History VideoGame / BangaiO

An action/{{Shoot Em Up}}/{{Bullet Hell}} (sometimes) game series made by Creator/{{Treasure}}, consisting of 3 games: ''Bangai-O'' on the [[UsefulNotes/Nintendo64 N64]] ([[NoExportForYou only in Japan]]) and the UsefulNotes/SegaDreamcast, ''Bangai-O: Spirits'' on the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoDS DS]], and ''Bangai-O: Missile Fury'' on UsefulNotes/XboxLiveArcade. The N64 version had a limited run of about 10,000 copies, which makes it incredibly rare. The Dreamcast version was later released worldwide and is much more common.

An UsefulNotes/Xbox360 version by the name of ''Bangai-O: Missile Fury'' was released via the Xbox Live Arcade on May 4. It, so far, does not have the slowdown that the Dreamcast experienced despite having around 5000 moving things on-screen. It also has a level editor (like ''Spirits'') and multiplayer (the latter being the reason why it wasn't released at the previously announced date of November 2010 - After [[Webcomic/PennyArcade PAX 2010]], they took one of the comments of a player wondering about the possibility of multiplayer and added it in.)

* ExcusePlot: ''Bangai-O Spirits'' [[AvertedTrope doesn't even offer a plot to players]], leading them to wonder why they're blowing up random robots and collecting fruit. The UsefulNotes/{{Nintendo 64}} and UsefulNotes/SegaDreamcast releases weren't much better off, playing it straight.

** In the [[UsefulNotes/SegaDreamcast Dreamcast]] and [[UsefulNotes/{{Nintendo 64}} N64]] versions, you can release up to 400 individual missiles. In the Dreamcast version, each missile had its own vapor trail and would occasionally slow down due to lag when tons of crap are blowing up. It's an awesome side effect when it happens.

* NintendoHard:
** The tutorial for ''Spirits'' concludes by telling you how to turn on the invincibility cheat. That should give you an idea of what you're going up against. And the last mission is pretty damn hard.
** ''Missile Fury'' ramps it up: You can die in seconds on the very first stage if you don't know what you're doing.

* AIBreaker: As hard as it gets at times, ''Missile Fury'' actually added a decent combo to safely take down most of the enemies, provided you can use both dash guage abilities. Dash in, freeze-to-cancel, shoot, freeze-to cancel, shoot while retreating, dodge for 3 seconds. Not even Longai-O is safe from this. It does, however, require practice to pull off effectively (particularly against the stage 47 boss, [[spoiler:Crazy King]]).

* LimitBreak: MAX ATTACK in ''Missile Fury'' gives you 4X-sized bullets for all your attacks and ignores the dash guage for the duration of it. The catch? First, you have to have 5 EX attacks saved up to use it. Second, when the EX guage bottoms out (or when you use an EX Counter attack), Both the EX guage and the Dash guage get reset to 0 and you become stunned for a period of time. Lastly, some stages disable it, either explicitly or by capping the EX guage to 4.

* TennisBoss: In most cases, Longai-O. It typically goes like this: Approach Longai-O with full EX guage (3), fire shots, Longai-O counters with EX Missiles, you counter with 2X attack, Longai-O counters with [[{{Cap}} 100 4X EX missiles]], you counter with Reflect, Longai-O dies instantly.

* GlowingEyesOfDoom: Masoto has one underneath his PeekABangs in ''Spirits''. For no apparent reason.

* BrutalBonusLevel: In ''Missile Fury'', bonus stages are unlocked after clearing the Fury Mode. These are [[UpToEleven much harder than the main levels]].

** In ''Spirits'', this was changed to where linkable EX Attacks (Homing, Bounce, Break, etc.) would fire a maximum of 100 projectiles, but you could increase the size and damage up to 4X. The counter for reflect is capped to 999, [[UpToEleven but you can actually reflect MORE than that in very certain conditions.]]

** This is [[UpToEleven increased to 1000 without the hardware lag]] in ''Missile Fury'' for ALL EX attacks. This is more than any EX Attack in any of the other versions - even the game-breaking Reflect Attack in ''Spirits'' only gets up to 999 under very specific conditions.

''Bangai-O Spirits'' features the titular mecha from the first game, but the pilots have changed, to Masato and Ruri, who are visually expies of Riki and Mami. Spirits decides to ignore the concept of a plot at all, and the only dialogue is during the tutorial, after which you'll never see the pilots' faces again...unless you manage to beat a certain set of stages. At which point they come out to announce they only appear because the fanboys would throw a fit. Spirits features local multiplayer and a nice level editor, as well as a rather odd way of sharing custom levels...They're encoded in short [[http://l.j-factor.com/bangai-o/soundload.wav sound files]] which are played into the DS's microphone.

* BatterUp: Spirits introduces a bat, which you can use to knock back missiles and send robots flying.

* BlindIdiotTranslation: The Dreamcast and N64 versions. Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad, though, the broken {{Engrish}} is a major part of its charm, and a FountainOfMemes.
* BossInMookClothing: Longai-O in ''Bangai-O Spirits''. It's effectively impossible to defeat one without the use of EX attacks (It'll [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard endlessly]] counter with EX Missile to avoid damage). It's telling that the only reliable method to beat Longai-O in ''Spirits'' is to sacrifice your EX Weapon linking and slot in Reflect to instant-kill him when he does a 4X counter.

* CatchPhrase: Bangai-O, GO!
* ChargedAttack: EX attacks.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: There are several of these, although Koa-Zo/Core Boy is arguably the most notable one; conversations with him consist entirely of his monologuing, and he once infamously claims that he is a [[AsianFoxSpirit fox]].

* {{Engrish}}: A metric ton of it in the Dreamcast version, at least. [[IntentionalEngrishForFunny May have been intentional]], it greatly enhances the [[WidgetSeries widget]] factor, which is a ''good'' thing here.

* LimitBreak / DesperationAttack: MAX ATTACK in ''Missile Fury'' gives you 4X-sized bullets for all your attacks and ignores the dash guage for the duration of it. The catch? First, you have to have 5 EX attacks saved up to use it. Second, when the EX guage bottoms out (or when you use an EX Counter attack), Both the EX guage and the Dash guage get reset to 0 and you become stunned for a period of time. Lastly, some stages disable it, either explicitly or by capping the EX guage to 4.

** This is [[UpToEleven increased to 1000 without the hardware lag]] in ''Missile Fury'' for ALL EX attacks. This is more than any EX Attack in any of the other versions - even the borderline [[GameBreaker Game-Breaking]] Reflect Attack in ''Spirits'' only gets up to 999 under very specific conditions.

* MoreDakka

* StuffBlowingUp: Yeeeeesssss... So much so that in ''Spirits'', there is an actual "BOMB" counter in the top right corner of the bottom screen which counts the number of explosions that are occurring in the entire stage at any given time. The tutorial even notes that not all of the explosions will be rendered if too many happen at once due to the technical limitations of the DS (to say nothing of the lag), so sometimes you'll have to go by that number if you want the bonuses associated with proximity to bombs.

* TennisBoss: In most cases, Longai-O. It typically goes like this: Approach Longai-O with full EX guage (3), fire shots, Longai-O counters with EX Missiles, you counter with 2X attack, Longai-O counters with [[{{Cap}} 100 4X EX missiles]], you counter with [[GameBreaker Reflect]], Longai-O dies instantly.

* WidgetSeries: Character interactions in the game are completely bonkers. [[ExcusePlot Not that it really matters too much.]]