Psikyo Shooting Stars Bravo

To recap, The strengths of the new City Connection Psikyo ports are the fair price points, amounts of titles on offer, and quality of the games themselves. Psikyo Shooting Stars Bravo mostly retains these same advantages as Psikyo Shooting Stars Alpha, though it is debatable if the game library holds up as well overall.

All in all, I really enjoyed playing through Psikyo Shooting Stars Bravo. For $39.99, you get 6 distinct, entertaining and challenging games. Though I didn’t play it in TATE mode or multiplayer, I had a fun time. Thankfully, you can tweak things to make the experience more palatable to your tastes. While I miss features like galleries and sound tests, I still would highly recommend this collection. I spent probably 5 hours playing through all the games, though there’s plenty of replay value to get all those endings. The name Psikyo is legendary for good reason, and this serves as a wonderful tribute to their legacy.

The games included in this offer are mostly on par with what players can expect from good, classic shoot'em up types, other than one of them which suffers from a poor performance. With its good retail price and an overall quality action gameplay, this is a fun proposal for fans of old school shoot'em up games.

I may be giving this game an overall good review, but I want you to understand that while as a standalone this collection is well put together I can’t help but find the mechanics of its games inferior to those in the Alpha collection. If you can get both, get them, they’re well executed ports of the main series in the Psikyo catalog. But if you can only get one, I will without hesitation recommend the Alpha collection over the Bravo.

Psikyo Shooting Stars Bravo certainly gave me more time spent with the arcade shooter genre. I can say with absolute certainty that I have a greater appreciation for the genre than when I went into this review. I recommend it to those who have a great appreciation for arcade shooters. I also recommend it for those who are curious or would like to have a solid collection to round out their Switch library.

Overall I have to say that while I preferred Psikyo Shooting Stars - Bravo over Alpha, they are both amazing packages especially for fans of the style. Coming with different experiences in Bravo, there’s plenty to enjoy right here with some titles that both stick to the norm and others that add in just that little bit more. That is until you get to the last title that just breaks the mold all together and I couldn’t have been happier to have it in the package.

GOOD - Psikyo Shooting Stars Bravo includes six classic games of varying quality. My personal favorite was the side-scrolling shmup Samurai Aces II: Tengai, with Gunbird 1 & 2 also high up on my list. I was surprised and delighted to spend time with Gunbarich, a brick breaking Arkanoid clone. With limited lasting value this collection is still a fun time…while it lasts.

It’s not as good as Psikyo Shooting Stars Alpha, but Psikyo Shooting Stars Bravo is still an interesting proposition for shoot ’em up fans.

Pretty hot on the heels of Shooting Stars Alpha, Psikyo has another release full of classic shmup goodness for you… plus one notable (and IMHO pretty awesome exception)...

Little that you like the genre, you will enjoy this collection enormously, so if, like the menda, you enjoy good shooting sessions and small boats, do not let this collection pass under your radar.