The game's premise is nearly identical to that of the original Gunbird, but instead of a magic mirror, a wish-granting "Almighty Potion" is sought by a gaggle of selectable heroes. This lineup features the Russian robot Valpiro, preteen explorer Tavia, the vampire Alucard (no relation to those of Castlevania or Hellsing), magician Hei-Cob, a witch trapped in the form of a 7-year-old girl named Marion, and two not-so-hidden characters: Aine of Psikyo's own Sengoku Ace and Morrigan, the scarcely clothed succubus from Capcom's magnificent Darkstalkers series. Also hunting the Almighty Potion are the Queen Pirates, consisting of a frequently irate villainess named Shark and her two sub-efficient henchmen. In the tradition of similar trios from Time Bokan and Nadia, the pirates have a seemingly endless supply of tanks, planes, and mecha to toss at the player throughout the game's seven stages. There's also the final boss to deal with, but describing it would ruin its absurdity.

As shooters go, Gunbird 2's formula is typical; enemies appear, they shoot at you, you shoot at them, ad infinitum. Though nothing too complex, the gameplay serves up a better attack variety than the standard shooter; each character has personalized versions of the usual bullets and bombs, along with a powerful short-range strike and a projectile powered by a meter that fills with each enemy you blast. The game also shows off decent enemy designs, nice level backgrounds, and character illustrations gorgeous enough to have come directly from Capcom's talented artists. The enemy shots and power-up icons are the same ones that Psikyo's used since 1993's Sengoku Ace, but one can't fault them for taking a few shortcuts, since the visuals move fluidly and have no problem processing the massive surges of bullets that fill the screen at an almost constant rate.

These thick flurries of enemy fire (a recurring motif in Psikyo shooters) are at once Gunbird 2's most enjoyable and most irritating element. Rumor has it that Psikyo includes some expatriate programmers from Compile, the company responsible for the brilliant 16-bit shooter series of Aleste and Spriggan, and whether or not that's true, it's easy to see the spirit of such classics in the intense, bullet-dodging gameplay of Gunbird 2. The later levels are especially tough, requiring players to use bombs not so much to damage an enemy, but to clear the screen of a furious swath of oncoming shots. But while the relentless enemy fusillades provide a constant level of adrenaline, they also cause a few frustrating moments, particularly when level bosses literally blanket the screen with waves of projectiles that are impossible to avoid. It's a sign of the game's roots in the arcade, where shooters survive by unequivocally slaughtering players once in a while and betting that they'll put another coin in the machine.

As it has many times before, this tactic pays off. No matter how many times you seethe inwardly (or blurt insults more profane than you though yourself capable of) after dying in a hideously unfair enemy attack, the game seems to remain almost smug in anticipation of you jabbing the continue button for another go. And jab it you will, because the level designs and attack patterns of Gunbird 2 are clever and fair enough to compel players to memorize enemy formations, squeeze between shots, and horde bombs and specials, all in the hope of clearing one more stage.

Though shooter storylines are typically too thin to contribute much, the characters are actually entertaining. Players can select two protagonists to control in alternation, with each combination yielding different level intermissions and endings.

Someone was bound to ask.

If the conclusions are brief, they're also quite amusing, depicting oddness like Valpiro getting a "human" body courtesy of Morrigan, or Tavia conniving to become Alucard's immortal companion. Silly? Yes, but it's a nice change from the dull, unsatisfying non-endings that close most shooters.

The multiple finales also counter Gunbird 2's other major flaw: it's pretty damn short. Each stage is only a few minutes in length, and the seven of them last under half an hour in total. Still, the searing difficulty extends it a bit, and Psikyo's been quite clever with the continue feature, in the single-player mode, at least. Soloists can use on-the-spot continues throughout the first four stages, but the latter three levels kick characters back to the beginning of the stage whenever a continue is used, forcing the player to beat the toughest levels with no more than four lives. Sadly, this feature isn't in effect for the two-player mode, which allows unlimited continues from the precise point of your defeat.

In the grand gaming scheme, Gunbird 2 is inconsequential, as its basic nature and overall shortness lessen the allure of its intense gameplay and fun atmosphere. However, it's easily one of the better 2-D shooters currently on the U.S. market. It lasts longer than either Giga Wing, it's more substantial than Silpheed: the Lost Planet, and it has style and structure much more rewarding than the archaic drudgery of Gradius III and IV. Gunbird 2 isn't bound for classic status, but it's an enjoyable foray into an under-appreciated genre and evidence that, in the proper hands, a derivative shooter can still be worthwhile.

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