TwinBee (1986). Play 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.