Calling all Shutterbugs........

I've been trying to do a writeup on Zun's latest game, Shoot the Bullet, for about two weeks now, and one of the main problems with that is I can't stop playing the game for enough time to review it! Team Shanghai Alice has dropped another definate winner on us, introducing an innovative new game mechanic while keeping the bullet curtain gameplay style that shmup fans keep coming back for.




The first thing you'll notice about STB is what you are NOT doing, and that is shooting! Rather the premise is to take the best photograph (screenshot) of the boss that you can while dodging the bullet storm headed your way. The game helps you to do this by using one button to hold down to slow your character, making it easier to dodge, while the other one openes up the camera viewer, slowing bullet-time down even more. You can move the viewer while active, however it shrinks the longer it is out, eventually disappearing.

Sounds easy? Well the camera also acts as a defensive weapon, since any bullets in your frame disappear, which comes in handy. Only problem is the camera needs time to recharge, which forces you to pull off some crazy dodging skills. You do have one other trick up your journalistic sleeve, and that would be holding both buttons down at the same time, charging the camera at a very high speed, but almost crippling your character movement-wise. Only do this if you are far away from bullets!




Each level requires a different number to shots to clear it. In this level, you can see there are five slots for pictures to be taken, the fifth one killing the boss. The bullet patterns intensify with each shot, and each level must be cleared with one life, making the game quite hard.
Points are awarded for certain conditions of the picture you take, such as including yourself in the shot (close to the boss....), risky shots (close to bullets), or shots filled with one particular color.

To me, STB is set up more like a puzzle-shmup then anything else. You can choose what level and chapter to play (once you clear earlier levels, of course), and the trick to beating levels is getting a feel for the patterns, knowing when to slow bullet time, and when to move in to take the shot. Zun gets really tricky with some patterns, as in here when he uses that purple mist to obscure bullets. Or as the above shot shows, he might just throw zillions of light rays out from the bosses center.

Things get hairy pretty quick, and I'm repeating this for emphasis, but this game is hard. Not like an R-Type "that was completely unfair hard", more like a "I need to try a different approach or learn the pattern better" type hard. This approach is what keeps me coming back though - levels are short enough that you want to jump right back in there and give it another go. Zun certainly hasn't run out of ideas for patterns yet, and I'm only on level 5 out of I believe 10 (plus extras).

I can't emphasize how much fun I'm having with this game. It took a short while to adjust to actually not shooting anything.....well, not shooting in the standard sense....but once you get the hang of the camera and know how close you need to be for a good shot, you'll be challenging the higher levels in no time. Knowing when to sacrifice player speed for camera charge is a KEY factor in beating some of the levels, and the player must not only make quick judgements to dodge bullets, but also to know when to use this feature. Zun has also found a way to revive his Tohou series while keeping the same signature components that bring his fans back. Lets face it, Perfect Cherry Blossom, Embodiment of Scarlet Devil and Imperishable Night are all practically the same game.....not that that's a bad thing, but the formula was getting stale. STB is a nice change of pace that I would put in a sub-genre all it's own.