Duality in action !

Useful link : Complete map

The peaceful Donburi island has been invaded by the army of the Spice King. After having stolen precious treasures, he has divided the island into 5 regions that are directed by 4 generals and himself. Fortunaly, Doctor Cinnamon, who lives at the end of the island, has invented 2 fighter planes, the TwinBee and the WinBee : his pupils will pilote them to give back its freedom to the island !

With this game released in 1986, Konami is experimenting a more humoristic way for shoot’em up than Nemesis, with an entertaining PSG musical background. Having flowers or scissors as enemies is a brilliant idea ! Note that there is a SCC version : you can find it in a Konami compilation, only released in Japan : GAME COLLECTION 3. Hackers have succeeded to extract Twinbee to create a little rom with SCC musics.

Action happens on vertical level instead of the horizontal level generally used by the Nemesis serie : only Salamander will make partially exception by including vertical plans. What concern the comical elements of Twinbee, you can find them back in Nemesis when the game is runned with Twinbee in slot 2. More than that, they will be used again in Parodius, a parodic Nemesis ! We can therefore see Twinbee as a good pre-Nemesis with action on a paradisiac island instead of space !

The Nemesis capsules are replaced by bells that appear when you shoot on the clouds ! They switch color if you shoot on them, what’s giving them a different power when you catch them : extra points (yellow bell), increase of speed (blue bell), double shoot (white bell), options (green bell), shield (red bell) and…… immediate death (black bell … to avoid !)

Another difference is the duality of the game : action happens on air and on ground. However, if you lose both arms by being touched by enemy projectiles, you are no more able to shoot on the ground targets with the “M” key. The first time it happens, you have a solution : run fast to an ambulance to find back your arms !

Tip for the 1 player mode : If you press T + M on the title screen, the ambulance will always come when you have lost your arms.

Twinbee can be played in a co-operative dual mode that works differently from the one player mode and gives especially access to 2 exclusive weapons. This dual mode will come again in Salamander !

The hidden items

The shooting of the ground targets will reveal items to take, so you will have different surprises : extra points (cherries), triple spread shoot or magical baseball (super candy), destruction of every enemy currently on the screen, with exception for the bosses (star) or extra life (miracle milk).

The weapons

By default, you have a simple direct shoot and missiles. You can get the double shoot with the white bell. For the triple spread shoot, a ground target needs to give you a super candy. This triple shoot is not available in dual mode.

If you catch the super candy a second time or in dual mode, it can happen with some luck that you’ll get a magical baseball : it will bounce and destroy everything on its passage, with exception for the bells.

In 1 player mode, you can get the options with the green bell and the shield with the red bell. You can’t get both at the same time. In dual mode, you can only get the shield.

Tip for the 1 player mode : If you press Z + M on the title screen, you will start the game with the shield and the options.

Dual mode allows to use 2 powerful weapons :

- the double combined spread shoot when a gamer “hustles ” the other gamer from behind;

- the fireball if both gamers shoot when they grab each others hands and move at the same speed

The walkthrough

The following walkthrough describes the 5 stages of this cool game.

Stage 1

The fights on stage 1 happen mainly above the sea, but you can already aim at some ground targets .

Boss of this stage is Onion Head , he protects himself by 7 balls that rotate fast around him.

Stage 2

On stage 2, you are above a forest and progress also to destroy more ground targets.

Boss of this stage is Parallel Dish who is attacking you with wheels !

Stage 3

On stage 3, you are above the desert but there are more enemy targets.

Boss of this stage is Tiger Shark and his little annoying assistants.

Stage 4

On stage 4, you are above an inhabited zone with even more enemies.

Boss of this stage is Claw Device, he is extremely aggressive and sends some of his assistants to kill you.

Stage 5

On stage 5, you are first above an airport then go to the mountains.

The Spice King is waiting there for you, it’s the end boss and you can guess he’s not easy to beat !

Your mission is then finished, but if you wish an higher difficulty level, try stages 6 to 10 !