|
Post by Ex on May 31, 2019 1:36:45 GMT -5
June's theme is about games developed by the Japanese company Irem. This studio has been around since 1974. Irem is best known for its action arcade games. However Irem has developed games for many different platforms and genres:
If you want any suggestions for Irem games to play just let us know. (Protip: play GunForce II AKA Geo Storm via MAME.)
- Well here's the Irem game I plan to play first: Been meaning to play this for years upon years. I hope it doesn't suck!
|
|
|
Post by toei on May 31, 2019 11:07:19 GMT -5
A History of Irem:
I touched on this once before, but Irem Corp.'s history directly ties into Capcom's, as both were founded by the same man, Kenzo Tsujimoto. He partnered up with another company which ended up taking control of Irem, but remained the CEO until he was ousted by the short-sighted new owners in the early '80s, which prompted him to turn his other company, Capcom (then an arcade machine manufacturer), into a video game developer. Once his new company established, Tsujimoto poached one of Irem's best developer (and his former employee), Takashi Nishiyama, creator of Irem's first big hits, Moon Patrol and Kung Fu Master. He'd go on to be one of the main creators of the bad-but-important original Street Fighter at Capcom, the main man behind Fatal Fury and one of the main producers at SNK, and the founder of Dimps.
Irem, meanwhile, did have another huge hit after Nishiyama's departure: R-Type, a highly influential shooter known for its alien atmosphere, high difficulty and the memorization it requires. Aside from various sequels, numbered or not, the R-Type series also includes offshoots like X-Multiply and Armed Police Unit Gallop. Other notable Irem shooters include Image Fight and the GunForce series of run-n-guns, the precursors to Metal Slug. Following the release of GunForce 2 in 1994, Irem essentially went dormant. Parts of the development staff left to form Nazca, which made the first Metal Slug game before being bought and integrated into SNK. Takashi Nishiyama served as producer for some of the games in the series, bringing things full circle, or almost.
Irem did release a Japan-only puzzle game in 1996, then came back in 1997 as Irem Software Engineering (technically a new company that had absorbed the former, still under the same parent company). A large proportion of this new Irem's input consisted of pachinko sims, but they also brought back R-Type for a few sequels and created the Steambot Chronicles and Disaster Report series. The first is a 3D mecha fighting/RPG hybrid, while the second is a survival/action-adventure series where you attempt to escape locations in the midst of natural disasters. Both Steambot games and the first two Disaster Report entries have been localized. In 2011, Irem cancelled Disaster Report 4 due to the earthquake and ensuing tsunami that devastated parts of Japan, shorty before cancelling the rest of their projects, including a proper Steambot sequel, and essentially abandoning video games to focus on making pachinko and slot machines. Members of their remaining game development staff formed a new company called Granzella, which bought the rights to Disaster Report and finally released DR4 on the PS4 last year. They also announced a Switch port earlier this month.
While the new Irem supported Sony's consoles almost exclusively, the original Irem was primarily an arcade developer. Apart from their numerous shoot-'em-ups, they also made a number of beat-'em-ups (poorly-aged 80's hit Vigilante, the subpar fantasy-themed Blade Master, Hook, Undercover Cops, Ninja Baseball Bat Man) and side-scrollers / platformers (such as Ninja Spirit, the Kid Niki/Kaiketsu Yanchamaru and Hammerin' Harry series, Noobow and Rocky Rodent).
They are also responsible for the cult/infamous Spelunker. While they published Guardian Legend in Japan, it was actually developed by Compile, and published by Broderbund in North America.
Sources for this post: wikipedia, mobygames, gamefaqs, partially-archived 1up interview with Takashi Nishiyama
---
There's a number of games of theirs I want to try, but I need to finish Stella Deus first. I was never a fan of their beat-'em-ups personally - even Undercover Cops felt overlong and overly cheap. I'm probably going to be playing mostly shooters, plus Kid Niki and maybe a few odd games. I want to try out their one VS fighter, Superior Soldiers, as well. As of this writing, my favorite Irem game is still Moon Patrol, but I think I've played enough of it back in January.
|
|
|
Post by Xeogred on Jun 1, 2019 19:09:49 GMT -5
Nice collection of info there toei, love hearing history like that and how their DNA spread out across multiple companies. There's a few games I want to check out this month. But I want to finish up the second scenario for Front Mission DS first. For Undercover Cops, I recommend the arcade version. It's just quicker to get through and more fun, when I played both last year. I don't think I ever finished the SNES version, cause yeah... just kind of dragged on. Excellent music for both versions though and Irem's signature visual style sets it apart from other beat em' ups.
I've been a long time fan of R-Type but to be honest, I've drifted away from the series over the years as I've discovered other shmups I like more. I grew up owning Super R-Type (which is kind of remix/port of 2), so I've had a strong connection to the series since then. I could beat it on various difficulties back then, but it's been ages since I've done a full run. I even think the R-Type Final entry on PS2 is pretty good, I remember that one having dozens of unlockables/ship variations. Speaking of, did you guys hear about R-Type Final 2? For some reason it was announced on April 1st this year and fans thought it was joke, but turns out the reaction was so warm that it's actually real. So... R-Type is suddenly still alive in 2019. rtypefinal2.com/twinfinite.net/2019/05/r-type-final-2-crowdfuning/Until then, I would love to sit down next to someone and watch R-Type III: The Third Lightning be beaten in person. Um seriously, is that not one of the hardest shmups ever? R-Type III was always an elusive SNES cart I never got a hold of and has commanded a high price since, forever. Low print run I'd guess. R-Type Leo is one I'd like to hit up this year, the last arcade only one. And I believe the only R-Type that actually gives you "stock" lives for instant respawns, unlike the other games where you're sent back to a checkpoint. Nowadays, I prefer shmups that have respawning and are quicker paced in general. I've come to like Gradius more than R-Type over the years, but when we're talking horizontal classic console shmups, Technosoft's Thunder Force 4 is my absolute favorite. The slower, methodical style of R-Type isn't my preference anymore. But I still dig the series well enough and visually I love them. I plan to check out Metal Storm on the NES too, some here have said it's pretty awesome and it looks great.
toei : Any non-R-Type shooters you'd recommend?
|
|
|
Post by Sarge on Jun 1, 2019 20:01:53 GMT -5
Woo, time to hit up some Irem games. I'll start looking around for stuff soon.
Metal Storm is good. Not as good as some would have you believe, but unique stuff for sure.
|
|
|
Post by Ex on Jun 1, 2019 20:25:24 GMT -5
Xeogred I did enjoy Metal Storm when I beat it back in 2016. These were my thoughts:
Metal Storm is a robot shooting game that revolves around one unique mechanic, the ability to reverse gravity and flip upside down whenever you want. (Games such as Wendy Every Witch Way and VVVVVV took inspiration from this.) The best things I can say about Metal Storm is that it controls very well, constantly barrages the player with new ideas, and is damned hard.
Metal Storm's not perfect though. Its OST is kinda bad. There's a nasty boss rush at the end. And the difficulty level gets to be rather insane on the last two levels. We're talking difficult to the point of not being entirely enjoyable. But, that's what this game was supposed to be, hard as hell, so complaining about that is kinda of pointless really.
Overall, if you're looking for a challenging NES platformer with a unique twist, Metal Storm will do you fine. Metal Storm is very impressively programmed, and is also noteworthy for being a Japanese made game for NES, released in USA before Japan. That didn't happen very often, especially with material as distinctly Japanese as this. Metal Storm is a wild torrent well worth enduring, but you'd best bring a big umbrella of patience.
To my shame, I have never beaten an R-Type game. But I'm saving that for Arcade Shmups month in November. I am very much a fan of the arcade version of Undercover Cops - I think it's a very good beat 'em up actually. - There are a few Irem games I'd like to beat for this theme, but that all depends on how much time I allocate. I want to at least finish Disaster Report and Raw Danger. PS Here's why I suggested GunForce II: That game predates Metal Slug by the way.
|
|
|
Post by Xeogred on Jun 1, 2019 22:15:13 GMT -5
Dare I say it that looks cooler than Metal Slug to me?
Pretty bizarre Irem are attached to Disaster Report/Raw Danger. I've always heard good things about those games with their niche' following.
|
|
|
Post by toei on Jun 1, 2019 23:10:15 GMT -5
Xeogred I'm hoping dunpeal2064 will show up with Irem shmup opinions, since he's the resident expect. I haven't really played any apart from some R-Type games, so I plan to try out a bunch of them. I actually put together a list of Irem games I want to at least play for 5 minutes before I decide what I want to beat, and it's 35-games deep. Lots of shoot-'em-ups, some platformers, Disaster Report (based on the video I've seen, it looks like it plays like early Resident Evil without the horror, if that makes sense) and a few of their obscure early arcade games. I'm especially interested in their PC Engine CD exclusives, Image Fight II and Sol Moonarge. I'm also really curious about this early '90s hack-n-slash called Ken-Go (not to be confused with the bad spiritual sequels to Bushido Blade on the PS2). And this is really cool-looking for 1983: Tropical Angel, an early water-skiing game. There are also two games that look like forgotten sequels to Moon Patrol, judging from screenshots, so I'll have to hit those up. Also, for the people who like Undercover Cops, do check out Hook. It's a Peter Pan beat-'em-up, which is kind of a weird setting, but it's still got that Irem look and it plays similarly. One thing I did like about it is that it has traps you can activate to hurt enemies in a few places. Say, you cut a rope and something falls on top of them, or you push them into a cauldron full of boiling liquid. Another thing I didn't mention is that Irem had a sister company called Tamtex. Both companies were part of the Nanao Group, which is the company that bought Irem from its founder. Tamtex made NES and Game Boy games which were published by Irem; Metal Angel is their most famous, but I'm curious about Spartan X 2, myself. After the NES died out it was absorbed into Irem. I'll probably give Undercover Cop another go, too. And I did run through GunForce II years ago, but I just credit-fed my way through it at the time, so I'd like to play it a bit more thoroughly. There's something really unique about the way Irem drew sprites around that period. I don't know what it is exactly, but their games didn't look like anyone else's. I'm hoping someone hits up Steambot Chronicles on PS2. I own the PSP spin-off and played through it back in the day. I didn't love it, exactly, but I'm still curious what the main game is like. And it's a mecha game, so some of y'all should be interested. Looks like a mix between Mega Man Legends and Virtual On or something.
|
|
|
Post by Ex on Jun 1, 2019 23:15:51 GMT -5
toeiI've played Tropical Angel before as part of one of my July summer game fests. Aside from one particular asset, it's not very good. I beat the arcade version of Hook last June. I gave it a 6/10. These were my thoughts:
Hook is a 1992 arcade beat 'em up by Irem. (The arcade version is different than the home versions, which are platformers.) Hook is licensed after the 1991 Speilberg film of the same name. Peter Pan and his Lost Boys are off to kick all the pirates out of Neverland. They'll do this by beating the pirates' faces in. Players can choose from five different Lost Boys to play as, including Peter Pan of course. Up to two players can play at once. Gameplay is very standard fair beat 'em up, with an extra helping of environmental attacks, and a lighthearted sense of humor. The graphics consist of that love-it-or-hate-it detailed gritty style Irem was so fond of in the '90s, with decent sprite animation. (The OST is not good.) Controls are simple; you can attack, jump attack, grab and throw enemies, use projectiles and weapons, and of course have a special attack which uses player health to activate. You can also spank enemies when they are down. (Yes I spanked Captain Hook.) This beater starts off pretty fun, but it runs out of steam about halfway through. Towards the end I was really ready for it to be over with. However, if you're a big fan of the film, or Peter Pan in general, you may enjoy Hook a little more than I did.
I'm very much looking forward to seeing what everyone chooses to play.
|
|
|
Post by Sarge on Jun 2, 2019 20:05:04 GMT -5
Alrighty, knocked out my first Irem game for the month. It's Hammerin' Harry for Famicom/NES, or more specifically, the Japanese version because I didn't feel like trying to get RetroArch to force NTSC (which is okay for the PAL version). So I played using the EverDrive instead.
The game plays just fine, although simplicity rules the day here. Apparently the arcade version from which this was ported has slightly more complexity with boxes and whatnot. There are unlimited continues, so anyone with NES platforming chops can knock this out in well under an hour, probably under thirty minutes. I hit two snags: the start of stage 4 (which I ironically cleared the first time through before dying later in the stage!), and the end boss (who turns out to be easier if you can bring in the big hammer).
I won't say this serves as much more than a little snack; I'd have been pretty peeved at a game this short back in the day, barring some notable exceptions like Contra. But you're gonna put a lot more time into that than this, so it feels longer. I think the game rates a 6/10. Pretty decent, not much more.
EDIT: Hammerin' Harry 2 has to be better, right? WRONG. Despite being a 1993 release, the sequel feels like it barely holds together. The screen scrolls choppily, the controls don't feel quite as tight, and despite some interesting bosses, the game really just feels half-baked all around. That final sequence in particular where you're jumping on all the moving platforms? Ew. No fun; I probably died there 30 times. Infinite continues, though, like the first game, and this time around, it does one better by letting you continue right at the boss. Thank heavens for small favors. I won't say it is the worst game I've played on the system (not even close, honestly), but Irem only hammered home 4/10 nails for this one. Shaky indeed.
|
|
|
Post by Ex on Jun 2, 2019 21:42:06 GMT -5
toeiI own a legit copy of Steambot Chronicles on PS2 (I've owned it since release actually). I considered playing it this month, but soon I'll be juggling two RPGs already. Maybe somebody else will bite though. SargeThis is probably the best Hammering Harry game: Fair game too, it's a 2009 release and developed by Irem.
|
|