Gunbird 2



Gunbird 2 is a vertical shooting game developed and published in 1998 by Psikyo. The game is a direct sequel to Gunbird, and features a light-hearted cast of characters trying assemble the ingredients for magic potion to make their wishes come true. This was the first Psikyo game to feature medal-chaining as a scoring mechanic, which would later feature in Strikers 1999.

Gunbird 2 is noted for it's comedic tone, wide selection of characters, and addition of a melee attack which offers a powerful new offensive option. The game has been ported to a number of platforms, including the Sony Playstation 2, Sega Dreamcast, Nintendo Switch, and Steam.

Gameplay Overview
Gunbird 2 is a 3 button game. Each game loop consists of 7 stages, with the first three stages being randomly chosen from a possible four. In the second loop, stage 2-1 takes place in the stage that was not selected in the first loop. Completing the first loop rewards the player with a choice of two uses for the magic potion, with a unique ending for each choice.

Controls

 * A Button (Press): Shot
 * A Button (Hold): Charge Attack (depletes Power Gauge)
 * B Button: Bomb (depletes bomb stock)
 * C Button: Melee attack (depletes Power Gauge)

Weapons
Main Shot

Basic attack performed by pressing the shot button. This attack is upgraded by collecting Power-Up items, and reaches max power after 3 items have been collected. After collecting two Power-Up items the shot is supplemented by a secondary attack, or sub-shot, which offers some additional screen coverage. Colliding with an enemy will reduce the shot power by one level, and losing a life will reduce the shot to its base level.

Power Gauge

The power gauge is located at the bottom left of the screen, and is filled by killing enemies and collecting coins. Holding the A button releases a character-specific attack which depletes the gauge. Melee attacks, performed with the C button, will also deplete one level of the gauge.

Bomb

Bombs instantly clear enemy bullets and deal damage within specific areas of the screen. The precise effects of bombs are character-specific.

Characters
Gunbird 2 offers 6 playable characters, each with their own playstyle and unique advantages. 5 Characters are available by default, but a 6th, Aine from Samurai Aces, can be unlocked by entering the code 51024 in Maintenance Mode (this step is not needed on Nintendo Switch). He can then be selected by pressing down on the "?" icon on the character select screen.

On the Sega Dreamcast, due to Capcom being the publisher for that port, there is an additional, 7th character, Morrigan Aensland, as a cameo from the Darkstalkers fighting series. On that version, you can choose her by pressing up on the ”?” icon.

Alucard

Marion

Valpiro

Tavia

Hei-Cob

Aine

Loops
After clearing 7 stages and defeating the last boss, the player automatically enters a second loop. The second loop features significantly denser bullet patterns, and enemies will now release revenge bullets on death. Stage 2-1 takes place in the stage that was not selected in the first loop.

Scoring
Scoring in Gunbird 2 is relatively straightforward. Certain enemies, when destroyed, will leave behind gold coins that rotate on the spot. These coins will reward the player with 200, 500, 1000 or 2000 points, depending on when they are collected during their spin animation. To achieve the max score of 2000 points, coins must be collected specifically when they flash brightly.

If two 2000pt coins are collected consecutively, the player is awarded a chain bonus of 500 points. Collecting a 3rd 2000pt coin in a row will give a chain bonus of 1000 points, and collecting 4 in a row (and beyond) will give a bonus of 2000 points.

Each stage contains a hidden item called a gemhead, which releases valuable gems when attacked. Gemheads can be spawned by hovering over specific parts of the background scenery, at specific times during each stage. If the player can maintain fire on a Gemhead, it will release a maximum of 19 green gems worth 1000 points each, before releasing a final blue gem which is worth 4000 points. Gemhead locations can be found on the Gunbird_2/Strategy page.

If the player reaches the maximum bomb stock of 9, any additional bombs collected will award a large 100,000 point bonus instead. Therefore, when playing for score, it is recommended to avoid using bombs wherever possible.

Endgame Bonus
Clearing both loops rewards the player with an endgame bonus as follows:


 * Bomb Stock x 100,000
 * Power Level x 10,000
 * Lives Remaining x 100,000
 * Max Coin Chain x 1,000

Strategy
See Gunbird_2/Strategy for secrets and advanced play strategies.

Ports
Following its original arcade release in 1998, Gunbird 2 was ported to the Sega Dreamcast in 2000.

The game was later bundled with Gunbird and released on the Sony Playstation 2 as Gunbird Special Edition in 2004.

The game was ported to the Nintendo Switch in 2018 by Zerodiv. After initially only being available on the Nintendo eShop, the game was later released physically as part of the Psikyo Shooting Stars Bravo compilation.

On June 10th 2020, the game was released on Steam by Zerodiv and City Connection.

Video References
Video index for Gunbird 2