Bio-Hazard Battle Longplay (Mega Drive/Genesis) [60 FPS]

Developed and published by Sega in 1992. Follow me on Twitter: Add me on Google : Foreword: A re-upload to take advantage of YouTube 60 FPS Support! Also known as Crying: Aseimei Sensou in Japan, Bio-Hazard Battle is a horizontal scrolling shoot ’em up released for the Sega Mega Drive console. During a global bio-war, a new and deadly retrovirus is unleased by enemy forces, introducing powerful new lifeforms on to the planet, Avalon. Orbiting the planet is the space station O.P. Odysseus, carrying with it some of the last surviving humans. The purpose of the station is to preserve human life until Avalon becomes inhabitable again. Pilots on-board the station have been awoken from their cryogenic sleep in order to reclaim the planet and establish a new colony on the surface. The player must choose from four different bio-ships, each possessing a range of different armaments, in a bid to cleanse the various hostile lifeforms from the planet. Thematically, the game bears resemblance to Irem’s R-Type series where enemies usually take the form of hellish fusions of biological organisms with machines. It is also similar to Apidya, another shooter released on the Amiga computer, which also involves fighting giant insectoid enemies. Each ship is equipped with a super-beam weapon that can be charged and fired by holding down the B-button. This shot covers a wide area of the play field and is very useful for bringing down some of the more power enemies in the game. As with similar games in the genre, BHB makes numerous power-ups available to the player, which appear as multi-coloured, floating globes on the play-field. Each weapon grants your ship a different ability and each ship gets it’s own, unique weapon based on the colour of the power-up; this is a really neat feature and gives the game plenty of variety, as well as a degree of replayability. The main player ship is orbited by a small satellite that fires your collected weapon. Moving the main ship causes the satellite to rotate around your craft and this forms a big part of strategy during play as it enables the player to shoot enemies appearing from behind, as well as using the satellite to block enemy projectiles. Probably the most useful weapon is the homing laser (which I use predominantly throughout this video) due to the fact that it is quick, powerful and homes in on enemies as soon as they appear on the play-field. Other weapons are useful, but I found the homing laser meant that I could destroy enemies effectively and spend more time avoiding enemy bullets. I remember owning this game back near the time of release having been heavily discounted. While the style of the game was impressive, I remember finding the game very difficult and I could never make it beyond the third stage. While the game scrolls very smoothly, it demands quick reactions from the player in order to dodge the tiny projectiles that the enemy ships shoot. I usually get killed by bullets that I failed to spot, rather than flying into oncoming enemies. Having had chance to replay the game, it’s tough without being unfair. Although the scenery does cause clipping with your ship, it doesn’t cause your ship to explode simply by coming into contact with it; many shooters make it difficult enough in simply dealing with enemies, let alone having to master pixel-perfect flying through tight tunnels or flight corridors. The art direction and sprite design in this game is of a particularly high standard. Many of the enemies are drawn with specular highlights that make them look three-dimensional and the enemy designs themselves look great. Music and sound is also very decent, with most of the background music having a distinctly organic vibe to it; the perfect accompaniment when shooting things with lots of tentacles. Rounding off the package is co-operative multiplayer, allowing you to face off against the enemy with a friend. If you’re looking for a shmup with replayability, plenty of variety with plenty of challenge, Bio-Hazard Battle is definitely worth a look. #retrogaming