[ガンバード2/Gunbird 2] Normal Tavia Stage 2-1 (Score: 945,200) [CC Commentary]

I think I was being too harsh to Psikyo regarding what I said in the Strikers 1945 II video. Gunbird 2 scaled back what I complained about that game and it managed to be meaner! Which is great! I LOVE this game! I kinda hate the ports, of course. Cool Time Bokan series-inspired mech designs, tight stage designs while still give good enough room for mistakes, smaller hitbox, though while compared to its contemporaries it's still fat, it's comfortable enough for its bullet quantity, the bullet speed even at max rank is scaled back to relatively sane levels, a marginally better scoring system and brand new melee strike! As far as I know, Gunbird 2 is the only Psikyo title with this.
Gunbird 2, unlike Strikers 1945 II, took some time until it's out. 4 years gap, or so? But the Psikyo formula evolved so much Gunbird 2 is leaps ahead of Gunbird 1 and a good jump from Strikers 1945 II formula. You can shoot, bomb, and charge shot. Shots are the usual Psikyo affair, the bombs have their own complexities regarding their defense function. The efficacy varies, but it is assured that when you press it you'll receive some i-frames, even if that is very short. Like Strikers 1945 II you also won't power down over time. Super nice! For the charge shot it's almost exactly like Strikers 1945 II. But there are 2 primary differences: 1, Lv. 3 charge shots, as far as I know, has 0 bullet cancelling properties. None of them. Then keeping them is rather useless for defense, but the good news is these attacks are still powerful enough to skip boss phases. I'll take it! 2, at Lv, 3, the green gauge below is the excess charge gauge! So when you keep the Lv. 3, after launching it you're likely not going to be vulnerable! I'm sure they listened people's complaints about Strikers 1945 II's charge meter! It still takes more than an entire stage to fill it up to Lv. 3, though. The charge gauge recovery gets nerfed heavily when it's at Lv. 2. What a tease.
The most important addition and a great factor in routing is the melee strikes! These are in most cases are either slightly weaker than the Lv. 1 charge shot or stronger than it. Only consumes 1 big chunk out of 6, to boot! This is awesome both in routing alone (I'm a sucker for pointblanking especially with a big, chunky BONK!) and charge meter management! You see, the meter consumptiion with charge shot is based on the current Lv and you don't have any control for it. Lv. 1 consumes 1 chunk, Lv. 2 consumes 3, and Lv. 3 consumes 6. This is a hectic game; some routings will make you beg that you can just launch the weaker but more economical Lv. 1 shot because the Lv. 2 shot is just overkill let alone Lv. 3! The melee strike fulfills that function with its own quirks and distinct enough from the Lv. 1 charge shots. Genius!
As mentioned, the bullets are slower. The main fun is the enemy / parts control! You get to choose which bullets to disable and how. Even then, thanks to the slower bullets while it'll be much, much harder to no-bomb, it gives you enough time to decide between bombing or not. The enemy HP are finely calibrated for the routes. For each launches of the special attacks especially bonking enemies, it's so addicting even when the game kicks your butt many times!
Rank also exists here, and I think it's more lenient? Its increase is more gradual and for each death feels like the Rank gets reset to 0. Despite its notoriety the game is actually kinda kind. That's provided you know where Rank is more visible. At lower Rank, it's here some patterns become easier to dodge. So when you lose a life at least once, try to not give up! I'll still complaint a lot about the patterns that are basically undodgable, of course. I believe there are 2-3 of them and no, except with Lv, 3 charge shots it's practically impossible to skip them. You must bomb! That's bad!
This is a visceral shmup that is super tasty both to figure out and execute with many destructions, few pauses and chonky bonking! It'll bite back at you, so while I wholeheartedly recommend this game, please be aware that it may be too spicy to consume.
Which port to play it, though? Which port that has stage select again? This game's difficulty is no joke and stage select helps a lot to practice and experiment. None of the ports has it? Then I recommend emulating the game. I don't condone piracy; emulating a copy that you legally own is still legal, right?
Regarding Tavia, her main shot is almost exactly Ash's. She is Ash's niece, after all. Her charge shot travels slowly but it packs a good punch. The bomb is reliable, but note that the i-frame is very short. Her melee saber slash is rather weak, but unique from the others it's the only melee strike that CANCELS OUT BULLETS! Don't rely on it too much since the hitbox is thin, but at right patterns it saves you bombs and stress! Though that means skips Marion can Tavia may not be able to do.
This is the ZeroDiv port on Nintendo Switch.
#stg #shmup #nintendoswitch