Released in Japan (Cartridge) as MOERO TWINBEE : CINNAMON HAKASEI WO SUKUE
( RC813 )
Released in America (Cartridge) as STINGER
( NES-SR-USA )
Moero! Twinbee: Cinnamon Hakasei wo Sukue is a cute
shooter and is the second episode of the Twinbee series
released by Konami for the Famicom System.
The scientist Dr. Cinnamon has been kidnapped and it is the player's duty
to bring him back home safe. No less than three pilots are up to the challenge :
The now familiar blue Twinbee, the pink Winbee girl and the green Gwinbee.
Interestingly, a three simultaneous player mode is available and
all three pilots can be played at the same time !
This option was sadly taken out of the American cartridge version...
All the traditional twinbee elements are reunited here. Our
bees can shoot enemies up in the air or drop bombs on the ground.
Floating bells (they look more like jingle bells here) can
also be cracked open and release all sort of power-ups. Interestingly,
this episode also features horizontal scrolling stages which is
really unusual (and unique) for the series.
It is interesting to notice that Moero! Twinbee: Cinnamon Hakasei wo Sukue
was also released in cartridge format in Japan and this version is indeed quite rare.
The American version, however, was renamed Stinger and was probably one
of the early, if not the only, Twin Bee game to be ever released in the US.
This second Twin Bee game is a nice surprise. I personally
love this series from Konami and it is interesting to see how the
game evolved from the original arcade game released back in 1986.
This title is the only Twin Bee game to feature horizontal
stages as far as I know. However, because the designers kept
the same gameplay and control mechanics, I find the bells
to be really tricky to collect in those levels.
This game stays true to the series despite moving into
genuinely new territory in places. An unusual
and fun title that any fan of Konami's cute'm up
series shouldn't miss.
