Play TwinBee Online

Summary

TwinBee landed on the MSX as a faithful slice of Konami’s cute vertical shooter, letting player 1 helm TwinBee and player 2 control the pink WinBee in simultaneous two‑player mode.

The control scheme is simple—a joystick, a fire button and a bomb button—yet the hallmark is the colour‑changing bells hidden in clouds. Shooting a bell repeatedly turns it yellow for points, white to add a twin cannon, blue for speed, green to spawn image ships, or red for a protective barrier; green and red cannot be mixed but each dramatically alters gameplay.

If enemy fire knocks off an arm, bombs still work; a second hit removes the last arm and the player must guide the ship to an on‑screen ambulance for repair, with a second full loss offering no rescue. Partnered ships can line up vertically or horizontally to trigger a stronger combined attack. MSX Magazine awarded the port four out of five stars, calling it a solid though inferior version, and it resurfaced on Windows via Project EGG in 2014. In 2022 Konami’s indie contest revived the series, crowning TwinBee Loop! as the winner.

Storyline

In TwinBee, the bad guys have stolen Paradise Island, plunging the tranquil realm into chaos. Players take control of the iconic bee‑shaped craft, joining forces with their alter‑ego to combat the invaders. The key to victory lies in locating the magic bells concealed behind the cloud layers above the island. By gathering these bells, the hero restores the lost power and frees Paradise Island from the enemy's grasp. The adventure captures Konami's classic shoot‑‘em‑up charm on the MSX platform.