An adventure begins as seven diverse heroes set out on the quest of a lifetime: to acquire the three important ingredients of the Almighty Potion, a mysterious substance that will grant special powers to those who can create it.

To do this, however, they must capture the essence of the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars, and then bring these items to the Potion God who lies in wait in his underground temple. But the path will not be easy. The Queen Pirates also seek these ingredients, and they will throw whatever they can at our heroes in an attempt to stop their quest.

Gunbird 2 is a conventional, overhead shooter with some rather unconventional characters to select from. Winged vampires, witches on broomsticks, magic carpet riders, and other airborne creations take to the skies in Gunbird 2 in search of the mystical ingredients, Moon, Sun, or Stars. Each of these characters has different attacks, although all attacks fall under the same basic premise.

Characters will have a normal shot which can be charged by holding down the A button, and they also have a Vicinity Attack, which will do high damage to any enemies located near to them. There are also bombs, a common feature in such top-down features, that do a large amount of damage to every enemy on the screen.

Gunbird 2 can be played with one player or with two players simultaneously, although both players will then share from the same credit pool. The many levels you will encounter are all of the two-dimensional, hand-drawn variety, and you can choose from a few different ways to play.

One mode is a special Dreamcast-balanced version of the game, while the other is more like the game's arcade counterpart. There is even an option that lets you play like the arcade, by tilting your television on its side for more vertical room (although you should certainly check with your television's owner's manual before trying this, as it could damage some monitors or televisions.)

Gunbird 2 (Sega Dreamcast, 2000)