Punching is probably the most interesting addition to the game. Its use is limited because it sacrifices one of your lives but is worth it to kill the bosses faster. One last attack that more than likely won’t be used as much is the chibi attack, which fires countless mini versions of your ship at everything on screen. Surprisingly there are only two main weapon upgrades: a weak three-way shot and a more powerful wide shot.

There is a temporary shield that will absorb a few hits and speed up/down bells. You can pick up three options that follow your movements but unlike that game they are not invincible. The weapons available are highly reminiscent of Gradius which more than likely is intentional. Prioritizing is key since you can’t drop bombs and keep firing your normal shots. Now they will automatically target the closest enemy although they aren’t perfect. Bombs for ground based targets return as well. I’m no expert and I was capable of juggling eight bells pretty easily. Doing so is made easier by the vertical scrolling viewpoint. Juggling the bells for power-ups still remains the core of the game and this is no exception. This is one of the best games in the system’s library. Detana Twinbee turned my opinion of the games around but Pop’n Twinbee truly cemented it.

I’ve rambled on to give you some idea as to why It is so shocking that Pop’n Twinbee is one of my favorite shooters and SNES games of all time. And it also didn’t help that my first exposure to the series was Stinger, a game that had……problems. Juggling bells for power-ups while dodging enemies and attacking ground based targets was not my thing. I’ve adapted to some weird mechanics but I can safely say that for the longest time I absolutely hated the Twinbee series. Bullet hell, cute em ups, rail shooters, the list goes on and on. I’ve played my fair share of shooters of all stripes. Developer: Konami Publisher: Konami Released: MaGenre: Shooter Platform: SNES

Snes twinbee