B.A.D Developer: Pseudos Software Released: 1997 Genre: Shoot ’em Up Rating: 4/10 Overview Released in 1997 by Pseudos Software, B.A.D is a fixed-screen shoot ’em up that mixes traditional insect and spaceship enemies with a surreal sense of humor. It borrows heavily from classic arcade shooters like Space Invaders and Galaga, but arrives late in the genre’s lifespan, when many shoot ’em ups had already evolved into more dynamic and visually impressive experiences. While B.A.D has a few enjoyable touches—particularly its soundtrack, quirky enemy designs, and power-up system—it suffers from repetitiveness, limited movement, and a lack of meaningful progression, leaving it far behind its contemporaries. Story and Structure The narrative is minimal: life exists on Mars, led by the tyrannical Rupert, who plans to invade Earth. Players take control of a single ship tasked with defeating him across eight levels. The story is presented briefly in an opening info screen and revisited only at the conclusion, serving little purpose beyond setting up the final boss fight.
Each of the game’s eight levels follows the same three-part structure: 1. Enemy Waves – Player faces four types of shooting enemies, ranging from flies and beetles to stranger creations like bone fish, pigs, or even elephants used as hair bows. 2. Falling Objects – Instead of enemies, various objects rain down—meteors, wrecks, forks, fridges, or even smiley faces. These must be dodged or destroyed. 3. Boss Battle – Levels culminate in one or two large bosses, often with multiple destructible parts. Giant insects and powerful spaceships dominate these encounters, though they are easier than expected. The structure provides variety on paper, but in practice the formula never changes, making the game feel repetitive after only a few stages. Gameplay and Mechanics B.A.D is designed for two players, and the UI is permanently split to accommodate this, which can be distracting for solo play. Controls are limited to horizontal movement, preventing the vertical dodging and weaving found in many other shooters of the era. This restriction reduces skill expression and makes encounters feel more static.
The game’s highlight is its power-up system. Destroying enemies or objects can yield drops, which fall into positive and negative categories: • Positive Bonuses: weapon upgrades, speed boosts, bombs, extra lives, repairs, and credits. • Negative Bonuses: speed reductions, weapon downgrades, randomizers, or confiscators that strip all progress. Credits can be spent at an always-available shop to buy positive bonuses directly, giving players some control over progression. Another unique mechanic is the dignity marker system—collecting six differently colored markers promotes the ship, strengthening its hull and awarding points.
Despite these systems, the game struggles with balance. Lives are limited, and dying sends players back to level one, with no ability to save progress. Bosses, while visually interesting, lack difficulty, making them underwhelming compared to the endurance required in the earlier waves.
Atmosphere and Presentation The game’s aesthetic mixes standard shoot ’em up enemies with bizarre, comedic designs, supported by humorous text messages between stages. These brief intermissions give players a short break and inject personality into the otherwise repetitive flow.
The graphics are serviceable but dated for 1997, especially compared to the richer visuals of other shoot ’em ups of the era. The soundtrack, however, stands out as the game’s strongest feature: varied, energetic, and consistently enjoyable, it adds a sense of momentum to the otherwise repetitive stages. Strengths • Fun and quirky enemy and object designs. • Positive/negative power-up system with risk and reward. • Dignity promotions add a small sense of progression. • Entertaining stage intermission messages. • Excellent soundtrack. Weaknesses • Repetitive level structure across all eight stages. • Limited horizontal movement restricts gameplay depth. • Bosses lack challenge despite strong visual design. • Long, monotonous object-dodging sequences. • Outdated presentation compared to contemporaries. • No save system, forcing full restarts on game over. Verdict B.A.D is a curious late entry into the shoot ’em up genre. While its humor, enemy variety, and power-up mechanics show flashes of creativity, they are buried beneath a repetitive structure, shallow movement system, and lack of escalation. The soundtrack keeps it enjoyable for a while, but before long, the monotony overshadows the fun. By 1997, the genre had already moved forward, leaving B.A.D feeling like a relic even upon release. Score: 4/10
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