Bangai-O Spirits

Hardcore game with very high difficulty. Some knowledge of Japanese recommended to ascertain objectives.

Game developer Treasure has a penchant for shooting games. On the Nintendo 64, there was a mech shooter called Bangai-O, whose sequel has now been made for the Nintendo DS as Bangai-O Spirits. You start the game with a tutorial, which also happens to be the plot, and it teaches you how to control your mech. It also introduces you to weapons such as missiles, a sword and even one that aims missile back at the enemy. The specials get even better. You can fire up to 999 missiles at once using some of the weapons. Although you may have heaps of ammunition at your disposal, the game isn't just about shooting and dodging enemies. Your tactics - from which direction to attack the targets to which weapons to use - are even more important in determining whether you can get past any of the exceedingly difficult stages. Once you tire of the pre-built stages, you can expand the game with its level editor and share them online. Bangai-O Spirits is another fantastical tactical shooter, but its steep difficulty and lack of structured progression - all of the over 160 stages come unlocked from the start - could turn the less hardcore shooter fans off.