If you've ever played a Treasure shooter, or almost any Treasure game outside of, say, Stretch Panic or Wario World, you know a bit about what to expect from Bangai-O Spirits. For years, Treasure has been creating incredibly strange games with overt humor and colorful graphics overlaid on top of complex mechanics and piles and piles of enemies. Each game has a "gimmick" that drives the gameplay and defines the player's abilities: swapping colors in Ikaruga, throwing in Gunstar Heroes, and so on.

Bangai-O Spirits has all the hallmarks of a Treasure shooter. It doesn't take itself seriously, but provides more than enough of a challenge for any gamer. It features the same gimmick as the other Bangai-O games, and will be instantly familiar to fans of those. In fact, it seems to be the ideal Treasure game. At the same time, it completely subverts the usual Treasure dynamic, with brilliant results.

We knew immediately when we heard that a new Bangai-O game was coming out that it would be something special. How could we be so sure of an unknown game? The answer lies in the history of its developer, Treasure, an offshoot of Konami who has been making idiosyncratic action games for years (as well as the occasional McDonald's game to fund said action games, but that's a story for another time).

They've made very memorable brawlers and platformers, but Bangai-O Spirits is part of a long tradition of innovative shooters with insane storylines and unique rulesets, which is why we've chosen to look at Treasure's body of work in that particular genre. If you don't consider run & guns like Gunstar Heroes shooters ... well, we debated that, a lot, and decided that since they're games primarily about firing projectiles at enemies, they belong in the same discussion as scrolling shooters. Of course, if you think enough about shooters to make that kind of distinction, you probably know all about Treasure already.

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		Boss is approaching!

Space Invaders Extreme has been out in the U.S. and Europe for about a month now, so if you haven't bought this gem yet (and according to certain chartz, most of you haven't), we can only assume it's because you're still deciding which version to pick up.

As you probably know, the game released for both the DS and the PSP. One of the reasons that certain bloggers (namely, this one) were so excited for the U.S. release of Space Invaders Extreme in the first place was because its downloadable demo for the PSP was nothing short of awesome. You can imagine, then, how torn we were when it came to choosing between the DS and PSP versions of the game. We only figured that some of our readers were going through the same dilemma, and thus we ended up trying out both just so that you don't have to.

If you want to see how Space Invaders Extreme DS and PSP stack up against each other, just click on past the break for a pretty chart and in-depth category breakdowns.

The unsourced rumor of a 2008 European Metal Slug 7 release date must be acknowledged. It turns out that Europeans will not only get Metal Slug 7 in 2008, but they will also get it pretty much the same time as everywhere else. A press release has come through and announced an "Autumn 2008" release. Yes, that means Fall -- Autumn is for those lame Europeans and non-lame Australians.

To accompany this timely news, five new screens of the kill-o-rama have been updated in our gallery. With seven brand new missions six playable characters and apparently the biggest SLUG vehicle ever, this is exactly what hardcore Metal Slug fans need.


[Via press release]

I went to D3 Publisher along with Joystiq's Justin McElroy to look at Bangai-O Spirits. Justin brought his mysterious space phone along, and I saw an opportunity. After I looked at the new Treasure stages (which include detailed pixel images of the Bangai-O robot and other things made out of stage elements), I asked if we could try out the Sound Load feature -- live.

Justin loaded up a level on YouTube, stuck an earphone up to the mic, and the D3 rep started the Sound Load, but to no avail. "Transfer failed," "Too quiet," "Too loud." That doesn't mean it's a finicky feature, necessarily, just that it's not the ideal feature for the loudest place ever. Owners of the Japanese version haven't really reported problems. I have full faith that it works great in regular noise situations.

I asked the D3 rep if there would be downloadable stages on the US website, and he told me that they were planning a YouTube channel. Furthermore, I was told that Japanese stages would work in the U.S. build.

So ... huh? After sitting through the above four minutes of explosions, nuclear symbols and flashing lights, we have learned nothing about the upcoming Duke Nukem Trilogy for the DS. Quite frankly, this isnt the kind of trailer you want to show at E3, when countless other videos opt to show gameplay footage and new details. Also, four minutes long? Sure, there's a bit of metal rocking out there, but wouldn't we rather watch a music video instead of the words Critical Mass and Proving Grounds blasting all over the screen? You bet.

The rest of the Fanboy team thinks this irritable blogger is missing the joke of the (clearly satirical) trailer. They are probably right.

For the past few months, we've bombarded you with regular updates on Bangai-O Spirits like so many missiles. You might even say that we have an obsession, and you'd be right: we adore -- nay, love -- Bangai-O. If we were in charge of this scummy joint, it wouldn't even be DS Fanboy, but Bangai-O Fanboy. All employees would have to work while dressed as Riki or Mami. All readers would have to provide photographic proof that they owned the original, Japan-only N64 game.

But we're not in charge -- we're snivelly, subservient slaves to our paymasters. So the most we can do is upload these ten new screenshots and hope that you view them.


[Via press release]

Yep, pretty much. Bond games have never lived up to the astronomical heights of GoldenEye 007, and we weren't really expecting a DS game to pull through and take the crown. Action games in general aren't the best for the touchscreen -- but we want to be proven wrong. Will Daniel Craig's portable outing be an exception to the laws of crappiness? Unnnnnlikely.

Using your keen spy senses, examine the gallery and predict the fate of Quantum of Solace. The movie will be undoubtedly cool, but that might be all we can hope for.


[Via press release]

Studio Arkedo's Big Bang Mini is a very simple game, and I mean that in the best possible way. Like the other recent retro-style shooters on the DS (Space Invaders Extreme immediately comes to mind), Big Bang focuses entirely on making you shoot almost everything on the screen. Unlike Invaders, it uses a totally stylus-based control scheme -- which is surprisingly okay! Usually, classic, frantic game style plus touch equals problems!

You control a little icon of some kind (in the first level, a wireframe pyramid thing -- it changes with the theme every level) who shoots fireworks at stuff flying around on the top screen. You have to drag the little avatar around with the stylus, and then also swipe upward to shoot fireworks. If you hit the enemy, it blows up; if you miss, your shot explodes into fireworks, whose sparks then fall down towards the bottom screen and must be avoided. You can aim your shots by drawing lines at different angles, and you can shoot about as fast as you can slash the screen.

The word "badass" means many things to many people. It could be an idea, a concept, a frame of mind. It could be the way Reggie Fils-Aime talks. So many definitions, each of them slightly incorrect. The only universally accepted definition of "badass" can be summed up in one name: Duke Nukem.

Apogee Software is kicking into gear and throwing three hard-fightin' missions together in one package, known as the Duke Nukem Trilogy. We had an inkling that Duke would be arriving sometime soon, and it probably wasn't going to be some port of Duke Nukem 3D. The press release is annoyingly light on the details, merely making the announcement and philosophical tirades about "what's old is new again."

Does this mean the Trilogy will be just a collection of the old 2D shooters, or perhaps a batch of new levels? Apogee isn't telling, or they're being extremely hazy about it. We'll let you know, because the Duke must be acknowledged in all his forms.

Update: Turns out Apogee is telling just a little bit. On their official website, a few details have surfaced about the three missions in the Trilogy: Critical Mass, Chain Reaction and Proving Grounds. The game features 9 worlds, 36 levels, 3D "accelerated" graphics and 3D characters. Meaning, it'll probably be a side-scroller, but it'll look snazzy. Nothing wrong with that at all. Finally, we can look forward to five different styles of gameplay, a multiplayer component and "Total Ass-Kicking Weapons." Right on!

[Via press release]

Following Most Wanted Entertainment's unveiling of Mechanic Master, IGN investigated the Hungarian studio's site and dug up an interesting squad-based shooter in development -- The Expendables. Using the touchscreen, players guide "the world's lamest international private army" through 35 missions, blowing up almost everything in sight.

As you can see in the trailer and screenshots, this doesn't look like the most polished game, but the character sprites (and the buzz-saw tractor) definitely have some charm to them. The Expendables actually reminds us of a faster-paced Syndicate. You remember Bullfrog's Syndicate, right? That series was tight.

MWE hasn't yet announced whether it has managed to pick up a publisher for the title. We have a feeling that if the studio ever does find one, it will have to find a more useful implementation for the top screen. Not that skulls laughing and machine guns spitting out bullet casings aren't totally awesome.


[Via IGN]

If you're not familiar with Two Tribes, then you haven't ever played Toki Tori or Worms: Open Warfare 2. Aside from the game's recent release on WiiWare, it was also available on the Game Boy Color. They also did a game on the GBA called Three Tribes.

But, we digress. This new title, which is nothing more than some concept art right now, promises "a unique gameplay experience" in an on-rail shooter. Two Tribes also says that the controls will be accessible, as "average players will be able to complete the game while seasoned players will be motivated to go for higher scores and completion rates."


[Thanks, psyborg!]

That's how Treasure rep Arthur sums up Bangai-O Spirits (2:28), and we're struggling to concoct a more befitting description. The lucky blighters at Gamespot's "On the Spot" show got a chance to chat to Arthur (and his colleague Kaori) about the game, which launches later this year in the States.

The first few minutes are dedicated to chatting about and showing off some of the now-familiar shooting action and the level editor, while the second half deals with the game's amazing Sound Load system. Arthur admits that this idea "took a lot of explaining to Nintendo," but then demonstrates how easy it is to share files (5:20) -- simply holding two DSes closely to one another does the trick. This idea still seems like witchcraft to us, but we absolutely love it.

Arthur also confirmed that there was no official U.S. database planned to host Bangai-O sound files (9:05). Not that this should bother you -- after all, there's at least one other (really accessible) way to share your masterpiece of a level.


[Via press release]

What better way to celebrate the impending anniversary of the United States' Declaration of Independence than with less than thirty seconds of video footage of an upcoming DS game? That seems to be the idea behind the timely release of this Big Bang Mini trailer. It's a smart move to promote your fireworks-based game on the eve of one of the most colorfully explosive days of the year!

As it turns out, the game would look brilliant on any day of the year. This trailer cycles through completely dissonant visual styles, from retrogaming to winter to aquatic to a cityscape to ... a place of some kind with some flying clowns. If you haven't been paying attention to Big Bang Mini until now, we hope that all the explosions and flashy stuff got your attention!

Want to get your hands on Bangai-O Spirits before its August release? Then head on over to California and go to this year's Anime Expo. Not only will you get to play this gem of a game, but the entire DS Fanboy staff will envy you for your hands-on Bangai-O experience.

Another DS game that will be playable is, of course, Naruto: Path of the Ninja 2. Would you really expect the orange-clad Ninja not to make an appearance? So, if you plan to stop by the Expo, make sure to check out D3 Publisher's booth (901) for some fun times on the DS.