Battlemania: Daiginjou

Overview

Battlemania: Daiginjou is the second in the Battlemania series (the first of which was released in the U.S. with the title "Trouble Shooters".) It features a pair of rather silly female protagonists who are operating a "Trouble Shooter" agency and will deal with various issues (I.E., super villains) on call (and they're open 24 hours!) Daiginjou features three methods of aiming: One way, where Mania always aims to the right, two-way, where she can aim right or left, or 8-way, where she can aim in 8 directions; holding down the shooting button will lock her firing direction in place. Letting go, of course, removes the lock so it can be adjusted as needed! Mania's partner Maria also tags along to provide heavy support; her direction of fire can be adjusted with a button to either left or right as needed. Lastly, a small probe follows Mania; different probes can be selected at the beginning of each stage. There are also multiple settings for how the probe moves in relation to Mania! At the end of every stage the player is rated through several criteria by the ITSA (International Trouble Shooter Association) Marking Committee. The best rank is Ultimate A! 

Story

With Mania and Maria emerging victorious against the vile Don Morgstein in the duchy of Asenbli, Maria forces the newly rescued Prince Eldon to put on a parade in her honor. Maria and Mania continue to celebrate back at home, but three days later... Don Morgstein returns to life! He comes to Mania's house to issue a challenge. Unfortunately Maria is still drunk from their partying, so it's up to Mania to take out Morgstein as he heads for "Heisei Babylon's" City Office! 
 

Characters

 
 
Ootori Mania: The main protagonist, she is violent, short-tempered, and a bit simple-minded for comedic purposes. She's also very literal. Maria is her best friend. Sometimes the stuff she does to get the job done is of dubious legality.
 
 
 
 

 
 
Haneda Maria: Mania's partner, she apparently doesn't get paid much but sticks with Mania anyway out of loyalty. She's much smarter and more level-headed than Mania.  She acts as a sort of "option" in the game. 
 
 
 
 

 
 
Colonel Patch: The most frequent employer of the Trouble Shooters Mania and Maria. 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
Don Morgstein: The former head of the evil organization "Anagran", he has suddenly revived from the dead! How did this happen? He's somewhat embarrassed that his self-proclaimed arch-enemies are drunken louts.
 
 
 
 

 
 
Kikoku Kikokusai: The mysterious leader of Anagran's devil education division and the kikokukyou cult. There are rumours that he's an alien. From his dialogue, he's obviously a homosexual. He is the new primary antagonist, and has strong psycho power!
 
 

Items

Several item types can be found in the game, often dropped by small transport ships.
 

• Power Up: Increases Mania's shot power by one level. 
• Speed Up: Increases Mania's movement speed by one level. 
• Speed Down: Decreases Mania's speed by one level. 
• Life Up: Gives Mania an extra life.  
• Credit: Awards one credit for continuing!    

 

  
 
 

PROBEs

"PROBE" stands for Programmable Variable Enforcer. There are several types with different offensive capabilities. They also control what kind of a "bomb" Mania uses.
  

 
Neo Thunder: The basic probe, its super weapon attack hits all enemies on the screen. It's "all mighty!", according to Mania. 
 
 
 

 
 
Eraser: A fancy imported probe from France. It fires an extremely powerful beam straight forward. 
 
 
 

 
 
Benten Bomb: An unusual probe from India. It causes an explosion filled with images of the goddess Benten. 
 
 
  

Chainsaw: A huge chainsaw which extends above and below Mania. 

 
 
 

Stages

Stage 1: Heisei Babylon, 1995! Alone, Mania must scale the city government's tower in persuit of Morgstein, fighting off flying fish, meteors, and other obstacles on her way to the top. She also encounters a mirror version of herself. Morgstein waits near the 60th floor, but don't worry, Maria isn't going to be left out of this one! 
 
 
 
 

Stage 2: Enoshima: Maria tracks Morgstein to this location. She wants to have some fun in the sun, but unfortunately a large number of dangerous enemies are waiting. A parodic version of a character from  Uchuu Tetsujin Kyoudain ( 宇宙鉄人キョーダイン) minus his head pops up in this stage; obviously the developers were fans, considering their team is even called "Studio Uchuu Tetsujin!". Look out for the boss too, he's a parody of Shoutarou Kaneda from Tetsujin 28/"Gigantor". 
  
 

Stage 3: The Kikokukyou Temple erupts from the ground! Mania and Maria have only one choice: Extreme Electric Violence! Battle through the traditionalist environment while being attacked by demons riding rockets, demons that hurl sake barrels, and avoiding huge stomping feet amongst other things! Be sure not to get crushed by the various barriers! Mania and Maria fight a team of monsters at the end who eventually combine in to a silly final form. 
 
 
 
    

Stage 4: Descend in to the secret kikokukyou base! Giger-esque alien heads try to throw up on the player and rotating saws impede movement, while the walls maneuver to try and crush the player! Near the end, a mysterious hand appears to open some prize boxes... but the only prize found is a torrent of explosives! The boss of these parts is a robot who  just loves to play basketball. Kikokusai is encountered for the first time at the end of this stage; she wants to use Mania's brain to power a demon engine! Through a series of back-handed comments and insults alike, Kikokusai gets Mania angry enough to start the demon train! 
 
 

Stage 5: Unfortunately the demon train is barreling through town. Mania and Maria have to destroy it! Of course the police try their best, but as is typical they only succeed in getting themselves blown up. Battle past the train, taking out its various defenses and a very "fishy" band. This stage features yet another cameo, in this case the little-known Vic Tokai character from "Time Dominator", known in the U.S. as "Socket". Obviously they aren't fond of him, as he has a big "no" sign through his face. There are also enemies in this stage who suspiciously resemble a certain plumber... Destroy the Demon Train's nose to gain entry at the end! 
 
 
 

Stage 6: Inside of the demon train. Despite its exterior appearance, the inner workings of the train seem quite technologically advanced. Mania and Maria fight their way through more conventional shooting game enemies, with the exceptions of a mechanical monkey and the boss, a UFO catcher with diabolical prizes! 
  
 
 
 
 

 
Stage 7: After getting a call from Colonel Patch, Mania and Maria must scale the Kikokukyou Temple, which is apparently being transported on the back of the train. Demonic enemies assault our heroines all the way to the top. Kikokusai himself is the boss; he disables Maria via crucifixion temporarily (at least until his arms are blown off!) Eventually he is reduced to a helmet, which Maria just can't resist poking...

 
 
 

Stage 8: Kikokusai has activated a self-destruct mechanism in an effort to take Mania and Maria down with him. They have to escape the temple before time runs out, but Don Morgstein stands in the way amongst other obstacles.... from this point on the player is forced to use whatever probe they selected in the last stage, as the Kikokukyou have burned down Mania's house. Colonel Patch comes to the rescue at the end!
 
 
 

Stage 9: Essentially a final boss fight, Kikokusai makes one final effort to kill Mania and Maria by revealing his face and turning in to a huge spider/crab demon. Enjoy the ending!