| Banzai Bug | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Gravity |
| Publisher(s) | Grolier Interactive |
| Platform(s) | Windows |
| Release |
|
| Genre(s) | Action |
Banzai Bug is a 1996 video game developed by American studio Gravity and published by Grolier for Microsoft Windows 95. [1] [2] It was marketed as "The Flight-Sim with an Attitude". The player controls Banzai Bug, to escape the house of an exterminator while avoiding deadly obstacles and collecting items for his eventual escape.
Banzai Bug is a game in which the player controls Banzai Bug, to escape a house that an exterminator has trapped him in. [3] The story, narrated by an older Banzai "as a grandfather's war story", involves Banzai, while vacationing from the countryside, surfing the wind in front of a moving car until he hits the car's grille, which eventually stops in the exterminator's garage. [4] [5] Banzai needs to fly underneath furniture and travel through air ducts while avoiding people, shooting robot bugs, and looking for food. [2] Other threats are guns named Static Spitters, flying robots named Attack Spitters, machines named Zappers that shoot lightning bolts, and Biggies who are humans that can only be driven away. [6] The house is reminiscent of a mixture between The Jetsons and Pablo Picasso paintings. The game includes the sound of "metallic dings and dizzying twitters" whenever Banzai crashes. [2]
Characters that Banzai meets during his quest to escape include a small insect named Poolio who has a Cheech Marin accent and uses one-liners. The video game has 360-degree 3-D views and movement that was made using DirectX. [2] The game has seven levels with the first one taking place in the garage and allowing the player to learn how to properly fly. [7] [8] A joystick with three buttons is an option to control Banzai. [8] There are three flying modes which are the look-around, helicopter for collecting items, and plane as a normal flight system. [9] The player can choose between a plain appearance and one that is more complex. The size of the screen can be changed along with the colors, music, and other details. [8] Banzai has to search for items which will allow him to build an anti-human weapon named a Stinkulator so that he can escape. [10] [7] Each mission includes animated scenes. [10]
Banzai Bug was created as "The Flight-Sim with an Attitude". [2] It was published by Grolier for Microsoft Windows 95. The game requires a microprocessor of Pentium 90 or newer on Windows 95 with 8 megabytes of RAM. [2] The music was recorded by New Dog Music. Paul Goodwin of New Dog Music said that they "recorded a full 11-piece big band doing eight original songs." [1]
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Computer Gaming World |    [7] |
| Génération 4 | [11] |
| Joystick | 80/100 [4] |
| Next Generation | [3] |
| PC Games (DE) | 29% [12] |
| PC Zone | 63/100 [13] |
| PCMag |  [14] |
| The Cincinnati Enquirer | [8] |
| PC Player | [15] |
| PC Review | 5/10 [16] |
| Power Play | 64% [17] |
Next Generation reviewed the game, rating it three stars out of five, and stated that "Banzai Bug is a cute game that is deceptively deep. While it has clearly been aimed and marketed toward a younger audience, many missions are very reminiscent of X-Wing." [3] PCMag wrote that the game has "very cool 3-D graphics" that "adds a solid visual punch to a very enjoyable game." [14] Billboard stated that the game is "an innovative and fun title." [10] Scott A. May of Computer Gaming World said, "Despite the funky controls and slightly repetitive gameplay, Banzai Bug has enough originality and offbeat style to be declared a winner." [7]
Andy Grieser of Fort Worth Star-Telegram said, "This ultra-cartoon setting is fine for younger players, but older pilots will long for the smooth polygon textures of other games." [9] Brian Pipa, writing for The Adrenaline Vault, concluded his review with "All things considered, the game falls short. The whole wise-cracking bug theme, harassing the Biggies, and making a Stinkulator is just too "cutesy" for the average gamer and seems to be geared more toward the younger gamer, but the difficulty of the missions is too much for a younger player." [6] Craig Majaski of World Village said, "Banzai Bug proves that just because a game is semi-original (basically this game is your basic shooter disguised as a kids title) doesn't mean it's any fun." [18] Charlie Brooker said in a PC Zone review that the game "can't fool the kids, who'll merely raise an eyebrow and then return to the gib-heavy action of Quake and company." [13]
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