TwinBee-RPG

Considering that Twinbee has a colorful variety of characters who really couldn’t shine in the midst of a shooter, it almost makes sense to move everything into the world of a role-playing game. Twinbee’s final game, Twinbee RPG. A fully 3D game for the PSOne, it’s obviously not the best looking of titles – the character models are all super deformed and look acceptable, although the terrain textures are very low res – it still maintains the bright and cheery feel of the rest of the series.

The game begins as you (the main character) are watching the latest episode of Twinbee on TV – until something goes horribly wrong and you’re zapped inside of the show by Princess Melora. Finding a baffled Twinbee (sans his pilot, Light) on the side of the road, it’s up to you to gather together the rest of the Twinbee crew, find out just what happened to Light, and defeat Warumon once again. Other than the primary characters like Winbee, Gwinbee and Madoka, you’ll also meet Molte and Firen, two sisters who can mysteriously use magic, as well as new villains Jeeze and Saryut, who pilot sinister Black Twinbee mechs.

About the gameplay, Twinbee is almost exactly like the SNES RPG classic Chrono Trigger. You can see enemies on the field before you fight them (though they often jump out to surprise you, and can be hard to dodge), has the same active-time battle system, and even includes combination attacks. Everything’s pretty simplistic too, as there’s not much in the way of equipment outside of gathering accessories.

It’s pretty clear that Twinbee RPG is aimed at a younger audience, but this simplicity makes it easier for us non-Japanese speakers to play through and enjoy the game (although since you are what seems to be a twelve year old guy, it’s a little bit weird that the game gives you the opportunity to blantantly flirt with the female cast, all of whom are barely out of middle school age.)