Bangaioh is a pretty interesting game, but I feel like you have to discuss the state of 2D games and the industry itself in 1999 to appreciate its position within the niche. In the West, when the home console market switched from the dominant Genesis/MegaDrive and Super NES/Famicom to the Saturn and Playstation, the general agreement between consumers, developers, and executives ( some whom famously blocked 2D game publishing in the West ) was that 3D experiences were in demand. By the end of 1995, the Saturn and Playstation had their share of what were at the time impressive 3D experiences. Ridge Racer and Toshinden on the PS1, and Sega Rally and Virtua Fighter 2 on the Saturn were well received and technically astonishing system sellers. All four of these titles could be seen as harbingers of what was to come. Even the Saturn, which was maligned for its hard to develop for silicon, had the best looking home console game with Virtua Fighter 2, which ran at a high resolution (for the time) and 60 fps. While the PS1 would build on the momentum of 1995, the Saturn fell far behind, with developer support far inferior to that of the PS1, less performant hardware, and a system that Sega of Japan simply did not want to sell, as the license fees expected from third party software never materialized in the same way it did for the Genesis/Megadrive. While the Saturn did well in Japan out of the gate, it was soon eclipsed by the PS1 in 1997 as Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest were announced as PS1 exclusives. Besides, Japan didn't matter as much as the Western market, which they totally failed to maintain from their 16-bit glory years. In short, the Sony Playstation was much easier to develop for, and had superior 3D abilities out of the box that were simply not possible for the average developer to achieve on the Saturn. The PS1 would become dominant, and good console 3D experiences like Wipeout, and Resident Evil were became synonymous with the system, even though versions existed on the Saturn (in an inferior state). By 1999, good, new, 2D console games were rather rare and a distant second to the exciting experimentation and refinement happening in the 3D space. A lot of people may have even felt 2D was effectively dead (and they might have been correct). There were still plenty of 2D games on the portable Gameboy (which was in the middle of its 'Color' era), but most of the games were rehashes or directedly squarely at the youth market with licensed shovelware. With that said, Nintendo was still putting out incredible software like Wario Land 2 (R&D1), Mario Golf (Camelot) and, of course, the absolutely massive Pokemon series. In spite of being portable games and 'lesser', they still offered an incredible amount of depth. Two years before the subject of this post, Bangaioh, was released, there was Dracula X: Nocturne in the Moonlight (Castlevania: Symphony of the Night), which was developed as an 'Ultimate' Dracula game. It still holds up remarkably well, and is a pinacle of sprite and background design, and certainly has aged better than its 3D contemporaries - BUT EVEN IN 1997 - it was old hat and likely seen (incorrectly) as something barely above what the MD and SFC were capable of. For a game as good or better than Konami's other big PS1 titles of the era, its sales likely fell far short of games like Metal Gear Solid or Silent Hill. Treasure was known for creating a defining or 'Ultimate' games right of the gate in 1993 with Gunstar Heroes. I've read that the game was like nothing seen before in terms of sprite and background manipulation. Over the next few years, Treasure continued with a small suite of really incredible MD games, finishing with Alien Soldier in 1995, which is likely the most demanding games ever released on the MD. Treasure redefined and refined what the best of the best of the 16-bit era was all about; huge sprites, non stop action, simple yet deep gameplay, and most importantly, creative and surprising new ideas to delight the player. One would have expected Treasure to continue the 2D arms race and while console 2D games had faded in the home console market by 1999, the arcade market was more forgiving with major 2D games like the CPS3 Third Strike, or SNK's beautiful Kof99 and Garou on the Neo Geo. These games did not have a lot of mainstream appeal, but they showed a mastery of the form. If the average gamer looked down at those, I can only imagine what they thought of Bangaioh because I don't think there was anything else like it. I remember seeing the first announcement of Bangaioh on IGN over twenty years ago and being completely mystified. Tiny sprites, simple background graphics, almost indecipherable gameplay. What was I looking at? Why was the most simple 2D game I had seen in years coming from Treasure and why did this need to be on the N64? This was, at the time, a dissapointment. I eventually picked up the Dreacmast release and could barely finish the first few levels out of sheer boredom. It simply did not click. Even as an open minded lover of everything 2D, this game eluded me. Fast forward fifteen years or so and I picked up a used copy of Bangaioh DS from a friend for fantastic price (thanks Umar) and I was absolutely sucked in. Amazing game. That lead me to finally sit down and try the DC version again, which I finally got into and become obsessed with until I finished the over forty levels. That brings us to the present with the original N64 version, which is just different enough from the DC version to make it a worthwhile purchase and a necessary part of my Treasure collection. I've managed to capture some nice snaps of the packaging and the game off a CRT via S-Video. Please enjoy.

Astro Boy on the Gameboy Advance is a really incredible little game. It's hard to describe its deep and satisfying gameplay in any way that would do it justice; it simply has to be played. These pictures are from a complete Japanese version of the game and it really demonstrates how superior the packaging could be as compared to Western versions. Take a look at the full colour instructions, wonderful artwork, and even a little Tezuka authenticity hologram. I've also taken a few pictures of the game running on a modded GBA as well as a stock GBA SP.

Here's a nice shot of Saturn Radiant Silvergun via a PVM - will have to take more shots.