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System:
SNES
Genre:
Platform
Publisher:
Konami
Developer:
-
Players:
1-2
Release date/year:
1/7/1994
Other systems:
-
» Screenshots
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- TwinBee: Rainbow Bell Adventure
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1994 Konami - SNES
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A platformer based on a long-running Konami shooter. Big levels, big graphics, big bosses, big everything. A very fun game. Twinbee: Rainbow Bell Adventure was never released in the US (I'm not sure if any of the Twinbee games were, I don't care much for shooters.), but it should have been.
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Storyline
I'm not sure about the story in this game, and if there even is one. There is an introductory cutscene, but I've never been interested enough to watch it.
The game revolves around piloting "Bee" robots, collecting bells, and saving fairies (Which seems optional . . . ) for some old scientist (or just an insane man). The only cutscene is the intro (Maybe an ending one, too), so there's little focus on story. Ah well, that's how this genre goes (traditionally).
- Gameplay
The controls are average, and only involve 3 buttons (Punch/Attack, Jump, and Gun [If you have it]), but at other times you can pick up and throw special items (I've found no use for those items [Baseballs, missiles, etc], I guess they are just different ways to get rid of your enemies).
Before the game and when you get a game over, you can choose a character to play. Twinbee is the "middle" character, with equal punch and jump meters. Gwinbee has a shorter (Better) punch meter but an extremely long jump meter. Winbee is the opposite of Gwinbee. I always go with Twinbee, although the others can be good for different bosses. You collect powerups in the form of colored bells which affect your character in different ways. For instance, Gold bells change your punch attack into a weapon attack (a hammer, baby rattles, or a whip), blue bells let you use a gun, and purple bells create a force field shield around you that lasts until you get hit by an enemy.
There is a level selection map, although it's a very boring one. You can replay any levels you've already cleared at any time, good for practicing and also gaining powerups before fighting bosses. There are six different areas, a grassy/hilly zone, a watery forest zone, a dark cavern zone, a carnival/warehouse/something zone, an icy zone, and a mechanical-type zone. Each zone has a boss, and then there are 3 other bosses after that. Standard platformer stuff.
The bosses can seem a bit hard at first, but once you find the pattern, it becomes extremely easy most of the time. After each boss, you recieve a large bell. Doesn't affect your game in any way, though.
Each stage has a massive amount of small bells to find, and some you can't get to until you find one of the colored keys. Each stage also has some other things you can find (A few fairies), and a "Time to Beat" (Which is basically an INSANE time limit to the stages which seem impossible and also pointless).
Now, you might be thinking "That sounds fun, trying to get all bells in all levels!" but no, because the game has no save ability, nor does it keep any form of record of bell pickups or times. So trying to get 100% of everything is even more useless than you thought.
There is a password system, but that only saves your accessed stages and your number of keys.
There are two 2-player modes. A co-op and a death match. I haven't played either, but death match looks like it could be fun (The vs levels seem a bit small though). Twinbee:RBA is not very difficult, but you may lose interest long before finishing the game.
- Graphics
This games graphics would probably drive away most gamers. They are very good, very colorful, and very light.
There are many "cute" games. RBA is EXTREMELY cute. It looks very much aimed towards young children, but don't let the graphics fool you, there is some difficulty here.
. . . I would rather have monsters that actually look mean.
- Sound
Even the sound effects are cute! I didn't really pay attention to the music in the game, though.
- Replayability
If RBA had a record feature and a percentage system, it would be worth playing a lot more. But without those things, it'd be very pointless to try to get each bell. That's a bit annoying.
If it is possible to finish the first level in 16 seconds, wouldn't you want something to show for it?
- Overall
A very cute game, but also pretty fun.
Worth playing if you're a fan of the genre (Maybe not if you're a fan of the series, though) or just a fan of obscure SNES/SFC games.
//Marshall
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