|
Post by 20thcenturygamer on May 15, 2019 17:46:20 GMT -5
Just popping in to be That Guy by pointing out that the Axelay horizon bending is accomplished with a line strolling effect and not Mode 7 (background layer scaling/rotation). Also, that you can (and should) turn off the narration in Jikkyou Oshaberi Parodius. Really? I thought it was Mode 7 for years. I do know that a lot of games used these sorts of effects without Mode 7, although as much as it looks like it, you'd think they would just use that. Reminds me of what they did with Super Castlevania IV. Do you have a link to that discussion? I'd love to know more on the technical details. Here's one example by someone who made a tech demo of a similar effect to run on the Genesis. My understanding is that the technique is closely related to the sorts of effects that wavy water and fire backgrounds in a lots of games relied on.
|
|
|
Post by Sarge on May 15, 2019 17:57:37 GMT -5
Very interesting! I think most folks just assumed that all warping effects on SNES were Mode 7. Apparently someone did an NES version of this, too.
|
|
|
Post by toei on May 15, 2019 18:02:23 GMT -5
It's a weird effect, to be honest. Especially in SNES Axelay, that curve is really pronounced - it'd have to take place on a really tiny planet for it to make sense. That NES tech demo is really cool, though.
I remember seeing that video 20thCenturyGamer posted, but I just assumed it was an alternate way of "faking" a Mode 7 effect for the Genesis at the time rather than something SNES devs might also do.
|
|
|
Post by Xeogred on May 15, 2019 18:16:09 GMT -5
I appreciate the technique... but I'm not a huge fan. I'll put it like that, lol. I imagine it's mode 7 in Super Turrican 2? The game is chalk full of mode 7 stuff.
|
|
|
Post by Ex on May 15, 2019 20:57:10 GMT -5
Apparently someone did an NES version of this, too. Wow that's some rad ass programming for the ol' NES.
|
|
|
Post by toei on May 16, 2019 22:58:16 GMT -5
I finished another shmup I came across while going developer-by-developer, mostly within the PC Engine's library. This is the worst one I've finished yet, though it did try some interesting things. After finishing Psycho Chaser and trying out all the other Sting shooters, I looked into its publisher, Naxat Soft. I was curious to know whether they ever made their own games or just published others' (sometimes without giving them credit, as was often the case then). As usual, the GDRI website had some interesting info. Turns out Flight-Plan, the company that later hit it big in Japan with the Black/Matrix and Summon Night series of SRPGs, started out about a decade before with a PCE shmup called W-Ring: Double Rings. Apparently, there hit a wall during development, and Naxat, the publisher, took over. Not just the game, in fact, but the team itself; while Flight-Plan continued to exist independently of all this, the W-Ring team became Naxat's internal development department. They would go on to develop games like Coryoon: Dragon Child, Kaze Kiri and Spriggan Powered, as well as collaborate with Red on Air Zonk, the Bonk shooter spin-off. Now, Coryoon and Air Zonk are cute-'em-ups, and cute-'em-ups just don't draw me in. I'd already tried Spriggan Powered, too, and it was immensely boring. I didn't like W-Ring at first, either. A lot of older shmups have these weird controls where pushing the D-Pad feels like you're just dragging your spaceship along rather than making it move as it should. These are usually the ones I end up dismissing very quickly. W-Ring is extremely easy for about 80% of its running time, though, which is probably what kept me going. The weird level design was kind of interesting, too. It's an horizontal shooter, but you can also scroll up and down, as there is a lot of vertical space to the levels. Of course, you're always moving forward, and there are various obstacles and structures that force you to decide whether to go up or down at multiple points during the levels, so it's impossible to see all of a level within one run. While this makes the action looser than usual, it also creates a bit of an exploration feel which is kind of interesting. The game's main gimmick is that each of the first 5 levels hides an entrance to an alternate level. These "Extra Stages" are generally much harder, as they feature many more enemies, but they also serve as kind of bonus stages at the same time, as they are filled with powered-ups and extra items. They're hard to find, too, as you need to shoot at specific, mostly nondescript spots to reveal them, some of which can only be hit with certain weapons. But everything goes south once you Level 6. Rather than wide-open areas with some obstacles here and there, it takes place within relatively narrow corridors filled with annoying enemies that keep following you around if you fail to kill them, and there are annoying rays coming out of the floors and ceilings that paralyze you temporarily if they hit you. Everything about this level's design seems to underline the flaws in the game. Depending on your current speed setting, the controls are either too sluggish or weirdly jerky and imprecise. Since the other levels are much larger than average, all the sprites are tiny, and most of the enemy bullets are the same color as your most powerful weapon (the laser, which is usually ridiculously overpowered), so it's extremely easy to get hit with bullets you never actually saw (I'd guess that accounts for about half my deaths, honestly). The screen continues to scroll forward for a few seconds after you lose a life, and enemies continue to follow you, so that when you respawn you're often stuck in an unwinnable situation, with enemies and bullets everywhere and a weak forward shot that can't reach most of them. There are heavy slowdowns during most of the final battle, too, which completely ruin your sense of timing. All those issues contribute to making an already annoying level very hard and very frustrating, which only creates a deeper contrast with the extremely easy first five levels. You're given infinite tries, but that just makes the awful difficulty curve even more apparent; you can spend less than 20 minutes on 5 of the 6 stages (or 7, depending how you count) in your entire time with the game, then waste hours on the last level. On my part, I chose to restart the game a few times. I grew to like those 5 stages somewhat. They're actually kinda fun, at least for the first few runs. The second level has that familiar HR Giger-inspired look you find in a bunch of late '80s-early '90s games. It's pretty cool. The music isn't bad, either. But they're just kinda fun, and the final level ruins it for me, leaving a subpar experience in the end. I'd give it... maybe a 5/10? 20181. Elemental Master (GEN) 2. Trouble Shooter (GEN) 20193. Insector X (GEN) 4. Sylphia (PCE-CD) 5. Aleste Gaiden (MSX2) 6. Dragon Spirit: A New Legend (NES) 7. Gate of Thunder (PCE-CD) 8. Psycho Chaser (PCE) 9. W-Ring: Double Rings (PCE)
|
|
|
Post by toei on May 18, 2019 18:24:44 GMT -5
Just messed around with Summer Carnival '92: Alzadick (PCE-CD). Guess you could say I "finished" it. If the first part of the title sounds familiar, it's because it's a special game created for the same event as Recca on the NES, meant primarily for high-score competitions. There are only two levels in the game, and various modes of play. This includes a Story Mode, technically, where each of the two levels are preceded by a little bit of story text, and you can play without worrying about a timer.
Gameplay-wise, it's a very typical vertical space shooter. It doesn't do anything special, but it's quite competent. There are four weapon types that are strengthened by picking up the same power-up a few times (lettered A to D) and a bunch of things you can shoot at besides enemies to get a higher score. You can also pick one of four subweapons, but that's only for a bomb you only use once per run. The first level, used for the Beginners mode, doesn't have any bosses, while the 2nd level has two. It's not a very difficult game, but then it's like playing the first two levels of a shoot-'em-up, so you wouldn't expect it to be.
|
|
|
Post by anayo on May 19, 2019 8:15:36 GMT -5
Really? I thought it was Mode 7 for years. I do know that a lot of games used these sorts of effects without Mode 7, although as much as it looks like it, you'd think they would just use that. Reminds me of what they did with Super Castlevania IV. Do you have a link to that discussion? I'd love to know more on the technical details. Here's one example by someone who made a tech demo of a similar effect to run on the Genesis. My understanding is that the technique is closely related to the sorts of effects that wavy water and fire backgrounds in a lots of games relied on. That looks just like the special effect they used in the bonus stages for Sonic 3D Blast.
|
|
|
Post by Xeogred on May 19, 2019 10:42:36 GMT -5
All this PCE stuff looks great to me. I just keep thinking I need to drain out the NES, Genesis, and SNES libraries before I dive into another system from that era haha.
|
|
|
Post by toei on May 19, 2019 17:52:25 GMT -5
Finished another PCE shooter, Override. This is Sting's second shooter after Psycho Chaser. This is a much more typical game, though. It's got a similar look and feel as a lot of Aleste games, though the levels are shorter. You fly in some kind of spaceship, but mostly over boring landscapes rather than in boring space. You have to pick up power-ups to change weapons, and you can charge a powerful shot by not attacking for a few seconds, which is almost required in quite a few spots. It spreads out all over the screen and goes off for a while, so it's always satisfying to use. It's probably an above-average game, as it's fast, it handles well, and enemy ships blow up satisfyingly, but I never really got into it. Just a boring setting, and I hated how useless you become when you lose a life, with your garbage regular shot making it hard to get back on your feet. The game is very forgiving otherwise since you can take three shots before you die and you earn bonus lives really easily, but that still rubbed me the wrong way. Also, there are enemies in the next-to-last level that can only be destroyed with the charged-up shot, but they follow you around and get in your way and basically make it really hard for you to actually charge it. I hate those things and they shouldn't have been in the game at all. I replayed it again and managed to beat it on one credit, but just barely, thanks to all the extra lives I earned in the final level. That was kinda cool. I found out very quickly that it's pretty easy to hide in the corners during the final boss and charge up your shots (you still have to do some dodging, but it's quite easy).
The main thing it has in common with Psycho Chaser is the structure: 6 levels, last level is a long boss rush with regular enemies between the bosses (bosses go down quickly, though, so it's not bad for a boss rush), and the game loops on a harder difficulty after the credits. Plus you get 5 credits in both games.
So yeah, it didn't really do it for me (and maybe I should have waited long before playing another vertical shooter since I spent a long time on Psycho), but I'd still recommend it for anyone who likes Aleste. Pretty good music, as usual.
|
|