. Regular enemies will also shoot at you, or steal the ball and teleport before firing it at double speed. The later levels become pure chaos and I do suspect whether it's possible to actually survive through skill or if luck and a pocket full of coins are the only way to see the ending. In any case, I had to turn on Infinite Continues to get past the third world. And while that does kill the challenge, it's still a really fun game for a fifteen minute playthrough. It's pure arcade fun, bold and colourful, cute characters and silly animations, an insistent soundtrack and absurd challenge. It's not up there with Puyo Puyo Tetris, although I love the charming aesthetic which sends me right back to Chinese ciggies and jaundiced strip lighting, but it is fun and I'll be replaying it happily on my next train journey or laboured stool.

Gameplay (World of Longplays YT): https://youtu.be/qDuysH2-O3o

[the]

Just downloaded this for MAME and had a quick blast, aye, top recommendation. The pinball flippers are a nice mechanic, giving you a bit more leeway for directing the ball.

It reminds me a bit of Puchi Carat, another cutesy attempt to update the bat & ball mechanic from 1997. Puchi Carat instead features gravity (you can snap huge stalactites off with a well-aimed deflection), and has a Tetris-esque 'filling well' playfield (but upside-down). It turns into a cruel bastard in no time at all but I love it (and secretly wish someone would make a sequel with a few tweaks for balance).

Gunbarich seems a bit more initially-lenient though, got to Level 3-1 on first go.

The colours and some of the visual style of Gunbarich also reminds me a little bit of Space Invaders '95, a great parody version of Space Invaders (and by far the only Space Invaders that's held my interest for longer than a minute).

Nice that Gunbarich stars the lead character from Psikyo's Gunbird shooters too.

Edit: on a second play, noticed that you have aftertouch and can bend the ball, a bit like Senisible Soccer :)

[Shay Chaise]

Thanks for the reply, really interesting. I've only got a work laptop these days so no MAME for me but Puchi Carat sounds like fun. I do like these superficially simple games which have crazy skill ceilings, plus a fat dose of fortune. I've never heard of Space Invaders 95 but I'll keep an eye out.

Gunbird is also on my list. I heard that the Psikyo shmups are very interchangeable, kind of palette swaps, but I really like Strikers 1945 and so I'd be up for Gunbird, I'm sure. I like anything with a slightly different aesthetic, the most minor twist can refresh the tried and tested. Same reason I really enjoyed Guwange and Jamestown, in fact. It's the same old bullet hell and dodging lots of pink dots but the unusual setting makes it more engaging than spaceships and shit.

Thanks for the reply. I appreciate this stuff is a bit niche but I love these 'pure' games.

[remedial_gash]

If you like the idea of Gunbird and enjoy Strikers 1945, then Gunbird II is better than 1 and the Strikers series are all pretty good as is the similar Dragon Blaze.

While not quite straight palette swaps, psikyo verts all have very similar mechanics; two stage bosses, random early level order, spinning coins/medals/stuff that have changeable values depending on the state of rotation or flashing and classic psikyo bullet patterns. Most should run on mame even on the lowliest of work lappy. Oh yeah and enemy collision results in power down of weapons but not death.

Their hori shmups like sengoku blade and sol divide have interesting systems and in sol divide a semi-melee combat option and might be worth a fiddle, there's also the zero gunner series which are fun helicopter based verts with an interesting rotation control system which are loved by some.

EDIT - IF you're thinking of the switch versions then there is an in depth thread on the shmups forum - https://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=60886

[Shay Chaise]

Thanks, gash. Another really helpful and interesting post. I'll definitely be keeping my eyes open for these ports on the Switch from now on. I unfortunately can't do any MAME stuff on the work laptop because it's pretty much locked down/I'd get bollocked but I'll definitely keep my eyes and ears open for Switch releases. I love this kind of thing, really feels fresh.

[madhair60]

Maaaate I wanna fuck that magician

[Shay Chaise]

I like a woman with curbs.

[madhair60]

If you've got PS4, there's a collection on the PSN store called ADK Damashii that includes Twinkle Star Sprites.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdMgoi-AJtU

Very similar and very good

[Shay Chaise]

I never saw that reply, mads, so thanks for the rec. I'll have a root on the PSN store.

I just came to bump this thread because Gunbarich is such a fun little game and once you get the hang of the aftertouch it's really, really satisfying. This might well make my top five Switch games of the year so far, along with Celeste, Danmaku, Steredenn and The Last Blade. I'm not suggesting it's as good as Peggle, but it does give me similar feelings. A good dose of skill, a lump of luck, cheery presentation and a masterfully simple but fun core mechanic. It's never not enjoyable and I've spent ten times as much on games which don't come close to engaging me as much.

[the]

This has been my go-to for short-burst gaming on MAME lately, so thanks again for the recommendation.

Something I didn't realise initially is that the aftertouch is exaggerated when you pick up the 'W' power-up (the one that widens the flippers). If you're not careful you can make the ball to a 180° and lose the bugger.

'S' seems to slow the ball, 'H' seems to allow it to power through the blocks it hits on the initial smash without deflecting, and 'M' is a multi-ball. You still have to keep track of the primary (pink) ball though, as that's the one you can't lose (which is an interesting diversion from the muilti-ball in other bat & ball games, where you just have to make sure you don't lose them all).

The '?' might give you a bigger multi-ball, allows you to fire projectiles to clear blocks, or gives you a super-ball which even blasts through the solid blocks.

Got to stage 5 on one credit once, usually still losing around 3-2 though.

I've noticed on MAME that the levels and bosses dished out are slightly random - if you play on the initial load then it always seems to be the same set, but if you reset the game then the levels and bosses will be different. Which is nice for variety.

[the]

On a strict one credit, I'm not progressing that far with this. I think the reason for this is that it's bloody stingy with awarding bonus lives.

After getting fast-time and multiplier bonuses all over the place, and after 10-odd minutes of play, most coin-ops would've seen fit to reward you with an extra life by then. Not this one, ergo I'm typically still somewhere in stage 3 when I run out of luck. Harumph.

Something to note is that the artists have gone to the trouble of creating an amusing 'deceased' sprite for the bosses when you defeat them, yet these are always totally obscured by explosions/the bonus scoreboard. Surplus effort ahoy.

[the]

On a strict one credit, I'm not progressing that far with this. I think the reason for this is that it's bloody stingy with awarding bonus lives.

I've worked out the reason for this: where most coin-ops would award you a bonus life every X thousand points, Gunbarich only gives you an extra life when you get to a certain level. A look at the test screen shows that the earliest this can be is stage 5-2.

I've managed to get that far a couple of times - but by that time you will have been playing for 15-20 minutes. Which is an obscene amount of time to expect 3 lives to last you in game this frantic. You've gone through 9 stages plus 4 bosses by then.

How you getting on with it Shay?

[madhair60]

I think he flounced. :(

[the]

Batballs.

I might try and lure him back with a thread about my current* favourite twitch shooter.

^{*current as in it was made in 1987}

[Shay Chaise]

Sorry, it's rude to ignore this and I appreciate the responses. I still love this funny silly little game but I'm nowhere near a 1cc. I find that I screw myself on multiball more often than anything else, or those teleporting swines. Cracking little game, though, and so much more fun than it should be. Shout outs to Dragon Blaze too which dropped this week on Switch and still loving Sengoku 3, best brawler I ever played, plus Tengai/Sengoku Blade, maybe my favourite SS shmup now. I love it so much.

Glad you're enjoying it, thanks for the replies and catch you round. I've not flounced, I've just made a few changes to the routine. Less Internet, basically.