The series also inspired a radio drama adaptation that lasted three seasons in Japan, as well as an anime adaptation. The character designs of almost every game in the series since Detana!! TwinBee in 1991 were provided by Japanese animator Shuzilow HA (Jujiro Hamakawa), who also planned and supervised most of the subsequent installments in the TwinBee series.
The series originated as a coin-operated video game simply titled TwinBee in 1985, which was followed by several home versions and sequels. In Japan, Game Machine listed TwinBee Yahho! on their Jissue as being the sixth most-successful arcade game of the month.TwinBee ( ツインビー) is a video game series composed primarily of cartoon-themed vertical-scrolling shoot-'em-up games produced by Konami that were released primarily in Japan. Story elements from TwinBee Paradise, including names of TwinBee's and WinBee's respective pilots (Light and Pastel), were used for the first time in the games in this installment.
TwinBee Yahho! features fully voiced cut-scenes during the game performed by the cast of the TwinBee Paradise radio drama. Flute, a fairy who serves Queen Melody, escapes during the coup d'etat and goes to Donburi island requesting the help of TwinBee and WinBee. Its ruler, Queen Melody, has been imprisoned by Archduke Nonsense, who seeks to use the Queen's Harp of Happiness to conquer the world. Plot įaraway from Donburi Island (where TwinBee and his friends live) lies a fantastic island known as the Land of Wonders. GwinBee returns as well as a power-up item, along with the "twin attacks" that can be performed with GwinBee or another player. The bells can be changed to up to six colors this time (yellow, blue, white, green, red, and pink), each with a unique attribute. Like in previous TwinBee games, there are two kinds of power-ups: bell power-ups obtained from the sky and land power-ups that can be retrieved from destroy ground enemies. The player will then choose between two control styles: one which fires the gun with one button and drops bombs with the second, while the other style shoots and drops bomb at the same time with a single button (either button can be used). The regular Charge Shot from Detana! TwinBee is selectable, along with a Charge Punch, a Charge Split (which will cause the player's ship to shoot duplicates of itself), and a Charge Explosion that fires at eight directions at the same time. The player will then select between four different "charged shots" ( ため撃ち, tame uchi). Practice course is the game's easiest setting and lasts only three stages, whereas the Special course is the hardest setting and is recommended to expert players. The player begins by choosing between three difficulty settings: Practice, Normal, and Special. TwinBee Yahho! differs from Detana!! TwinBee in that the player can adjust their playing style before starting the game to suit their preference.
There would not be another shoot'em up game until the release of Line GoGo! TwinBee for iPhone OS and Android on 2013 in Japan. Although the voices were still in Japanese with no English subtitles, the other text in the game was translated into English. An international version was produced with the title Magical TwinBee, but it was never released. Like most games in the TwinBee series, it was released exclusively in Japan.
It was later included in the PlayStation Portable compilation TwinBee Portable, released in 2007. During the same year as its arcade release, the game was released for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn in a two-in-one compilation with its predecessor, Detana!! TwinBee, titled Detana TwinBee Yahho! Deluxe Pack. It is the third and final game in the TwinBee series released for the arcades. TwinBee Yahho!: Fushigi no Kuni de Ōabare!! is a vertical-scrolling shoot-'em-up released by Konami as a coin-operated video game in 1995.