Born in 1994
See more games
Released in 1994 by Core onto the Amiga 1200 and CD32, Banshee claimed to take the classic arcade shooter and bring it up to date.
Sam DyerEverywhere you look on screen something is happening!
So doe's it live up to that promise? The first thing that you encounter is the great title music. I just love the early/mid 90s Amiga music with it's rave influences. This is a great tune that sets the scene for what is to come. That is followed by a pretty rubbish title screen.
They must have run out of time because someone obviously thought it was acceptable to have the word "BANSHEE' with a Microsoft Word effect applied to it and a little lens flare on a plain background. Not very inspiring! The actual game at first glance is a clone of Capcom's 1942, but with with updated graphics. Both are vertical shooters and both feature a similar style plane as your player. But after the first couple of minutes you start to realise that Banshee is much much more than a 1942 clone. Every now and gain something will appear or happen that will surprise you. It may be a graphical treatment or a new type of enemy, just something that changes the pace of the game. Crucially, all the tricks are not thrown at the first level and then the rest follow suit. Things change in each level and throughout the game it actually morphs into an entirely different game. Amazing stuff that I had no idea about when I started playing earlier. Project X for instance is a great game but pretty samey throughout as once you have seen the first level, you have pretty much seen it all. Banshee is such a slick experience, the game really has been thoroughly thought out in its entirety and the way it keeps you on you toes is very good. As the game starts it certainly has a traditional look of 1942 about it. The planes look old and as you fly over the sea you start to blast your way through the enemies. The controls are really simple as holding the fire button to shoot means you don't have to keep pressing it. You movement around the screen is slick and smooth and it certainly makes use of that AGA chip. At one time there are plenty of things happening on screen with no slow down. Its really colourful as well and graphically Banshee has a 'Bitmap Brothers' steam punk metallic look to the visuals. It really suits the game and gives it a unique look. Everywhere you look on screen something is happening, whether its a gun on top of a boat, a torpedo under water, a civilian walking the street or an enemy soldier. The gameplay is frantic but so beautifully detailed. Halfway through the first level it starts raining and the enemies start getting more modern. Gone are the WW2 style enemies, now there are modern gunships and helicopters. The rain effect is simply stunning. It looks beautiful and adds to the frantic gameplay as visibility is restricted. As you progress to the second level it once again gets more modern in setting and when you fly through fog it looks so impressive.
By Sam Dyer
Author of the Amiga Book: Commodore Amiga: a visual Commpendium
Amiga Longplay BansheeCLICK the carousel below to see the gaming pics and videos:
[AMIGA MUSIC] Banshee - Introduction
-
Core
- FormatVideo and Arcade
- TypeShoot em up
- SystemMicrocomputer
-
Previous:
Play for the, play for the, play for the hip-hop.
Xenon 2 is a space shooter where enemies are blasted to bits!
-
Next:
There's the war of attrition to be won to gain dominance over the land.
Defender of the Crown is a strategy game set in England in the middle ages