TwinBee (3D Classics)

Following the release of retro shmup Xevious as a 3D Classic via the eShop, the Classics range has sprouted yet another top-down shooter from the '80s.

You'd be forgiven for thinking that TwinBee was from the same team that created Xevious, as the two games are incredibly similar, both visually and in how they play.

However, TwinBee aims to be a lot more accessible than Xevious, with easier gameplay and brighter backdrops to dart along.

While TwinBee is no doubt a lot easier, it also misees that special depth that Xevious was hiding away. It's a pretty average shooter.

Let's get busy

TwinBee sees you blasting through the sky, shooting down enemy craft and collecting power-ups to keep yourself alive.

As you shoot clouds that are floating in the air, bells will pop out and fall towards you. Grabbing them when they're gold will bag you points that go towards your final score.

Shoot them a few times, however, and they'll change colour, giving your special abilities and powers when you collect them.

In this way, you can eventually build your ship up to an unstoppable machine that can clear entire screens full of enemies in seconds.

TwinBee looks great - especially with the depth of the new 3D visuals, and it plays like a dream. It has a quirky underlying feel to it, and we really enjoyed our first playthrough.

Been there, done that

Subsequent playthroughs weren't so exciting.

The problem is that TwinBee is an incredibly easy game, and there really isn't much to it. Once you've grabbed some power-ups, you can simply sit at the bottom of the screen and kill everything by holding the 'shoot' button down.

It's an all-out blaster and nothing more beyond that. That's not to say it isn't fun, but it doesn't do much else.

Even the boss battles are easy as pie - in fact, we were able to send some bosses packing within seconds. Boss battles in these kinds of games are usually the saving grace, but here they're a bit pointless.

Later into the game, it's all rather unbalanced. If you get killed, all your abilities are removed, and suddenly you find yourself overwhelmed. It's possible to lose all your lives in a matter of seconds.

TwinBee is entertaining for a short while, but it just isn't as good as Xevious. If you're looking for a 3D Classic to purchase, you might as well grab that instead.