Stinger/Gameplay

Stinger | Table of Contents | Gameplay | Walkthrough

Table of Contents

Controls[edit]

: Use the direction pad to guide your ship in any one of eight different directions. You can fly around the majority of the visible screen. The screen will advance horizontally to the right or vertically upward on its own.
: In horizontally scrolling stages, the A button fires a heart shaped object above each ship. This object can only be used to bounce bells and keep them aloft. In vertically scrolling stages, the A button is used to lob bombs down at the ground, as long as your ship still has arms. The crosshair will remain on the ground to indicate where the bomb is going to land. This crosshair has a tendency to lock onto a nearby target if your ship is just within range of it.
: In horizontally scrolling stages, the B button fires each ship's primary weapons and lobs bombs down at the ground. In vertically scrolling stages, the B button merely fires the ship's primary weapons, and the function of firing the bombs transfers to the A button.
: Press start to begin a new game, or to pause and unpause the action mid-game.
: Only used on the title screen to select a one or two (or three in the Japanese version) player game.

Characters[edit]

Players[edit]

Each player will control a different Twinbee ship. Player one controls the original blue Twinbee. In the Japanese version of the game, player two controls the pink Winbee, and a third player can join in and control the green Gwinbee. In the American version, the second player controls green Gwinbee. Other than its color, every ship is identical and has the same abilities. Power-ups are obtained primarily by shooting bells and collecting items by bombing targets. Every ship can fly throughout the visible portion of the screen, and does not have to fear collision with any background object.

If more than one player is playing, two ships can create the Whacker Laser by bumping into one another in a horizontal direction on horizontally scrolling stages and in a vertical direction on vertically scrolling stages. The Whacker Laser has short range, but it crashes through enemies like lasers, and increases in size the further it goes.

When one of the ships dies, a "soul" of the ship will appear and float the top of the screen. Ordinarily, when a ship dies, the player loses all of the upgrades that he or she collected. However, if you collect the "soul" of your ship before it disappears, you will regain some, but not all, of your upgrades. Consequently, if you collect your soul, you will not release another one when you die next.

Dr. Cinnamon[edit]

Dr. Cinnamon is the inventor of the Twinbee ship design. He has been kidnapped by an invading alien force who wishes to force him into developing similar technology for them. While it was Dr. Cinnamon's grandson who defeated the Spice aliens in the original Twinbee, it is Dr. Cinnamon's great grandchildren, Squash, Whip, and Mellow, who must come to his rescue this time. You will see him being abducted in the beginning of the game, and you will later see him flash by crying for help just before the final stage.

Bells[edit]

Bells are ordinarily obtained by shooting clouds and knocking them loose. They will rise in the air slightly before falling back down to the ground, or bottom of the screen. You can hit the bells with your weapons, or hearts. Doing so will continue to bounce them and keep them aloft. After shooting bells a number of times, they may deviate from the usual yellow color and become a different color which will bestow a new power-up to your ship.

	The first yellow bell you collect is worth 500 points. If you collect another one without allowing a bell to drop, it will be worth 1000, and then 5000, and ultimately 10,000 points until you miss a bell. Then the point value will reset to 500.
	Collecting a blue bell will speed your ship up. You can continue to collect blue bells and get faster and faster without limit. However, you should not allow yourself to become faster than you are comfortable with, or you will experience "over control" or "hyper control".
	Collect a white bell to earn double shots. Instead of firing one bullet from your ship (and any ghost options), you will instead fire two side-by-side bullets. Collecting another white bell does not further enhance this effect.
	The red bell will bestow your ship (and any ghost options) with laser fire. Laser crash through enemies and continue going. Collecting a red bell will replace double shots with lasers, and you cannot replace lasers with double bullets by collecting a white bell afterward.
	The blinking red bell provides your ship with two ghost option ships which follow your ship around with a slight delay. They will shoot your primary weapon whenever you shoot, but they do not shoot bombs or hearts. They can not be killed, but you will lose them if you are destroyed. Collecting the blinking red bell will prevent the 3-Way Moon or the 5-Way Star from appearing when you bomb the ground.
	Grab the blinking blue bell in order to gain a barrier shield. This shield will protect your ship from getting destroyed or losing your arms by getting shot or crashing into an enemy. It can take a good number of hits before it disappears, however you will get no warning when you are down to just one more hit.

Upgrades[edit]

	Collect the bags of money to receive 100 or 500 bonus points.
	Collect the cross to receive one extra life.
	Collect the face of Doctor Cinnamon to access the bonus stage after the boss fight.
	Pick up an L to add an extra bullet to your ship's left in vertical stages, and above your ship in horizontal stages.
	Pick up an R to add an extra bullet to your ship's right in vertical stages, and below your ship in horizontal stages. Collect both the L and R to replace your extra bullet with a rear fire bullet.
	Pick up the Moon to acquire 3-Way shots. This replaces lasers or double shots, and it can replace the 5-Way shots, so be careful. The moon will not appear if you have ghost options ships.
	Pick up the Star to acquire 5-Way shots. This replaces lasers, double shots, or 3-Way shots. The star will not appear if you have ghost options ships.
	When you touch a "?", one of four things will happen: All of the enemies on the screen will be instantly defeated. All of the enemies on the screen will be tranformed into a bell. You ship will gain temporary invulnerability, allowing you to crash into enemies for an increasing number of bonus points. A skull will appear, indicating that nothing has happened.

Bonus Items[edit]

In every stage but the seventh, a bonus item can be revealed by bombing the proper locations. While the appearance of the bonus changes from stage to stage, they are always worth 1000 points.