Twinbee Yahho! - 1995 - Arcade, Sega Saturn and Sony Playstation (Japan only)
Twinbee Yahho! (or Yahoo! to you or me) is the Arcade sequel to Detana Twinbee / Bells & Whistles. But first a dislaimer is probably necessary:
Saturn emulation is downright awful at the moment, and I've had a lot of difficulty getting screenshots for the game as it won't actually run faster than about 1 Frame per Second on my Computer (even slower than it sounds). That's why the screenshots I have are only from the first level of the game - that said, they're probably the only decent collection of Yahho screens on the net. Click here to see the full set. I could have taken scans from the manual or something, but it doesn't really do the game justice.
Anyway, Yahho! is a great game. It is very similar to Detana, with most of the enhancements being cosmetic - but they make such a difference. The graphics are much nicer, taking advantage of scaling and rotation effects. Levels can zip by in reverse as Twinbee loops the loop to chase a fleeing opponent, or change perspective as the action wraps around scenery. The backgrounds have several scrolling layers, are far more detailed and run a higher resolution than the older games. Basically, this is the prettiest Twinbee game in existence. It's also probably safe to say that it sounds the best - Konami really dug out the entire orchestra this time to provide an excellent soundtrack. Not just every level but every boss has it's own theme, with fanfares, violins, a mass of light percussion instruments (xylophones, tinkling things) and even ominous chants describing each part of the game. And there's a nice vocal track when you get to the end credits. What more could you ask for?
Well, Yahho! is also the most dramatic Twinbee game yet. This time, there is a story (though I'm not going to pretend to fully understand it), which permeates the game and introduces a new cast. Flying through each level, Twinbee, Pastel and the other characters all come out with comments, warnings or praise, and the bosses splutter threats or cry blue murder when you defeat them. There's full voice acting, which sounds good, even if it is entirely in Japanese. Stages are directed as event sequences rather than straight A to B flights; there's a chase sequence spiralling up a tower, and an amazing level in which Twinbee jets round Warumon's battleship, getting shot at, fighting Evil Bees and finally crashing the whole thing into the ocean. And the whole game has been given an Alice in Wonderland makeover. Enemies include stampeding Cheshire Cats, Playing Card armies, a psychotic Tweedledum & Tweedledee, and a giant robotic Alice. This new theming is surprising at first, but it works well - Twinbee seems very much in the spirit of Lewis Carroll and benefits from the association. Other goodies include a new set of powerups which can be held in both hands - megabombs, flamethrowers, giant-punching fists and rapid fire cannons.
So far so good...in gameplay terms, Yahho! is pretty much the same as Detana, which is unfortunately its failing. There's no Pop'n Twinbee energy bar, so one shot kills, unless you manage to take it in the arm. This is an Arcade title, and has a corresponding level of difficulty - after about level 3, the game becomes pretty unfair, which makes it slightly less fun to play. It's probably more intense when you're paying for each life, but sat at home with the Saturn port and infinite credits, something is inevitably lost. Still...this is true of many shooters...it's only in comparison to Pop'n Twinbee that Yahho! suffers. This has been ported to both PSX and Saturn, as part of the 'Detana Twinbee Yahho! Deluxe Pack', and doesn't seem to be too difficult to find. Well worth picking up, if you're into imports at all. It may even be emulated on MAME soon...at which point I might get some better screenshots.
More Screenshots from Twinbee Yahho"
