tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87428136187583334242024-03-16T01:05:13.411-03:001CC Log for ShmupsEdwardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17491361099947592597noreply@blogger.comBlogger613125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8742813618758333424.post-16651179692811982052024-02-27T23:11:00.003-03:002024-02-28T08:31:01.045-03:00Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu Ver 1.5 (Xbox 360)<span style="font-weight: bold;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRzULnIiXiP31AdzICfv2kng3pm3CfdRInZWaU9Gs52ukrhHVzCi2xqyd_MtSUCd9wcuwNXTx71bDR-Nm-AUtryHgQKqDpHAdCDvG6KbGp6QxlP-OTnjbKwxOvfo9xl4ahr6_AcgrjykrPQ9ulfYUSlHb00Rf9-uD1yiqi333zQlsiODfuq1Q9h2379zM/s150/dodonpachiDaifukkatsu_Box.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="150" data-original-width="110" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRzULnIiXiP31AdzICfv2kng3pm3CfdRInZWaU9Gs52ukrhHVzCi2xqyd_MtSUCd9wcuwNXTx71bDR-Nm-AUtryHgQKqDpHAdCDvG6KbGp6QxlP-OTnjbKwxOvfo9xl4ahr6_AcgrjykrPQ9ulfYUSlHb00Rf9-uD1yiqi333zQlsiODfuq1Q9h2379zM/s1600/dodonpachiDaifukkatsu_Box.jpg" width="110" /></a></div>Vertical<br />Checkpoints OFF<br />4 Difficulty levels<br />5 Stages (loopabe)<br />Ship speed fixed, selectable at start<br />- - - - - - -<br />Developed by Cave<br />Published by Cave in 2010</span><br />
<br /><div>Fifth chapter of the series that in time came to be synonym with developer Cave and the term "bullet hell", <b>Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu Ver 1.5</b> is the direct sequel to <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2022/03/dodonpachi-daioujou-playstation-2.html">Dodonpachi Daioujou</a></b>. The <b>Ver 1.5</b> exists because the initial 1.0 release of the game contained major issues and was soon revised and replaced everywhere, becoming pretty much abandoned and forgotten afterwards. Released for the Japanese Xbox 360 under its original title, <b>Ver 1.5</b> also came out for the console in Europe and later for the Nintendo Switch and the Steam PC platform under the name <b>Dodonpachi Resurrection</b>. </div><div><br /></div><div>Dearly referred to by shmup fans as <b>DFK</b>, <b>Daifukkatsu</b> is a shmup that successfully adds alements that help alleviate the hardcore aspect that the series had until then, a perception that went through the roof with <b>Dodonpachi Daioujou</b>, also known as <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2022/03/dodonpachi-daioujou-playstation-2.html">DOJ</a></b>. And I'm not talking about the addition of new game modes such as Novice, a special version targeted at beginners. The bottom line is that the arcade version is a lot more friendly to regular players, yet it brings completely new and fresh nuances for hardcore shmuppers who play for the highest scores possible. So it's not just a matter of heightened spectacle, as one can quickly derive from the graphical differences of <b>DFK</b> when compared to <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2022/03/dodonpachi-daioujou-playstation-2.html">DOJ</a></b>.</div><div><br /></div><div>No matter how you see it, playing a game like this to the fullest requires a lot of knowledge simply because there are lots of intricate details beyond the most basic rules of gameplay. The starting point for all game modes are the inputs (fully configurable), which consist of shot (hold for laser), rapid shot, bomb and hyper activation. Yes, now hyper activation isn't accomplished with the bomb button, a detail that was always kinda weird in <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2022/03/dodonpachi-daioujou-playstation-2.html">DOJ</a></b>. Once activated, hyper massively enhances the ship's firepower for a determined amount of time. Different from the hyper trailing accumulation seen in <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2022/03/dodonpachi-daioujou-playstation-2.html">DOJ</a></b>, in <b>DFK</b> there is only one single hyper gauge, which is filled up by killing enemies normally and hitting them with the laser, an effect that happens faster if you do it at the top of the screen or at point blank distance (by adding the laser aura). Another interesting twist of <b>DFK</b> is that all ships start fully powered-up, so the only items relased by carriers are extra bombs.</div><div><br /></div><div>In Xbox 360 mode (arcade) there are two decisions to be made when starting a credit. The first one is the ship, which follows the standard of previous games in the series of type A (red, narrow shot, fastest movement speed), B (green, medium-range bending shot, average speed) and C (blue, wide shot, slowest speed). The second decision is the play style, a choice that affects gameplay in several different ways:</div><div><ul><li>Bomb style: moderate shot and laser power with an initial stock of 3 bombs (always increased by 1 on death) with auto-bomb function (bombs are triggered automatically when the ship gets hit).</li><li>Power style: there's no bomb stock, but the bomb button activates two different attack modes, Normal and Boost. Normal (default) has less power and increased movement speed, whereas Boost has double the firepower with a larger laser and lowered movement speed.</li><li>Strong style: combines the most important aspects of Bomb and Power styles, with regular bombs just like in Bomb style and firepower close to that of Boost mode in Power style.</li></ul><div></div></div><div>Strong style is pretty much a beefed up and slightly harder version of Bomb style, and was actually introduced in the arcade revision for <b>Ver 1.5</b>. It had to be unlocked to become playable in the original arcade board, but as far as I know it's available by default in all home ports.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="282" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/j0lfqj8-41o?si=7d85l6Hy3Db1aLFm" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe></div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">A sneak peek of Power and Bomb styles</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">(courtesy of YouTube user <b>njiska</b>)</span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br /><div>As always, using the laser reduces the speed of the ship, but speed perception is a lot more diverse in <b>Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu</b> due to the several combinations of ships and play styles. The addition of auto-bombs is the main reason why <b>DFK </b>is considered the first beginner-friendly chapter of the franchise, simply because it completely eliminates the pressure of losing a precious life while carrying a full bomb stock, allowing players to limp through the first loop (at least) with much less effort. However, the duration of the auto-bomb is much shorter than the regular deployment of a bomb, as is its destructive effect. In addition to that, due to its ability to cancel enemy bullets another good resource for survival is the hyper shot, which can always be saved for the hardest parts of any level. It's also possible to cancel bullets by destroying some of the larger enemies, so take that into consideration when devising a survival strategy.</div><div><br /></div><div>On the other side of the gameplay spectrum, scoring has also been shaken quite a bit from <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2022/03/dodonpachi-daioujou-playstation-2.html">DOJ</a></b>. You still need to kill enemies in succession to sustain a combo that's shown in big bold numbers on the upper half of the screen (the chain is lost if you fail to keep it going, bomb or die). This time around the combo isn't directly multiplied by the enemy's base value though. The basic rule is that the multiplier levels are now applied according to combo intervals. For example, you don't get anything for the first 499 hits, and between 500 and 999 hits the multiplier is ×2. Then for each 2.000 hits more the multiplier increases by 1, between 7.000 and 9.999 it reaches ×6 and beyond 10.000 it maxes out at ×7. However, <i>the multiplier is only in effect as long as you have a full hyper gauge</i>. Whenever you're hypering or if the gauge is not full the multiplier isn't applied at all.</div><div><br /></div><div>As a result, the secret for really high scores in <b>Daifukkatsu</b> is to use hypers to send the hit count through the roof, then refilling the hyper gauge and holding on from hypering while you surf the rest of the level sustaining the chain for big points. There are other intricacies involved in the use of hypers, such as a nice invincibility window upon activation and deactivation (important!), rank increase in five steps with each successive hyper use, the resetting of this rank at every new level, the ability to carry over hyper to bosses and between levels and the generation of random "danger lasers", among other minor details. In my opinion, the whole mechanic built around this new form of hyper was a brilliant move by Cave since it truly keeps the scoring system engaging for the most hardcore players. It's also an extremely valid, if only a bit cruel, compensation for the abundance of survival aids and the tamer challenge curve when compared to direct predecessor <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2022/03/dodonpachi-daioujou-playstation-2.html">Dodonpachi Daioujou</a></b>. Still on the subject of scoring, it should be noted that in <b>DFK </b>the "maximum" score progression for surplus bombs is still present, but the end-of-stage bonuses are negligible.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcCkhmCqVa5-xsv38uRJn0ipm2VVWnqLZLNO2zj3l1lBLROIMvrCTXSjKvh7uvQnz6pWRsIky23M0gUMCK9UqKkED2OTmOZYuiMFPKaNEjP3lYcLQCzRZFynFVB8f4U_zicgqzcdJcAn58EHfCzzBJg9D2ambtfUDYL9x9n2ATu-sAt2BCf3xybEEHQyk/s400/dodonpachiDaifukkatsu_00.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcCkhmCqVa5-xsv38uRJn0ipm2VVWnqLZLNO2zj3l1lBLROIMvrCTXSjKvh7uvQnz6pWRsIky23M0gUMCK9UqKkED2OTmOZYuiMFPKaNEjP3lYcLQCzRZFynFVB8f4U_zicgqzcdJcAn58EHfCzzBJg9D2ambtfUDYL9x9n2ATu-sAt2BCf3xybEEHQyk/s16000/dodonpachiDaifukkatsu_00.png" /></a></div></div><div></div><div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 12.6225px; font-style: italic;">Elemental dolls waiting for some heavy bullet hell action</span></div><div> </div></div><div>Looping <b>Daifukkatsu </b>can be achieved in two separate paths, Omote and Ura. Omote (sometimes referred as Tsuujou, which means "regular") is the most simple and requires players to collect at least 35 bee items <u>or</u> use at most 2 bombs. Bees are uncovered by lasering their locations and appear in two colors that alternate between each other: green (refills approximately 1/3 of the hyper gauge) and yellow (gives you points). There are normally 7 bees in each level, which would then require players to collect all of them during the first loop. However, you can enter the Ura route in the first stage of the first loop, a path that has has 9 bees per level and allows players to get all 35 bees by stage 4. The recipe to get into the Ura route is simple: before you reach the mid-boss, destroy 3 of the big silos yourself (before the big tanks do), but when destroying the 3rd silo <i>you must have a full hyper gauge</i>. If successful, you'll see the warp and the appearance of a new midboss, as well as slightly different stage progressions in each subsequent level. You'll be kicked out of the Ura route if you fail to either collect all bee items in the stage without dying or die/bomb during the fight against the midboss. All midbosses in the Ura route are new takes on the bosses from <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2015/03/dodonpachi-playstation.html">Dodonpachi</a></b>.</div><div><div><br /></div><div>The requirements to enter the Ura second loop are of course much harder than those for the Omote second loop. To activate the Ura loop you need to collect all 45 bee items (which requires playing all stages in the Ura route) <u>and</u> have used at most 2 bombs <u>and</u> died once. Since you don't have bombs in Power style, this is the only style choice for which the death condition is relevant. Only in the Ura loop you'll be able to fight the two extra final bosses.</div><div><br /></div><div>Speaking of Power style, one of the first things I asked myself when I started playing is why anyone would choose to play it over two other alternatives that come with autobombing. The answer came much later, when I had a little more understanding of the game. Up front, this is a style that's more suitable to experienced players. Hyper behaves a little differently here: overall the gauge fills up faster, and the act of erasing bullets with the hyper shot contributes to that (only laser fills up the gauge in Bomb/Strong style). Boost mode has a higher bullet erasing power than other styles, but there's a little catch. For some strange reason, when starting a chain hyper shot in Normal mode gives way more hits than when in Boost mode. Since you can't have bombs, by picking up a bomb item you're then entitled to a single use of an auto-bomb.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Due to the rugged nature of the laser, visually Power Style is reminiscent of the shot type selection seen in previous chapters. By the way, <b>Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu</b> is very pleasing to the eye, with the customary Cave intensity and a plethora of air and ground gold tokens to be absorbed as you wreak havoc amidst bullets and enemies. The reasoning behind bosses morphing back and forth from mechanical beasts to huge robot girls can be traced back to the game's story, which isn't actually fleshed out in any way besides the loop endings. In short, it's more of the same shallow sci-fi mumbo jumbo. As for the music, it's nice but probably too upbeat for the aggression levels you need to endure later on, and definitely falls short when compared with the soundtrack for <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2022/03/dodonpachi-daioujou-playstation-2.html">DOJ</a></b>, for example.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEkbU7Nvh_lKp7xDSsr8K1xZpNo7ooYYP6WWv0c0uafb-yGMIRx6iPBx-VzWjJmO41gJrsWTL5QVTVmyenFiim826L3OSkjOV1vsb7YcAqrmcXh33tqLCnSGmpFnga_zEe2ujqMoSFV_qpVBfqMi-coKigC8qWqQNKf6wz0QhkowUofIGfTI7hyLJ2DB8/s400/dodonpachiDaifukkatsu_01.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEkbU7Nvh_lKp7xDSsr8K1xZpNo7ooYYP6WWv0c0uafb-yGMIRx6iPBx-VzWjJmO41gJrsWTL5QVTVmyenFiim826L3OSkjOV1vsb7YcAqrmcXh33tqLCnSGmpFnga_zEe2ujqMoSFV_qpVBfqMi-coKigC8qWqQNKf6wz0QhkowUofIGfTI7hyLJ2DB8/s16000/dodonpachiDaifukkatsu_01.png" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 12.6225px; font-style: italic;">Arrange mode A (ver L) of <b>Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu Ver. 1.5</b></span></div><div><br /></div><div>My strategy to enter the loop in the arcade game (Xbox 360 mode) was pretty simple: get into the Ura loop in the first level and collect all bees in the first four stages. Memorizing their locations was obviously the primary objetive. Another aim for me was to reach 10 billion points for the second extend, which is obviously easier said than done. The key point for that is stage 2, since you'll certainly reach that goal if you bridge the midboss, exploit his lasers for big hits, refill the hyper gauge and keep the chain going during the second half of the level. Just like all other enemy lasers in the game, repelling the lasers from the midboss is accomplished by lasering. Just tapping the laser usually does the trick when under heavy enemy fire, but it certainly takes some practice to get the rhythm right. The other extra lives are obtained by scoring 1 billion points and by taking the 1UP uncovered when you destroy one of the huge central turrets after the stage 3 midboss without bombing.</div><div><br /></div><div>The interface in the Japanese release of <b>Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu Ver. 1.5</b> for the Xbox 360 is completely in English, so finding your way through resources such as Training, Replay Data and a nice assortment of configurations in the Options is pretty easy. Japanese is only reserved for in-game dialogue and windows. Replays are only saved if you don't restart any level, even the first, but pausing is permitted though. Besides the Xbox 360 (arcade) mode, the port also includes a Novice mode, Arrange A (plays a little like <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2022/03/dodonpachi-daioujou-playstation-2.html">DOJ</a></b> with trailing hyper medals) and Arrange B (stage-based score attacks with weird mechanics and a striking visual makeover). A version 1.51 was available exclusively in the first-press editions via a DLC code (besides a few gameplay tweaks, it has only one loop with both TLBs waiting in the end). The Xbox 360 limited edition also includes the original soundtrack in a separate disc.</div><div><br /></div><div>Venturing into the more intricate details about the gameplay does require a lot more time with it. That's not my case though. I didn't even try to find a reliable route through those dreadful laser wheels of the final stage, always burning up a lot of bombs instead... Nevertheless I was able to consistently loop <b>Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu / Resurrection</b>, which says a lot about how approachable this game actually is for us mere mortals. Doing the same in <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2022/03/dodonpachi-daioujou-playstation-2.html">Daioujou</a></b>, for example, was only possible in an extremely, outrageously good day. B-Strong was my choice for ship/style and as usual I played in full defauls (difficulty 2), reaching stage 2-2 in my best result.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKryTKxpCUKol6v156HAaG6UMFsgBRC64cZvDXMu9vxFkNXXPYefaV3SJjB9CopAdI1N89FkWSOTrDWyQf0C_jj94UpOgRvCdc01LNLHIxID0WIc-1S-gCKquTcxNtz9EoJEsZKg54B40tOzs70yf8rTOCxwymRGh3aQ3NYuwQpH2k91Sh18rLQZ3OJVs/s300/hS_xbx360dodonpachiDaifukkatsu.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="216" data-original-width="300" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKryTKxpCUKol6v156HAaG6UMFsgBRC64cZvDXMu9vxFkNXXPYefaV3SJjB9CopAdI1N89FkWSOTrDWyQf0C_jj94UpOgRvCdc01LNLHIxID0WIc-1S-gCKquTcxNtz9EoJEsZKg54B40tOzs70yf8rTOCxwymRGh3aQ3NYuwQpH2k91Sh18rLQZ3OJVs/s1600/hS_xbx360dodonpachiDaifukkatsu.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Next in line in the series is <b>Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu Black Label</b>, which is the ultimate arrange mode for <b>DFK</b> and received a separate retail release for the Xbox 360.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">1cclog.blogspot.com</div>Edwardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17491361099947592597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8742813618758333424.post-6367077823224166432024-02-18T09:55:00.002-03:002024-02-29T08:47:27.790-03:00600 1CCed shmups!<p>Time to break the blog flow once again to quickly talk about the milestone of 600 shmups beaten in a single credit and, as a bonus, dabble about the state of affairs in my neck of the woods.</p><p>This last hundred took me almost 4 years, which means things have slowed down to an average of two shmups a month, sometimes more and occasionally less. At least I haven't failed a single month and was always able to write about at least one game, which is a good number during those hectic months where work and real life decide to unite and give us a hard time.</p><p></p><p>Speaking of which, real life has brought about a new aspect that's kinda bugging me as of late. I don't know if all readers are aware of this, but I own every single
game I play and write about in physical form (bar the digital-only of course). I have always thought of myself as a player above all and secondly a collector, but unfortunately the collecting part has taken a hit in the latest months thanks to the inexplicable policy adopted by Brazilian customs, which is a complete mess of an organization and has always worked with no standards whatsoever. This lack of standards has worsened as of late, to the point of denying entry to the country of many of my recent purchases and is making importing impossible.<br /></p><p>Before anyone throws out the question, it's important to mention that the blockade to imports is a real lottery. I have friends who are getting their packages normally, the same packages that have bounced back for me. "Bounce back" is a soft way to put it though, since there's no guarantee the packages will go back to their origin or just get lost in thin air, which has also happened in the past but very, very scarcely.<br /></p><p>If this keeps going on I'll seriously contemplate abandoning collecting. I'm pushing 48 this year, perhaps it's the way the universe found to not so politely tell me "<i>hey, bud, how about moving on and focusing on other ventures?</i>".<br /></p><p>In the meantime, shmupping continues. </p><p>Top 5 hardest 1CCs in the last hundred, in no particular order:<br />
</p><ul><li><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2020/05/raiden-fighters-xbox-360.html"><b>Raiden Fighters</b></a> (Xbox 360)</li><li><b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2021/06/raiden-dx-playstation.html">Raiden DX</a></b> (Playstation)</li><li><b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2021/10/aero-blasters-pc-engine.html">Aero Blasters</a></b> (PC Engine) <br /></li><li><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2022/03/dodonpachi-daioujou-playstation-2.html"><b>Dodonpachi Daioujou</b></a> (Playstation 2)</li><li><b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2023/07/radiant-silvergun-saturn.html">Radiant Silvergun</a></b> (Saturn)</li></ul><p>Honorable mentions are <a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2022/10/dodonpachi-daioujou-black-label-extra.html"><b>Dodonpachi Daioujou Black Label Extra</b></a> on the XBox 360, which in my opinion is just as hard as White Label, and gravity arena <a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2022/01/terra-lander-playstation-4.html"><b>Terra Lander</b></a> on the Playstation 4, a game with a couple of insanely tricky levels.<br /></p><p>Top 5 easiest 1CCs in the last hundred, in no particular order:<br />
</p><ul><li><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2022/10/image-fight-nes.html"><b>Image Fight</b></a> (NES)</li><li><b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2022/12/gg-aleste-playstation-4.html">GG Aleste</a></b> (Playstation 4)</li><li><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2023/09/space-elite-force-playstation-4.html"><b>Space Elite Force</b></a> (Playstation 4)</li><li><b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2023/12/moon-cresta-playstation-2.html">Moon Cresta</a></b> (Playstation 2) <br /></li><li><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2024/01/huge-insect-nes.html"><b>Huge Insect</b></a> (NES)</li></ul><p>Honorable mentions in the easy category are <a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2022/08/1942-nes.html"><b>1942</b></a> on the NES, <a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2023/04/twinkle-star-sprites-la-petite.html"><b>Twinkle Star Sprites - La Petite Princesse</b></a> on the Playstation 2 and <a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2022/03/red-death-playstation-4.html"><b>Red Death</b></a> on the Playstation 4.<br /></p><p>There was one shmup I could not beat during this last cycle: <b>Iro Hero</b> for the PS4. Not because I was incompetent, but because there's a bug that makes the last boss invincible and doesn't allow you to complete the game. I contacted Red Art Games (retail publisher), eastasiasoft (publisher) and Artax Games (developer) a few times already, but they all disagree about which company is supposed to come up with a patch. A few other shmup enthusiasts have also tried, unfortunately to no avail. I even got to the point of reaching out to Sony, but as expected they don't give a s#%t about it either.</p><p>Total number of console shmups beaten by system: <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC_kIKo37RsTvHaeJzHeoD-1Mx1WkVjjoXTffkzRl56ZuPX94sfIUge4ogpUHEbxX4hAhiRDX2VM1ahWUU7PvAHoNs2pPGL1iKzDYKYOPuG5VOXv753uAMKvaVal18v9kvo0GVIPHgwH81QtS7NYu_payj_w0CBD-FXCGWyuANFyJsYlNUtTJxQO_x-fc/s500/600_shmupsCONSOLES.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="316" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC_kIKo37RsTvHaeJzHeoD-1Mx1WkVjjoXTffkzRl56ZuPX94sfIUge4ogpUHEbxX4hAhiRDX2VM1ahWUU7PvAHoNs2pPGL1iKzDYKYOPuG5VOXv753uAMKvaVal18v9kvo0GVIPHgwH81QtS7NYu_payj_w0CBD-FXCGWyuANFyJsYlNUtTJxQO_x-fc/s16000/600_shmupsCONSOLES.gif" /></a></div><p>Total number of console shmups beaten by genre:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigkJzjiOTfSqVZSJDwiYWaR5bIO3z6r74egXl_vuDxloNjOCRN5bvIPYXCE6eCSfFopGqql9nfJy-ty8fBoQjF7YCz0LHfww2y_7fgz00e_iMahJpWZgtabskLgclksArN-luBOhN334vtD9IUtlS2ndxo_Q6A-J11fOVD30tO-S46pTBie1L7R10omdY/s500/600_shmupsGENRES.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="155" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigkJzjiOTfSqVZSJDwiYWaR5bIO3z6r74egXl_vuDxloNjOCRN5bvIPYXCE6eCSfFopGqql9nfJy-ty8fBoQjF7YCz0LHfww2y_7fgz00e_iMahJpWZgtabskLgclksArN-luBOhN334vtD9IUtlS2ndxo_Q6A-J11fOVD30tO-S46pTBie1L7R10omdY/s16000/600_shmupsGENRES.gif" /></a></div><p>During the last hundred blog entries, at 19 posts the NES beat both the Playstation 2 and the Playstation 4 by one game only. It's just normal to see the NES getting ahead as the most played console due to its extensive library, but my feeling is that it's just a matter of time for one of the Sony systems to take the lead. As for the Mega Drive, there are only a few shmups left for 1CC attempts. Which one should I target next, I wonder?</p><p>No love was given to the Sega 32X (understandable), the FM Towns (impossible, my Towns is dead) and the Neo Geo (inexcusable). It is my intention to play <b>Zaxxon's Motherbase 2000</b> and another Neo Geo shmup soon, I just haven't decided which one yet.</p><p>Other prospects for the future include moving on to a few old acquaintances I've yet to actually try to beat, such as <b>Battle Garegga</b>, <b>Border Down</b> and <b>R-Type Final</b>. You can never take for granted any available time you get to play, and a classic example of this is how a week at home ~ on vacation ~ helped me practice and quickly get the loop on <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2024/02/dodonpachi-daifukkatsu-ver-15-xbox-360.html">Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu Ver 1.5</a></b>, which had been on my radar for months but remained pretty much untouched until the last couple of weeks.</p><p>And I didn't forget the requests received many years ago, such as <b>Kingdom Grandprix</b>. It seems however that my dream of having <b>Mahou Daisakusen</b> / <b>Sorcer Striker</b> released in physical form won't come true any time soon. I probably won't get through the series in order, at least not the way i'd like to.</p><p>As always, thank you all for keeping up with me and my shmup <strike>rants</strike> notes. Hopefully some of you might still be here if by any chance I'm able to make to 700 hundred 1CCs!</p><p>.</p><p>PS. It just seems I won't escape the fate of owning a Nintendo Switch. Pokémon has become quite a big thing at home as of late, if you know what I mean.<br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">1cclog.blogspot.com</div>Edwardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17491361099947592597noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8742813618758333424.post-52086508129108731522024-02-14T00:28:00.001-03:002024-03-06T00:24:37.218-03:00Akinofa (Playstation 4)<span style="font-weight: bold;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8GxoEThmm_9mBnoBd7YJLAhTMkjaFHf6Apg55lNqqDGfQq1YwBUtBlPghoATNsIzVvtH3MCGksy2MrDEWwBRhFi9dKUgCda0oN0hMhuZYVjneXeOhZuxqrZIjNjLdmzeU08ZmDIQwFjSJNYnaieu-4OrrnaUD48VwS9JateGekdUMXvS_8jmbOD8jsm4/s135/akinofa_Box.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="135" data-original-width="110" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8GxoEThmm_9mBnoBd7YJLAhTMkjaFHf6Apg55lNqqDGfQq1YwBUtBlPghoATNsIzVvtH3MCGksy2MrDEWwBRhFi9dKUgCda0oN0hMhuZYVjneXeOhZuxqrZIjNjLdmzeU08ZmDIQwFjSJNYnaieu-4OrrnaUD48VwS9JateGekdUMXvS_8jmbOD8jsm4/s1600/akinofa_Box.jpg" width="110" /></a></div>Horizontal<br />Checkpoints OFF<br />1 Difficulty level<br />3 Stages (loopabe)<br />Ship speed fixed<br />- - - - - - -<br />Developed by Pixel Lantern<br />Published by Red Art Games in 2022</span><br />
<br /><div>The love for pixels goes way back in the history of home computers and, of course, video games. Even today in the era of ultra advanced high resolution graphic techniques people still resource to pixels in order to establish mood, ambiance or a simple connection to the style of old. German developer Pixel Lantern is of course aware of that, as we can see from what they were able to visually accomplish in <b>Akinofa</b>, a horizontal shooter that's completely built around pixels. In concept it's a very weird one too, an aspect that's certainly bound to draw some attention, at least when you first read about it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Akinofa is a "mysterious undead fish of green flames". It doesn't swim, instead it flies in a mix of gothic and medieval settings populated by tiny creatures and fiendish ghouls. Normally it shoots green projectiles (button × or R1) but after a while it acquires the ability to fire special shots with limited ammo (button □ or L1). When in need and provided you have bombs in stock, the undead fish can summon a bigger version of itself that cruises the screen damaging enemies along the way and making you invincible (button ○ or R2).</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ10YsagQqLSxB9aV1bz7RTTKaz8g7OywNSgVy1H9whNxAv0TDh8aw5SQuB0vDuB7GwKCPnPBSrTh-6GI_cZ9lMRS8Xcm0P-nm17o0q53zCb_bVCpjiXShLQmVKF9DdRBG2WTARsGakOfS08yKJWdKSw1S-mNiXp_5Go4gp-g5kKjUf4qcHzl0iBSF8Nw/s400/akinofa_00.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ10YsagQqLSxB9aV1bz7RTTKaz8g7OywNSgVy1H9whNxAv0TDh8aw5SQuB0vDuB7GwKCPnPBSrTh-6GI_cZ9lMRS8Xcm0P-nm17o0q53zCb_bVCpjiXShLQmVKF9DdRBG2WTARsGakOfS08yKJWdKSw1S-mNiXp_5Go4gp-g5kKjUf4qcHzl0iBSF8Nw/s16000/akinofa_00.png" /></a></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 12.6225px; font-style: italic;">Meet the boss of the forest world</span><br /></div><div> <br /></div><div>Unfortunately this is another example of a game that requires grinding, at least until you've maxed out all upgrades by purchasing them with the gold collected during regular play. I actually tried to advance without upgrading anything once I saw you could rely on three random items that appear at the end of every section. Sadly they only allow you to obtain special shots (double, triple and 3-way spread), ammo refills, health points (hearts) and bombs (lightning bolts). You can't increase life and bomb stock, the ammo gauge, the firing rate or improve damage capabilities during the game itself, and while it is theoretically possible to finish <b>Akinofa</b> without these enhancements it would probably take ages to get through an extremely boring and frustrating ordeal.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Akinofa</b> is comprised of three worlds, each one with five sections where you fight a boss in the last one. The first world takes place inside a decrepit castle, the second one is a magical forest and the last world is a medieval fortress. As I mentioned above, in the end of each regular section except the boss fight you can purchase up to three random items, in what's the only aspect that's remotely related to a roguelite nature. Stages unfold in the very same way every time at one single lethargic pace, which at least makes memorization easier. A tiny counter in the lower left keeps track of how many enemies are left in the section, and if you manage to kill them all you collect a "perfect" bonus of 1.000 points.</div><div><br /></div><div>A single orb that appears in the first world might either release a heart or coins, but this orb is completely absent from the second and third worlds. This means that after the first world you can only recover health if the game allows it at the end of every section. Preserving health is the most important strategy to survive some of the enemy traps later on, and by then you'll certainly be accustomed to the slight inertia applied to the character's movement. That's the main reason why touching walls is often the major cause of health loss and deaths. There are no continues and you'll need to start from scratch if the game is over, even though there's a "try again" option together with "main menu".</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="282" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6gEIS0jBMgU?si=HZvYLrGgc8BvfVPZ" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe></div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">Launch trailer for <b>Akinofa</b> on the Playstation 4</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">(courtesy of YouTube user and publisher <b>RED ART GAMES</b>)</span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div> </div><div>If you accept what <b>Akinofa</b> has to offer, which is mild shooting action with little variety, somewhat grating music and no real rewards in the end, the first upgrade you need to get is "gold", which increases the chance of enemies dropping gold coins. Then it's just a matter of replaying the game over and over, collecting gold, upgrading your arsenal and learning how the gameplay works in the process. Eventually you'll get strong enough to not die by being sorely underpowered. On the other hand, bosses are wimps which can be obliterated in no time by bomb spamming. Once the boss of the third world goes down the game loops with little fanfare and more resilient enemies (<i>new game+ begins now!</i>).</div><div><br /></div><div>There's nothing basically wrong with <b>Akinofa</b>'s gameplay, it's just devoid of any real excitement. However, amidst the snoozy action and the naïve stage design there might be a few thrills in trying to get those 100% kills for the perfect bonus. Chests and vases don't contribute to this percentage so you can skip them, just note that chests will always have only gold coins whereas vases might also give you an ammo refill or an extra bomb. In any case, once all upgrades have been maxed out gold ceases to be important because you'll always have enough of it to get the in-game special weapons and recovery items. Excess gold doesn't even count for any extra points once the game loops, which is a shame. </div><div><br /></div><div>Once I looped the game I met my demise somewhere in the first world, pretty much out of boredom. At the time of this writing the result below was enough to put me in 7th place in the online leaderboards. There are no local score tables and no difficulty settings whatsoever, the only tweaks available are audio balancing and vibration.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeVOleRS-Uih31FFkGUPgvGpcvZh6KpCmxpGUMWNmx7I9KU6thFs0L-4HFAP018H79N6XbB9cwP0W1xyrwnopeP2-m_cQdM9Ny2wpsoYCpKPTLq6CYfjkVX2jvbK_yjrEl0Fht9oT13NM07B4_RxOqlfNCh8jVqvPsZUsBK355KZwVvtYGVmDf61uZ03I/s300/hS_PS4akinofa.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeVOleRS-Uih31FFkGUPgvGpcvZh6KpCmxpGUMWNmx7I9KU6thFs0L-4HFAP018H79N6XbB9cwP0W1xyrwnopeP2-m_cQdM9Ny2wpsoYCpKPTLq6CYfjkVX2jvbK_yjrEl0Fht9oT13NM07B4_RxOqlfNCh8jVqvPsZUsBK355KZwVvtYGVmDf61uZ03I/s1600/hS_PS4akinofa.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">1cclog.blogspot.com</div>Edwardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17491361099947592597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8742813618758333424.post-59576727523083065382024-01-30T22:46:00.001-03:002024-01-30T22:59:36.678-03:00Huge Insect (NES)<span style="font-weight: bold;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgwz5Lqf19Q8_fYoEls4tqEXybn01breazZjhnKR9UnHUNglnB24iN9avcMUNGJK4WFeEd2mAcjMWlBOFph76SU087MdsaM_fe-AA9a0gyWU5mZvq-aXrC9-ev99jef5IxQXBnmwFmmvDGlrmIutwWHtDkook1U8TkfRBog6kxKmrN9OuDbtsadQ9WCVY/s150/hugeInsect_Box.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="150" data-original-width="110" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgwz5Lqf19Q8_fYoEls4tqEXybn01breazZjhnKR9UnHUNglnB24iN9avcMUNGJK4WFeEd2mAcjMWlBOFph76SU087MdsaM_fe-AA9a0gyWU5mZvq-aXrC9-ev99jef5IxQXBnmwFmmvDGlrmIutwWHtDkook1U8TkfRBog6kxKmrN9OuDbtsadQ9WCVY/s1600/hugeInsect_Box.jpg" width="110" /></a></div>Vertical fixed<br />Checkpoints OFF<br />1 Difficulty level<br />5 Stages<br />Ship speed by icons<br />- - - - - - -<br />Developed by Thin Chen Enterprise (Sachen)<br />Published by Sachen in 1993</span><br />
<br />Object of cult for many, motive of utter despise to others, Taiwanese developer Sachen was definitely one the most - if not the most - prolific unlicensed developer/publisher for the NES, with an immense catalog that includes a few shmups. Some of them are quite a treat to collectors due to their rarity, and <b>Huge Insect</b> definitely falls in this bastard category. Basically a <b>Galaga</b> ripoff, this game has the sad distinction of being the last title the company published in cartridge form in extremely low quantities in the 2000's, even though the main game screen shows a "copyright" from 1993.<div><br /></div><div><div>Actually there are several sources about the peculiar history of this release. According to <a href="https://www.uvlist.net/game-168597" target="_blank">this page</a>, it wasn't originally published in a cartridge. Sachen offered it for free download on their website in 2002, but later the game became available to buy in green, orange (2002), blue (2002) and purple (2005) box versions. 78 carts were manufactured, but it seems the green cartridges might have actually been made in 1993. The cartridge I own is the purple box variant.</div><div><br /></div><div>For an unlicensed game, <b>Huge Insect</b> could've been much better. In its final form it's a misfire that's probably related to the inherent laziness that comes with the end of an era for any company. The misfire is in the fact that the gameplay isn't a complete waste like in some other unlicensed crap, yet Sachen made it so easy that even the inept, the sleepy and a combination of both might be able to beat it in their first try. Basically you get an extra life during every transition from a stage section to the next, which means six extra lives per stage, totalling 29 extra lives per credit. And on top of that you're also able to get occasional 1UPs!</div><div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="282" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/i51K2n8vJfQ?si=a2xZdshFCNCuubu-" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe></div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">Searching for a huge insect in a nearby pond</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">(courtesy of YouTube user <b>The VideoGames Museum</b>)</span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><br /></div><div>The idea behind the makeover on the <b>Galaga</b> mold is that you control what looks like an insecticide spray can and must destroy lots of insects that arrive in successive waves. Enemies that survive as they come into the screen will enter in formation at the top and dive upon you when the whole armada is complete. Each stage has six sections with the same background and environments that resemble a pond, a forest, a grass field, a cloudy blue sky and outer space. You're only allowed one shot at a time with button A, but the default pea shot can be upgraded by collecting items dropped when blinking enemies are destroyed.</div><div><br /></div><div>The assortment of items includes a double shot, speed-up (S), a single power-up (P) that turns your regular firepower into laser shots, a 1-hit shield (the golden circle) and the extra life / 1UP (a representation of the basic ship in a circle). There's also a black skull that must be avoided at all times since it strips you off all power-ups you're currently carrying. Note that when taking the double shot your hitbox becomes twice as large because then you'll be controlling two insecticide cans instead of one. Weirdly enough, there are times when the 1-hit shield doesn't work and you die anyway when getting hit, in what's the only glaring flaw of the rudimentary gameplay.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>At the second section of each level an invincible bug will appear in the middle of the screen, moving left and right and shielding the enemy from your shots. Each successive section adds another of these bugs until you have four of them in sections 5 and 6, and once all enemies are destroyed in section 6 the stage boss appears. That's the reasoning behind the game's title, but killing the huge insect isn't a big deal. It's just a matter of anticipating his large two-way blast and avoiding the occasional bullets fired by the minions released behind him. Boss attack patterns do not change at all across all five levels, but wave speed and enemy aggression increase slightly as you make progress.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP5HS1hDsiN_Q_sfBs869NOSqlqQpRw5wdCIB6k1el9adrl-gk25ziW9g3A1LgcVLyShx92eFPSoToFVpUExaZDsKByNh-xBJyCdQFlMzA0hrbpMNLhhelyLz4918JooWAGqxRPcWtrMpxC0xK1DnovzdZK9T59Cy3T3Yxk8E63Q6UJoN8PPteHeOj9oo/s300/hugeInsect_00.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP5HS1hDsiN_Q_sfBs869NOSqlqQpRw5wdCIB6k1el9adrl-gk25ziW9g3A1LgcVLyShx92eFPSoToFVpUExaZDsKByNh-xBJyCdQFlMzA0hrbpMNLhhelyLz4918JooWAGqxRPcWtrMpxC0xK1DnovzdZK9T59Cy3T3Yxk8E63Q6UJoN8PPteHeOj9oo/s1600/hugeInsect_00.png" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 12.6225px; font-style: italic;">Boss begging for peace after being defeated</span></div><div><div> </div><div>If you're able to get the P power-up, obliterating insects becomes a breeze and deaths might only occur if you get stuck against a fast-moving wave. Dying isn't that taxing though because soon enough you'll get new upgrades, on top of having (as I mentioned above) one of the most stupid supplies of extra lives I've ever seen in any old school video game. Game variety is practically non-existent, but if it weren't for this atrocious extend routine <b>Huge Insect</b> might have offered a bit of a challenge. Never mind the soundtrack, which has only two very similar stage songs that alternate during the whole game. At least they're not grating, if that counts for something.</div><div><br /></div></div><div>Each item you take gives you an extra 100 points, but there's a simple way to score higher. During the boss fights just avoid hitting the boss and keep destroying the minion bugs he summons. The scoring system can be broken this way but it takes forever to do it, you need to move a lot to not die and chances are you'll eventually kill the boss by hitting it every now and then.</div><div><br /></div><div>There isn't any sort of score buffering when <b>Huge Insect</b> is beaten. All you see is the panel of a kid (you, of course) smiling while celebrating his victory, then the game gets back to the start screen. That's why you need to pause as soon as the last enemy of the final level is killed if you want to take note of your score. In my second credit I did milk a few bosses to get the result below, just for the sake of it. </div></div></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkj_J-9MyvyXTyqJH3DvqmhRfhzKnUxVhd9xutEWPQ9BKs2XH9PeEJu5r2kPzGtP7bANo4ePdCPeaUPMFtNTlGTIqwyMSKIrfyUp7sFn8WpQRF9x7oVn5asZJV9bZO2kIzvOhkPgg3qo4H2Epk29Eeyd2ivZHlnZJmPZjpOJkmvNFj41cOzZ2k6M0kDls/s300/hS_NEShugeInsect.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkj_J-9MyvyXTyqJH3DvqmhRfhzKnUxVhd9xutEWPQ9BKs2XH9PeEJu5r2kPzGtP7bANo4ePdCPeaUPMFtNTlGTIqwyMSKIrfyUp7sFn8WpQRF9x7oVn5asZJV9bZO2kIzvOhkPgg3qo4H2Epk29Eeyd2ivZHlnZJmPZjpOJkmvNFj41cOzZ2k6M0kDls/s1600/hS_NEShugeInsect.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">1cclog.blogspot.com</div>Edwardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17491361099947592597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8742813618758333424.post-48405608439663436692024-01-23T22:11:00.000-03:002024-01-23T22:11:12.491-03:00Cho Aniki - Seinaru Protein Densetsu (Playstation 2)<span style="font-weight: bold;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWV6XuNTPHw1ez42mxqTd3mPNEJ3rEvx4tYyd9nUKux9zG8N-Bj-R9Bwf6rI_FUvmJiOLvbjin13c-xD7ON6QbaA9M98xUfDHahvAc68CRFapEWYFt0yjcH2VB-h7BE6nmG17kR3bxQaMQJ9D0JjEPdKN7a8UdhyphenhyphenLDVA7U8a_SlAFo09CBjGqRHrHPah0/s150/choAniki_Box.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="150" data-original-width="110" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWV6XuNTPHw1ez42mxqTd3mPNEJ3rEvx4tYyd9nUKux9zG8N-Bj-R9Bwf6rI_FUvmJiOLvbjin13c-xD7ON6QbaA9M98xUfDHahvAc68CRFapEWYFt0yjcH2VB-h7BE6nmG17kR3bxQaMQJ9D0JjEPdKN7a8UdhyphenhyphenLDVA7U8a_SlAFo09CBjGqRHrHPah0/s1600/choAniki_Box.jpg" width="110" /></a></div>Horizontal<br />Checkpoints OFF<br />3 Difficulty levels<br />10 Stages<br />Ship speed fixed<br />- - - - - - -<br />Developed by X-Nauts and Psikyo<br />Published by Global A Entertainment in 2003</span><br />
<br />After two very similar shmup entries for the <a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2013/01/cho-aniki-playstation.html">Sony Playstation</a> and the <a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2020/04/cho-aniki-kyukyoku-otoko-no-gyakushu.html">Sega Saturn</a> in 1996, the <i><b>Cho Aniki</b></i> series received an RPG game for the Bandai Wonderswan, a weird sports title for mobile phones and then this exclusive chapter for the Playstation 2 called <b>Cho Aniki - Seinaru Protein Densetsu</b>, whose subtitle translates to something like "<i>The Legend of the Sacred Protein</i>". Given how visually crazy the 32-bit shmups were, trying to top that was a hefty challenge that somehow gets accomplished here, and by a different development team no less.<div><br /></div><div>With Masaya gone, the series was taken over by X-Nauts and Psikyo. The graphics changed to an almost undescribable mix of weird 3D backgrounds mashed with stupid enemies in the foreground, as if the intern had pasted half-assed random sprites over the game. For PS2 standards it's honestly ridiculous, but after a while you realize that at least the enemy placement has a purpose, which means that the forté of <b>Seinaru Protein Densetsu</b> is definitely in the gameplay. A little patience is needed, of course, but if you stick with it you might be pleasantly surprised. Yes, pleasantly. At least I was.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you refrain from doing anything after turning on the console a lengthy intro will show our favorite bodybuilders Adon and Samson doing their thing to the sound of a silly song. However, they're not in the center of the action even though they're on screen at all times. Players control "the legendary protein", a glob-like thing that serves as the single hitbox of the group. Adon and Samson are positioned according to the selection you make when starting the game. You can choose two out of four configurations: covering the sides, trailing, frontal stance and rotating. Alternating between both formations is done with button ×, firing is accomplished with button □ and button ○ is used to trigger a bomb (if you have one). Button remapping is not possible.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="282" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fCo9hzMpL9g?si=6mTvljD186tzv-hp" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe></div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><div style="text-align: center;"><div><div><div><div><div><div> <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">Intro sequence to <b>Cho Aniki - Seinaru Protein Densetsu</b> on the Playstation 2</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">(courtesy of YouTube user <span style="font-weight: bold;">Niels Van Glas</span>)</span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><br /></div><div>An unusual aspect of the game is that the left analog stick can't be used to control the protein blob, which somehow frightened me, but fortunately I have a controller with a remarkably decent D-pad. The right analog stick, however, is an essential part of the gameplay since you must use it to "shake your hips and spin" as the instruction manual puts it. If you move the stick quickly in a circular motion the meter in the lower left fills up, and by pressing it you'll unleash a super powerful man's beam whose strength depends on how full the meter is. I'll leave all funny interpretations related to this manly beam to the reader, but suffice it to say it's a sight to behold, on top of being a great means of killing bosses faster. Mind you, whenever the right stick is being wiggled you're not allowed to fire, so my advice is to plan ahead if you want to do it in the heat of the battle.</div><div><br /></div><div>Each enemy leaves behind a protein orb that powers up the character. This is where the gameplay starts to get interesting. Each part of your team can be powered up separately. By taking the orbs with either Adon or Samson their silhouettes are filled up, representing their ability to fire more powerful shots and take hits for you. If their energy is depleted they enter a resting/sleeping mode and refuse to go into formation, only waking up by taking another protein orb. On the ther hand, if one silhouette gets completely filled you add one bomb to your bomb stock. Orbs absorbed by the holy protein are used to upgrade the main firing stream, and once you reach max power (20 orbs, or 5 orbs per extra firing stream) each consecutive orb taken will increase in value in steps of 1.000 points, maxing out at 10.000 points. These scoring chains are carried over to the next stage, but they're broken if you die or at least one power orb is absorbed by Adon or Samson. Sound cues help with keeping track of orbs taken.</div><div><br /></div><div>What I described above is the reason why <b>Cho Aniki - Seinaru Protein Densetsu</b> has the best gameplay in the series so far. You do start with no bombs in stock, but since bombs are completely independent of life stock you can just hoard as many bombs as you want to tackle tricky parts of boss fights. By playing defensively a clear isn't that far off no matter how cheap the game gets (those falling enemies in the cave stage are really annoying). Beaming also represents an important aspect of defensive gameplay since both the holy protein and Adon/Samson are invincible whenever you're doing it. Playing aggressively for score is a whole different story though, often requiring players to kill enemies a certain way or to avoid orbs in order to keep the chain going.</div><div><br /></div><div>A final detail in the gameplay is related to the small ghosts released by specific enemies at certain points in the game. Each one has a different effect depending on its color. The blue ghost gives you full power, the green ghost gives you 10.000 points, the white ghost gives you an extra bomb and the pink ghost fills up the beam meter immediately. None of them results in an extra life, but two score-based extends are obtained when you reach 1,5 and 3,5 million points.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjItXSzRNifxGVn89wEkeQY6t7M1S60nkZ9aw65UM4Uu1OLR9Ne_PXXdMPZjiaFfrwjmfBHzYTDuTkduFHBs6Miu1gU7o18eHk8vw1G2sUpwTg7cFWp1WmVt2ChO41snapVUUgAX4TJkk-pJU0T3GKSMcS1nmx_Xf9sptAdozAA41qlktxjYz5W7_5S7bk/s300/choAniki_00.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjItXSzRNifxGVn89wEkeQY6t7M1S60nkZ9aw65UM4Uu1OLR9Ne_PXXdMPZjiaFfrwjmfBHzYTDuTkduFHBs6Miu1gU7o18eHk8vw1G2sUpwTg7cFWp1WmVt2ChO41snapVUUgAX4TJkk-pJU0T3GKSMcS1nmx_Xf9sptAdozAA41qlktxjYz5W7_5S7bk/s1600/choAniki_00.png" width="300" /></a></div></div><div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 12.6225px; font-style: italic;">Eyes without a face my ass! </span></div><div><div><br /></div><div>Even though most stages are rather easygoing with few hard sections to deal with, the influence of Psikyo is definitely present here and there. The order of the first four levels is random, for example, just like in <i><b>Strikers 1945</b></i> and <i><b>Gunbird</b></i>. Another Psikyo trademark is in the dense bullet spreads most bosses are able to fire. They all have at least two phases with differing attack patterns and intensities that vary as the fight drags on, with the occasional cheap ramming that's bound to take players off guard. The good news is that there's no rank at all, so it all boils down to memorizing patterns in order to survive. Just note that bombs cannot be used whenever you're deploying the powerful beam attack. Another aspect to consider, especially during boss fights, is that if you want to use a certain formation when beaming (such as the full defensive frontal position), switch to this desired formation before Adon or Samson are about to enter sleep mode, otherwise the beam will only be effected with the default side/resting formation.</div><div><br /></div><div>With 10 stages, <b>Seinaru Protein Densetsu</b> has a decent length and enough variety to quench fans of kusoge. An abundance of manly and childlike voices can be heard throughout in complement to a relatively conventional soundtrack. The most risqué homoerotic designs are reserved for the panels in-between stages and the most ludicrous bosses, which besides just being downright weird often take creepy positions when firing their bullet patterns. During the last level you'll have to face them all over again before confronting the final boss.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>My final 1CC score in the Normal difficulty is below. It was definitely a fun ride despite the initial perception of just another mindless shooting schlock. My formations of choice were default/sides and frontal/defensive. My playing strategy: once I got one extra bomb in the first stage I focused exclusively on scoring except for stages 6 and 8, where I hoarded bombs for the bosses I found problematic, mainly the 9th and the final boss. </div><div><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJOGfNJFZxJ6XV96q9RE8XL6ly6cyEqFHBmyYfHZO72km8xrAs95l-URGdH02ZYq4_7Ow2cXbjTe2XqtAjHuCIUE_ELpaLi0ETW5wzBrK5CPYv6eukBhrctN5s1xR3upm0m1XEvH4apD14pOZMgcPTwtxq4QyfpksjsPrDY5QTK5QsLTtfR2BKFVqKdXA/s300/hS_PS2choAniki.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJOGfNJFZxJ6XV96q9RE8XL6ly6cyEqFHBmyYfHZO72km8xrAs95l-URGdH02ZYq4_7Ow2cXbjTe2XqtAjHuCIUE_ELpaLi0ETW5wzBrK5CPYv6eukBhrctN5s1xR3upm0m1XEvH4apD14pOZMgcPTwtxq4QyfpksjsPrDY5QTK5QsLTtfR2BKFVqKdXA/s1600/hS_PS2choAniki.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Next in the series is <b>Rei Cho Aniki</b>, a.k.a. <b>Cho Aniki Zero</b> on the PSP.<br /></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">1cclog.blogspot.com</div>Edwardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17491361099947592597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8742813618758333424.post-26041956090502960532023-12-29T23:39:00.000-03:002023-12-29T23:39:13.198-03:00ExZeus (Playstation 4)<span style="font-weight: bold;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNuTyFiAThEVDAX0EPPsRyTodtwQoILiNquT_q_6JpoSsGDRr3nx4J8bGNZ9c60qwmJHNhtPq0M8ZPg5CHXrYP2-egRrRS3L6wM75DCXT3_ByTI06_YLY_kBbhExtOSo4cCWUa8DjBjqdVlAQ2GQ4xcIWnfGIIuGshupUCQhA-vF_ThNHOaaDdleV349g/s135/exZeusTheCompleteCollection_Box.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="135" data-original-width="110" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNuTyFiAThEVDAX0EPPsRyTodtwQoILiNquT_q_6JpoSsGDRr3nx4J8bGNZ9c60qwmJHNhtPq0M8ZPg5CHXrYP2-egRrRS3L6wM75DCXT3_ByTI06_YLY_kBbhExtOSo4cCWUa8DjBjqdVlAQ2GQ4xcIWnfGIIuGshupUCQhA-vF_ThNHOaaDdleV349g/s1600/exZeusTheCompleteCollection_Box.jpg" width="110" /></a></div>Rail shooter<br />Checkpoints OFF<br />1 Difficulty level<br />5 Stages<br />Ship speed selectable at start<br />- - - - - - -<br />Developed by Hyper-Devbox / Ziggurat Interactive<br />Published by Limited Run Games in 2022</span><br />
<br />Talk about unexpected resurgences, and <b>ExZeus - The Complete Collection</b> is certainly a release that *might* have drawn some attention when coming out for recent platforms a little while ago, both digitally and also in retail form for the Nintendo Switch and the Playstation 4. This collection includes <b>ExZeus</b> and <b>ExZeus 2</b>, two rail shooters with unique approaches to the mecha motif that always flew under the radar ever since gracing the arcades, and in the case of the first game gaining obscure ports such as those made <a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2022/08/exzeus-playstation-2.html">for the Playstation 2</a> and the Nintendo Wii.<div><br /></div><div><b>ExZeus</b> won't set the world of any rail shooter fan on fire, but it at least has enough spectacle to get you through five stages of uneven intensity and fluctuating stakes. It all starts with the choice between three mechas with varying stats for power, speed and stamina, and then getting used to the slightly unorthodox gameplay, for rail shooters that is. At a distance <b>ExZeus</b> sounds like a <i><b>Transformers</b></i> game where you won't be able to transform at all, and up close it's a feast of in-your-face bullets, with lasers and melee attacks often killing you in the blink of an eye.</div><div><br /></div><div>"Where did my energy meter suddenly go", you wonder? Well, you can either continue (with the unwanted benefit of not resetting your score) or start over if you're one of those players who aim for the 1CC no matter what.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh27O8bKiVMG5yya_ycEU96LVe4G_pQ_ezzCSC7NvEaZU0gBP5rf1TDlMzveAHoFX72rnEDEYqUkpWKitSW4mtwbcOed9sqPHuMkPwUfHxxim8mu1srq9dA9x_XwNY0VvWScr34ERMiuhJ5S_m69K-vkDDtk6h8VM4bOEobc3RnbiYLrmUZiP4SxPuryO0/s400/exZeus_00.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh27O8bKiVMG5yya_ycEU96LVe4G_pQ_ezzCSC7NvEaZU0gBP5rf1TDlMzveAHoFX72rnEDEYqUkpWKitSW4mtwbcOed9sqPHuMkPwUfHxxim8mu1srq9dA9x_XwNY0VvWScr34ERMiuhJ5S_m69K-vkDDtk6h8VM4bOEobc3RnbiYLrmUZiP4SxPuryO0/s16000/exZeus_00.png" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 12.6225px; font-style: italic;">Calista versus Dracaena</span></div><div><br /></div><div>Button × is responsible for three inputs: fire, fire guided missiles on enemies targeted by the lock-on attack (button ○) and release the megalaser attack, a special laser burst that works with a meter that recharges over time automatically. Button □ drops the mega bomb over the screen, but you can only use it three times during the duration of any full credit. L1 and R1 provide a quick rolling maneuver left and right, but you can also double tap in order to achieve the same effect. Items appear floating in the air from destroyed enemies, and although most of them are random at least the POWER for shot upgrades seems to show up under the same circumstances at all times while you're in need of power-ups. Take one to get a 3-way spread, then another one to max out at a 5-way horizontal spread.</div><div><br /></div><div>The remainder of the items can be lock-on energy (if you run out of it you can't use this resource), gold tokens, booster and either shield or energy refills. The shield is the first barrier against damage and is shown in the upper left part of the HUD. Once without the shield you start losing the energy of the robot, which appears on the left side of the screen and means game over if depleted. Booster just makes you fly faster, helping you out in the time bonus at the end of the level. Finally, gold tokens accumulate in a counter for you to use in between levels in order to extend your energy, shield or lock-on meters, as well as purchase refills. Since the gold counter maxes out at 999, there's no sense in saving gold whatsoever. Watch out for the shop screen though because it opens up right over the Exit button, so try to avoid getting trigger happy there.</div><div><br /></div><div>Gameplay in <b>ExZeus</b> is rather obtuse, in a clunky and unexpected way. As with any other game that requires memorization it will demand knowledge of what's coming ahead, but given how the screen might move in relation to the character (in a wider scope than what you can immediately see) adaptation is extremely important to survive. Damage is directly related to the amount of bullets or lasers that hit you in a single blow, and it's not uncommon to go from a full energy meter to the brink of death if you happen to be mass targeted. Heavy damage also powers you down one level or even two levels, sending you back to the default shot right away. When in doubt about what's coming ahead it's just better to be safe than sorry, even though you might be tempted to stay in the line of fire to destroy an enemy since all on-screen bullets fired by your target will turn into gold if you're able to kill it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Boss fights are in a category of their own. The main strategy with all of them is finding their rhythm and pounding their weak spots in between their attacks. The further you get the more aggressive they become, of course. Just note that whenever they're blue they're invincible to regular attacks, and the only way to hit them is by using lock-on shots. On the other hand, a fully powered megalaser also renders you invincible.<br /></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="282" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RiaoMCJLNMo?si=My3SN92jso4Fdav5" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe></div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">Release trailer for <b>ExZeus - The Complete Collection</b> for the Playstation 4</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">(courtesy of YouTube user and developer <b>Ziggurat Interactive</b>)</span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div> </div>For comparison sake, the version of <b>ExZeus</b> included ins this collection has some striking differences from the port that came out for the <a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2022/08/exzeus-playstation-2.html">Playstation 2</a> in 2004. There is no rain in first stage, weapon power does not carry over to the next stage (you always start with the single shot), item prices in the shop are different (you also drop by the shop in the middle of the 4th stage, before diving into the depths of the ocean), there are more enemies overall and different details such as bulkier leaves falling from trees in stage 2 and lava spikes of just a single color in stage 3. My lucky guess is that this Playstation 4 port is based on the revised arcade iteration of the game, which ran on the Sega NAOMI board, as opposed to the original European version that served as basis for the <a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2022/08/exzeus-playstation-2.html">Playstation 2 port</a>.<div><br /></div><div>As a result, the Playstation 4 version is slightly harder with less opportunities for scoring. The scoring system preserves the elementary hit counter during levels but implements a series of end-of-stage bonuses based on your performance. Available options do not include any tweaks for extra difficulties or screen swing/shaking, only the possibility to invert the Y axis and to apply a normal/cool graphic mode switch that doesn't seem to do affect anything whatsoever.</div><div><br /></div><div>And here's my final 1CC result for <b>ExZeus</b> on the Playstation 4. I played with robot Sophia (blue), the most balanced of the three, but my overall impression is that maneuveratibility is still more important than brute force. In that sense, Calista (red) might be a better choice.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJPgwYd0qQLrMx0jm7CldSwbRmMBS8Pe02tqedE9hZhr1a0golZbPNanb4kc80sQkAbfVQiwAI5qpcAHDVrHZ1uaMnj3PlPeTwauMSoxtM9hFpFzEhDxGyFQS8pH817oVgBdC7bo9vq3jsyg3OBFTAlvL1g31qr_LSlZ61bnmKHPTA211Cttx_dbmLL4A/s300/hS_PS4exZeus.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJPgwYd0qQLrMx0jm7CldSwbRmMBS8Pe02tqedE9hZhr1a0golZbPNanb4kc80sQkAbfVQiwAI5qpcAHDVrHZ1uaMnj3PlPeTwauMSoxtM9hFpFzEhDxGyFQS8pH817oVgBdC7bo9vq3jsyg3OBFTAlvL1g31qr_LSlZ61bnmKHPTA211Cttx_dbmLL4A/s1600/hS_PS4exZeus.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Coming up next: <b>ExZeus 2</b>.<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">1cclog.blogspot.com</div>Edwardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17491361099947592597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8742813618758333424.post-17754036926520787082023-12-19T19:00:00.001-03:002023-12-19T19:00:00.137-03:00Moon Cresta (Playstation 2)<span style="font-weight: bold;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJellveFjylDOKsoMI0I14X9VSud3F6RxK0O7fk4KvVv5IMRj-XYCfPSyottaWD9JpTQRzvCWlvJdQ12qBJOI4tVbU8cbnlRDiPjloo4XitS6wy8IfTOqkOyZZxCbvk0dvrGYX4bi645gPtlixBbp3wmz_XrZq9pM3YSleO6Iwybp6PMGYeWSrE-2VxOU/s150/moonCresta_Box.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="150" data-original-width="110" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJellveFjylDOKsoMI0I14X9VSud3F6RxK0O7fk4KvVv5IMRj-XYCfPSyottaWD9JpTQRzvCWlvJdQ12qBJOI4tVbU8cbnlRDiPjloo4XitS6wy8IfTOqkOyZZxCbvk0dvrGYX4bi645gPtlixBbp3wmz_XrZq9pM3YSleO6Iwybp6PMGYeWSrE-2VxOU/s1600/moonCresta_Box.jpg" width="110" /></a></div>Vertical fixed<br />Checkpoints ON<br />1 Difficulty level<br />1 Stage (loopable)<br />Ship speed fixed<br />- - - - - - -<br />Developed by Nichibutsu in 1980<br />Published by Hamster in 2005</span><br />
<br />When people ask me what I think about the original <b>Space Invaders</b> game, more often than not it's hard to disguise my disdain. Of course I do understand the importance of the game to the history of this hobby, but I cannot fathom the idea of spending hours playing such a drab shmup that has no ending. But why am I talking about the original <b>Space Invaders</b> anyway? The reason is that I kinda had the same impression of <b>Moon Cresta</b> until very recently, i.e. the idea the game was actually so primitive that it didn't warrant any serious attention.<div><br /></div><div>Yet here I am, writing about it after playing the port released for the Playstation 2, no less. <b>Moon Cresta</b> is in volume 5 of the <i>Oretachi Game Center</i> budget series, a Japan-exclusive collection dedicated to emulated versions of old arcade games. Regardless of the fact that it just sounds dumb to have a full disc dedicated to this little game, at least it comes with a few nice extras such as the folder with info on the arcade board and a pair of mini-discs with original/arranged versions of the soundtrack and sample runs with extra material about this particular series.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhprU4vhs2Zw28uGaZYdPNMFugw_8oJVkz-_90QrPrw5aV4-dM2DeiVqHuUPn7gGKgA5QUTvtpffz4A1zQB3IMyE_t8VKjNsUN1AgRY07PCNzNeVHBO9vDMQb7evGdFJQbJzohSRvN94ne8QLw3TsNsGN7YIgu7vZUSepCPu3J_48ouBeoPUj7VI3KoKgc/s300/moonCresta_00.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="225" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhprU4vhs2Zw28uGaZYdPNMFugw_8oJVkz-_90QrPrw5aV4-dM2DeiVqHuUPn7gGKgA5QUTvtpffz4A1zQB3IMyE_t8VKjNsUN1AgRY07PCNzNeVHBO9vDMQb7evGdFJQbJzohSRvN94ne8QLw3TsNsGN7YIgu7vZUSepCPu3J_48ouBeoPUj7VI3KoKgc/s1600/moonCresta_00.png" width="225" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 12.6225px; font-style: italic;">You can get a lot of fun and thrill in this trip to the space war! </span></div><div><br /></div><div>In order to differentiate themselves and present some evolution to the idea pioneered by Taito, Nichibutsu added a few tweaks to spice up the experience. Besides taking extra inspiration from Namco's <b>Galaxian</b> (in the way some enemies split and/or descend upon the player), <b>Moon Cresta</b> has a unique mechanic based on three ship sizes and a docking maneuver players are supposed to pull off in specific points of the game. Despite the simplicity of it, it's actually an ingenious way to make things more addictive and lure people into wanting to try that next credit in an era where each extra coin spent mattered in arcade centers.</div><div><br /></div><div>The basic rule in the gameplay is that you're given exactly one shot at a time fired by a single button (any face button of the PS2 controller can be used to fire, SELECT enables the credit to be started). You get three lives, and each life comes with a different ship, or "rocket" as the game calls it. The first rocket (I) fires a pea shot, the second rocket (II) is a little larger and fires a double shot, and the third rocket (III) is even larger but fires a triple shot. If you don't die you'll be required to connect all ships during the docking parts mentioned above, which takes place for the first time after the 4th enemy wave.</div><div><br /></div><div>During docking the mission aim is to align your current rocket with the next rocket that appears at the center of the screen during an alloted time window. The rocket falls down naturally, but if you need extra space or time to complete the maneuver just press the fire button and use the directionals to help out. A successful docking will result in a combined rocket formation that's naturally more powerful, as well as bonus points for time remaining. Failure will result in the explosion of the ship and the loss of a life. After the 7th wave, where you face a series of meteors that don't need to be fully destroyed, a second docking sequence happens for another chance at further enhancing the ship's capabilites. Note that you can lose two lives at once if you have an arrangement of two rockets and fail to land correctly over the third rocket piece!</div><div><br /></div><div>Once the purple enemies of the 9th wave are fully destroyed a FAR OUT! message is displayed and the game loops at a higher difficulty with the smallest rocket you have in formation or in stock. In the case of a three rocket formation, for instance, the loop will start with rocket I.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="282" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jm2v91Kh4sM?si=MoedEMJeYr3s0W5W" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe></div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><div style="text-align: center;"><div><div><div><div><div><div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">A quick credit of <b>Moon Cresta</b> on the Playstation 2</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">(courtesy of YouTube user <span style="font-weight: bold;">ZetaMage</span>)</span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><br /></div><div>All waves of <b>Moon Cresta</b> are so short that it's pointless to consider each one a separate level, so I always think of it as a single-stage loopable game that can be completed in around three minutes if you play well enough. A word of attention for score chasers is that scoring higher is directly related to the time bonuses of the docking sequences. That's why even though rocket III seems great for survival, it just isn't good for score because you won't get into any docking sequence with it. Achieving 30.000 points gives you a complete free game for your current credit, which means you preserve your score and start the game over from the first wave once your last ship is destroyed (the message ENJOY ANOTHER GAME appears as a signal of this unique feature).</div><div><br /></div><div>Despite the relatively disjointed nature of the first couple of waves and the rudimentary mix of music cues and sound effects, the looping feature and the embrionary but engaging stage design presented in <b>Moon Cresta</b> definitely puts the game in a different category from <b>Space Invaders</b> and its several endless copycats. It's one of those classics that haven't aged that bad, and while not as flashy or loud as Konami's <a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2010/01/scramble-playstation-2.html"><b>Scramble</b></a> it still stands on its own in terms of immediate and quick fun. Several home ports came out besides this PS2 version, the PS1 being a particularly interesting iteration that deserves special attention (more on that in the near future, I hope). <b>Moon Cresta</b> was followed by pseudo-sequel <a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2022/09/terra-cresta-playstation-2.html"><b>Terra Cresta</b></a>, in an unexpected series that went on across several systems and platforms.</div><div> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUB_eF2_EYJbUmczw-P14C21dPmzomM4MhELS6AIt145y30sPvAbDzsuidJFOeRKlPlIuBIacLEjTbNnCimKKDu4rDiRhK1mmnGhtPAoZx0Af5io6mu7_WkSIa8wcFwADE5QFRtKl7O4RoJmGkCadGsmroNW9xt6iwI8upn7xJ2ql8-TchJezvzbls9xM/s1093/moonCresta_menuTranslation.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="282" data-original-width="1093" height="83" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUB_eF2_EYJbUmczw-P14C21dPmzomM4MhELS6AIt145y30sPvAbDzsuidJFOeRKlPlIuBIacLEjTbNnCimKKDu4rDiRhK1mmnGhtPAoZx0Af5io6mu7_WkSIa8wcFwADE5QFRtKl7O4RoJmGkCadGsmroNW9xt6iwI8upn7xJ2ql8-TchJezvzbls9xM/s320/moonCresta_menuTranslation.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Click for the option menus translation for <span style="font-weight: bold;">Moon Cresta </span>on the PS2</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div>No functional difference exists between the Japanese and English versions of the game that are included in this PS2 release. As you can see from the Options translation above a TATE orientation is included, so that's obviously the best way to enjoy the game if possible, even though fullscreen YOKO is just fine for what the game has to offer. That's how I played it for a couple of evenings to get the high score below, finishing the credit in loop 4.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-dYYhGLwZBPnWH42Ej4bXXebiNbsI_0hCYpp7ahrmtURmXsQxMr2SWxbiVsLQxxFofJ3zpYYwgcppLWpfhTPhEoiJZbHcB2SMgfrG7dGO_MIA95PYZ2ly7mY0TDzSTVgTpabZCzUWyXl1v9ZR7flbpyMDC-RkPQpKlEywxcnpF8Bq2ykmlTz3AB95ZRc/s300/hS_PS2moonCresta.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-dYYhGLwZBPnWH42Ej4bXXebiNbsI_0hCYpp7ahrmtURmXsQxMr2SWxbiVsLQxxFofJ3zpYYwgcppLWpfhTPhEoiJZbHcB2SMgfrG7dGO_MIA95PYZ2ly7mY0TDzSTVgTpabZCzUWyXl1v9ZR7flbpyMDC-RkPQpKlEywxcnpF8Bq2ykmlTz3AB95ZRc/s1600/hS_PS2moonCresta.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">1cclog.blogspot.com</div>Edwardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17491361099947592597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8742813618758333424.post-29796098384525556912023-12-05T22:40:00.002-03:002023-12-06T06:53:59.317-03:00Detana!! TwinBee (Playstation)<span style="font-weight: bold;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidqthgNbQNgIqY3qaIYtEwfYt6EfFS9GawOCmMFsK2OjlDGiIO12JOQW1tJFNHb6XQ3K-mfynPuPYdDXMyN35g0iiEOTxQL3L9yn4GlCwRaDWdltgvXIe-fnD20Yg8u2h56HWPYZsrdjBVrd1Qf70hOrk8ah49xhaZ3w0xwKxcwESc8UY9OiQrtLDe1iI/s110/detanaTwinBeeYahhoDeluxePack_Box.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="110" data-original-width="110" height="110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidqthgNbQNgIqY3qaIYtEwfYt6EfFS9GawOCmMFsK2OjlDGiIO12JOQW1tJFNHb6XQ3K-mfynPuPYdDXMyN35g0iiEOTxQL3L9yn4GlCwRaDWdltgvXIe-fnD20Yg8u2h56HWPYZsrdjBVrd1Qf70hOrk8ah49xhaZ3w0xwKxcwESc8UY9OiQrtLDe1iI/s1600/detanaTwinBeeYahhoDeluxePack_Box.jpg" width="110" /></a></div>Vertical<br />Checkpoints OFF<br />8 Difficulty levels<br />7 Stages<br />Ship speed by icons<br />- - - - - - -<br />Developed by Konami<br />Published by Konami in 1995</span><br />
<br />Upon a brief research, I just found out that <b>Detana!! TwinBee</b> is actually the fifth chapter in the bell-juggling cute'em up series. Between <a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2021/04/twinbee-3-nes.html"><b>TwinBee 3</b></a> for the Famicom and this one there's also <b>TwinBee Da!</b> for the Game Boy, a title I had completely forgotten about but that's also available in a revamped colored version for the Playstation Portable. <b>Detana!!</b> is the first real arcade entry since the original <a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2018/01/twinbee-psp.html"><b>TwinBee</b></a>, and represents a huge leap in graphics and audio quality from everything that came prior, in a massive overhaul that sort of kicked the series into a new era that spawned several products across a multitude of genres and styles.<div><br /></div><div>Speaking of shmups only, <b>Detana!!</b> is the third to last <i><b>TwinBee</b></i> game ever released. During the 32-bit video game generation it was bundled with final chapter <b>TwinBee Yahho!</b> in the <b>TwinBee Deluxe Pack</b> disc that came out for the Sony Playstation and the Sega Saturn. <a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2014/11/popn-twinbee-snes.html"><b>Pop'n TwinBee</b></a>, the Super Famicom game released between <b>Detana!!</b> and <b>Yahho!</b>, is out of this compilation for obvious reasons. These three games share the same high standards established by Konami at its creative peak, and in the case of <b>Detana!! TwinBee</b>, also known as <b>Bells & Whistles</b> out of Japan, I have nothing but praise for the sheer creativity, the exquisite use of colors and the incredibly catchy soundtrack.</div><div><br /></div><div>And for a guy that always had some serious gripes with the bell mechanics, I admit the gameplay deserves some sort of positive endorsement. Most of the time it's at least less irksome than it was in <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2018/01/twinbee-psp.html">TwinBee</a></b>, and that's saying something. A cute backstory and quick character panels between levels are also there for those who fancy this sort of thing, which admittedly acquired a whole new dimension after this particular chapter.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqnAfIn2xJ_aHLs9-J9rUCZIVvn_Vhtu0z-hKYeBF3t-GlCsYmXh8aFl5_50Hx9YKhfagIoy86530kTFzE_nPXAfTxcowYbqlxOUf51a7vGe-hOu07pyubbJF79zYuwVy9Gg2txd0XYMLW3QtY2hZfs-bkrA0-bF1YDn6_uTrTXY_8hT5C1EYQaE1CfqM/s300/detanaTwinBee_01.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqnAfIn2xJ_aHLs9-J9rUCZIVvn_Vhtu0z-hKYeBF3t-GlCsYmXh8aFl5_50Hx9YKhfagIoy86530kTFzE_nPXAfTxcowYbqlxOUf51a7vGe-hOu07pyubbJF79zYuwVy9Gg2txd0XYMLW3QtY2hZfs-bkrA0-bF1YDn6_uTrTXY_8hT5C1EYQaE1CfqM/s1600/detanaTwinBee_01.png" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 12.6225px; font-style: italic;">Where have both my arms gone, TwinBee?</span></div><div><br /></div><div>Even though the Playstation port of <b>Detana!! TwinBee</b> lacks a TATE mode, the horizontal stretching of the screen isn't that bad to cope with. From the practice rounds I had in MAME, I'd say the game is otherwise pretty much arcade perfect. I certainly missed the possibility to map autofire to the shoulder buttons of the Playstation controller though. The game only allows the configuration of face buttons, and in the default setting you get shot in button ×, rapid shot in button □, bomb in button ○ and rapid bomb in button ∆. Considering you must use a lot of the regular shot, I was fortunate for being able to play well with these default conditions. Holding shot is after all the best new resource the player has against some bosses and many of those cute enemies showering down from above in deadly flocks.</div><div><br /></div><div>This new charge shot just doesn't work against ground enemies, which is naturally expected. To destroy them you need to use bombs dropped by the tiny hands of bumblebee android characters TwinBee (P1 side, blue) and WinBee (P2 side, pink), respectively controlled by pilots Light and Pastel. Their hands can get hit and lost, which then diminishes the ability to destroy ground targets. If both hands are gone an ambulance crosses the screen once per level to repair them (if you lose them again before the level is complete you won't be able to hit ground enemies anymore). Aerial firepower, on the other hand, can be upgraded in several different ways both by juggling bells coming out from clouds or by collecting specific ground items.</div><div><br /></div><div>Bell are, as usual, the foundation of the gameplay in <b>Detana!! TwinBee</b>. The very first one is yellow, but it changes its color once it takes five hits. New to the series, the order of the color change is fixed and transfers to all subsequent bells you're able to hit, starting with white (twin shot), blue (speed-up), green (trailing options), red (barrier), purple (tail barrier, solidifies your options and makes them cancel bullets and damage enemies) and finally black (speed-down) before initiating a new cycle. Colors you've already activated are replaced with yellow bells, and you just can't have red and purple at the same time. Last but not least, all yellow bells taken without letting any fall down the screen increase their value in steps of 500, 1.000, 2.500, 5.000 and 10.000 points (max). If one bell is lost the chain value is reset.</div><div><br /></div><div>Most ground items consist of fruit and vegetables for points, with a few extra ones appearing randomly. The ground bell gives you a 3-way shot and the star is a smart bomb that deals damage to all enemies on screen. GwinBee is special because when taken it hugs and flies alongside you while immensely boosting your firepower. The charge shot, for instance, gets wider and much more powerful. The downside is that the hitbox, which is already big for the regular character, gets even bigger. Much like your arms, GwinBee is instantly lost if hit by a bullet or an enemy.</div><div></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="282" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IFn-LC0zaHw?si=3Tvi_7wJ90fcq0Rc" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe></div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">Welcome to the Valley of the Wind on the Playstation</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">(courtesy of YouTube user <b>The VideoGames Museum</b>)</span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><br /></div><div>Despite the cute looks, the fluffy music and the deceivingly low bullet count, <b>Detana!! TwinBee</b> is a very cruel game for a series of reasons. The first couple of levels aren't exactly demanding, but soon enough all caveats of the gameplay start to show up. First of all, each and every power-up you take increases rank by a certain margin, which means that the more beefed up you get the harder the game becomes. It's naturally full of traps such as enemies materializing out of nowehere or quickly zapping into the screen as you're about to pick up a bell or just trying to get the best of an incoming cloud, an aspect that eventually beats you down to the point of completely discouraging excessive greed unless you have a solid route to score and survive at the same time. Getting back up after dying is extremely difficult, and since there are absolutely no extends this is another case where you'll absolutely end up aiming at a 1-life clear of the first loop. As for the second loop, it's probably one of the hardest things ever conceived even for the most hardcore of hardcore shmup players.</div><div><br /></div><div>I believe that finding the balance between the use of charge shots and rapid shot is one of the keys to success in beating the first loop. Well placed charge shots do wonders, but in the second half of the game you can get easily overwhelmed if you let enemies live long enough. Some will turn back and ram into you if you let them go by. While a few bosses require charge shots and good timing to be properly beaten (that tentacle boss of the 4th stage is a serious offender), it's just better to fire away against others for a faster and cleaner fight. And regardless of your power-up strategy, the purple bell is simply mandatory no matter what. It's a life saver due to its ability to block even the most threatening enemy attacks, such as those V-shaped projectiles fired by a series of crab-like creatures in the final level.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Detana!! TwinBee</b> might be too hard to actually be fun in the long run, but tough gameplay aside it never feels unfair. Sure, you can still feel royally screwed by taking an unwanted speed-down or dying stupidly while trying to get an item, but to the game's defense bullet count is never overwhelming in the first loop and the challenge level never spikes out of nowhere like in <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2018/01/twinbee-psp.html">TwinBee</a></b>. I played in the default difficulty (medium / 4) and got the top result below after dying horribly in stage 2-1 against that duo of materializing grape stems. I forced myself not to fret over lost bells and beat the first loop in a single life, as planned.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs0Dp-twk5mZf9khyVrTJrQXcmgvL5AEaNAngDewe4hTMwMClH7s9vF-YW5LLINMtI2jk95pOgKH3A99sU1Sh2TdZMwagvcshTnQ6D7RXc8n3b5gw5n1WWtZIETE4GkR_pzWMKxInRRx72j1TczUiHCpPt6cMiq5WNIFUH1-mPOACis2qyuKdy1JH07_Q/s300/hS_PS1detanaTwinBee.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs0Dp-twk5mZf9khyVrTJrQXcmgvL5AEaNAngDewe4hTMwMClH7s9vF-YW5LLINMtI2jk95pOgKH3A99sU1Sh2TdZMwagvcshTnQ6D7RXc8n3b5gw5n1WWtZIETE4GkR_pzWMKxInRRx72j1TczUiHCpPt6cMiq5WNIFUH1-mPOACis2qyuKdy1JH07_Q/s1600/hS_PS1detanaTwinBee.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>A port of <b>Detana!!</b> came out for the PC Engine shortly after the arcade release, and the beautiful pastel shades presented in this game would be put to a much milder experience two years later in <a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2014/11/popn-twinbee-snes.html"><b>Pop'n TwinBee</b></a> for the Super Famicom, which in my opinion is the true highlight of the <i><b>TwinBee</b></i> series.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">1cclog.blogspot.com</div>Edwardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17491361099947592597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8742813618758333424.post-42993539665901884822023-11-25T09:12:00.001-03:002023-11-25T09:12:38.437-03:00Gun-Nac (NES)<span style="font-weight: bold;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil3YjkD2B2UlfSmat5QL6YbHplV994V0WRk1OA59r1GSMSiBYPH0DcbcrFG4ROtBnBmSNh_ulCK9YsMg3XAYf45cMZCf_5ctqXOXOn36gozM2Qtr7ObTr0jAJ9s580m0AT3K0aT05MGzgtK8vtPkhRy3vnC4rMNAm45cWtyF57mawdxknCrJb2x_JyW9A/s150/gunNac_Box.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="150" data-original-width="110" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil3YjkD2B2UlfSmat5QL6YbHplV994V0WRk1OA59r1GSMSiBYPH0DcbcrFG4ROtBnBmSNh_ulCK9YsMg3XAYf45cMZCf_5ctqXOXOn36gozM2Qtr7ObTr0jAJ9s580m0AT3K0aT05MGzgtK8vtPkhRy3vnC4rMNAm45cWtyF57mawdxknCrJb2x_JyW9A/s1600/gunNac_Box.jpg" width="110" /></a></div>Vertical<br />Checkpoints OFF<br />4 Difficulty levels<br />8 Stages<br />Ship speed fixed<br />- - - - - - -<br />Developed by Compile<br />Published by Nexoft in 1990</span><br />
<br />The position of <b>Gun-Nac</b> in the history of developer Compile is a curious one, especially within the NES platform. Besides being the last title released by the company for Nintendo's 8-bit system, it's also naturally related to <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2010/12/zanac-nes.html">Zanac</a></b> both by name similarity and by gameplay aspects that resemble those of the <b><i>Aleste</i></b> series. Some people even consider <b>Gun-Nac</b> to be a comical reimagination of <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2010/12/zanac-nes.html">Zanac</a></b>, but in my opinion this is quite a stretch and doesn't hold up if you actually get to experience both games to a certain degree.<div><br /></div><div><b>Gun-Nac</b> even has an intro that shows animals and objects suddenly attacking people in a planet far, far, far, far, far away. And off you go across eight stages to battle them and restore peace and order (the Japanese version has a completely different story though). Considering it came out much later it's only natural that it boasts more detailed graphics than <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2010/12/zanac-nes.html">Zanac</a></b> and even <b>The Guardian Legend</b>, which was also released by Compile between <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2010/12/zanac-nes.html">Zanac</a></b> and <b>Gun-Nac</b> and mixes elements of shmup and RPGs. However, despite the weird comical starting point and some really cool boss designs, <b>Gun-Nac</b> never reaches the wacky heights of something like <b><i>Parodius</i></b>. It's essentially an <i><b>Aleste</b></i>-styled shooter with your odd enemy here and there and a fluid performance that's nothing less than remarkable.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg44wdZLjmR_Bj3D9NedxvTQth_aj5FEcolTsIJzS2J92rxk4_IE7JcdDgAxcFDnhDD9ziIhMB7S-Hz2_vDVzwc-I3CEqakVo5nGtUX3aAX1eRnqFVyKWYlqznvxK0NWmBdro_KLLj10mO04s-KPjiSEobrp8CvQCRbDdRKSEiHz3mNlwlUOKj8Hzm4I28/s300/gunNac_00.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg44wdZLjmR_Bj3D9NedxvTQth_aj5FEcolTsIJzS2J92rxk4_IE7JcdDgAxcFDnhDD9ziIhMB7S-Hz2_vDVzwc-I3CEqakVo5nGtUX3aAX1eRnqFVyKWYlqznvxK0NWmBdro_KLLj10mO04s-KPjiSEobrp8CvQCRbDdRKSEiHz3mNlwlUOKj8Hzm4I28/s1600/gunNac_00.png" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 12.6225px; font-style: italic;">Heat flares from the sun of Bengayleum</span></div><div><br /></div><div>Coming into <b>Gun-Nac</b>, the only idea I had about the game is what I just wrote above. Soon I figured out that button B is used to fire and button A is used to trigger the bomb. Firepower and bombs are dictated by specific items released either by flying smiley faces, specific turrets or specific waves that get completely wiped out. Numbers from 1 to 5 change or upgrade the current weapon (1 for blaster / regular vulcan shot, 2 for buster / detonating blast, 3 for search driver / homing arches, 4 for dragon napalm / fiery beam and 5 for wide beam / lasers). Four alphabet letters increase bomb stock and also determine the type of bomb that will be detonated next (F for fire bomb / ring blast, B for blizzard bomb / walls of ice that move left and right, T for thunder bomb / ricocheting lightning and W for water bomb / vertical 'rainfall').</div><div><br /></div><div>There's also a P item that's supposed to also power up the ship, another item that looks like it but glows and works as a screen clearing bomb and a ship-like icon (the 'wing') that increases the size of the ship but gives you a 1-hit shield and allows additional levels of weapon upgrades. You can also collect money bags that give you currency to spend in the shop that appears in between levels, it's just not possible to see how much money you have during the stage itself. What you can see is your score, the life stock, bomb count/type and a number below that indicates the bomb power level.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yes, there's a plethora of items and upgrades to work with in <b>Gun-Nac</b>. The game also has quite lengthy stages, which gives players plenty of time to get used to all of them. Everything moves at a wonderful pace with no slowdown, and yet in default conditions <b>Gun-Nac</b> falls on the easier side of the difficulty spectrum, mostly because the first half of the game is kind of a breeze and extra lives are handed out like candy just by scoring. I beat the game on my first try, and the score I got is the one you can see at the end of this blog post. I didn't bother to try again because I realized you can exploit several bosses to easily break the scoring system.</div><div><br /></div><div>It was only after I decided to have a deeper understanding of <b>Gun-Nac</b> that I knew the gameplay is far more detailed that what you see up front. Sure, I did notice that whenever the bomb is used your firepower reverts to the default condition of weapon 1, that the number of bombs is not reset when you die (nor restocked), that red items are fixed and black items cycle through numbers/letters and that when you get hit while having an attached wing you go back to the default power and need to upgrade the ship all over again. These observations were all rather obvious, but several other aspects of the game aren't. One of them is the purpose of the SELECT button, which is used to switch the speed of the ship between four settings. Yes, I played the whole game till the end in the default speed setting of 1 (out of 4)!</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="282" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UYzBwgRd-zg?si=mYdf5F1fP1QdKxdQ" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">Peace is about to be shattered in the vast universe far away</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">(courtesy of YouTube user <b>nesguide</b>)</span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><br /></div><div>Upon reading the instruction manual I learned that the number below the bomb type is its actual power, which can be increased up to level 4 by sticking to the same bomb type when collecting items. Picking up a different one resets bomb power back to 1. Part of the money collected during a level is lost if you die, and that's why I had so little of it to spend in the shop between the final stages (the difficulty picks up a little in the third half of the game). There's also a 1UP icon that looks just like the wing, only a little wider and more golden. Finally, there's a turbo power in the shop that once maxed out never resets even if you die. I'm not sure what it does exactly, but I suspect it's related to the weapon firing rate.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Gun-Nac</b> is often remembered by the rabbit armada and their carrot projectiles from the first level, which takes place over the surface of a moon. The game design is much more diverse than what you see in the first stage though, with a distinct style that shows noticeable nods to titles like <b>Star Force</b>, <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2009/04/xevious-nes.html">Xevious</a></b> and of course <b>Aleste</b> and <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2010/12/zanac-nes.html">Zanac</a></b>. It's also got a great soundtrack, with some catchy tunes except for the extremely annoying music that plays in the shop. The assortment of tweaks from the options screen is quite unique for an NES game and includes four difficulty settings, sound test, area select (from the ones you've reached), an optional switch to turn on suicide bullets (ricochet of bullets) and the choice between speed or sprite priority. In speed priority (default) the game sacrifices sprites in order to never slow down, so in this mode a minor degree of flicker is expected during busier sections.</div><div><br /></div><div>I admit that having suicide bullets activated gives the game a whole new dimension as far as challenge goes. It does away with the abuse of boss milking, for instance. Even though I didn't venture into alternate difficulty settings I do believe the game gets even more fun when you do so. I just deemed my mission complete in the Normal/Intermediate (2) difficulty with no ricochet of bullets and speed priority. As mentioned above, the result below came from my one and only credit with no milking whatsoever.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGLJKtMpSq2Pt5gUarrHyKJv8Vih6Mpi24Ap-owfGUrfhKbVBB9_GG_Mp5jCBI4ZsltjJe8frSy-p8XPFY2uB55z1iW2vxEfhqqTEPX9yCzcsodFC41XoP1OSL0x8qKBwiaRBVLYgOyLINQCW93Rme1Bt1T6PeWRT_GpvAkzVNuTzNgOt7AyMD9ukjMgY/s300/hS_NESgunNac.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGLJKtMpSq2Pt5gUarrHyKJv8Vih6Mpi24Ap-owfGUrfhKbVBB9_GG_Mp5jCBI4ZsltjJe8frSy-p8XPFY2uB55z1iW2vxEfhqqTEPX9yCzcsodFC41XoP1OSL0x8qKBwiaRBVLYgOyLINQCW93Rme1Bt1T6PeWRT_GpvAkzVNuTzNgOt7AyMD9ukjMgY/s1600/hS_NESgunNac.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">1cclog.blogspot.com</div>Edwardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17491361099947592597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8742813618758333424.post-30919110870988833512023-10-28T00:49:00.000-03:002023-10-28T00:49:01.286-03:00Granada (Mega Drive)<span style="font-weight: bold;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd8HB6CLRf8ZriQgF34iqcKKNO1yLUokEmqBppuzbQdvY7aLkVKH36MA-6nELuX63ybtrGLqEKKZeT40uUmPNvyXMNBu4WelIOrIfeUWPK2OzsPFHtvow6zSSeMYhT4HVSwSWxVtI5o5etxb0oFR84UrXSU9qnOytDiC3W1qmERtICTJdH9edcp8mQwaA/s150/granada_Box.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="150" data-original-width="110" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd8HB6CLRf8ZriQgF34iqcKKNO1yLUokEmqBppuzbQdvY7aLkVKH36MA-6nELuX63ybtrGLqEKKZeT40uUmPNvyXMNBu4WelIOrIfeUWPK2OzsPFHtvow6zSSeMYhT4HVSwSWxVtI5o5etxb0oFR84UrXSU9qnOytDiC3W1qmERtICTJdH9edcp8mQwaA/s1600/granada_Box.jpg" width="110" /></a></div>Arena<br />Checkpoints OFF<br />4 Difficulty levels<br />9 Stages<br />Ship speed fixed<br />- - - - - - -<br />Developed by Wolfteam<br />Published by Renovation in 1990</span><br />
<br />Ever since <b>Tank</b> and <b>Combat</b> were released by Atari for its arcade and home systems during the 70s, the idea of controlling tanks in a video game wasn't as engrossing as most other motifs but resulted in a few directly inspired titles such as <b>Grobda</b> and <b>Assault</b>. The multidirectional gameplay then branched into similar approaches such as <b>Smash TV</b> and <b>Robotron 2084</b>, but none of these titles were really friendly towards players since they're nothing more than massive quarter-munchers at their core. That's why <b>Granada</b> felt so fresh from the start, after all it's a tank-based shooter where you definitely feel success is a possibility despite its fair share of obstacles.<div><br /></div><div>The Mega Drive version is a port of the original game released for the X68000 home computer system, and as far as I know represents an improvement except for the amount of onscreen colors and the lack of cut scenes. The gameplay on the Mega Drive is faster and more dynamic all around, generally throwing more obstacles at the player as well as a brand new stage (7th). The sound design is a debatable subject though, yet you can't go wrong with another nice soundtrack by Motoi Sakuraba. Even if it isn't in the same league as other Wolfteam games like <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2009/08/sol-deace-mega-drive.html">Sol-Deace</a></b> or <b>El Viento</b>, the soundtrack to <b>Granada</b> is definitely one of the highlights of the game.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="282" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oM1kzCK3hZQ?si=Rsk4bQZb4TjUDc9K" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe></div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">How to get the secret cannon blaster upgrade in stage 2</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">(courtesy of YouTube user <span style="font-weight: bold;">про игры</span>)</span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br /><div>Every stage in <b>Granada</b> takes place in a confined area shown in the radar map at the lower corner of the screen. Inside the map red dots indicate your targets, which range from simple turrets to tanks and larger bases, depending on the level. Only after all targets are destroyed you'll be able to fight the stage boss, in a progression of nine levels that take you through both ground and aerial bases with varying degrees of difficulty. You have four lives with 15 energy cells each to get through the game in the Normal difficulty, and once all of them are depleted the journey is over. There are absolutely no energy refills and no extra lives to be found, so do your best to remain unharmed and preserve energy for the hardest parts of the game.</div><div><br /></div><div>In order to achieve success a balance needs to be stricken between agressiveness and caution. Default controls work with A for shot, B for locking/strafing and C for the cannon blaster, a single burst attack that's more powerful than the regular shot. In the Options screen you can also switch the rotation setting to "slow", but there's no reason to do that since you definitely need agility when dealing with hordes of enemies coming from all sides. Controls work like a charm and service the fast pace of the game really well, an aspect that's sort of unexpected if you're coming from older tank-based games. Here we're talking about a highly advanced armored tank after all, but I can't help but feel something is off when I see it bounce and glide so fast at times. It just feels too light, and in my opinion a better sound design could've certainly alleviated this impression.</div><div><br /></div><div>Regardless of the initial impression, <b>Granada</b> is a game that tends to grow on you. It's definitely a slow burner, one that becomes really engaging once players start to complete levels with little to no damage taken. Eventually you'll end up devising optimal routes for each stage, not only to tackle the necessary targets but also to collect and use special weaponry that enhances your basic firepower. Known as "support units", they might appear as reflector squares, homing missiles, boomerang discs, explosive bombs and spinning balls. These additional weapons are only active during the level in which they were collected except for the secret item found in stage 2, which is active for the whole credit. In order to get it head to the end of the left large wing right away and move towards the thin extension down below, hovering at its very tip for a few seconds. A flying item will appear and sink into the tank, doubling the power of the cannon blaster. The recoil becomes even stronger, so watch out whenever you're blasting the cannon while standing on borderless surfaces. Falls are fatal and make you lose a whole life instantly.</div><div><br /></div><div>One particular quirk of <b>Granada</b> is that generally you don't suffer any damage by touching enemies, only by being hit. Some attacks might take more than one energy cell though. Boss fights are in a category of their own since their routines vary considerably. Some cycle through several attack patterns, others expose weak spots after a while. Glaring exceptions are the 4th boss and the need to bounce your firepower on walls to hit him from an angle, and also the 5th boss, which can be easily destroyed by going behind him and firing away. The hardest fight happens against the 6th boss and its multiple detachments, which represent the first big wall players need to climb in their quest for the 1CC. Well-placed blasters should do the trick there, but the fight can quickly deteriorate into a panic feast if you don't keep your cool.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYcU_ybgjsjL1pwTZ1GiUJXe8hC4d1ZgFgHZ2uxQV0eeXlRcRSzGXIOpdKqklnrdEjVMwkggP2Yy3ZuZN76H4RG0W0Zcx_Rr0nWbpChxwGZXJ8e4FMEJk-JAMD31G57s-jq_lSJxKhN9ECHiOEol0BsbUSXneCPFlY4QQi-q8fbvzzqVf7fxZ98ug9DSI/s300/granada_01.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYcU_ybgjsjL1pwTZ1GiUJXe8hC4d1ZgFgHZ2uxQV0eeXlRcRSzGXIOpdKqklnrdEjVMwkggP2Yy3ZuZN76H4RG0W0Zcx_Rr0nWbpChxwGZXJ8e4FMEJk-JAMD31G57s-jq_lSJxKhN9ECHiOEol0BsbUSXneCPFlY4QQi-q8fbvzzqVf7fxZ98ug9DSI/s1600/granada_01.png" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 12.6225px; font-style: italic;">Having a showdown against the 3rd boss</span></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div>When speaking about the scoring system, the simplicity of <b>Granada</b> can actually be a little deceiving. In short, it rewards players who take more risks while preserving health, don't procrastinate (cannon blasters make you move faster backwards!) and suicide when needed. Since each life is timed and time completion is the most important factor in the end-of-stage bonus, exploiting this to maximize the score is just a matter of bringing the boss to the brink of defeat and then dying by timeout, finishing it off as soon as you're respawned with a full timer. The bonus is a simple multiplication of the remaining time × 100 × difficulty factor × stage number. On Easy and Normal settings the difficulty factor is 1, whereas on Hard and Mania it gets boosted to 2 and 3 respectively.</div><div><br /></div><div>I played the game in the Normal difficulty to get the high score below. A known bug of the Mega Drive version is the lack of the last bonus for the final stage, which isn't computed in the final score. I'll settle with this result though. I could certainly play a little more to refine my strategies, especially in the final level, but alas... It's time to move on. So many games to play, so little time!</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir6mIZQCo8aGZHeyMKtFsnHusCuQE2ZLa_XI5TeIhLKCg0ecJagnkQ3A2DTsiRHIDWk9gfhic3uPTGX_b25SpRQTdFW6Rt9b4Vfq9IAodd5qVi3mzQzVjbLeklIVnw47dU6iUuLnB5qvhZVODF-LWDJtpjll3tv5UY_kt_ct24DAKWpzkm9x3BeEOg_UE/s300/hS_mDgranada.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir6mIZQCo8aGZHeyMKtFsnHusCuQE2ZLa_XI5TeIhLKCg0ecJagnkQ3A2DTsiRHIDWk9gfhic3uPTGX_b25SpRQTdFW6Rt9b4Vfq9IAodd5qVi3mzQzVjbLeklIVnw47dU6iUuLnB5qvhZVODF-LWDJtpjll3tv5UY_kt_ct24DAKWpzkm9x3BeEOg_UE/s1600/hS_mDgranada.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">1cclog.blogspot.com</div>Edwardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17491361099947592597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8742813618758333424.post-34043312999200021472023-10-13T09:54:00.001-03:002023-10-23T14:55:43.695-03:00Nanotek Warrior (Playstation)<span style="font-weight: bold;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLWWpsL_DrabOwDTcLHq8qYVVC4TW7oDstw6YYC8nZejG04r6TsR3qq6Eg7LzhyphenhyphenwLROAzMR_qxxAcpKHB_ahamcEt56-LKswu763HUU0Qhnno4jX3FxnB74TktqsIY7Z85UHCRO7y0mHMh1s04B-Ds7xTpDtLMQ89P2Bg94xTMJFoXhlhLCkNR-iRg81U/s110/nanotekWarrior_Box.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="110" data-original-width="110" height="110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLWWpsL_DrabOwDTcLHq8qYVVC4TW7oDstw6YYC8nZejG04r6TsR3qq6Eg7LzhyphenhyphenwLROAzMR_qxxAcpKHB_ahamcEt56-LKswu763HUU0Qhnno4jX3FxnB74TktqsIY7Z85UHCRO7y0mHMh1s04B-Ds7xTpDtLMQ89P2Bg94xTMJFoXhlhLCkNR-iRg81U/s1600/nanotekWarrior_Box.jpg" width="110" /></a></div>Tube shooter<br />Checkpoints OFF/ON<br />3 Difficulty levels<br />8 Stages<br />Ship speed variable<br />- - - - - - -<br />Developed by Tetragon<br />Published by Virgin Interactive in 1997</span><br />
<br /><div>In the 23rd century nanotechnology is so advanced that starts to turn against the human kind, with nanorobots creating nanocolonies to dominate the galaxy. The player takes the role of the commander of a new class of remote-controllable nanowar machines, navigating through nanotubes in a desperate attempt to destroy eight mega nanobosses. Yes, there are lots of mentions to "nano" everywhere when you check out the instruction manual to this game but make no mistake, there's nothing "nano" about the gameplay of another unsuspectedly decent entry in the Playstation shmup library.</div><div><br /></div><div>Not counting <b>Tempest X3</b>, which is in a league of its own in terms of gameplay, <b>Nanotek Warrior</b> is part of the tube shooter trifecta of the Playstation platform and is certainly recommended, as is <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2019/11/is-internal-section-playstation.html">iS - Internal Section</a></b>. These games are often dismissed as old 3D novelties, but suffice it to say that all of them (including <b>N2O - Nitrous Oxide</b>, which I still haven't played) are more approachable than any rail shooter of the same era for a very simple reason: they behave just like fixed shooters set on a scrolling torus. Released in all main gaming regions, <b>Nanotek Warrior</b> is a great example of how to implement such a concept, providing solid fun, good hit detection and a difficulty slope that feels natural, even offering the ability to practice individual levels with a simple but efficient password feature (the existence of a password system obviously means that the game has no saving functionalities).</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLWQwGXqKE1yU4SWNQ9OPWhR5iccjxKl5jRJ0_onFddfzgYq-lssDCJpu_OLKrOv68L6y5IiXNIjr9AhOjzp3Uq_RzZpJ5sGdmNpd1rfjl0xqo4orX_50yfplINzLeCYcIPDEpfTku4ISwHTJ2QnUd88-lV1uaHTjTF0sEiRN9F9SwH9CvxkKnzkDtTwA/s300/nanotekWarrior_00.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLWQwGXqKE1yU4SWNQ9OPWhR5iccjxKl5jRJ0_onFddfzgYq-lssDCJpu_OLKrOv68L6y5IiXNIjr9AhOjzp3Uq_RzZpJ5sGdmNpd1rfjl0xqo4orX_50yfplINzLeCYcIPDEpfTku4ISwHTJ2QnUd88-lV1uaHTjTF0sEiRN9F9SwH9CvxkKnzkDtTwA/s1600/nanotekWarrior_00.png" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 12.6225px; font-style: italic;">Checkpoints are determined by rings of light along the tube</span></div><div><br /></div><div>Don't get frightened by the control settings of <b>Nanotek Warrior</b>, which offers no less than 14 variations of button layouts. Half of them are labeled "flight" and the other half "arcade". The only difference between them is that the vertical directions are normal for arcade and inverted for flight. Then you have inputs for shot, jump and special attack, as well as strafe and bank, which always work with the shoulder/trigger buttons. Strafe is a weird designation since you're actually always strafing while navigating the game tubes – what it does is actually fire one single diagonal shot towards the chosen direction. Bank makes the ship fly vertically on its wings for approximately one second. While strafing is quite useful throughout the whole game, banking is only needed in the final stages, and even so quite sparingly (you can do without it, honestly). Finally, by pressing up and down you can accelerate and slow down the speed of the ship.</div><div><br /></div><div>As you slide both outside and inside the nanotubes (mostly outside), an energy bar allows the ship to take some damage, but if this bar is depleted a life is lost and you get sent back to a checkpoint. Enemies and obstacles will require the use of pretty much all basic inputs mentioned above. Sometimes it's just not enough to dodge, you will have to jump or even jump while accelerating or slowing down. Good timing is required to pass through giant fans, laser gates or horizontal barriers without getting hit, whereas tiny ramps are strategically positioned to help you jump even higher, in most cases with the purpose of allowing the collection of otherwise unreachable items.</div><div><br /></div><div>Speaking of which, items come in three colors. Yellow ones recover lost energy. Red ones provide the ship with an assortment of special attacks, including scattering bombs, piercing wave shots, forward-clearing ground blasts and outward boomerang-like shards. Some of them will also endow the ship with a temporary 3-way shot (additionally, whenever a few selected enemies are destroyed the default single shot gets upgraded to a two-shot blast). Regardless of how you end a stage, the next one will start with a full energy bar and no special attacks. Finally, the green item gives you an extra life. Besides that, score-based extends are granted at every 100.000 points you're able to score.</div><div><br /></div><div>An aspect that deviates from the rest of the game are the boss fights. They all take place inside a chamber instead of over a running tube, in what the game calls "orbit" mode. You need to fly around the boss, dodging its attacks and aiming at weak spots. While some bosses are easy, a few of them can be quite tricky due to the weird perspective of orbit mode. In order to circumvent that my strategy was to move a lot either hugging the top or the bottom of the screen, and always take out smaller satellites before targeting the boss itself. Besides making the battle easier, most satellites release either yellow or red items.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="282" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Y2RFWiutJ8I?si=PWeTcWKmY8uBTmId" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe></div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">A full credit of <b>Nanotek Warrior</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">(courtesy of YouTube user <span style="font-weight: bold;">Completionator</span>)</span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><br /></div><div>With eight very distinctly themed stages, <b>Nanotek Warrior</b> leans towards a dark design that takes advantage of varied textures and lighting effects. It feels a little gritty overall, but everything moves along nicely with no hiccups whatsoever. The game might feel longer than it actually is due to the duration of checkpoints and the presence of two bonus levels after stages 3 and 6 that play a lot like the bonus areas of <b>Sonic the Hedgehog 2</b> (!). Some checkpoints are very short while others, such as the starting checkpoint of the final stage, can be excruciatingly long. Another source of dynamic halts can be mid-bosses, which show up twice in each level and reappear once in the last stage. All of them can be safely taken out with well-established strategies and some practice. Practicing is in fact very much needed from stage 6 onwards due to a noticeable leap in difficulty.</div><div><br /></div><div>Decent gameplay aside, it's just a little disappointing that <b>Nanotek Warrior</b> can't be played for score. All extra lives keep reappearing in the same place if you die, which means players can exploit checkpoints indefinitely to achieve higher scores. Since you do get lots of extra lives just by regular game progression, the impression is that final success is always around the corner the closest you get to the finish line. On a final note, since the techno music often seems engulfed by sound effects, it might be good to tinker with the sound balance in the options.</div><div> </div><div>Without any checkpoint milking I barely surpassed one million points in my successful attempt to the 1CC the game in the Normal difficulty, as seen in the picture below (I used the "flight B" control setup). It was a fun and fulfilling ride nonetheless. The ending shows a nice animation where the blue ship is upgraded to a red ship, and if you use the bonus password the game gives you the credit will then start with this new ship. It comes with a brand new 3-way pattern instead of the default single shot, as well as infinite special attacks that cycle through all types endlessly (red items are all replaced by the point tokens of the bonus levels). For quite a satisfying spectacle of destruction one might as well have the special attack button set to permanent turbofire! Just for reference, the bonus password I got for the Normal difficulty was <b>×□×□□○×∆×</b>.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQgyjNsu8Db7arx6IKw_bdjZ2bpds1lDAOGF3yNmZId34l_m551BBwTa7UcoQQuz4C9gm6BzSJ_Ce7ZlR_K_CA3X-QzmC0-jZV1aR7Ix7swbG8TL-iWmryCBR5CNbRHcxGlMn7xHB19ECfB-n7uPriw8Xl9iYAQXnx0bkxsWAQJ7WAdoVYTeO9MDkO78U/s300/hS_PS1nanotekWarrior.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQgyjNsu8Db7arx6IKw_bdjZ2bpds1lDAOGF3yNmZId34l_m551BBwTa7UcoQQuz4C9gm6BzSJ_Ce7ZlR_K_CA3X-QzmC0-jZV1aR7Ix7swbG8TL-iWmryCBR5CNbRHcxGlMn7xHB19ECfB-n7uPriw8Xl9iYAQXnx0bkxsWAQJ7WAdoVYTeO9MDkO78U/s1600/hS_PS1nanotekWarrior.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">1cclog.blogspot.com</div>Edwardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17491361099947592597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8742813618758333424.post-24048355799431785802023-09-29T00:53:00.000-03:002023-09-29T00:53:27.477-03:00Space Elite Force (Playstation 4)<span style="font-weight: bold;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwrdSzFq9Yvb9axNsHtQ5t1RV1pjc1iHxHjjn9qUlmxz6xibyr28nt9Lb2-I7nhdECfcTz4_i3sAWacpJzgTA3y8No3hmIlUv6yg9GX_8sBlLQoFwSnlKc-AYLzHkdhfbVepVvrovcWgsi0K3MinfQ9-BM71qiFAZScjfJYLRgI15VlyEsaj-FJftFbDM/s135/spaceEliteForce2in1_Box.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="135" data-original-width="110" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwrdSzFq9Yvb9axNsHtQ5t1RV1pjc1iHxHjjn9qUlmxz6xibyr28nt9Lb2-I7nhdECfcTz4_i3sAWacpJzgTA3y8No3hmIlUv6yg9GX_8sBlLQoFwSnlKc-AYLzHkdhfbVepVvrovcWgsi0K3MinfQ9-BM71qiFAZScjfJYLRgI15VlyEsaj-FJftFbDM/s1600/spaceEliteForce2in1_Box.jpg" width="110" /></a></div>Horizontal<br />Checkpoints OFF<br />2 Difficulty levels<br />7 Stages<br />Ship speed fixed<br />- - - - - - -<br />Developed by Rising Moon Games<br />Published by QUByte Game Studio / Red Art Games in 2023</span><br />
<br />A tiny little shooter developed by a tiny indie company, <b>Space Elite Force</b> comes bundled with its sequel in the <b>Space Elite Force 2 in 1</b> package, recently honored with a retail release for the Playstation 4. I could state that a secondary honor is to be featured here thanks to the curiosity that moved my daughter and I to try out the game on a whim during a lazy Saturday. We did get along with it during the short time we had, and she was even able to follow me along in co-op until some of the boss fights. Given this good first impression, later on that night I decided to get back to the game and see what else it had in store in a serious solo run.<div><br /></div><div><b>Space Elite Force</b> is a straightforward shooter with little flair for backgrounds and not much variety as far as the enemy gallery goes. The good news is that it doesn't do anything wrong with these assets, which can be considered a strong positive in light of some of the dreadful disfigurements that many recent independent games sell as innovations. Get the basics right and offer decent fun from start to finish, never mind the game not being tailored to the hardcore audience that's always hungry for seemingly undodgeable bullet curtains.</div><div><br /></div><div>In a nutshell, <b>Space Elite Force</b> is great for beginners. Often compared to <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2019/05/steredenn-binary-stars-playstation-4.html">Steredenn - Binary Starts</a></b> in how it looks, even though I also see throwbacks to <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2010/03/aegis-wing-xbox-live.html">Aegis Wing</a></b> here and there, the game is otherwise much more simple and straightforward. It's beatable in a single short session and can be played with a friend sharing power-ups, with good dodging fun, no complicated mechanics, no inertia for the ship and a gentle difficulty slope across seven stages. The sound design is by the book and follows along nicely.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7U5GXpRAW4j-35snQ9QgijlY4jaotTNvwVW9DJeq65lzDluunp4zTkGxnZ6gd-p4kAWQSRH5gwl1RNlBbWEQ1EXPHqVv3Kh39T8zZe5BaNn8J2wCVp_pANv7DD1RCamHhyphenhyphenYM3KTnvMdKc3P1e-HeO4JRHtUukGO0kjrlqr_LilDcR-XcsejRa0NV2PrA/s400/spaceEliteForce_00.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7U5GXpRAW4j-35snQ9QgijlY4jaotTNvwVW9DJeq65lzDluunp4zTkGxnZ6gd-p4kAWQSRH5gwl1RNlBbWEQ1EXPHqVv3Kh39T8zZe5BaNn8J2wCVp_pANv7DD1RCamHhyphenhyphenYM3KTnvMdKc3P1e-HeO4JRHtUukGO0kjrlqr_LilDcR-XcsejRa0NV2PrA/s16000/spaceEliteForce_00.png" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 12.6225px; font-style: italic;">Planetary dust rings, lasers and space carriers</span></div><div><br /></div><div>The start of the game pays homage to <i>Star Wars</i> in the introduction story section, and once you skip it the action starts. Default inputs consist of button × for the main weapon, button □ for the secondary weapon and button R1 to slow down the ship (a third button for an extra weapon appears in the options but it's never used, probably something the developers forgot to exclude and nobody cares about). Both weapons come with autofire, but note that you can't use them at the same time. The secondary weapon takes precedence, so under normal conditions a balance needs to be achieved between shooting the main weapon and tapping the secondary weapon when needed, after all it's more powerful but has a much lower firing rate.</div><div><br /></div><div>As you destroy the enemy armada tiny dots are left behind and get automatically sucked into the ship when you get close enough to them. This is the money that you'll be able to spend in between levels to purchase upgrades to both weapons and the ship itself. Expected upgrades exist for the starting pea shooter and the auxiliary missile, such as double, triple and spread shots or more powerful, versatile heat-seeking missiles as well as mines and piercing shots. A little catch is that you can only choose one of each prior to starting the next stage. Ship enhancements include reduction of enemy bullet speed, increased resistance to damage, more health and more temporary power-ups, and the good news here is that all these upgrades are permanently applied to the ship (or ships when in co-op). Another great touch when playing with a friend is that all weapon purchases are available to both players, and each one can configure his/her ship differently before going into the next mission.</div><div><br /></div><div>Lives are treated as a single health meter that gets refilled every time a new stage starts, and if this meter reaches zero the game is over. When you begin the game you get 10 health cells on Normal, whereas on Hardcore you get 5. Lost health can be recovered within the level if you happen to come by the + item that appears from destroyed power-up carriers. These carriers might also release temporary power-ups in the form of a rotating shield, firepower boosters (a lightning bolt), money magnets (attracts money dots from all over the screen) or an extra score multiplier of ×2. The regular multiplier is shown below the score counter and increases as you kill enemies in succession, decreasing slowly whenever nothing is being destroyed and faster when you get hit. The secret to cranking it up is taking advantage of those waves of small enemies that appear from time to time, then surfing the rest of the level while trying not to destroy everything too quickly.</div><div><br /></div><div>With a combination of all kinds of aimed shots and spread patterns, as well as lasers and enemies coming from all sides, which is always properly warned by exclamation signs at the borders of the screen, <b>Space Elite Force</b>'s gameplay is as solid as it gets, if only too simple at times. All bosses have a health bar that tell you when they're about to die, I just felt they could be a little more menacing. Some of the later bosses are easier than the initial ones, for instance. This is one of the examples where the game could've use some fine tuning, but there's also the slight visual confusion when the magnet power-up is on and showers of coins start coming from the other side of the screen amidst enemy fire. Both points are minor though and shouldn't be taken as real issues.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="282" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iHkDnX0lMRw?si=0hJvmKQ3peNiENXv" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe></div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">Trailer for the <b>Space Elite Force 2 in 1</b> combo for the Playstation 4</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">(courtesy of YouTube user and publisher <span style="font-weight: bold;">RED ART GAMES</span>)</span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><br /></div><div>In spite of how well it plays and feels, <b>Space Elite Force</b> does have a few functional shortcomings. While I do appreaciate the way power-ups are implemented in the regular game modes, Infinity mode is an inexplicable alternate experience where you play randomly generated levels and bosses one after the other, but power-ups can only be acquired by dying and ending the credit. Then you start again with the new equipment, and the only way to upgrade any further is to keep dying over and over. Another botched feature is the ranking table. There's no local ranking, and the online rankings for all modes were never updated for me even though I was able to place myself amongst the meager slots available for high scores.</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, since we're talking about the Playstation 4 we all know you can easily record footage as you play. By doing that I was able to extract the final result below before it quickly disappeared from the screen, playing in Hard(core) mode. Hopefully soon I'll get the chance to try <b>Space Elite Force II</b>.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhub7y5RMZfqvlhZ7gn5iqnQUTghOxky4XSFmiHj9FFMqqm7g4VRZllGGDNugTw-JZGcXKBZ5wredlBuguCsH0Su41dQR1vsu4fzuYPkZ_AWCWndpJm0v6O5G68PC1bgW1G5nDst580Hus0bEqkgjSAW9FXc95MqaKXBshQbLUghvQxFq0-Dcn8-Hjv98o/s300/hS_PS4spaceEliteForce.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhub7y5RMZfqvlhZ7gn5iqnQUTghOxky4XSFmiHj9FFMqqm7g4VRZllGGDNugTw-JZGcXKBZ5wredlBuguCsH0Su41dQR1vsu4fzuYPkZ_AWCWndpJm0v6O5G68PC1bgW1G5nDst580Hus0bEqkgjSAW9FXc95MqaKXBshQbLUghvQxFq0-Dcn8-Hjv98o/s1600/hS_PS4spaceEliteForce.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">1cclog.blogspot.com</div>Edwardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17491361099947592597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8742813618758333424.post-45417748928482978632023-09-23T11:20:00.001-03:002023-09-23T11:20:40.771-03:00Burai Fighter (NES)<span style="font-weight: bold;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxik2NY9FO9kZgYJ4QT7cRqyvvE2sOHnHsDwnjKPZiFBVIXSYTHYxfvA_ALZZ3ORyDcd_XQGmaH9_tbavpSEbtCtuP3RZKQVxJ5_tsqqCL-KOJrBAiV4BwOWauR2WXBJsO-gCeE7UETdnxzZDw043p5DoE3QhguSWOm591HdPUw83hdh_OKmzYOJF2ebw/s150/buraiFighter_Box.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="150" data-original-width="110" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxik2NY9FO9kZgYJ4QT7cRqyvvE2sOHnHsDwnjKPZiFBVIXSYTHYxfvA_ALZZ3ORyDcd_XQGmaH9_tbavpSEbtCtuP3RZKQVxJ5_tsqqCL-KOJrBAiV4BwOWauR2WXBJsO-gCeE7UETdnxzZDw043p5DoE3QhguSWOm591HdPUw83hdh_OKmzYOJF2ebw/s1600/buraiFighter_Box.jpg" width="110" /></a></div>Arena<br />Checkpoints ON<br />4 Difficulty levels<br />7 Stages (loopable)<br />Ship speed by icons<br />- - - - - - -<br />Developed by KID / Taxan<br />Published by Taxan in 1990</span><br />
<br />An arena shooter disguised as a horizontal with a great fantasy theme, anyone? <b>Burai Fighter</b> is the answer, and a rather good one too. Often compared to the likes of <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2017/09/scat-nes.html">S.C.A.T.</a></b> and <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2013/05/abadox-nes.html">Abadox</a></b>, this game might in fact be the best of this bunch for a series of reasons. We can start by mentioning the solid action and the creative design, two characteristics that shine and help make this a highlight of the NES library, even a hidden gem of sorts. The multidirectional aspect of the gameplay is another feature that's tightly implemented and should please those who don't feel comfortable with rotating control mechanics such as those seen in <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2013/05/forgotten-worlds-playstation-2.html">Forgotten Worlds</a></b>, for example.<div><br /></div><div>Quick curiosity: the game was later ported to the Game Boy as <b>Burai Fighter Deluxe</b>, and to the Game Boy Color as <b>Burai Fighter Color</b> in Japan and <b>Space Marauder</b> in the West.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><div>A powerful race of aliens called Burai is bent on conquering the universe, deploying all sorts of robotic mutants throughout the galaxy. The player is the only hope of mankind as a lone fighter piloting a proton pack, so off you go bring justice to the strangest confines of the universe armed with a main gun activated by button B and an assortment of bombs triggered with button A. By aiming and keeping button B pressed you lock your shot in any of the eight available directions, a resource that gives players a lot of freedom in how they want to tackle the different environments across seven increasingly harder stages. If you wish, a simple password feature allows you to start the game in any stage, just take note of them as the stage is about to begin.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="282" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NA0TaLfKD7I?si=mSSo6QymnfBfZ9X3" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe></div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">Fight the evil Burai!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">(courtesy of YouTube user <span style="font-weight: bold;">NesShortGameplays</span>)</span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div> </div><div>Special items can appear simply floating in the air or from carrier pods that must be hit in their center orb to be destroyed. These pods keep changing their position at regular intervals while closing in on the player, so beware not to die by failing to destroy them in time. The most important items are weapon power-ups, which give you special powers depending on their letters: laser (L), missile (M) and ring (R). Each one has three power levels related to the amount of items you collect (1, 5 and 10/A). Weapons are upgraded separately just by taking items, and at maximum power they all acquire very efficient spread patterns (X-shaped for laser/missile and 3-way + one rear shot for ring). The missile is the only one that mandatorily fires forward (to the right) in its initial form, the other ones follow your firing direction. The ring shot is the only one that can go through walls.</div><div><br /></div><div>Other important items are the speed-up (S) and the rotation pod, which looks like a spiky object (watch out, at first I thought it was harmful and avoided it for a few credits). The pod rotates around the player and destroys enemies on contact, but is incapable of shielding you from bullets. Additional pod items will make it rotate faster. As for speed-ups, from my experience two of them are fine to play the whole game. If you take more than that controlling the character might become a problem when there are too many enemies or dead corners around, after all you can also die by screen-crushing. Deaths reset the power of the weapon you're currently using and send you back to a previous checkpoint.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>"Cobalt" bombs are acquired by collecting the red orbs left behind by destroyed enemies. For each white mark in the bomb meter you get one cobalt bomb that can be detonated with button A, wiping bullets and killing all regular enemies in the screen (there is no effect on bosses though). If you keep accumulating bombs and reach the EXTRA mark you earn a new life and the bomb meter is reset. Even though it's tempting to avoid bombing to get extra lives, it's always best to use them if the going gets tough. That's especially true when you realize there's a better way to gain more lives, which is simply related to scoring. A new one is obtained at every 100.000 points, and there's also the possibility of finding free extra lives in the form of 1UP items.</div><div><br /></div></div><div>With practically no slowdown and tolerable bouts of flicker, <b>Burai Fighter</b> is a joy to play once you get the hang of the basic gameplay. The screen scrolls in all directions, and there isn't a single instance that makes you feel that you died cheaply. Of course it's better to stay in the center of the screen until you get used to the stage layouts. There seems to be an obvious inspiration from Irem, given the vague similarities with titles such as <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2016/02/x-multiply-saturn.html">X-Multiply</a></b> (level 2) and <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2022/10/image-fight-nes.html">Image Fight</a></b> (level 5). You do get two completely different levels in stages 3 and 6, which unfold in a top-view perspective. The objective there is to find and destroy a turret base as you move around non-stop, just like in the overhead levels of <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2013/07/thunder-force-ii-mega-drive.html">Thunder Force II</a></b>.</div><div><br /></div><div>At the beginning of the overhead stages a radar appears showing the location of the base relative to yours. In the words of the instruction manual: be careful to remember your location and the location of the base, because if you don't you might wander the barren cosmos for all eternity. The map rolls over itself, so if the base is up there and you're down below just move down to find it easily instead of going all the way up.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4ZoW3q5B6pgkBNnfXC6538vjHFCG_vPXSeuYM6xAfWgD94rYP5C21cbVETENOvxYjdNIu5PI7DiVT1vrbfsNooRL8G9oI0wdtDdvFlJfDtlDKQg4JuTcYokV0cB1FQVa6BI9aalbdglBaAKUFHzkQaK7vWKw_DQO908uLcK-fdVx673J-Z1LDvM7fjRQ/s300/buraiFighter_00.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4ZoW3q5B6pgkBNnfXC6538vjHFCG_vPXSeuYM6xAfWgD94rYP5C21cbVETENOvxYjdNIu5PI7DiVT1vrbfsNooRL8G9oI0wdtDdvFlJfDtlDKQg4JuTcYokV0cB1FQVa6BI9aalbdglBaAKUFHzkQaK7vWKw_DQO908uLcK-fdVx673J-Z1LDvM7fjRQ/s1600/buraiFighter_00.png" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 12.6225px; font-style: italic;">Ascending the platforms of stage 5</span></div><div><br /></div><div>Ten hidden rooms can be found throughout the game, but getting access to all of them is actually a mystery. The one that appears in the first stage is clearly visible, but as much as I tried I couldn't make the screen go up to enter it, not even once in all my time playing the game. I did get to access the small detour to the left with a 1UP in the descent phase of stage 2 a few times, but I have no idea how I triggered it. In any case these hidden rooms aren't really important in the long run since all you need to succeed is provided in the regular paths of the game anyway.</div><div><br /></div><div>Although it's not exceedingly hard <b>Burai Fighter</b> does have a few tense checkpoints such as the one that leads to last boss Slimedragon. Dodging his molten rock fireballs can be a pain, but note that by using ring the fight doesn't drag for too long. In fact, the instruction manual mentions that each boss has one weapon as weakness. Besides that, it's also very useful to abuse point blanking for faster kills. The fourth boss won't even get to the middle of the screen if you hammer his weak spot at close range with laser. End-of-stage bonuses multiply your weapon levels by a certain amount of points depending on the difficulty, doubling these numbers if the weapon is maxed out. In the Normal difficulty (Albatross) the maximum bonus is 120.000 points, for example, whereas on Hard (Ace) it's 300.000 points, which is also equivalent to three extra lives. Unfortunately the scoring system is broken because you can just wander around forever in the overhead stages killing hordes of enemies, in what's the only true reprimand that can be given to <b>Burai Fighter</b>. The music might be another undignified feature, but while not memorable it's at least decent.</div><div><br /></div><div>By beating <b>Burai Fighter</b> on Normal (Albatross) the game teases you with a graphic ending before starting again on Hard (Ace). A panel with the character looking at the colorful horizon is finally shown upon beating the game on Hard, but then it loops again in another final difficulty called Ultimate. The high score below was achieved starting on Hard and ending in stage 6 of the second loop (Ultimate). Sadly I wasn't able to recover once I died there.</div></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhalui2UBFpx4UUI72-yZCIpfBFEjY5lHJvApxb_SbFPmbpC5T0rdB0SZ7bTKW0yz9mRC91nJYp1qOUz75lHPvEiihGLHt-7iy7lEYw3xOxONmVx3rw_lfsbwdKttYoXZ43uIJYtmb9uR2opJHuiIJNanKJnfbYmi3C04jwSbvhs5G_ETOikNyF8_6S9WI/s300/hS_NESburaiFighter.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhalui2UBFpx4UUI72-yZCIpfBFEjY5lHJvApxb_SbFPmbpC5T0rdB0SZ7bTKW0yz9mRC91nJYp1qOUz75lHPvEiihGLHt-7iy7lEYw3xOxONmVx3rw_lfsbwdKttYoXZ43uIJYtmb9uR2opJHuiIJNanKJnfbYmi3C04jwSbvhs5G_ETOikNyF8_6S9WI/s1600/hS_NESburaiFighter.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">1cclog.blogspot.com</div>Edwardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17491361099947592597noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8742813618758333424.post-31969618678849375132023-09-04T22:30:00.000-03:002023-09-04T22:30:39.545-03:00GG Aleste II (Playstation 4)<span style="font-weight: bold;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaex5MTKj4hjihM72VNpM-UQ68Gpx4YpSIJjE7EZnPBLrFpWSAljkvvY6RUt_ftuUQM5OUeE1N5A4ILp_MOVjQRP5G6PG8TOPosVpn71z33r4KTpwTQbkIQojSd57VlebAQdwJfg7jeOh8g9nhJk4VH2k0I9-zaK03MmNPSV8SdDALviUeCe1LOZ-mJrA/s135/alesteCollection_Box.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="135" data-original-width="110" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaex5MTKj4hjihM72VNpM-UQ68Gpx4YpSIJjE7EZnPBLrFpWSAljkvvY6RUt_ftuUQM5OUeE1N5A4ILp_MOVjQRP5G6PG8TOPosVpn71z33r4KTpwTQbkIQojSd57VlebAQdwJfg7jeOh8g9nhJk4VH2k0I9-zaK03MmNPSV8SdDALviUeCe1LOZ-mJrA/s1600/alesteCollection_Box.jpg" width="110" /></a></div>Vertical<br />Checkpoints OFF<br />3 Difficulty levels<br />6 Stages<br />Ship speed fixed, selectable at start<br />- - - - - - -<br />Developed by Compile in 1993<br />Published by M2 in 2020</span><br />
<br />Okay, time to resume the Game Gear Aleste saga brought to the spotlight again by M2 in the <b>Aleste Collection</b>. <b>GG Aleste II</b> follows on the footsteps of <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2022/12/gg-aleste-playstation-4.html">GG Aleste</a></b> as Alice Pfeiffer, cousin of previous protagonist Ellinor, boards the cockpit of the Lance Bird prototype space fighter in order to restore peace in another fight for the future fate of the Earth. Some folks are remarkably keen on knowing more than that about the story, but I'd say it's enough to set up the premise and the mood for some more 8-bit handheld shooting action blown up to the big screen in this relatively odd entry in the Shottriggers revival series.<div><br /></div><div><div>As we can see from the intermission screen when you boot the PS4 disc, <b>GG Aleste II</b> was also released as <b>Power Strike II</b> in Europe, a title that's totally unrelated to <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2014/01/power-strike-ii-master-system.html">Power Strike II</a></b> for the Master System. For all purposes both Game Gear variants are exactly the same bar the title, so go figure why have both in the disc. Perhaps to propagate the confusion with this series even further? No matter how much I think I'm familiar with this franchise I still find myself quite confused every now and then. That's why it's much better to just play these games and shoot mindlessly, regardless of how similar they all feel at first glance.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwCsunql6NVzjTE8pOownViUaaBCMEkY4WgEUEK-2grYZah50fI1EXzb4jWyIRrMp3I5EjOTrNOjmcVs_9d1uZvPqjbsWKb5vNlmljBNfflY32zyqTaT2NHBLuCE94aVsiLdDnmsfb0hShZYV2YIOuC_jdNg-Wfxji9fZquI6DvS1g7DU6uXTDeGz4utk/s400/ggAleste2_01.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwCsunql6NVzjTE8pOownViUaaBCMEkY4WgEUEK-2grYZah50fI1EXzb4jWyIRrMp3I5EjOTrNOjmcVs_9d1uZvPqjbsWKb5vNlmljBNfflY32zyqTaT2NHBLuCE94aVsiLdDnmsfb0hShZYV2YIOuC_jdNg-Wfxji9fZquI6DvS1g7DU6uXTDeGz4utk/s16000/ggAleste2_01.png" /></a></div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 12.6225px; font-style: italic;">Lance Bird departs into the Space Plant wielding the Hammer hawk</span></div><div> </div><div>Yes, on the surface <b>GG Aleste II</b> is a lot like <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2022/12/gg-aleste-playstation-4.html">GG Aleste</a></b>. Stage design seems to be all over the place and can't help but feel generic, yet the game compensates all of that with intense action and a few cool bosses. There are some crucial differences between both games though, starting with the reduced amount of air across all six levels and two bonus areas that unfold like a rail shooter after stages 2 and 4. The basic rule of upgrading the main shot and the auxiliary weapon separately still applies though. Power chips are released in groups of four from specific drones and slowly increase the ship's main shot, whereas a P icon powers up the auxiliary weapon. These are reduced to only four this time: N (Neo napalm gun), H (Hammer hawk, your quintessential homing shot), R (Rising masher, laser beams) and D (Delta form, a series of options that surround and protect the ship in a triangle formation).</div><div><br /></div><div>The auxiliary weapon needs 3 Ps to be maxed out, and upon coining the credit you're allowed to select which one will be initially used. At the start of the game and at every respawn after dying you're also equipped with one G-Strike bomb, a powerful blast with a ripple effect that damages everything on screen. That is the second button input you have in <b>GG Aleste II</b>, the first one being the regular shot of course. Note that this bomb doesn't give you invincibility, so don't expect to survive impossible odds with it. However, as in pretty much all Compile games of the <i><b>Aleste</b></i> series, split second invincibility is still in place for every item you collect.</div><div><br /></div><div>Besides the bomb, other new gameplay features are related to the continuous collection of power chips. The ship receives a 1-hit shield whenever 20 chips are collected (the front hull aqcuires a blue thick outline). If you continue to pick up chips while the shield is active this counter will stop at 19, meaning that upon death the very first chip taken will grant you another shield. In parallel, an extra G-Strike bomb is granted for every 32 chips you're able to collect. Both the shield and the extra bombs highlight the importance of the gadgets prepared by M2 for this port, which allow you to track how many chips you need to receive the extra resources. If you play the game on an original Game Gear you'll never have an exact idea of when they might be coming, unless you're an expert at keeping count of things amidst the shooting mayhem.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="282" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FhLrYXwTriU?si=qfCBkF-1wvL3hgtP" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe></div></div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;"><b>GG Aleste II</b> by M2, from the second boss to the end of the third stage</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">(courtesy of YouTube user <span style="font-weight: bold;">alienparadox</span>)</span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br /></div><div><div>Though not by a large margin, <b>GG Aleste II</b> is certainly harder than the first game. It's still an easy fun clear, but some bosses can definitely take you by surprise with a few tricky attack patterns. Another way of getting the clear more easily is by sticking to the Napalm gun as your auxiliary weapon of choice, since the napalm spreads are capable of cancelling all regular enemy bullets. Saving bombs for the hardest sections is also a good strategy because the bomb stock is not depleted upon death, a very rare treat when it comes down to shmups (if you have at least one bomb in stock you don't get another bomb with a new life though). Finally, dying is an event that's not that harsh since you lose only one power level for each shot type. Just don't die twice or three times in a row and you'll get back up quite quickly.</div><div><br /></div><div>The routine for score-based extends starts with 50.000 points and continues with 100.000 and 500.000 points. After that a new extend is registered at every 500.000 points. An item-based extra life can be found easily in stage 3 by destroying all space debris halfway into the level.</div></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiScamjaciqr7zKBV82y1OT3Q3r8YwjIyDE2MnAbbGAAYPTRZ2omGMHiW-aaA3FOBhVcslo0Bxb3xVFf6ojeq6CvDdV9Ec7dVGMBQsOm0NV9RaT4q01YZLaYl30Odu52YX6RU4V_uk5ZVfvZItxrVfAPCW_LyLbYMXHbxqDTM-4RMTsPQBMmDjBAAakz88/s5295/menuTranslation_ggAleste2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1992" data-original-width="5295" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiScamjaciqr7zKBV82y1OT3Q3r8YwjIyDE2MnAbbGAAYPTRZ2omGMHiW-aaA3FOBhVcslo0Bxb3xVFf6ojeq6CvDdV9Ec7dVGMBQsOm0NV9RaT4q01YZLaYl30Odu52YX6RU4V_uk5ZVfvZItxrVfAPCW_LyLbYMXHbxqDTM-4RMTsPQBMmDjBAAakz88/w400-h150/menuTranslation_ggAleste2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size: 12.6225px;"><i>Click for the option menus translation for <b>GG Aleste II</b> in the <b>Aleste Collection</b></i></span></span></div><div><br /></div><div>Pretty much all the options for <b>GG Aleste II</b> are the same as those for <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2022/12/gg-aleste-playstation-4.html">GG Aleste</a></b>. including the screen settings and interesting tweaks such as several steps for rapid fire and "comfort mode", which eliminates the original flicker and slowdown. I just wish M2 had added a language switch so that we wouldn't have to go into the trouble of translating everything, but alas! It's fine as it is, I guess.</div><div><br /></div><div>My best 1CC score below was achieved in the Normal difficulty with comfort mode set to ON. I didn't tinker with rapid fire settings because they messed up the efficiency of the napalm gun. Since you can theoretically exploit bosses with no time limit for item carriers, M2 considered <b>GG Aleste II</b> broken and only allowed completion time as a method to track the player's performance, just like they did with <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2022/12/gg-aleste-playstation-4.html">GG Aleste</a></b>. However, climbing up the online leaderboards in the sequel is a lot harder to do because it requires uncommon strategies such as suiciding in order to have more bombs available.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeBCaSQmMoe539nFIdjXUQjRtSNl_NR-8Z3PH_8lNWi0qfWjzY6EV_tw4l3QwIBtHFDSdIFvJvNeCrrqCGRjsLxLpOD8gSfEvAA6nN823AnZ-AjV0C_ZdQOhjMSfsUjtdFlsc6W3dgxGTx8EYDh-9t7Jl8PGSxM4CE3R7W95I8hnMFXx52F7bV6EEgZMw/s300/hS_PS4ggAleste2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeBCaSQmMoe539nFIdjXUQjRtSNl_NR-8Z3PH_8lNWi0qfWjzY6EV_tw4l3QwIBtHFDSdIFvJvNeCrrqCGRjsLxLpOD8gSfEvAA6nN823AnZ-AjV0C_ZdQOhjMSfsUjtdFlsc6W3dgxGTx8EYDh-9t7Jl8PGSxM4CE3R7W95I8hnMFXx52F7bV6EEgZMw/s1600/hS_PS4ggAleste2.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Next: <b>GG Aleste III</b>.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">1cclog.blogspot.com</div>Edwardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17491361099947592597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8742813618758333424.post-49941008957272488342023-08-27T22:19:00.001-03:002023-08-28T09:26:54.417-03:00Kyūkyoku Tiger II Plus (Saturn)<span style="font-weight: bold;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0lRBBWGX76BBIMIGa2VP4abhhY5z18Km9JPdAIyGlLouV3yHiTGcJFzELqAUIL71OU1WRiHimgSTK8SaokvGAjlhgEdVP1o1PLiYSfZDSbsycy5GJRWBmS56FdDAbsBpbFlf_DMOO47BZpNcRTypgcFInosWqrt0E0vO-BDiB_FSUR-xYpu3y5CAN28U/s110/kyuukyokuTiger2Plus_Box.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="110" data-original-width="110" height="110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0lRBBWGX76BBIMIGa2VP4abhhY5z18Km9JPdAIyGlLouV3yHiTGcJFzELqAUIL71OU1WRiHimgSTK8SaokvGAjlhgEdVP1o1PLiYSfZDSbsycy5GJRWBmS56FdDAbsBpbFlf_DMOO47BZpNcRTypgcFInosWqrt0E0vO-BDiB_FSUR-xYpu3y5CAN28U/s1600/kyuukyokuTiger2Plus_Box.jpg" width="110" /></a></div>Vertical<br />Checkpoints OFF<br />4 Difficulty levels<br />6 Stages<br />Ship speed fixed<br />- - - - - - -<br />Developed by Takumi<br />Published by Naxat Soft in 1997</span><br />
<br /><div>One of the defining titles in the shmup portfolio of Toaplan is <b>Kyūkyoku Tiger</b>, also known everywhere – with a few gameplay changes – as <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2011/04/twin-cobra-playstation.html">Twin Cobra</a></b>. Given the amount of exposure and ports the game continues to receive even today, it’s only natural that many players are still unaware of its sequel. Add to that the fact that Toaplan went bankrupt before it could be completed, thus handing over the project to newly formed company Takumi (with the blessing of powerhouse publisher Taito, of course).</div><div><br /></div><div>Following the trend of the original, <b>Kyūkyoku Tiger II</b> is also known as <b>Twin Cobra II</b> overseas. I guess we can measure the success it gathered by the number of home consoles that followed. There is only one so far, released for the Sega Saturn in Japan roughly two years after the arcade game appeared. Named <b>Kyūkyoku Tiger II Plus</b>, this version includes a special mode made for Sega's console (hence the Plus in the title), which comes with a new soundtrack, color palette changes, an exclusive new stage and lots of cut scenes fleshing out the story.</div><div><br /></div><div>Many elements of the first game were kept in this sequel, and are mixed with new aspects that try to give it a fresh take. A mid-sized chopper is still the carrier of all power-ups and bombs. Power-ups cycle colors and switch or upgrade the main weapon between red (straight vulcan), blue (spread shot) and green (the "thunder claw", a combo of straight laser bursts and homing side shots). Bombs are stocked up to five, with every further icon upgrading bombs in stock to hyper bombs, a much more powerful version of the regular bomb. As for power-ups, it takes three of the same type to max out your firepower.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVCVtGsRwI-zjDbCDNUgfF00iXvCyotCTwMSAbMdqFnUmz6IMv4VHGwltldaEJyRXpsBO_MUGhZfW-GVICQxwxqoR-DbCvQRlWa8B8vqwaJ6yOZ7AAYBSEcfIbMbzNWmW8ZJajE_t0l_E2QwHx6xlHXmSJEFP1ZKpFg4kNX18LyhTVZlq3oCmyD4NyVvk/s300/kyuukyokuTiger2Plus_01.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="225" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVCVtGsRwI-zjDbCDNUgfF00iXvCyotCTwMSAbMdqFnUmz6IMv4VHGwltldaEJyRXpsBO_MUGhZfW-GVICQxwxqoR-DbCvQRlWa8B8vqwaJ6yOZ7AAYBSEcfIbMbzNWmW8ZJajE_t0l_E2QwHx6xlHXmSJEFP1ZKpFg4kNX18LyhTVZlq3oCmyD4NyVvk/s1600/kyuukyokuTiger2Plus_01.png" width="225" /></a></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 12.6225px; font-style: italic;">A very warm reception over a dark ravine in stage 5</span></div></div><div><br /></div><div><div>All game modes in the Saturn port use a simple controller button layout of shot (A or C), bomb (B) and credit insert (R). Pause and press A+B+C to revert back to the main menu and switch game modes. The shot input has autofire by default, which despite not being that high still gets the job done so there's no need for a turbo controller. Bullets and lasers are almost always aimed and come in various patterns, but it's possible to "seal" enemies in order to avoid their attacks (stand very close or directly over them if we're talking ground targets). Tapping and sweeping is the bread and butter of survival, but getting sniped is still a possibility later in the game. However, if enemies can't see you they can't shoot, and for that reason sometimes it's better to just stick to one side of the screen in order to avoid unnecessary risks.</div><div><br /></div></div><div>Even though the overall level of accomplishment might be questionable, <b>Kyūkyoku Tiger II</b> has interesting dynamics that sort of succeed in addressing some of the most dire traits of its predecessor. It's still harder than its world counterpart <b>Twin Cobra II</b> due to more resilient and more aggressive enemies, but it certainly takes it easy on players during the first couple of levels when compared with <b>Kyūkyoku Tiger</b>. When deployed, the bomb provides instant invincibility instead of leaving you vulnerable for a few seconds. The assortment of bombs is also much higher in the sequel since every carrier releases one power-up and one extra bomb. And if you die you're respawned with the same weapon you were using instead of reappearing with the vulcan shot.</div><div><br /></div><div>Another striking feature of the sequel is the constant use of sprite scaling to convey the sensation of flying at different heights and diving into deeper and deeper layers of the enemy headquarters. My impression is that visually the game bears a strong resemblance to <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2011/05/donpachi-saturn.html">Donpachi</a></b>, which is also the first game from another offshoot company that formed from the ashes of Toaplan. However, unlike Cave's perennial debut, Takumi's first game was never able to carry the <b>Kyūkyoku Tiger</b>/<b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2011/04/twin-cobra-playstation.html">Twin Cobra</a></b> torch into new grounds. Perhaps that wasn't their intention at all since the company decided to focus on <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2010/02/giga-wing-dreamcast.html">Giga Wing</a></b> instead.</div><div><br /></div><div>As a result of the lack of development zeal, <b>Kyūkyoku Tiger II</b> ended up halfway into being a truly great shmup. One of the reasons for that is the dreadful unbalance of the weapon system. Once you realize how much more powerful the green shot is you'll certainly feel stupid whenever you take red or blue by mistake, with the obvious exception of the chopper taking off with the red shot at the start of the game. On the other hand, the green weapon is the worst one to die with since it's probably the least useful in a default condition. Depending on where you die you'll be in severe trouble because power-up carriers might take too long to appear, so don't get stingy with bombs if necessary. </div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="282" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nsvFJ2xsh6Y?si=Qgk9BR-lv9x1Cu32" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe></div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">Quick fun with the Sega Saturn mode in <b>Kyūkyoku Tiger II Plus</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">(courtesy of YouTube user <span style="font-weight: bold;">ShiryGL</span>)</span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><br /></div><div>Speaking of bombs, avoiding to use them is one of the key aspects of the scoring system. At the end of the level each spare bomb is multiplied by 5.000 and by the stage number, whereas each hyper bomb gets multiplied by 20.000 and the stage number. A full stock of hyper bombs in the final level, for example, results in a reward of 600.000 points. Good luck getting that though, especially if you keep collecting repeated power-ups for progressive bonuses, an act that eventually makes the speed of enemy bullets skyrocket. Once max power is achieved, each power-up builds up in steps of 10.000 points until a maximum of 100.000 points per item is obtained (if one power-up leaves the screen the next bonus is reset to 10.000 points though). Finally, ground and aerial stars released by enemies increase in value in steps of hundreds and then thousands until maxing out at 10.000 points each. Dying sends both the dynamic rank and all these bonuses back to their starting values.</div><div><br /></div><div>So what would you choose, avoid surplus power-ups all the way for an easier game or get them all for higher bonuses at the expense of a much harder journey? In this port you can do it in Arcade mode (a direct TATE conversion of the arcade game), Sega Saturn mode (wobbling YOKO) or Arrange mode (just like Saturn mode but with the added features mentioned at the start of this post). The game has automatic saving while Arcade and Saturn modes share the same high score table, but note that Takumi or Naxat Soft <a href="https://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?p=489635#p489635">unfortunately messed up with the scoring system</a> by adding a few extra points for the blue helicopter (player 1 side) until max power is achieved. The red helicopter (player 2 side) isn't affected by this, but if you decide to play with it you need to cope with a highly unreliable replacement for the green laser. It's downright awful, honestly one of the weirdest weapons I've ever seen in a shmup.</div><div><br /></div><div>Regardless of what scoring purists might think of the above and some odd design choices, <b>Kyūkyoku Tiger II</b> is still decent shooting fun, with plenty of action and fairly suitable music. Since it lacks checkpoints, it's also remarkably easier than <b>Kyūkyoku Tiger</b>. Fans of the first game should try the sequel, if only for the new elements related to scoring and the new approach towards rank. I played in Arcade mode (TATE) with the red chopper (player 1) in full defaults, which means Normal difficulty and Power Up set to A. Don't mess with this setting unless you want to tinker with the behavior of weapons when respawning.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM3KtSBeeIhH7Itfw91Mnne8QoOXLqs-UAaLvmCBQC7LbMJgbTDKQg5BIAViTFhZKy6qoaOwqFgjcefdTX0w018j_XQYyINpSwxy3h6xEHM6kN3jnK3meqlcb3DbF2K0YVh96AX3AaWMYeoVVi_63jz5rji6eLxicFw8SgvxYA7dstQlYFecOkyEA0Yz8/s300/hS_saTkyuukyokuTiger2plusARC.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM3KtSBeeIhH7Itfw91Mnne8QoOXLqs-UAaLvmCBQC7LbMJgbTDKQg5BIAViTFhZKy6qoaOwqFgjcefdTX0w018j_XQYyINpSwxy3h6xEHM6kN3jnK3meqlcb3DbF2K0YVh96AX3AaWMYeoVVi_63jz5rji6eLxicFw8SgvxYA7dstQlYFecOkyEA0Yz8/s1600/hS_saTkyuukyokuTiger2plusARC.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">1cclog.blogspot.com</div>Edwardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17491361099947592597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8742813618758333424.post-55720052388139012122023-08-20T23:00:00.000-03:002023-08-20T23:00:31.794-03:00Sexy Parodius (Saturn)<span style="font-weight: bold;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwU5_PLwhjAYraEX2V0eiw9rXHt-VxG1wI9BbW_dUSCMwfaQP1Dn24ZpidevMb6X5VHvbez3I74f17lgSmHzTN-xQr87bD8DAADSjQI6t1QsJkHZZT90kTIJx4CN7YVOdZv7PGdEd6_1669wi6UXO0XyXL_mZ4n7m0u75pL4HAxda08GTJAnwaj4i6lnc/s110/sexyParodius_Box.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="110" data-original-width="110" height="110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwU5_PLwhjAYraEX2V0eiw9rXHt-VxG1wI9BbW_dUSCMwfaQP1Dn24ZpidevMb6X5VHvbez3I74f17lgSmHzTN-xQr87bD8DAADSjQI6t1QsJkHZZT90kTIJx4CN7YVOdZv7PGdEd6_1669wi6UXO0XyXL_mZ4n7m0u75pL4HAxda08GTJAnwaj4i6lnc/s1600/sexyParodius_Box.jpg" width="110" /></a></div>Horizontal<br />Checkpoints ON or OFF<br />8 Difficulty levels<br />7 Stages (+1)<br />Ship speed by icons<br />- - - - - - -<br />Developed by Konami<br />Published by Konami in 1996</span><br />
<br /><div>After the console venture of <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2018/09/jikkyou-oshaberi-parodius-snes.html">Jikkyou Oshaberi Parodius</a></b>, originally released for the Super Famicom, Konami turned back to the arcades for the 5th chapter of the series in <b>Sexy Parodius</b>. While no big aesthetic changes are to be seen here, the company did tinker with the gameplay a little in order to bring new elements to the well-known style established since <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2011/05/parodius-da-playstation.html">Parodius Da!</a></b>. As a consequence, even though it looks like more of the same from the outside, <b>Sexy Parodius</b> comes packed with deeper mechanics aimed at pleasing players of all skill levels.</div><div><br /></div><div>Does it succeed? I believe it does, but it took me quite a while to figure out why.</div><div><br /></div><div>The game's also supposed to feature a sexy or risqué design but I didn't notice much of that at all. To be honest, the only real moment I thought could get some attention from a bystander, for example, is the final lady boss, which indeed appears in a very sexy manner and probably acts in the most comical way out of the whole series. That's quite fitting actually, seeing that <b>Sexy Parodius</b> is the final title in the franchise and it fades out, as expected, with a wacky bang. This Saturn port is pretty much arcade-perfect, down to the absolute lack of slowdown, and as far as I know there's no reason why the Playstation version shouldn't be of the same caliber.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="282" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9KfktSerV6U" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe><br /></div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">Koitsu and his new sexy adventure</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">(courtesy of YouTube user <span style="font-weight: bold;">The VideoGames Museum</span>)</span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div>The main idea behind the story of <b>Sexy Parodius</b> is a rather funny one, which players will eventually get to know due to the panels that appear in between levels. They show regular characters Takosuke (the octopus) and Pentaro (the penguin) running an enterprise that hires agents (the playable characters) in order to fulfill missions for special clients. There is a preamble to this in the attract mode animation, which also shows Takosuke dreaming about scantly clad girls everywhere (tentacles!). Anyway, that's the reason why you can't play with them this time around. The character roster includes eight pilots and their 2P counterparts with the possibility of co-op fun. Familiar faces such as Vic Viper, Michael, Koitsu, Mambo and Hikaru are back, with a couple of newcomers in the form of Option/Multiple (self-explanatory for <i><b>Gradius</b></i> fans) and Shooting Star/Black Viper.</div><div><br /></div><div>Classic characters like Vic Viper still adhere to the weapon rules originally defined by the <b><i>Gradius</i></b> franchise, but newer additions to the roster are so unique that only the speed-up and the shield seem to be relatable to the old upgrade styles. Everything in between might be the most diverse combination of missiles and shots/lasers, which are still upgraded by taking orange capsules and activating the desired slot in the weapon array. This can be completely manual, but you can also select semi-auto and auto modes after the character is chosen. In semi-auto the game does the upgrading for you but allows players to do it as well. In auto mode the game completely dictates how the character should evolve, and you can't even trigger a new speed-up. On the other hand, auto mode eliminates checkpoints, gives you a bell shower upon death and does away with roulette capsules. These are special capsules that make the weapon array go crazy, cycling very fast until you press the upgrade button just like you would in a slot machine.</div><div><br /></div><div>Speaking of input buttons, they work with (rapid) shot, (rapid) missiles and power-up. Shot also activates bell powers across all game modes (manual, semi-auto and auto) whenever applicable. At every four shots fired on regular yellow bells they change their color so that you can use special powers: brown (3 vertical barriers), purple (turns all minor enemies into capsules), blue (super bomb), green (inflate + invincibility) and white (Alex, a special option/minion that helps you out in several ways). Yellow bells are only useful for scoring: if you don't let any of them go by they increase in value from 500 to 1.000, 2.500, 5.000 and finally 10.000 points.</div><div><br /></div><div>Alex is one of the new features of <b>Sexy Parodius</b>, as is the mission gimmick applied to all stages. In each level you're given a task (collect a certain number of coins, kill a certain number of enemies, destroy bosses within a certain time limit). For stages 2 and 3, failing to accomplish the missions will send you to alternate levels with completely different layouts and bosses. A successful mission in alternate stage 3 sends you back to the main stage 4, but regardless of your results in any variation of stage 4 (main or alternate) you'll continue playing in a single route through stages 5 and 6. Additionally, a random level with bosses from previous games can appear anywhere between stages 2 and 6. Finally, if you complete all missions succesfully you'll also play a special stage after the end credits, which just like in <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2015/01/gokujyou-parodius-saturn.html">Gokujyou Parodius</a></b> ramps up the difficulty to ridiculous heights.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS-YOTjN3cbQtgzctxrKY4w4RRnSJbZ3FloX6qNweB5cVQfVEVEFEiplYDrSn83onGV7DCVGYuVESc5r7PapK7VTN5VcjXzmvA97MpIW__0hOV2plNIqic76V0Rg6hdyM2qmtgzsqbAnKtvb7R9Yn5-vb_hlPGdrCuSXGbCqv2LnHZx16_jV2H6RV6Z1Q/s300/sexyParodius_02.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS-YOTjN3cbQtgzctxrKY4w4RRnSJbZ3FloX6qNweB5cVQfVEVEFEiplYDrSn83onGV7DCVGYuVESc5r7PapK7VTN5VcjXzmvA97MpIW__0hOV2plNIqic76V0Rg6hdyM2qmtgzsqbAnKtvb7R9Yn5-vb_hlPGdrCuSXGbCqv2LnHZx16_jV2H6RV6Z1Q/s1600/sexyParodius_02.png" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 12.6225px; font-style: italic;">You will only see this lovely boss if you fail the mission in stage 2</span></div><div><br /></div><div>An interesting note about the missions is that they add to the feeling that the game is longer than it actually is. With only six main levels (not counting the special stage), <b>Sexy Parodius</b> is actually the shortest game in the series since the very first <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2010/09/parodius-psp.html">Parodius</a></b>. Another noteworthy aspect of the mission mechanic is that the biggest contributor to rank is the act of completing all of them. Maxing out your power, surviving longer and abusing bells for scoring certainly make the game harder, but there's a clear difference in enemy aggression if you continue to succeed in the missions proposed by Takosuke. I was brutally decimated with little to no fanfarre when I got to the last stage a couple of times after being 100% successful in my missions, and once I tested the game in Mame I knew it was too high a price to pay just to access the special stage.</div><div> <br /></div><div>Then I got back to the Saturn game and cleared in on the very first time I completely ignored some missions. By failing to destroy the required number of geisha in stage 3 and failing to collect the minimum number of coins in stage 5 (don't get Alex, he'll definitely try to help you achieve that), the final level became much more approachable. This also leads to the conclusion that for players with normal skill levels such as myself it's perfectly possible (and maybe even easier) to get decent scores by not pursuing the special stage at all. Bells don't appear as frequently as in previous games, but still represent the primary means of scoring and are certainly easier to deal with when you're not focused in completing missions.</div><div><br /></div><div>In a nutshell, <b>Sexy Parodius</b> is a shmup that can be made as hard as you want. Fun is likewise relative, and it might take some while to figure out the right amount of dynamic difficulty you're able to cope with, but the game's charm is undeniable. For my taste it goes a little too far with aggression just for fulfilling the proposed missions though, with the added albeit debatable drawback of the most pleasing versions of stages 3 and 4 being relegated to the failure route (I always died by mistake due to the exaggerated colors of the main 4th level, the girl factory). Minor details such as health gauges for bosses and colored bells showing descriptions when appearing are very welcome, but I missed not having a dedicated button to activate bell powers.</div><div><br /></div><div>Once I saw how Mambo's awesome piercing laser behaved I had to have him as my character of choice, so most of my attempts at beating the game were with him. As I mentioned above, the highest score below (difficulty 4, auto mode) was achieved in my very first run after deciding to not fulfill all missions, thus refusing the see that ridiculous special stage.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKZNAN-p5cSR-NqurPshPyCV59UsUggUfjHnWCh99rlyIpPOYN0Ro1LesdghdmXqpbaPHgK8nqEALHWEuey3l6cl2XpiBhZCxWsvU03_sCfytazqkDSPg0rHts83AoE-MKQgWjksfRmvsD1skPbgJ34ChxShcCKqSuTLfVYygu48iTu6xVlzZliakJCgY/s300/hS_saTsexyParodius.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKZNAN-p5cSR-NqurPshPyCV59UsUggUfjHnWCh99rlyIpPOYN0Ro1LesdghdmXqpbaPHgK8nqEALHWEuey3l6cl2XpiBhZCxWsvU03_sCfytazqkDSPg0rHts83AoE-MKQgWjksfRmvsD1skPbgJ34ChxShcCKqSuTLfVYygu48iTu6xVlzZliakJCgY/s1600/hS_saTsexyParodius.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Even though the <i><b>Parodius</b></i> series ends with <b>Sexy Parodius</b>, some of its traits lived on in <b>Otomedius</b>, which got an improved home version in <b>Otomedius Gorgeous</b> for the Xbox 360.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">1cclog.blogspot.com</div>Edwardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17491361099947592597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8742813618758333424.post-16707276194987036212023-07-28T16:48:00.004-03:002023-08-20T22:34:52.317-03:00UN Squadron (SNES)<span style="font-weight: bold;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj083aJvic3wCeEZYtGRnTBix4wu4PYg8Ln3KwvkbQsfiJ2lFZ96cXgf2p_R5pNz6UHLIcReqKW9vgP7sxxRT9mE9BBG4j9wadFk3zQWxhXVP1KwPm_uTYDWRN2JsIk2_5iJ946QhDj_00eWOMZdX3R3xSaE8AbaWH4XZgrxBImKhDZU3f-3qCSHFVH2jQ/s110/unSquadron_Box.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="81" data-original-width="110" height="81" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj083aJvic3wCeEZYtGRnTBix4wu4PYg8Ln3KwvkbQsfiJ2lFZ96cXgf2p_R5pNz6UHLIcReqKW9vgP7sxxRT9mE9BBG4j9wadFk3zQWxhXVP1KwPm_uTYDWRN2JsIk2_5iJ946QhDj_00eWOMZdX3R3xSaE8AbaWH4XZgrxBImKhDZU3f-3qCSHFVH2jQ/s1600/unSquadron_Box.jpg" width="110" /></a></div>Horizontal<br />Checkpoints OFF/ON<br />3 Difficulty levels<br />10 Stages<br />Ship speed fixed<br />- - - - - - -<br />Developed by Capcom <br />Published by Capcom in 1991</span><br />
<br /><div><div><b>UN Squadron</b>, also known as <b>Area 88</b> in Japan, is one of Capcom's boldest attempts at the horizontal shooter genre. Loosely based on the manga of the same name released in the end of the 70's, the Super Nintendo port is the most recognizable home version of the arcade game, and in my perception is curiously more fondly remembered than its source material, probably because it expands on the original gameplay and also due to a harder challenge level as a whole.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>A quick intro with a take-off sequence made with mode-7 sets the tone for <b>UN Squadron</b>. You take the role of one of three pilots and need to complete several missions to stop an army of mercenaries known as Project 4. They have taken over a peaceful kingdom, establishing strongholds in several parts of the country and deploying all sorts of military machinery and convoys to keep their evil clutches over the land. Only those brave enough will be capable of harnessing the power of the weapons carried by a selection of formidable aircrafts, scrambling through several colorful landscapes and dangerous caverns. Some slowdown is expected if the action gets too cluttered, but overall the graphical performance is decent, as is the soundtrack.</div><div><br /></div><div>The choice of pilot affects gameplay in two ways: how fast your plane is powered up and how fast it recovers from taking a hit. Shin Kazama powers up faster and takes longer to recover. Greg Gates powers up slower and is the fastest to recover. Mickey Scymon lies in between both his coleagues. They all start the journey piloting the F8E Crusader, the most basic aircraft from the fleet, capable of carrying only three special weapons but a very versatile plane regardless. It suits most of the starting missions quite well. </div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="282" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/03lAGwC9fMw" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe></div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">Intro for <b>UN Squadron</b> on the Super Nintendo</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">(courtesy of YouTube user <span style="font-weight: bold;">mcbanjomike</span>)</span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><br /></div><div>Fulfilling the missions is accomplished by using a vulcan cannon and by firing special weapons with limited ammo, which in turn are selected by a specific button in the controller. All inputs can be properly mapped in the options screen. Certain enemy waves leave behind power-ups when fully destroyed: the orange one adds 1 point to the upgrade meter of the main shot, the blue one adds 3 points. On the right side of the overhead display the POW number indicates how many points you need to advance to the next power level, which is shown right above the cash counter. Cash is the other component of the upgrading process, and is automatically registered as you kill enemies and complete full stages. It's used to purchase special weapons prior to each level and to earn the right to fly new aircraft models. Each pilot starts the game with a cash stock of $3.000.</div><div><br /></div><div>Lives in <b>UN Squadron</b> are treated in a very unique way. Each life comes with a health bar that allows players to take some hits before dying, but there's a catch. Whenever you get hit the energy gauge flashes for a brief while, returning to normal once the plane has self-restored. If you get hit again during this critical period you die no matter how much health you have at the moment, then a new target area must be chosen from the map. Dying is also detrimental to the cash balance because all the special weapons you're carrying are instantly gone, whereas if you complete the stage successfully all cash from unused weaponry is reinstated into your account. A word of warning to preserve health: you can safely hug the upper and lower surfaces of any stage, but you absolutely can't do the same on mountains or walls inside caves.</div><div><br /></div><div>Stage order is another factor that adds to the challenge. After the first level a selection of stages opens up in the map for you to choose from. Naturally some of them are harder than others, often demanding at least some basic planning for special weapons or which plane to use. Unfortunately the mission commander only lets you know about the details of each stage after you've selected it, which completely defeats the purpose of strategic thinking. While not that serious in the long run, it's certainly unfavorable for newcomers and might rub people the wrong way. This also applies to the selection of planes since their description is only visible for the ones you haven't purchased yet. If they're already in your inventory there's no way of knowing what they do unless you choose them for the mission, a decision that's final and might not be the best one depending on the stage.</div><div><br /></div><div>And speaking of planes, testing them is probably the most fun part of <b>UN Squadron</b>. Some of them are faster or slower while emphasizing air-to-ground or air-to-air combat. The A10A Thunderbolt is the slowest one but comes with an extra downwards stream for the main shot at the expense of a max power level of 3. The best feature of the YF23 Stealth Ray, for instance, is that it's undetectable to homing missiles. However, if you want to be able to use all special weapons you'll definitely aim for the F200 Efreet, which at the cost of $ 1.000.000 also comes with a maximum power level of 7.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdlYWzfnapjEEnuEz4EzPjHPBbFyNWVi6BQO4kyz48HcErsxYMYiutJ0MTDohzn1IaorwM7CIKCSorR5rey8ASnyRIkAgpMXEHLVvjmrb5d4Pt5dc4Msu9rUqKIodtNqmRMA2rz6iaGbGr9b_cEi6q8jFjiORTRGBXpOTDUJDGVfo4Q0MdFpL-UVtY78U/s300/unSquadron_00.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdlYWzfnapjEEnuEz4EzPjHPBbFyNWVi6BQO4kyz48HcErsxYMYiutJ0MTDohzn1IaorwM7CIKCSorR5rey8ASnyRIkAgpMXEHLVvjmrb5d4Pt5dc4Msu9rUqKIodtNqmRMA2rz6iaGbGr9b_cEi6q8jFjiORTRGBXpOTDUJDGVfo4Q0MdFpL-UVtY78U/s1600/unSquadron_00.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 12.6225px; font-style: italic;">Shin Kazama is out for justice</span></div><div><br /></div><div><div>Besides the odd decision to not let the player know beforehand any info of the level or the plane choice, another aspect of <b>UN Squadron</b> that's particularly annoying is the firing limitation of the main shot. You just don't have a normal automatic firing rate. One press of the button fires a bullet salvo for a few seconds, requiring another press in order to maintain a steady firing stream. Seriously, was this really necessary? I guess it's better than nothing (no autofire at all), but it's an extremely irritating mechanic that's very detrimental to the player's concentration at key points in the game. Of course this can be instantly alleviated by the use of a turbo controller, a luxury that's not easily available for most people, myself included.</div><div><br /></div><div>One final note about the gameplay concerns the gallery of secret items. They are, in fact, extremely important for survival, and knowing where to find them might represent the difference between life and death. All you have to do is shoot their location to release them. Never stop shooting and watch out for unsuspected corners in caves or prior to boss fights, you might be pleasantly surprised. The fuel tank fills your health meter partially, the yasichi (the lollipop) completely refills it, the star gives you a cash bonus of $50.000, the mech (actually a miniature of the character from <a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2012/11/side-arms-playstation-2.html"><b>Side Arms</b></a>) is a smart bomb that clears the screen of enemies, the weapons rack adds ammo to the special weapons and the unicorn grants you with a shield that can withstand a good number of hits. Finally, extra lives are registered with 30.000, 100.000 and then for every 150.000 points afer that.</div><div><br /></div></div><div>In my quest to 1CC <b>UN Squadron</b> in the Normal difficulty I ended up purchasing only the F200 Efreet as soon as I could afford it. I did go for the convoys that start showing up in the map in order to grab at least some $100.000. Each convoy gives you roughly $20.000 and apparently they don't stop coming at all (honestly, talk about a lazy means of rebalancing the cash mechanic). These convoys are also the reason why it makes no sense to talk about high scores in this game. I played with Greg Gates and finished with the result below. Since there's no score buffering and this screen disappears really fast, if you want to have it in pictures you need to resource to special recording arrangements.</div></div><div><div><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5P5Yh4cV5vq5-srMrtJk8-sHdIkYzucDUW4GA4ZYCbX9AtBYzgy3b1sk7dKQrOXF2krG71IbhVFKhsff5S-t6KozYOlR4YceAbqXSDQ7E4u8H2dGp4z5b_7G83uHrv4c6PdpRcSDjA3f9VUXMm48PqWimLBI7e5FomUhHX6w-3jHWji52uTf1Hs-TBUs/s300/hS_SNESunSquadron.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5P5Yh4cV5vq5-srMrtJk8-sHdIkYzucDUW4GA4ZYCbX9AtBYzgy3b1sk7dKQrOXF2krG71IbhVFKhsff5S-t6KozYOlR4YceAbqXSDQ7E4u8H2dGp4z5b_7G83uHrv4c6PdpRcSDjA3f9VUXMm48PqWimLBI7e5FomUhHX6w-3jHWji52uTf1Hs-TBUs/s1600/hS_SNESunSquadron.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">1cclog.blogspot.com</div>Edwardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17491361099947592597noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8742813618758333424.post-21738844862020179652023-07-16T23:47:00.000-03:002023-07-16T23:47:49.937-03:00Radiant Silvergun (Saturn)<span style="font-weight: bold;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9v1pnEY0T1vcovAr0OmR7TJaM7L-J_0c3AZOZWIzZ2cE5b3D2K6oTGjudGiXXQ1sbHSvmO7O-nvD9DUohy7B55CjqmZ17sqBqk75d8Qz3c7v8vGcoAdRkzmCL_LR2eo0EW9TwOtJnm76h6rZrJ7Bbra2gwdEVFj0YC9HdJk2yKhJI9CaY-CxHly7L9Bc/s110/radiantSilvergun_Box.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="110" data-original-width="110" height="110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9v1pnEY0T1vcovAr0OmR7TJaM7L-J_0c3AZOZWIzZ2cE5b3D2K6oTGjudGiXXQ1sbHSvmO7O-nvD9DUohy7B55CjqmZ17sqBqk75d8Qz3c7v8vGcoAdRkzmCL_LR2eo0EW9TwOtJnm76h6rZrJ7Bbra2gwdEVFj0YC9HdJk2yKhJI9CaY-CxHly7L9Bc/s1600/radiantSilvergun_Box.jpg" width="110" /></a></div>Vertical<br />Checkpoints OFF<br />5 Difficulty levels<br />6 Stages<br />Ship speed fixed<br />- - - - - - -<br />Developed by Treasure<br />Published by ESP in 1998</span><br />
<br /><div><div>Already established as a revered developer for the console market throughout the 90s, Treasure took to themselves the task of making their first arcade game with <b>Radiant Silvergun</b>. And my friends, what a debut! How many companies come up with such a hit in their first try, I wonder? Anyway, the similarity of the arcade board and the Sega Saturn architecture soon led to a port to Sega's 32-bit system that became extremely sought after and rare, further cementing the game's reputation as one of the most desired titles in the platform. Of course there are more noble reasons for that, after all the game is a masterpiece that challenges players in a way very few shmups do, with outstanding production values and incredible cinematic elegance.</div><div><br /></div><div>It doesn't take long to at least understand the hype behind <b>Radiant Silvergun</b>. Just a few credits are enough to realize how different it is, from the enigmatic stage structure to the fact that you have 7 weapons at your disposal from the get go. It's all tied up into a detailed backstory and controls built upon a layout that originally uses only three buttons but in the port takes full advantage of the Saturn controller. With an ambitious soundtrack and a slew of graphical effects it's all about spectacle, but spectable backed up by an elaborate leveling up system that many consider akin to RPGs. I can't say I agree with that, in my opinion what makes this game unique is an intricate puzzle element that's rarely seen anywhere else in the genre.</div><div><br /></div><div>And instead of just porting the arcade game Treasure went beyond the basics and added an extra Saturn mode that expands the original structure while cleverly giving less experienced players the chance to see the whole game without resorting to infinite continues. Gameplay basics are the same for both modes though, as are those ominous but nonsensical messages that appear during boss warning announcements, of which the most famous one is definitely <i>BE ATTITUDE FOR GAINS</i>.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNzBA075HYv5gfcM6RVNEmwPWUAKDmajMKM8jOhbm27r8kL3RtGe6DXp9c_3zRqJg0ci94V6p_fnFa9OeZqUgIjcXEQ95uWKPN-QmeUvmsOu8LHH3vcEZDPurINgo7xBbWnapcyVctnkPO0ZLTm_mPtj6v4KO5DZ19nBgvylNnkdUQ5tfvvdSCswYWBT8/s300/radiantSilvergun_00.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNzBA075HYv5gfcM6RVNEmwPWUAKDmajMKM8jOhbm27r8kL3RtGe6DXp9c_3zRqJg0ci94V6p_fnFa9OeZqUgIjcXEQ95uWKPN-QmeUvmsOu8LHH3vcEZDPurINgo7xBbWnapcyVctnkPO0ZLTm_mPtj6v4KO5DZ19nBgvylNnkdUQ5tfvvdSCswYWBT8/s1600/radiantSilvergun_00.png" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 12.6225px; font-style: italic;">Getting circled by Nasu, the boss of stage 2C</span></div><div><br /></div><div>The three fundamental shot attacks consist of vulcan (button A), homing (button B) and spread (button C). The combination of these inputs lead to extra shot types that are mapped to the other buttons in the controller, which results in homing spread ring (button X, or B+C), backwide (button Y, or A+C) and lock-on plasma (button Z, or A+B). Finally, at the press of all basic inputs A+B+C or button R you activate the radiant sword, a short-range moving appendix that's also capable of blocking/absorbing regular bullets. If you absorb 10 bullets, as indicated by the gauge below the score counter, the next sword activation will be the hyper sword, a devastating attack that deals great damage and also makes you invincible.</div><div><br /></div><div>The amount of weapons at the player's disposal is overwhelming up front, but they are all effective in their own way. Vulcan and spread are great for immediate offense, whereas the lock-on plasma and the homing ring can reach through walls. The current power of each basic weapon is shown in cycles right beside the score display, but in a game that has absolutely no power-ups how exactly are we supposed to upgrade our weapons? That's when chaining comes into play, and everything about <b>Radiant Silvergun</b> assumes a whole new level regarding strategy. It's not about haphazardly killing everything anymore, and there's simply no way around this if you want to have a chance at succeeding in the long run. If you ignore it completely there comes a point when your weapons start to lack power and bosses become virtually invincible.</div><div><br /></div><div>Chaining in <b>Radiant Silvergun</b> is color-based. Except for bosses, every single enemy is either red, blue or yellow. The basic rule is that these enemies must be destroyed in successive groups of three of the same color, without killing anything else that bears a different color. By doing that the multiplier over the base values increase dramatically, additionally powering up all weapons used in the process. Dying or destroying an unwanted enemy resets the chain/combo value. Another source of upgrades is the act of correctly dismantling bosses. Almost all of them have multiple parts/components that can be destroyed independently. Managing to get a 100% destruction ratio yields a lot more points and faster upgrades, but if you go straight for the kill and leave the extra parts intact this destruction bonus of course won't be as good.</div><div><br /></div><div>Extra scoring methods can be squeezed in depending on the enemy layouts. A secret chain, for example, is obtained when you destroy at least one red enemy, hit a blue one and then start targeting only yellow ones. Chain values skyrocket quickly and soon reach the maximum of 100.000 points for every three enemies destroyed. Despite the difficulty to actually pull it off, stage 2B is a great example of when to exploit the secret chain technique. Other ways to score more points is by standing close to bullets and lasers (grazing), landing multiple hits with the same weapon and finding the "merry dogs", which are hidden in specific places and can only be unlocked by using the homing ring (B+C). They come in three types, but increase in value progressively.</div><div><br /></div><div>Long story short, the upgrade progression is directly related to the weapons you use and to how well you're able to score. As I hinted above, the puzzle element related to chaining is one of the defining features of <b>Radiant Silvergun</b>, as well as the amazing sense of style and grandeur evoked by the game's scope. The stage structure, for instance, is quite unorthodox. In Arcade mode the game starts in stage 3, which is comprised by 5 sections. After that you must choose between stages 2 or 4, both also comprised by 5 sections. Then you proceed to stages 5, 6 (where you face a humanoid final boss named Xyga) and 1 (where you can't shoot and must survive the attacks from the evil crystal behind everything in the story). Since each section has its own boss, it's as if the game had 13 stages. Each stage also has a name that ties into the story (Return, Reminiscence / Evasion, Victim, Origin and Link), an aspect that's fully developed in the new Saturn mode.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="282" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/s8Vy_40Mzsc" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe></div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">Original trailer for <b>Radiant Silvergun</b> on the Sega Saturn</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">(courtesy of YouTube user <span style="font-weight: bold;">SegaSteve</span>)</span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div>Specifically tailored for this port, Saturn mode spices things up with extensive backstory animations and Japanese narration while making players go through all levels from start to finish (after stage 3 you advance to stage 2 and then stage 4). There are also four extra bosses in stage 6 prior to the final showdown against Xyga. More merry dogs than usual can be found, and minor graphical tweaks were applied to make the game a little more colorful. Since this mode is longer, the upgrade progression is a little slower than in Arcade mode. In any case, the most important feature of Saturn mode is that you're given the option to save your game so that you'll always start with the power-up levels you had in your last run. Eventually you'll max out all weapons at level 33, thus making it a lot easier to defeat bosses and reach the end of the game. The only initial challenge of Saturn mode is that continues are limited and get unlocked as you play, whereas you can just add credits at will in Arcade mode (with the L button). You can always play Saturn mode on a clean slate at any time, of course. </div><div><br /></div><div>Given how the gameplay works, it's reasonable to consider <b>Radiant Silvergun</b> to be one of the most methodical vertical shooters out there. It sure has its share of hairy moments, with true bullet hell sections and pressure mounting against some gigantic bosses the less powered up you are, but for the most part the rhythm of the game is clearly dictated by slow moving bullets. That said, for the majority of players the deadliest enemy for a good while is the confusion regarding weapon usage. Missing a hyper sword charge or triggering it in the wrong occasion, for example, can throw everything off in any run. That's why planning ahead, applying good crowd control and devising safe strategies for bosses are so important. This process might take longer than usual for a shmup, but the journey is decidedly worth it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Arcade and Saturn modes are quite distinct between each other, as I mentioned above. They do share the same extend routine though, with score-based extra lives granted at 1 million and 5 million points. Other than that, all credits across both modes have incredibly detailed stats that can be seen in the options screen, which is also where you switch between game modes. You can even unlock special menus that allow stage selection, for example. The only features that I really missed in this outstanding port is a replay save function and some decent practice options. Unlockable stage selection is nice but doesn't cut it, especially with the frequent deaths of my back-up batteries.</div><div><br /></div><div>I focused on Arcade mode after I came across a working MAME rom. I used it to practice until stage 2C, where it unfortunately crashed, so I had to learn everything after that the hard way. It was a memorable undertaking, but certainly not as memorable as Saturn mode, which I'll leave for a future opportunity. A common misconception about <b>Radiant Silvergun</b> is that the game is too long, but that's only true about Saturn mode, which takes over an hour to be completed. As we can see from the photo below, I was able to 1CC Arcade mode in less than 27 minutes in the Normal difficulty, going through the stage 2 branch (stage 4 is too evil). My back-up battery was dead during this run, so all the history from a previous 1CC and other attempts were sadly gone.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipyI45CDEpLiHZJdbEV-9rY00mOC94ZhJMY-0x2D5K8lCE_iGUEBtInbP660SoTsMTuGN9CeMnGsAYFv_fAVVwbMP1QEBAd_6jN8pI-Cp0Ru3U6j9IaIUo5sVI9G9fO9Z2lBBJajXuvQ1APq925i6XSH1M_FyP7O97pGxm4x_Z6Q9ZPtEcULoxI5aPtes/s300/hS_saTradiantSilvergunARC.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipyI45CDEpLiHZJdbEV-9rY00mOC94ZhJMY-0x2D5K8lCE_iGUEBtInbP660SoTsMTuGN9CeMnGsAYFv_fAVVwbMP1QEBAd_6jN8pI-Cp0Ru3U6j9IaIUo5sVI9G9fO9Z2lBBJajXuvQ1APq925i6XSH1M_FyP7O97pGxm4x_Z6Q9ZPtEcULoxI5aPtes/s1600/hS_saTradiantSilvergunARC.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Now I can finally say I'm ready to move on to <b>Ikaruga</b>.</div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">1cclog.blogspot.com</div>Edwardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17491361099947592597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8742813618758333424.post-67837006937225039232023-06-15T21:53:00.003-03:002023-06-15T21:54:25.402-03:00Andro Dunos II (Playstation 4)<span style="font-weight: bold;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiPO5SyM1OI9cNXM44BTs5Esg6w1RgafLPcZuILsYTaY5HhWwbXzxGPBxWcAmKij9qvkDx7fAOVsXlby2eLbhPFuPIKjEVCeQGp1729-KI4ea2CGxSpqnuLbPOYxbdfe0dCSMQS6jq39WIt_9vhdje1nz3v4ws6laN-ive9xCb4LMsrRg6ClYevI2M/s135/androDunos2_Box.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="135" data-original-width="110" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiPO5SyM1OI9cNXM44BTs5Esg6w1RgafLPcZuILsYTaY5HhWwbXzxGPBxWcAmKij9qvkDx7fAOVsXlby2eLbhPFuPIKjEVCeQGp1729-KI4ea2CGxSpqnuLbPOYxbdfe0dCSMQS6jq39WIt_9vhdje1nz3v4ws6laN-ive9xCb4LMsrRg6ClYevI2M/s1600/androDunos2_Box.jpg" width="110" /></a></div>Horizontal<br />Checkpoints OFF<br />3 Difficulty levels<br />7 Stages<br />Ship speed fixed<br />- - - - - - -<br />Developed by Picorinne Soft<br />Published by Studio Storybird / Pixelheart in 2022</span><br />
<br /><div>There once was a horizontal shooter with a ship that looked like <b>Zero Wing</b>'s but behaved like the one from <b>Hellfire</b>. While not well known even within the shmup community, it was an honest effort that graced the Neo Geo library with lively colors and decent fun factor. Other than that very few people really knew about <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2011/06/andro-dunos-neo-geo.html">Andro Dunos</a></b> until recently, after all <b>Andro Dunos II</b> was released for several different platforms. An oddity in itself that finds very few parallels these days (<b>Sol Cresta</b> is perhaps another example), <b>Andro Dunos II</b> is the kind of sequel that comes off as quite surprising no matter how much love you had for the original. After all, what can one expect from such an unexpected continuation to a game released more than 30 years ago? </div><div><br /></div><div>Some of the best things in life, including gaming of course, is to be positively surprised when you least expect it. And that's the case of <b>Andro Dunos II</b>. In short, it makes you feel the same kind of thrills people experienced during the 16-bit era. There's a great sense of scope backed up by solid gameplay concepts, a package that's nicely crafted to provide players with lots of versatility in terms of challenge, strategy and fun. It totally respects and preserves the tone of the first game, but there are also elements that evoke classic series like <i><b>Thunder Force</b></i> and <b><i>Gradius</i></b>. Graphics make the most out of humble assets and look great, with simple yet efficient visual effects and a soundtrack that's quite engaging, often evolving in sync with important moments and transitions.</div><div><br /></div><div>Once the game is started a brief tutorial shows you how to basically use all buttons to begin playing. It can be skipped by pressing any button, whereas to quit the game at any moment all you have to do is pause and simultaneously press L1, R1 and OPTIONS. </div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="282" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yo1K1TD8nfM" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 12.6225px; font-style: italic;">My 1CC run on <b>Andro Dunos II</b> for the Playstation 4</span></div><div><br /></div><div>There are four main weapons cycled by pressing the shoulder buttons (L1 and R1): a straight shot, a spread shot, a rear shot and a slow-firing laser that acquires an X-shaped pattern when you achieve power level 4. Getting there is just a matter of collecting the floating power-up when it displays an S, which then upgrades only the weapon you're currently using. Power-ups are released by incoming carriers and cycle between S, M and U before leaving the screen, so if the one you want doesn't appear right away just wait for the power-up to change. Each weapon is maxed out when reaching power level 7. As for the M and the U, they're used to upgrade missiles and summon/upgrade shield barriers. These extra resources can only be upgraded up to level 5 and behave differently according to the weapon you're using. Shield barriers deplete if too many shots hit them.</div><div><br /></div><div>For each weapon there's also a hyper shot that can be unleashed by pressing a separate button. The caveat is that during the recharging time said weapon remains in its weakest form. On the other hand, this powerful attack does not depend on the current upgrade level of the weapon, which means it will always be the same no matter how powered up the weapon is. Using hyper shots and switching weapons in between is the secret to handling difficult sections and succesfully dismantling bosses. The hyper shot for the straight weapon is the strongest and can block regular bullets, but the one for the spread shot is definitely the best for crowd control. The laser hyper shot lacks power but is also a good means of shielding yourself from incoming bullets.</div><div><br /></div><div>Amidst the action you'll also come across blue orbs that give you points and bonuses. Each stage has 30 of them, and for each 10 you're able to collect you get one token to be exchanged after beating the boss. You can either level up any of your weapons or auxiliary shots, as well as trade them for 5.000 points each. Considering that each power-up in excess is worth 2.000 points during the level, that's when you start to realize the built-in possibilities of the scoring system. Add to that the ability to destroy boss parts for a few more points and the strict nature of the game design, which never changes enemy patterns and totally rewards solid memorization. I felt that there might some rank involved if you survive long enough on a single life, but it's pretty mild and only affects bullet density.</div><div><br /></div><div>Besides missing a few seconds of the action, the only penalty for losing a life in <b>Andro Dunos II</b> is the downgrade of one power level of the weapon you were using (missiles and shield are unaffected). No bonuses of any kind come from extra lives when beating the game, therefore the score extends granted with 100.000 points and then at every 150.000 points are there just to increase your survival odds. While the game isn't remarkably difficult, deaths happen quite frequently in the beginning due to incorrect weapon cycling. Sure you can stick to a single one that feels more comfortable, but using the whole arsenal according to the challenge imposed by each stage is quite amusing.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7em6X83ptb3z3dMF0Y9eB-MD6Vlrz6s-Y5yllQKqmu8YeXiQVSnd2u_sRyt5jr3oKwwa366cn6D6yytvtd8kN85bY3vogZx1CpD8E_mJqaQ4hk4erdc985YbDnecE-jjl_fS31x_HjA4Wz1qhCgsDg441KnGTsIV4MIiEud0OKziumDiTEvQ74t_u/s400/androDunos2_01.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7em6X83ptb3z3dMF0Y9eB-MD6Vlrz6s-Y5yllQKqmu8YeXiQVSnd2u_sRyt5jr3oKwwa366cn6D6yytvtd8kN85bY3vogZx1CpD8E_mJqaQ4hk4erdc985YbDnecE-jjl_fS31x_HjA4Wz1qhCgsDg441KnGTsIV4MIiEud0OKziumDiTEvQ74t_u/s16000/androDunos2_01.png" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 12.6225px; font-style: italic;">Zero Wing vs. Mech Warrior?</span></div><div><br /></div><div>That said, the true fact of the matter is that <b>Andro Dunos II</b> definitely shines in the level design department. It puts all sorts of hazards on screen, scrolls up and down every now and then and showcases large bosses with attack patterns that always throw some sort of marginal variation, often taking players by surprise. I just missed the screen scrolling backwards as in the second stage of the first chapter. There are some other clear nods to <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2011/06/andro-dunos-neo-geo.html">Andro Dunos</a></b> though, most notably the rearrangement of a few bosses in several parts of the game. By the way, my favorite part is the high speed section of the fifth stage (machine city), but the best music is certainly the one that plays during the underwater level.</div><div><br /></div><div>There's no need to fear the pixellated resolution on the PS4, the game is so good that in no time it won't bother you anymore. An assortment of wallpapers is available when the game is booted, with the possibility of also applying scanlines over the mock-up of a curvy TV screen. It's nice for nostalgic old timers, I guess. A stage select option allows you to restart the game in any stage you've already reached or just replay them at will, even though the starting power levels are fixed and don't allow any adjustments. By beating the game you unlock a boss rush stage, which in turn unlocks two extra independent levels modeled after stages 1 and 3 of <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2011/06/andro-dunos-neo-geo.html">Andro Dunos</a></b>. Just a couple of pointless curiosities, I'd say.</div><div><br /></div><div>I 1CCed <b>Andro Dunos II</b> in the middle difficulty (Arcade) with the high score shown below, aiming for all blue orbs and just bonus points in the end-of-stage reward screen. The 10 at the end of the scores are a nice way to give away the chosen difficulty.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKDswcvn8zrw-uLpaCwLeQbI4WFXZi6Y1o3ksjY0cPXZ3pSPfJtsnicVNTReM-5-EFKcQFd8ImCP0dOhQJlcE5hhN4GgQPxRW_6N0-3RI2EzWj-jR-PqJ3W1aW94S03GdJTxVVIzuTlcW3v1lNLi8vggHYAy8viSNT0AOWZWT7cKtpqihVcWa2aF8D/s300/hS_PS4androDunos2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKDswcvn8zrw-uLpaCwLeQbI4WFXZi6Y1o3ksjY0cPXZ3pSPfJtsnicVNTReM-5-EFKcQFd8ImCP0dOhQJlcE5hhN4GgQPxRW_6N0-3RI2EzWj-jR-PqJ3W1aW94S03GdJTxVVIzuTlcW3v1lNLi8vggHYAy8viSNT0AOWZWT7cKtpqihVcWa2aF8D/s1600/hS_PS4androDunos2.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">1cclog.blogspot.com</div>Edwardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17491361099947592597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8742813618758333424.post-37621045367577225532023-05-22T22:02:00.001-03:002023-05-22T22:09:15.699-03:00Vulgus (Playstation 2)<span style="font-weight: bold;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbt6hWNQv3HJ7-HpyhBaWGPxeiFgu9K-VZ_eO1XKqJzLW1wE1FpZ242QH1hiRe3mf07ZIwGrDUPqATK7_hmnEm84nhGzMjeauwjCE8nv7JVbcRQ2oQoq5AwN-LU22l221Oqrtt56MYkspre-zk_LXOwmo4EAxsxslMj5JCh0KDeLw-sezuL4YC2kwg/s150/capcomClassicsCollection1_Box.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="150" data-original-width="110" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbt6hWNQv3HJ7-HpyhBaWGPxeiFgu9K-VZ_eO1XKqJzLW1wE1FpZ242QH1hiRe3mf07ZIwGrDUPqATK7_hmnEm84nhGzMjeauwjCE8nv7JVbcRQ2oQoq5AwN-LU22l221Oqrtt56MYkspre-zk_LXOwmo4EAxsxslMj5JCh0KDeLw-sezuL4YC2kwg/s1600/capcomClassicsCollection1_Box.jpg" width="110" /></a></div>Vertical<br />Checkpoints ON<br />2 Difficulty levels<br />3 Stages (loopable)<br />
Ship speed fixed<br />
- - - - - - -<br />Developed by Capcom<br />
Published by Digital Eclipse in 2005</span><br />
<br />Another first from another important developer, let's go!<div><br /></div><div>Yes, every company has to start somewhere. I'm not saying that <b>Vulgus</b> was the first game designed by Capcom. It was however their first shmup, and as such deserves at least a bolded footnote in the history of the genre. Many would argue with that, and even more people simply ignore it because it was soon overshadowed by the games that followed. Fortunately <b>Vulgus</b> wasn't (and shouldn't be) forgotten, seeing that it was included in all of those compilations backed up by Capcom ever since the 32-bit generation hit the gaming world.<div><br /></div><div>That said, It's possible to play <b>Vulgus</b> on the Playstation 2 by means of the <b>Capcom Classics Collection</b>. Unfortunately this compilation does not offer any option to play it in TATE, but that isn't that much of a loss if you've got a decently sized TV/monitor. The game's primitive mechanics don't require much as you're invited to attend the coming out party thrown by giant insect mutants from a planet callled... Vulgus. Basically it's just a relentless series of enemy waves attacking the player in random formations throughout three ever-looping ground levels separated by outer space intermissions.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="282" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/edFUE7-0Xsk" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe></div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">Starting the fun with <b>Vulgus</b> on the <b>Capcom Classics Collection</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">(courtesy of YouTube user <span style="font-weight: bold;">VideoGaming4U</span>)</span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><br /></div><div>In the world of <b>Vulgus</b> your tiny round spaceship is equipped with a regular shot and a more powerful and limited attack akin to a cannon, missile or torpedo. It drills straightly forward destroying all minor enemies, only stopping against those bigger bugs that cross the screen from time to time. It's mostly indicated against enemies that appear and enter into line formations after a brief while, kinda like those classic patterns first seen in <b>Galaga</b>. The difference here is that you also have other enemies flying around everywhere, which sometimes makes it difficult or impossible to aim the torpedo and kill complete enemy formations to get more points (the more you kill with a single blow the higher the bonus).</div><div><br /></div><div>Another visual influence here is <b>Xevious</b>, particularly during the forest planet of the second level thanks to the simliar terrain and the appearance of revolving blocks that become invincible and scroll downwards if you fail to destroy them. The difficulty picks up accordingly from the crater planet of the first stage, quickly peaking as soon as you enter the icy planet in the third stage. Enemy movement patterns get more and more complicated, and since their shots are all directly aimed at the player it soon becomes clear that you absolutely can't stay put. Does this sound familiar? Of course it does, after all this is the same gameplay behavior seen in <b>1942</b> and <b>Exed Exes</b>, two spiritual successors in the Capcom shmup timeline.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Vulgus</b> is also where you'll first see some trademark icons in the Capcom shmup lore, such as the Pow item and the yasichi (the colored lollipop). The Pow appears randomly as you defeat enemies, and each one adds an extra cannon/torpedo to your stock. The yasichi, on the other hand, is actually an enemy that approaches the ship and darts into its location. Other items show up in the form of letters D, E and S, which seemingly don't do anything. I don't think they affect enemy behavior to a noticeable extent (decrease quantity, increase number, increase speed) as seen in the hint included in this very same collection. What I noticed is that if you take many of them during the same stage without dying you'll eventually be able to collect a yellow star that's worth 10.000 points.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTbiy1u00W2UenYQnkHC217xpuzOFoKCQtdpnbg9lN_cPhMNOBrSiuFKObXjeab-1hVCcFeFfWhlnWi5KUkNmJE_59Xk2Q2pmyHypdiIDdMWp9BegMyhmsxw0YyNeaJ8cmCoXZpZGhdhfExeJJf3fne5_UHyNzJYEgDFOm77MZFJ3Sslt2J4pfsWbW/s300/vulgus_00.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTbiy1u00W2UenYQnkHC217xpuzOFoKCQtdpnbg9lN_cPhMNOBrSiuFKObXjeab-1hVCcFeFfWhlnWi5KUkNmJE_59Xk2Q2pmyHypdiIDdMWp9BegMyhmsxw0YyNeaJ8cmCoXZpZGhdhfExeJJf3fne5_UHyNzJYEgDFOm77MZFJ3Sslt2J4pfsWbW/s1600/vulgus_00.png" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 12.6225px; font-style: italic;">The loop boss!</span></div><div><br /></div><div>An interesting aspect of the gameplay that might not be that intuitive in the beginning is that the quicker you take Pows and letters the quicker they will appear. If you fail or refuse to collect an item it will keep showing up until you take it, and only then the item spawning sequence will be resumed (most frequently it's a random letter for every two Pows). Items don't appear in outer space areas, but whenever they're on screen note that if you move left/right and leave it out of sight it might just disappear, as will some of the enemies.</div><div><br /></div><div>For a quick burst of shooting action <b>Vulgus</b> is quite a decent diversion, given that it doesn't take too long to be looped. At the end of the 3rd stage a bigger enemy with rotating rocks appears, in what could be considered the loop boss. There are a few odd choices in the rudimentary mechanics, such as the cannon stock being retained even if you die and the routine for extends and extra lives. Extends are normally achieved at 20.000 and 60.000 points, whereas 1UPs come from destroying certain enemies and quickly vanish amidst the mayhem. No worries though because they get duly registered. And whatever your life stock is, the maximum amount shown in the life indicator is 4.</div><div><br /></div></div><div>My final verdict on this game is simple. If you fancy the style of <b>1942</b> and <b>Exed Exes</b> but can't cope with their excruciatingly long campaigns and difficulty, which is my case, then <b>Vulgus</b> is certainly a nice option to try. It's just as relentless, but three stages is all it takes to add it to your 1CC achievement list. Both input buttons can be configured at will in the options screen, as well as rapid fire (a controller with turbo fire will give you better results though). The repetitive music is really the only atrocious aspect players need to endure, but there's a slightly less grating alternative in the <b>Capcom Classic Collection</b> disc. Just go to Options → Game Settings and switch on Sound Remix.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here's my final result in the Normal difficulty, reaching the icy planet one more time on the second loop.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWQTQXEkhLKGIya4teawtLraWUrBG1H-LfElm2HDZg-jR73f2C5Y7PkKlIjFdcxxSvLGA4jz4BoR8vwXH9SrgBk1eVJTU_twiuwPwCio-UZvWQWFk8BhT18hJThvI__KzNazcUxnqGsJGyI-tRsaW4RtPPqfpUF2-b7OGBKEty4GCyZH0g1MNcsN6x/s300/hS_PS2vulgus.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWQTQXEkhLKGIya4teawtLraWUrBG1H-LfElm2HDZg-jR73f2C5Y7PkKlIjFdcxxSvLGA4jz4BoR8vwXH9SrgBk1eVJTU_twiuwPwCio-UZvWQWFk8BhT18hJThvI__KzNazcUxnqGsJGyI-tRsaW4RtPPqfpUF2-b7OGBKEty4GCyZH0g1MNcsN6x/s1600/hS_PS2vulgus.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">1cclog.blogspot.com</div>Edwardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17491361099947592597noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8742813618758333424.post-10662363619538410442023-05-11T21:36:00.004-03:002023-05-22T22:16:11.775-03:00Tiger-Heli (Playstation 4)<span style="font-weight: bold;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxoD1N-Lzch5md7MuX8ApnGrC4LJrm0wcIOBFe3Z88xhFHqefq4oEJDp9wfrNEL5o8ykf_ukYl4taEzhEh2d1pMH9hwTbVWQQWpAMh-9FGUzOPtMuoNdNUCrlPfI7d6XEWlhMrreow1qxclF9_vpCmyxUE-m__G1JG8TsJfLdhJb5OKSWdni7U1VLM/s135/toaplanArcadeGarageKyukyokuTigerHeli_Box.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="135" data-original-width="110" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxoD1N-Lzch5md7MuX8ApnGrC4LJrm0wcIOBFe3Z88xhFHqefq4oEJDp9wfrNEL5o8ykf_ukYl4taEzhEh2d1pMH9hwTbVWQQWpAMh-9FGUzOPtMuoNdNUCrlPfI7d6XEWlhMrreow1qxclF9_vpCmyxUE-m__G1JG8TsJfLdhJb5OKSWdni7U1VLM/s1600/toaplanArcadeGarageKyukyokuTigerHeli_Box.jpg" width="110" /></a></div>Vertical<br />Checkpoints ON<br />4 Difficulty levels<br />4 Stages (loopable)<br />Ship speed fixed<br />- - - - - - -<br />Developed by Toaplan<br />Published by M2 / Tatsujin in 2021</span><br />
<br /><div>Paying respects to shmup classics is never a bad idea if you have some spare time. It also serves two noble purposes. One of them is to put into perspective their undeniable importance to the development of the genre. The other is, well, to have fun obviously. It could be easy fun, but challenging fun is preferrably the best option. <b>Tiger-Heli</b> is definitely one that fits the bill, and its resurfacing in new consoles thanks to the fine people from M2 offered a great chance to revisit this defining title in the history of Toaplan. After all, the only true <a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2009/09/tiger-heli-playstation.html">arcade port of <b>Tiger-Heli</b></a> until recently was in the <b>Toaplan Shooting Battle 1</b> compilation released for the Playstation in 1996.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Toaplan Arcade Garage - Kyukyoku Tiger-Heli</b> is the first compilation in the M2 ShotTriggers Japanese series that's exclusively dedicated to Toaplan. It contains <b>Tiger-Heli</b>, <b>Kyukyoku Tiger</b> and <b>Twin Cobra</b>, in what's seemingly a repetition of the aforementioned package released for the PS1. However, it offers much more in terms of available adjustments, interface improvements and extra content since you can also play several console versions of these games through DLC. There's even a port of <b>Get Star</b>, an extremely odd platformer released by Toaplan in 1986. Unfortunately the downlodable content can only be redeemed with Japanese PSN accounts.</div><div><br /></div><div>Even though it's quite different from the titles that followed in the Toaplan timeline, <b>Tiger-Heli</b> was immensely successful and established the company as one of the main shmup households during the 80s. The main inspiration for the game was <a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2018/10/gyrodine-playstation-2.html"><b>Gyrodine</b></a>, which actually had in its developmment team some of the guys who would later found Toaplan. However, despite the similar use of a helicopter as the player's avatar there isn't much in common between both games. Toaplan's debut enjoyed greater success both in the arcades and in people's homes, given that in certain regions the port of <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2009/12/tiger-heli-nes.html">Tiger-Heli</a></b> for the Famicom/NES was certainly one of the most popular shmups of the 8-bit era.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw5T-4BeCPK7vE9jCNe2KhlwtoEQU0ZoE0MDFfk6mNTzuA-gWMndKbiCo4ddt0zIwpLAZn07dZAUTGQNcO4G0iEMnZP6_pcjEj_olP_HFWmj0HSPg5tRrc-DbHT7oABF1wjuldtRJEjZg9d6OBBAWIUK_Oeb7oLJYT2L9qAEjGjuhxNejB_6gKCjPL/s400/tigerHeli_00.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw5T-4BeCPK7vE9jCNe2KhlwtoEQU0ZoE0MDFfk6mNTzuA-gWMndKbiCo4ddt0zIwpLAZn07dZAUTGQNcO4G0iEMnZP6_pcjEj_olP_HFWmj0HSPg5tRrc-DbHT7oABF1wjuldtRJEjZg9d6OBBAWIUK_Oeb7oLJYT2L9qAEjGjuhxNejB_6gKCjPL/s16000/tigerHeli_00.png" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 12.6225px; font-style: italic;">Art during the initial loading of <b>Tiger-Heli</b> on the PS4</span></div><div><br /></div><div>As the first shmup developed by Toaplan, <b>Tiger-Heli</b> established the basic visual grounds that would define much of the company's style for a few years. In terms of gameplay, however, it's quite unique in how it deals with movement speed and bomb management for example. It's deceivingly slow and methodical, and despite the straightforward nature of enemy formations there comes a point when a solid amount of memorization becomes inevitable. It teaches the importance of never underestimating a simple game that uses only two buttons for shooting and for dropping bombs.</div><div><br /></div><div>Once the helicopter takes flight over an urban landscape, tanks and turrets will fire aimed bullets at intervals that get increasingly shorter as the difficulty picks up proportionally. For each life you get two bombs placed on the sides of the chopper, which can explode if hit by a bullet. The firing rate is capped so you can only have a certain amount of bullets on screen at any time, nevertheless it's still possible to point blank in order to land a lot more shots per second. Bombs have no panic function but can still be used defensively, however a proactive approach can lead to much better survival chances in some of the trickiest sections.</div><div><br /></div><div>Improving firepower is possible by hitting a tiny ground square that keeps cycling quickly between a white arrow pointing up, a red arrow point sideways and a blue B for extra bombs. The arrows generate "little helis" that float downwards and latch to the chopper on both sides when collected, providing great attack reinforcements. You can have a maximum of two little helis at any given time, but just like the bombs they can be destroyed with a single hit. As for the yellow pulsating squares, an extra life is achieved whenever ten of them are destroyed (a counter keeps track of how many you have). By the way, score-based extends are also registered with 50.000 points and for every 120.000 points after that.</div><div><br /></div><div>Whenever you die and get sent back to a previous checkpoint the helicopter is respawned with two bombs. This bomb stock is also replenished during the landing/take-off sequence between levels, which is also where you can collect 5.000 bonus points for each bomb or little heli you're carrying when you land (surplus upgrades taken throughout the level give you 3.000 points). These are the main ways to score higher, but there are also a few secrets such as the indestructible red house at the start of the first stage that gives you 10.000 points (and more if you keep shooting it), or the areas where a racing car will slowly travel from right to left if you stand there after having fired exact multiples of 16 shots and is also worth 10.000 points.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="282" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/V04RDiVlkLc" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe></div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">Entering the second loop of <b>Tiger-Heli</b> on the PS4</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">(courtesy of YouTube user <span style="font-weight: bold;">FunnyPlace Channel</span>)</span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div>Before playing this port of <b>Tiger-Heli</b>, the 16-shot secret for the passing car was unknown to me. Achieving it is possible in all available spots of this version though, thanks to some of the gadgets designed by M2 (the shot counter and the stage map). A staple that has become synonym with the company, these gadgets are invaluable and give much more information than what you can see from the game screen alone. This port also offers four game modes to choose from. Arcade is locked in the Normal difficulty and denies any changes to the game settings, providing the unaltered original experience and avoiding the confusion related to different arcade board versions. Super Easy mode is also locked, Custom allows all sorts of tweaks possible and Arcade Challenge is a collection of stage-based score attack modes.</div><div><br /></div><div>Since everything in this Playstation 4 version is in Japanese, if you want to watch a replay from the leaderboards note that you need to download it first by pressing ×, then proceed to Replay Theater inside the Materials Room menu to see it.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBxhraaeXOU77TSs2MiczT_ALVPZm3TF74zyyYDfV8rDYeZs8eaYkndjijn2mCmbERtuI1ODf6WJrH1EHlNFimKiz230BYtMNCLoNSbrdqH-5cwMGjHWRz_S_hl7DhJtVW0P0_3YSEJTQeOSjtJKDcViBoOEd6xHY6qFHZ1QWBLfbiuIF6yuSBXB_J/s5396/menuTranslation_tigerHeli.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2433" data-original-width="5396" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBxhraaeXOU77TSs2MiczT_ALVPZm3TF74zyyYDfV8rDYeZs8eaYkndjijn2mCmbERtuI1ODf6WJrH1EHlNFimKiz230BYtMNCLoNSbrdqH-5cwMGjHWRz_S_hl7DhJtVW0P0_3YSEJTQeOSjtJKDcViBoOEd6xHY6qFHZ1QWBLfbiuIF6yuSBXB_J/s320/menuTranslation_tigerHeli.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">Click for the option menus translation for <b>Tiger-Heli</b> on <b>Toaplan Arcade Garage - Kyukyoku Tiger-Heli</b></span></div><div><br /></div><div>Despite the apparent bare-bones and primitive aspect of <b>Tiger-Heli</b>, its ability to keep sucking players for just one more credit is undeniable. There are no stage bosses, but those large tanks that appear in pairs at certain points could definitely claim the title of bosses if they wanted to. An interesting gameplay detail is that even though a few jets zap through the screen here and there there are absolutely no shots fired by aerial enemies, a concept that Toaplan would employ again in <b>Daisenpu</b> / <b>Twin Hawk</b>. And as far as looping games go, <b>Tiger-Heli</b> is also special because it excludes the first stage from subsequent loops, which then have only three stages instead of the initial four (the high score table mentions areas, with 8 areas comprising a full stage). Finally, the game makes the most out of the available music, changing its regular theme to an equally energetic variation whenever you're carrying at least one little heli.</div><div><br /></div><div>My best result in Arcade mode / Normal difficulty is below. Once I got familiar with the game again I was able to reach the 3rd stage of the second loop (repetition of the 4th stage).</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsak-PbUOclSukXMkr4F2MyC3vuEGTh6UBO97ekmvHbATLyiT3ER-ADmGEWpPWiKskhWhVn7LmTti5YrY7cTZeoO_FV220g6iEH8aXFP9c4O-Z_wwu5Ol4UJYkGmO_MK9dQ3fA9zPrJqc_RTPIpIGH2Exe2v9sUZLrTBSVruCZ8dVIrgSsNScwVx2Q/s300/hS_PS4tigerHeli.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsak-PbUOclSukXMkr4F2MyC3vuEGTh6UBO97ekmvHbATLyiT3ER-ADmGEWpPWiKskhWhVn7LmTti5YrY7cTZeoO_FV220g6iEH8aXFP9c4O-Z_wwu5Ol4UJYkGmO_MK9dQ3fA9zPrJqc_RTPIpIGH2Exe2v9sUZLrTBSVruCZ8dVIrgSsNScwVx2Q/s1600/hS_PS4tigerHeli.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">1cclog.blogspot.com</div>Edwardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17491361099947592597noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8742813618758333424.post-13785824972290151212023-04-27T19:00:00.002-03:002023-04-27T19:00:00.163-03:00Wonder 3 [Chariot] (Playstation 2)<span style="font-weight: bold;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTwyDMlfqH96-CufD5eW8os7bl78e28MuzuKm7rt_XEFJLQzfi7Qmtsqd65GNpP6RWOFtrLHc7BCgxPu3tpYFDjLoefjKiADgq5Xx61U3s-MIMnzlPD328P05v5YXeMWGwkhfi_qGNlxPxuqG0AHo4Y1p22x9M2B7cAIgES_zdnMgnppoLvuAVn6l0/s150/capcomClassicsCollection2_Box.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="150" data-original-width="110" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTwyDMlfqH96-CufD5eW8os7bl78e28MuzuKm7rt_XEFJLQzfi7Qmtsqd65GNpP6RWOFtrLHc7BCgxPu3tpYFDjLoefjKiADgq5Xx61U3s-MIMnzlPD328P05v5YXeMWGwkhfi_qGNlxPxuqG0AHo4Y1p22x9M2B7cAIgES_zdnMgnppoLvuAVn6l0/s1600/capcomClassicsCollection2_Box.jpg" width="110" /></a></div>Horizontal<br />Checkpoints OFF<br />4 Difficulty levels<br />7 Stages<br />
Ship speed fixed<br />
- - - - - - -<br />Developed by Capcom<br />
Published by Digital Eclipse in 2006</span><br />
<br />Three full-blown games in one single arcade title isn't something you see regularly. <b>Three Wonders</b>, also known as <b>Wonder 3</b> in Japan, was Capcom's take on such an odd formula, featuring a platformer, a shmup and a puzzler. The elf characters of the platformer <b>Midnight Wanderers - Quest for the Chariot</b> (<b>Roosters</b> in the Japanese version) are the same ones that appear in <b>Chariot - Adventure through the Sky</b>, whereas the puzzler <b>Don't Pull</b> features a cute design reminiscent of <b>Pengo</b> and <b>Bomberman</b>. Since this is a shmup-oriented blog, the option I played last week was obviously <b>Chariot</b>. It's actually my second time doing it, since I had already spent some time with the <a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2010/10/wonder-3-chariot-saturn.html">port released for the Sega Saturn</a> in 1998.<div><br /></div><div><b>Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 2</b> on the Playstation 2 is one of the several ways you can experience <b>Three Wonders</b> in the comfort of your living room. It's a perfectly fine version that includes automatic saving, full button remapping with additional autofire and a few related extras. The game itself is extremely colorful with a sweet art design that kinda predates the visual style Capcom would later infuse in titles like <b>Eco Fighters</b>. It's also got a simple rank progression that makes the game slightly harder the longer you remain alive, which is something I didn't really notice back when I played the <a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2010/10/wonder-3-chariot-saturn.html">Saturn port</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="282" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YmamlBulV8E" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe></div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">First stage of <b>Chariot</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">(courtesy of YouTube user <span style="font-weight: bold;">Oto Mitas</span>)</span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><div><br /></div><div>As you take to the skies with any of the two characters (co-op possible) you’re allowed to shoot and to fire a "crash" attack based on your tail energy. There’s no autofire by default for the shot input but you can activate it the options (set rapid fire to ON). Shot type is dictated by colored power-ups released by floating chests. The wide shot (red, default) has a good spread coverage and generates a single straight blast as crash attack, whereas the straight/rapid shot (green) is totally focused but fires a wide staggering blast for crash attack. </div><div><br /></div><div>The basic and most important strategy to succeed in <b>Chariot</b> is to power up as fast as you can. Four consecutive items of the same color are necessary to maximize the shot power level, but chests also release other essential upgrades such as the option that increases the size of your tail (up to seven segments), the bomb (B) that activates a ground projectile (a second B adds a trailing effect that extends the reach of the bomb) and the emblem that gives you a 1-hit shield in the form of a golden chariot (appears only once in selected stages). Regarding tail size, it’s important to mention that the larger the tail the more crash attacks you can fire in succession. Each one consumes 3 tail segments, but fortunately tail energy recharges rather quickly over time. Tail energy is also consumed when you use the tail to deflect bullets and damage enemies coming from behind, so take note of that if you're surrounded by enemy flocks closing in from all sides. </div><div><br /></div><div>Remaining items related to survival and scoring can come either from chests or from destroying particular enemies or enemy waves. The first one is the heart that adds to an extend counter: the small heart adds +1 and the big heart adds +5 towards milestones of 50, 70 and 90 for three possible extra lives. The second item is the coin, one of the backbones of the game’s scoring system. The common rule in every stage is that for each coin collected before the next one appears its value increases in nine steps from 100 to 4.800 points. Special situations happen after mid-boss encounters (always take the coin of highest value last) and during sections with lots of coins appearing at the same time, where coin value increases slowly no matter how many of them are on screen.</div><div><br /></div><div>Throughout the level the most simple way to increase coin value is by killing the enemy waves that give out coins, that's why you need to avoid destroying turrets that spit out said waves (each stage has its own type of coin-generating turret). A few other simple scoring techniques allow for easy extra points if you play well enough, such as speed-killing bosses and collecting all surplus power-ups once everything is already upgraded. Each one is worth 5.000 points, but another extra chariot on top of an active one yields 10.000 points. Finally, upon completing the game each remaining life is worth 50.000 points and all hearts in stock are also added to the score.</div></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf6RjTKTiAgV0M3stQ3L2gHwBY1BEG0CEqecDpz1BV0J0jQE70M0LjgSZWxBSuDPRMsTNxZrsvYUDW57cb8Nb-_MMo05hvaN2BA4Lzac9mkqGb2-BHiEW1gaeiwNgfhkz0NmTJTMW95V_XZYVx66m0rV7tllHWahMmYm4vXvsHyneGfsm1sjgg2rrY/s300/wonder3chariot_00.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf6RjTKTiAgV0M3stQ3L2gHwBY1BEG0CEqecDpz1BV0J0jQE70M0LjgSZWxBSuDPRMsTNxZrsvYUDW57cb8Nb-_MMo05hvaN2BA4Lzac9mkqGb2-BHiEW1gaeiwNgfhkz0NmTJTMW95V_XZYVx66m0rV7tllHWahMmYm4vXvsHyneGfsm1sjgg2rrY/s1600/wonder3chariot_00.png" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 12.6225px; font-style: italic;">Choose your destiny</span></div><div><br /></div><div>Within its classic structure and the somewhat uneven duration of stages, <b>Chariot</b> is certainly a charming fun shooter that's bound to please those who enjoy fantasy themed games. While it doesn't really fall into the cute'em up realm, the diversity is refreshing and bosses are a sight to behold with some incredible designs that evoke – or try to evoke – astrology signs. The item shower they spit out when dying is an amusing detail as well. On a broad assessment the game isn't overly hard, but rank does impose more pressure later on because it causes enemies to fire more bullets and bosses to become more aggressive. Remember that it's not harmful to touch walls and surfaces.</div><div><br /></div><div>Even though the naming of the game is confusing with <b>Three Wonders</b>, <b>3 Wonders</b> and <b>Wonder 3</b> being thrown out there without much ceremony, it's clear by the name of the platformer (<b>Midnight Wanderers</b>) that I have played the World/Western version of <b>Chariot</b>. I noticed a few differences here and there when comparing my runs with footage of the Japanese version, such as the smaller size of bullets, slightly diverse movement/placement patterns for enemies and one noteworthy difference in the absence of debris from the moving blocks in stage 2. Some sources state that the Japanese version is harder, but I'd say there's not much to warrant any heated argument on difficulty differences.</div><div><br /></div><div>My 1CC score was achieved in the Normal difficulty on the player 1 side. If you feel the continue feature is annoying because it registers automatically if you press the shot button during the continue countdown, just switch continues to NONE in the options screen.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg53-qSaXr44RonI9khd5oNBJWopwN-sO7vS22dcMg30D-yb3XNbE_9VofqzCfeuoAhpZBQ4wiZ_fxrI4KiVlgDPqw7eYXvH-FjzvSyRjteUdOEZN2nN1LrIl84qGsxtEopPRILowSALmRF5sun9bo8pNyUlrWB7rfUj9VwFtIl00HsvY20kr6J06mP/s300/hS_PS2wonder3chariot.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg53-qSaXr44RonI9khd5oNBJWopwN-sO7vS22dcMg30D-yb3XNbE_9VofqzCfeuoAhpZBQ4wiZ_fxrI4KiVlgDPqw7eYXvH-FjzvSyRjteUdOEZN2nN1LrIl84qGsxtEopPRILowSALmRF5sun9bo8pNyUlrWB7rfUj9VwFtIl00HsvY20kr6J06mP/s1600/hS_PS2wonder3chariot.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">1cclog.blogspot.com</div>Edwardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17491361099947592597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8742813618758333424.post-65641479790599276862023-04-10T23:26:00.004-03:002023-04-11T10:14:29.707-03:00Twinkle Star Sprites - La Petite Princesse (Playstation 2)<span style="font-weight: bold;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC_OuSB_SKsOs1zHP7N0_2nm58LqkFukwsaTmiGfbpFQkg2IJGqQFpXvK6trgUF8bdX7r5O-OOzdQNLYjdlbTtVCcTLH7I0136JVtAaS9BBQsgH6INljgJSGd8mMLiYP3czZCz1nbxd5-aVBciFjXsT-da_Wxwk30fOFBYKn83KuVi32-BCZe7-ipn/s150/twinkleStarSpritesLaPetitePrincesse_Box.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="150" data-original-width="110" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC_OuSB_SKsOs1zHP7N0_2nm58LqkFukwsaTmiGfbpFQkg2IJGqQFpXvK6trgUF8bdX7r5O-OOzdQNLYjdlbTtVCcTLH7I0136JVtAaS9BBQsgH6INljgJSGd8mMLiYP3czZCz1nbxd5-aVBciFjXsT-da_Wxwk30fOFBYKn83KuVi32-BCZe7-ipn/s1600/twinkleStarSpritesLaPetitePrincesse_Box.jpg" width="110" /></a></div>Vertical<br />Checkpoints OFF/ON<br />5 Difficulty levels<br />6 Stages<br />Ship speed fixed, selectable at start<br />- - - - - - -<br />Developed by SNK Playmore<br />Published by SNK Playmore in 2004</span><br />
<br /><div>An unexpected sequel that nobody thought was coming in 2004, <b>Twinkle Star Sprites - La Petite Princesse</b> is actually one of the first games released by SNK Playmore, which was formed from the ashes of the old SNK. Despite carrying the style of the predecessor in its veins, this sequel came out completely under SNK Playmore since the company had by then acquired the rights to all titles developed by ADK, including of course the first <a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2014/01/twinkle-star-sprites-neo-geo.html"><b>Twinkle Star Sprites</b></a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Since almost nothing was changed from the core gameplay of the first game, many people hesitate or even refuse to consider <b>La Petite Princesse</b> a proper sequel. I for one can surely remonstrate this perspective, after all the game adds brand new characters while bringing a few old faces from the original, on top of applying a full 3D makeover to the cute approach to graphic design. In fact, the game is a real treat for anime fans since it's almost unbearably cute, it's just a little underwhelming that all voices and interactions are conveyed in Japanese only. Honestly, even character names are difficult for Western people to figure out.</div><div><br /></div><div>Players can have fun in three game modes. In Story mode you take the role of a witch named Time Buttermint, fighting six adversaries in order to save the world from a dimensional star distortion rift. She flies a broom and is always followed around by her faithful dog, who also determines the behavior of her magical powers. Time Buttermint takes over the protagonist role from Load Ran, which is now only available in Character mode along with 14 other cute competitors with the most diverse stats for power and speed. However, from my experience no matter which mode you choose <b>La Petite Princesse</b> is definitely easier than its predecessor. Finally, Versus mode is only applicable when two people get together to face each other in glorious shooting combat mayhem.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuyq_wimI3ID1ly2W_yiZnwlgX-M_lp4bGA-n54R3CLEThZ1jZpxxbTB7MuSSLf1bajsEK0cbWVlmH0koXkpOyNgKLRmUo5_wyewDzSPa8ZJcuE3ufc2wEP7uP6FbX7cVPDC9ZQPPsdejDgTfnxwhNqlzqwaA0l7AUYG29RnUQZG25jpDLyy82N7d3/s300/twinkleStarSpritesLaPetitePrincesse_00.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuyq_wimI3ID1ly2W_yiZnwlgX-M_lp4bGA-n54R3CLEThZ1jZpxxbTB7MuSSLf1bajsEK0cbWVlmH0koXkpOyNgKLRmUo5_wyewDzSPa8ZJcuE3ufc2wEP7uP6FbX7cVPDC9ZQPPsdejDgTfnxwhNqlzqwaA0l7AUYG29RnUQZG25jpDLyy82N7d3/s1600/twinkleStarSpritesLaPetitePrincesse_00.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 12.6225px; font-style: italic;">Riding a powerful guitar to reap the spoils of victory</span></div></div><div><br /></div><div>Even though shooting is the basic input as usual, combat is the core element of the gameplay in <b>La Petite Princesse</b>. In a nutshell, it's exactly the same as in the original <a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2014/01/twinkle-star-sprites-neo-geo.html"><b>Twinkle Star Sprites</b></a>. The few differences are in the number of levels in Story and Character modes, which is now 6 instead of 7, a new item that can show up in the flipping coin (P), a few new golem wave formations and one single extend registered with 500.000 points (previously it was one extend at every 500K).</div><div><br /></div><div>You can shoot indiscriminately at will, but that might just not cut it to defeat the opponent on the other side of the screen. Default inputs consist of shot (□ and ○), rapid shot (△) and bomb (×). Gameplay 101: several different waves of colorful minions/golems cruise the screen; destroy them in order to send fireballs to the player on the other side; popping all of them together/faster creates more fireballs; you can deflect enemy fireballs by shooting at them or engulfing them in your own golem explosions, which is even better; if the amount of aggression increases you automatically begin sending character-related special attacks to the other side, inclusing boss attacks; these attacks can also be triggered by using charge shots (hold □/○) powered by an energy gauge that fills up automatically; charge shots at max power (3) trigger boss attacks; when hit, fever orbs preceded by two exclamation marks (!!) increase the efficiency of your attacks for a short time; bomb to clean your own screen and survive impossible odds.</div><div><br /></div><div>Each character gets a health bar of 5 hearts. Damage comes from getting hit by enemy fire or by touching a golem, which also stuns you for a few seconds and reduces your speed/firepower. The fight is lost if the health bar depletes. If the fight drags for too long cute grim reapers will appear alternately for both players and chase them around the screen, killing at contact regardless of the status of their health bars. Grim reapers can be killed though. Some golems are endowed with shields that add to their health, but these shields can be instantly broken if you collect the star item that comes on a flippling coin. In addition to the star, this coin can also appear carrying an extra bomb (B), extra points ($) or extra charge power (P). Health is recovered partially by successfully hitting your adversary.</div><div><br /></div><div>Besides head-to-head shooting combat there's also an scoring system in place for Story and Character modes, which share the same high score tracking. Everything you hit lands some points, but you can use several techniques to score higher. Destroying golem waves without wasting a single shot, for example, starts a PERFECT chain that can be sustained for as long as you keep doing it. After each victory you get bonus points for max chain achieved and the time taken to beat the level. Time bonus is trivial though, after all sustaining longer fights is obviously better for scoring, it's just hard to do that in the starting levels because opponents will practically kill themselves.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="282" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6eVRnI4sSpE" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe></div><div><div><div><div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">A cute introduction to an even cuter game</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">(courtesy of YouTube user <span style="font-weight: bold;">Hell Tantrumbull</span>)</span></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><br /></div><div>All the above techniques are familiar to those experienced with the previous game. However, <b>Twinkle Star Sprites - La Petite Princesse</b> brings a new element that makes all of them pale in comparison. This new element is the $ money sign in the flipping coin: the first one is worth 10 points only, but each subsequent $ you take multiplies the previous value by 10. This means the 6th one will be worth one million points, and so on and so forth! The catch is that this is valid only for the current fight/level, provided you continue getting $ signs consecutively without collecting any Bs, Ps or stars in between. Note: if you're wondering about not seeing the score counter during the fight, just press L1 to toggle its appearance.</div><div><br /></div><div>Although not outstanding in terms of extras, the PS2 disc is at least competent on a basic level and includes automatic saving, vibration, input configuration, an art gallery and a few special contents to be unlocked. On the first contact with Character mode you'll notice three empty slots at the bottom, which are reserved for Realy Till, Load Ran and Mikoto, the new final boss. To unlock them all you need to do is beat them in Story mode, then complete the game afterwards (Realy Till is the only one that appears randomly in stage 4, so keep trying until you get the chance to fight her). A nice treat is that if you beat Character mode with these three competitors you'll then unlock the original <a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2014/01/twinkle-star-sprites-neo-geo.html"><b>Twinkle Star Sprites</b></a>, which will be accessible from the start screen. All unlocks can be achieved with continues, so at least there's no 1CC grinding involved in any of this.</div><br /><div>Time Buttermint is a nice replacement for Load Ran in Story mode, but except for Memory I admit I didn't try playing with any of the other characters besides the ones needed to perform the unlocks. My best 1CC score was achieved with Mikoto in the default difficulty (3).</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPdK9w-IHbtww0H1UrNHfGqRT_emjJKmwWEunjV1_Ldsnn-vkPvnMmEJDoublLGYrVKiRWtXBRSjF4E-J2mTVoKdOCwGh6xlR56PAkfKoBcH4lbs4uqmXHiryZ4nofq4WB_p8DlgWfyuQg1K7oSeuqUOgLMr75M0tdEnsMyUteaHi5FvsTWY6V1V7X/s300/hS_PS2twinkleStarSpritesLaPetitePrincesse.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPdK9w-IHbtww0H1UrNHfGqRT_emjJKmwWEunjV1_Ldsnn-vkPvnMmEJDoublLGYrVKiRWtXBRSjF4E-J2mTVoKdOCwGh6xlR56PAkfKoBcH4lbs4uqmXHiryZ4nofq4WB_p8DlgWfyuQg1K7oSeuqUOgLMr75M0tdEnsMyUteaHi5FvsTWY6V1V7X/s1600/hS_PS2twinkleStarSpritesLaPetitePrincesse.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">1cclog.blogspot.com</div>Edwardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17491361099947592597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8742813618758333424.post-74388645247017641672023-03-29T19:00:00.004-03:002023-04-11T10:13:47.731-03:00Asuka & Asuka (Playstation 2)<span style="font-weight: bold;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1-aAaQFCzbs8Do1IVMJXaEtBa0MNQd8eINrY7XlJi5SheKo_KNZtfLvhRn7H8agCdRiJu0HKHr60FgINV13r-EEiNc53SwKR9tCa71chYEha5F2NgWIi1PL6W_7-Qq1iZyUIjZDlo7lO7DzNMoT3w-pFELMg6-EfJZr0Ge2RDI04w7jq2bptGpPZl/s150/taitoMemories2-1_Box.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="150" data-original-width="110" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1-aAaQFCzbs8Do1IVMJXaEtBa0MNQd8eINrY7XlJi5SheKo_KNZtfLvhRn7H8agCdRiJu0HKHr60FgINV13r-EEiNc53SwKR9tCa71chYEha5F2NgWIi1PL6W_7-Qq1iZyUIjZDlo7lO7DzNMoT3w-pFELMg6-EfJZr0Ge2RDI04w7jq2bptGpPZl/s1600/taitoMemories2-1_Box.jpg" width="110" /></a></div>Vertical<br />Checkpoints OFF<br />4 Difficulty levels<br />4 Stages<br />
Ship speed fixed<br />
- - - - - - -<br />Developed by Taito<br />
Published by Taito in 2005</span><br />
<br />I’m a real fan of the Playstation 2. An amazing system full of great games for all ages and tastes, it will certainly remain a powerhouse of fun no matter how old it gets. And as far as old school arcade ports go, in terms of sheer value for money there are very few discs capable to go toe to toe with any of those <b>Taito Legends</b> or <b>Taito Memories</b> compilations. They’re simply amazing, and the game selections hardly fail in delivering a handful of interesting titles across all video game genres.<div><br /></div><div>Of course there are exceptions to the above expectations. One of them is <b>Asuka & Asuka</b>, included in the Japanese <b>Taito Memories II - Vol. 1</b> collection and serious contender for the most annoying vertical shmup the company has ever put out in its entire history. Granted, one of the purposes of these compilations is to somewhat showcase Taito's evolution throughout the years, but <b>Asuka & Asuka</b> certainly takes the cake as the black sheep here. <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2013/03/rayforce-playstation-2.html">Rayforce</a></b>, <b>Scramble Formation</b> and <b>Fighting Hawk</b> are the other verts in this particular <b>Taito Memories</b> disc, all of them of clearly higher caliber with regards to gameplay and fun factor.</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, to its defense let it be known that a few online sources say that the actual developer of <b>Asuka & Asuka</b> was Visco, not Taito. You can definitely see graphical similarities with <b>Ashura Blaster</b>, for instance, but unfortunately <b>Asuka & Asuka</b> lacks the same punch and is far less exciting.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl3EAx2xJVsiXPVAUCLyw1MlYcffnb9d5VuFJY1KkfEX4bHLRLAvrUMiEMim796sNlyUSV16Jz_NT1PntJwYM-U8XJB2hkLXOmffhAP2qCyVV2lGm48cn0AR4yAEhGzZClBeRz-O-KW-Ai2hmZfwBJUXiGVCnFa1zXkMo7wxfXYcJXLuyz1YiSOReu/s300/asuka&asuka_00.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="225" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl3EAx2xJVsiXPVAUCLyw1MlYcffnb9d5VuFJY1KkfEX4bHLRLAvrUMiEMim796sNlyUSV16Jz_NT1PntJwYM-U8XJB2hkLXOmffhAP2qCyVV2lGm48cn0AR4yAEhGzZClBeRz-O-KW-Ai2hmZfwBJUXiGVCnFa1zXkMo7wxfXYcJXLuyz1YiSOReu/s1600/asuka&asuka_00.png" width="225" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 12.6225px; font-style: italic;">Travelling back in time to meet wild dinosaurs</span></div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, the premise of this primitive shooter is quite interesting, at least on paper. In the near future, alien invaders manipulate space and time to attack Earth in several different timelines. Enter the Asukas, the newest military marvels able to time travel, sent to battle to defeat the enemy and save the planet from an impending doom. Prepare to fly over a modern day metropolis, a jungle filled with dinosaurs, a demon-ridden ancient landscape and a military area with remnants of a World War. Suffice it to say that this idea found a much better rendition in Taito's own <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2016/05/gekirindan-playstation-2.html">Gekirindan</a></b>, released six years after <b>Asuka & Asuka</b>. By the way, I wonder if this weird title might be related to the fact that you can't play solo with the secondary jet (on the right side of the screen), which means you need to insert two coins to play a mandatory co-op credit if you want to see what the second jet looks like.</div><div><br /></div><div>Your jet/plane is capable of shooting and bombing, actions that can be configured at will in the PS2 controller. Two types of upgrade items appear floating from the top. The power-up (P) increases your current firepower by one level, whereas the other icon cycles very slowly between S (straight shot), L (laser) and B (wave beam), also serving as a power-up if you stick to the same weapon type. Three upgrades max out weapon power, but while S is the strongest one it also has a shorter reach when compared with the others. Since there's no autofire available, a turbo controller is definitely recommended if you can afford to have one. As for bombs, even though they can nullify nearby bullets they offer no panic function and can't be completely trusted for defense.</div><div><br /></div><div>The only single ground item you might eventually find is the B for extra bomb, but it's unfortunately very scarce. It doesn't help that the playing field is wider than the horizontal screen span, which demands players to sweep left and right in order to scoop the area for extra bombs or just to get a few more points from killing enemies. That's when the problems with <b>Asuka & Asuka</b> start, for enemies do not care if they can see you or not. They just go about their schedules and shoot non stop, often taking you by complete surprise if you happen to move in front or close to their bullet sprays. This can be really infuriating at first, but on the other hand players can count on the fact that enemy spawning routines are always the same no matter what. This means there's no way around thorough memorization, or the lazier strategy of sticking to one side/area of the screen and absolutely avoiding to venture sideways. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="282" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8mstY43W9Ro" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe></div><div><div><div><div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">Watch as the game itself cheats in the attract mode for <b>Asuka & Asuka</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">(courtesy of YouTube user <span style="font-weight: bold;">Replay Burners</span>)</span></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><br /></div><div>Some vivid inspirations from <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2010/06/dragon-spirit-playstation-2.html">Dragon Spirit</a></b> and the back catalog of Toaplan aren't enough to give <b>Asuka & Asuka</b> any edge whatsoever. With no extends of any kind, unremarkable sound design, uneven difficulty (the 3rd boss is harder than the last), simplistic but unpredictable bullet patterns and lots of cheap death mine fields, the game can be considered a true representative of shmup <i>kusoge</i>. Besides a sorry lack of real intensity and fun, it throws a half-assed bonus area once a boss is defeated (you can still die and perfect destruction ratios give no extra points at all). And I don't know if it's an issue related to the porting job, but the controls tend to be slippery and unreliable at times, with directionals sticking randomly for no apparent reason. I also came across a few events of complete disc freeze, which didn't happen once with any of my previous <b>Taito Memories</b> experiences.</div><div><br /></div><div>Just like with all other vertical shooters from <b>Taito Memories II - Vol. 1</b>, at least it's possible to play <b>Asuka & Asuka </b>in TATE mode. Then you might have a better view of when you are unfairly blindsided by enemy fire.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIxRJhOqCGYtCnqcok7-203n_T3-pbt9jLrkijpknyT1HZqCw2Op2_U2HTZ3zkaMfLxN32o3Eo2OQZl82SzOh0i3T2mDvN-q1T9Go7X-smkka8pUsgO81IU1xBMSHtSXe7zQ_B0dvhairasZR3eVeHxApzygwaI8JKvsT5I6jObJLdKTZhhGN3fRD6/s1290/asuka&asuka_menuTranslation.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1290" data-original-width="677" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIxRJhOqCGYtCnqcok7-203n_T3-pbt9jLrkijpknyT1HZqCw2Op2_U2HTZ3zkaMfLxN32o3Eo2OQZl82SzOh0i3T2mDvN-q1T9Go7X-smkka8pUsgO81IU1xBMSHtSXe7zQ_B0dvhairasZR3eVeHxApzygwaI8JKvsT5I6jObJLdKTZhhGN3fRD6/w105-h200/asuka&asuka_menuTranslation.jpg" width="105" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">Click for the option menus translation for <b>Asuka & Asuka</b> on <b>Taito Memories II - Vol. 1</b></span></div><div><br /></div><div>For a brief while the enigmatic ending made me believe I could've dealt with the first boss differently, since he's the only one that escapes no matter how damaged he gets. But alas, as much as I tried and bombed him he'd still flee like a real coward. My best 1CC score in the Normal difficulty is below, playing with a turbo controller for great justice. A final note about this PS2 version is that the Normal difficulty is clearly harder than the default setting of the ROMs I tested in MAME. Bullets are definitely faster, thus requiring a higher degree of attention from those brave enough to try it.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ0Pwlm_kbQsFAGWIaYSeCLozafnWRL9IQdxA6TScCwBt9YqBsW9uso1MpC--nASBcbjZIkJbFjobSm9YYhvou9xX8r9cjL5ktWHbUW-vxXsKLDtoRwgdT7ucOqtsGTvwfa-R8Yl-5EL4lKMSz7dN-Vy0lypmUaKLU1iHC1LEKGLcCytMy67fXElYF/s300/hS_PS2asuka&asuka.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ0Pwlm_kbQsFAGWIaYSeCLozafnWRL9IQdxA6TScCwBt9YqBsW9uso1MpC--nASBcbjZIkJbFjobSm9YYhvou9xX8r9cjL5ktWHbUW-vxXsKLDtoRwgdT7ucOqtsGTvwfa-R8Yl-5EL4lKMSz7dN-Vy0lypmUaKLU1iHC1LEKGLcCytMy67fXElYF/s1600/hS_PS2asuka&asuka.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">1cclog.blogspot.com</div>Edwardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17491361099947592597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8742813618758333424.post-18351424530703601762023-03-21T22:32:00.000-03:002023-03-21T22:32:09.355-03:00Magical Chase (PC Engine)<span style="font-weight: bold;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3LYUs0BsL24oEVhRDBxHyWSbE4ymG0oDXfRuUfjEG7M_C71VaE1wpZwSDKb5GM2knoPH1THxGt0nkz89MOpMMX8dtX0GzVdjUC7uZODTr7t2lSvVNAGP_hmZS1YnZINHjT2vLYKFMW35GNbXM7G2GrCSDAjA1GECaNsQ8ejZL-vK1Z103Upb9ZLBh/s110/magicalChase_Box.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="110" data-original-width="110" height="110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3LYUs0BsL24oEVhRDBxHyWSbE4ymG0oDXfRuUfjEG7M_C71VaE1wpZwSDKb5GM2knoPH1THxGt0nkz89MOpMMX8dtX0GzVdjUC7uZODTr7t2lSvVNAGP_hmZS1YnZINHjT2vLYKFMW35GNbXM7G2GrCSDAjA1GECaNsQ8ejZL-vK1Z103Upb9ZLBh/s1600/magicalChase_Box.jpg" width="110" /></a></div>Horizontal<br />Checkpoints OFF<br />3 Difficulty levels<br />6 Stages<br />Ship speed by icons<br />- - - - - - -<br />Developed by Quest<br />Published by Palsoft in 1991</span><br />
<br /><div><div>Sometimes video games are so aptly named that almost everything you need to know about them is already in the title. <b>Magical Chase</b> is exactly what its name implies, for example. It’s a chase, and it’s magical. It’s also about a little witch flying on a broom, which is of course the most important design aspect of the game and mirrors the setting of a much more famous shooter featuring another witch named Cotton. Since the witch in <b>Magical Chase</b> is named Ripple, wouldn’t it have been a wise move for the developer to also release the game as <b>Ripple</b>? We could’ve have another similarly long and successful franchise then.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jokes aside, even though no sequel was ever developed for <b>Magical Chase</b> the game at least got a port for the Turbografx-16 that holds the distinction of being one of the rarest titles for NEC’s console in the West. No differences exist in the core gameplay between both versions, but the Turbografx-16 port translates all Japanese texts and applies a few visual tweaks to character sprites while repainting the whole first level with a new medieval setting. Either way players are bound to experience a charming shooting romp with neat graphics, nice music and great variety from beginning to end. It doesn't take long to see the game's got plenty of personality without sounding too derivative, on top of exhibiting great parallax effects with absolutely no slowdown.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="282" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Du6EyC8eB74" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe></div><div><div><div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">A brief snippet of the first stage of the Japanese PC Engine version</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">(courtesy of YouTube user <span style="font-weight: bold;">Arcade Forever</span>)</span></div></div></div></div></div><div><br /></div><div>Cute little witch Ripple accidentally released six devilish creatures from a forbidden book, and off she goes to undo this with the aid of two star friends/maidens. There’s a total of six levels to go through with increasingly higher survival stakes as you fight mechanized enemies, enchanted forest demons, a huge flying fortress, evil snowmen with hockey masks, a dreadful floating knight and a slew of powerful wizards and other strange beings. Ripple is capable of firing magical shots with button II, as well as have her star options locked in place or freed with a press of button I. A secondary and very important resource consists in pressing buttons I and II at the same time, which then fixes the direction of the bullets they fire. Just do it again to unlock shot direction.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Since the stars can fully block most enemy fire (exceptions are lasers and large ball-shaped projectiles), learning how to use them properly is extremely important in the long run. For every credit you get a health bar with 8 hearts and 6 slots for magic spells. The leftmost spell is used whenever you double tap button II (this is why you can't activate any turbo fire in <b>Magical Chase</b>), and if the hearts in the health gauge deplete the game is over. Health can be recovered by taking the candy lollipop (1 heart) or the cake (2 hearts), which are always left behind by killing specific enemies. Hearts can also be refilled by purchasing the necessary items from the shop that appears at certain points throughout the stage.</div><div><br /></div><div>Shop purchases use the stock of crystals you're able to collect from every destroyed enemy or as a special bonus at the end of the level. Getting familiar with each item in the shop is important to devise an upgrade/recovery strategy, however the first and most important purchase is definitely maximum speed. Then you're set to experiment with all other items. The gallery of more powerful weapons includes 3-way, wave, staggering, bubble, homing, reflective and piercing shots. While there are no upgrades to these weapons, two specific improvements can also be applied to the behavior of the star maidens (cracker ball and cyclone), thus increasing Ripple's overall firepower. Magic spells consist of heart (recovers 2 hearts), bomb (screen-clearing blast) and <b>×</b> (stars turn green and also inflict damage for 15 seconds). Finally, the medicine completely refills the health gauge, the elixir gives you a full new health bar when the current one is gone and the fruit of life expands the health gauge by one heart.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvpakEuCBKcln_Ftf-_6uOcHCfF4gJOzUHYgQ-sXcCwdJ0fsS2U0KGrs3OXkWodaBlg8URxilzHp2g1ViYyr3Nea8GGlc72OyD918k9OmX3njqupMUmQNjlKO8Ru7i-yt-reqsMRjhz7MNpLXY5NxpGuO5q__UGWs_TC0j0O9282bQ66JPwLtD5Kwv/s300/magicalChase_00.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvpakEuCBKcln_Ftf-_6uOcHCfF4gJOzUHYgQ-sXcCwdJ0fsS2U0KGrs3OXkWodaBlg8URxilzHp2g1ViYyr3Nea8GGlc72OyD918k9OmX3njqupMUmQNjlKO8Ru7i-yt-reqsMRjhz7MNpLXY5NxpGuO5q__UGWs_TC0j0O9282bQ66JPwLtD5Kwv/s1600/magicalChase_00.png" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 12.6225px; font-style: italic;">Certainly not Super Mario Bros pipes!</span></div><div><br /></div><div>At first <b>Magical Chase</b> doesn't impose any sort of pressure on the player. There's no damage incurred in touching the terrain, but you can still get scroll-crushed by objects and walls. The difficulty slope is relatively steady, nevertheless the bulk of the challenge is reserved for the last couple of stages. Some boss attacks can drain two and a half hearts, quickly leading to a horrible death if you don't have a good reserve of recovery spells to get back up during the battle. Every stage has a boss and one or more mid-bosses, and some of the later ones are quite demanding in terms of dodging. An interesting detail here is that it's not the main boss that gets quickly glimpsed at the start of every level, it's the mid-boss.</div><div><br /></div><div>What makes <b>Magical Chase</b> an approachable game for everyone is the shop, definitely a lifesaver for the toughest sections mentioned above. Some of the items increase in value after a few purchases, but fortunately the inflation is nowhere near what you see in games like <b><a href="https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2009/06/fantasy-zone-pc-engine.html">Fantasy Zone</a></b> or <b>Forgotten Worlds</b>, which also have a similar shop gimmick. On a different note, if you're interested in scoring higher you absolutely can't purchase medicines, elixirs or extra health slots since each one deduces a good chunk of the final completion bonus. Other factors that contribute to this final reward include the number of crystals multiplied by 10, total life remaining and the chosen difficulty level. Even though some bosses can be milked for a few points, doing it isn't trivial and would take a long time to actually be profitable.</div><div><br /></div><div>At the start screen the middle option corresponds to the setting for Normal difficulty (<span style="font-size: x-small;">わくわく</span> / Waku Waku / Bumpy). When played on Easy (<span style="font-size: x-small;">らくらく</span> / Raku Raku / Breeze) the game ends after three stages, whereas on Hard (<span style="font-size: x-small;">どきどき</span> / Doki Doki / Rough) players will face more bullets and a few different attack patterns from bosses. On my best 1CC result below I maximized all bonuses in the Normal/Bumpy difficulty. I only purchased swing shot and cracker ball in stage 2, then ×4 before the mid-boss in stage 5 while keeping the magic stock full of hearts at all times.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijPwLTLjZIaUcbMfKWPttuK5fVo7xuSO0uRPxmD504ugOlJ9rDzOe4zhBqt2bB_B8facjNKMToaBUuPwYQJVcujIH4arF6zbbiWbYlSQEbOEUXTu17s6L4cM1AR6_1vJF8BgAlrP7zuLcJJgBQFLVXnMNzM_PvVSdJm1vi50JzqCJMcv0YzbxOQEC8/s300/hS_PCEmagicalChase.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijPwLTLjZIaUcbMfKWPttuK5fVo7xuSO0uRPxmD504ugOlJ9rDzOe4zhBqt2bB_B8facjNKMToaBUuPwYQJVcujIH4arF6zbbiWbYlSQEbOEUXTu17s6L4cM1AR6_1vJF8BgAlrP7zuLcJJgBQFLVXnMNzM_PvVSdJm1vi50JzqCJMcv0YzbxOQEC8/s1600/hS_PCEmagicalChase.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">1cclog.blogspot.com</div>Edwardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17491361099947592597noreply@blogger.com0