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Post by Sarge on May 24, 2021 18:21:10 GMT -5
Speaking of Soldier Blade, I stumbled across this the other day. I don't think I posted it here, but maybe I did.
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Post by EasyHard on May 24, 2021 19:06:48 GMT -5
I just completed Sylphia (PCE-CD). The fantasy-Greek enemies and locations kept me more interested than I might have otherwise been, and this might be a fun game to revisit for me. The rock weapon was probably the MVP shot type in my runs, although trying them all and getting them fully powered was still satisfying.
Edit: First impressions of Download (PCE) is that it feels really good to play right out of the box (better than I expected from videos).
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Post by Sarge on May 24, 2021 19:38:45 GMT -5
Nice job! Maybe I should have tried using that rock weapon more. It's definitely an odd one.
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Post by toei on May 24, 2021 21:44:33 GMT -5
I just completed Sylphia (PCE-CD). The fantasy-Greek enemies and locations kept me more interested than I might have otherwise been, and this might be a fun game to revisit for me. The rock weapon was probably the MVP shot type in my runs, although trying them all and getting them fully powered was still satisfying.
Edit: First impressions of Download (PCE) is that it feels really good to play right out of the box (better than I expected from videos).
Download has a speediness and precision to it that separates it from the pack, IMO. I really liked it.
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Post by Ex on May 24, 2021 21:49:18 GMT -5
I spent 30 minutes with Vortex this evening. From a technical perspective this is probably the most ambitious Super FX powered SNES game ever made. But from a playability perspective, it's really bad. Very rough framerate, very unbalanced difficulty, nor particularly fun to play in any regard whatsoever. Just goes to show that great programmers don't always make great game designers (looking at you Michael Powell). Argonaut Software did much better on Star Fox with Nintendo's guidance, but with Vortex they just made a mess. The western cover is crappy, but the Japanese cover is cool:
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Post by Sarge on May 24, 2021 22:03:30 GMT -5
Man, we should have gotten that cover. Way better.
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Post by toei on May 25, 2021 0:51:12 GMT -5
I don't mind the Western Vortex cover, but it looks like a talented 12-year-old's drawing next to the Japanese cover.
I finally finished one of the two kinda-good-but-frustrating hori shmups I'd been juggling for a while. It's Curse, a 1989 Japan-only Megadrive release by Micronet, a company not known for quality. Right off the bat, the scrolling is choppier than average; at first it bothered me a lot. Then a funny thing happened; I got so used to it that I lost the ability to even see it. The game just looks normal to me now, where it moved like a MSX game before. There was something to it that kept me playing, though. The first level had a strange look and feel that appealed to me, and the music was pretty good. The game uses "options" like in R-Type, meaning pods that you can rotate around your ship by pressing C that both reinforce your firepower and act as shields. I really like that mechanic, as it opens up a ton of possibilities in both offense and defense. There are only three main weapons, but two of them are nice and powerful. One thing that's odd is that the game doesn't even have an option menu, and you only get one credit. You start with 3 lives, but you can easily gain more through score, and you can actually take 2-3 hits before you die. For most of the game, you also continue from where you died, but of course, you lose all your power-ups, and as is often the case, it's really difficult to survive without them once you get past the first stage. In general the level design is good, with a notable emphasis on avoiding obstacles; those are especially dangerous since crashing into them kills you instantly rather than damage you. There are only 5 stages, too, which I actually think is a perfectly acceptable amount, though I know some wouldn't. But during the last stage, the game switches up on you. See, in the last stage, if you die, you have to start the whole thing over. This includes dying during the final boss. In truth, this isn't the hard part, as none of the bosses in the game are very difficult, but this stage doesn't mess around, and a fair degree of memorization is needed. Couple that with the lack of additional credits, and it wasn't rare that I'd get there with like 2 lives, die at the very start of the level, and be Game Over. Eventually this was too much and I decided to use a shortcut; I took a save state at the start of it so I could practice it as many times as necessary without replaying the rest of the game. I did not use save states during the stage, however. Once past the very difficult beginning, it actually wasn't so bad. In fact, I found it a fun level to go through once I was more familiar with it, because even when you mostly know what's coming, you still have to be quick and sharp. Still, it's kind of a crappy design decision. Nonetheless, I like the game, and I want to give it ***.
It also has pretty good music, like a lot of shmups. The level 1 theme is especially nice:
Sounds like something out of Phantasy Star. Notice the dope cover art, too.
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Post by Sarge on May 25, 2021 21:16:25 GMT -5
Knocked out Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire. Definitely a polished take on the genre - it reminded me in a lot of ways of games like Strikers 1945. I jacked up the continues which made things easier, as you can guess, especially since it gives you more bombs to use. I'm not sure how many continues I burned, but I was probably rather close (within a continue or two) of a win at the default settings. On this run, anyway... last night I bombed right at the beginning of stage 5.
Speaking of which... that's the last stage. This isn't a long game at all, which I could see cheesing some folks off at the time. You get four pilots, but only one of them has much speed to their craft. The leftmost character is supposed to be the most balanced, but I couldn't tell much difference between her speed and the rightmost, who had a much stronger default weapon. So I stuck with her the entire rest of the run, and made good use of my bombs. I feel like it's almost a must - the bullets are so fast here that most of the time, unless you're already aware of the patterns, you don't have enough time to dodge... but you do have enough time to bomb. I feel like the game would be just a bit better if the other three slow characters had a tiny bit more speed.
Soundtrack rocks, as one would expect from the same folks responsible for Lords of Thunder. The pre-rendered look is interesting, although I still think traditional sprite work might have looked a bit better. But it's still a pretty game.
Overall, I think I'm going to give this... a 7.5/10. Hey, it's that score again! Very good, but too brief (and perhaps too safe) to be truly amazing. It definitely isn't worth the asking price for a legit copy, although that's part of the reason I got a TG-16 Mini in the first place. I think that might be the only other legit place to buy it now?
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Post by Ex on May 25, 2021 22:34:51 GMT -5
Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire Definitely an above average entry, nice beat. - So I rented this game back in 1999, couldn't beat it back then. But, I was able to tonight...
Title: EinhänderPlatform: PlayStation Region release played: USA Year of release: 1998 Developer: SquareSoft Publisher: SquareSoft Graphics: 4/5 Audio: 4/5 Challenge: 3/5 Fun factor: 4/5 Quick Thoughts: Einhänder is a 3D shmup from JRPG gods SquareSoft, although it was not their first shmup (they dabbled in the genre in the '80s). Combining SquareSoft's graphical chops with Tatsuo Fujii's (of Gradius II, Xexex fame) shmup know-how, led to a winning combination. Einhänder is German for single-handed, because the player's ship literally has a hand to grab weapons from fallen enemies. Kenichiro Fukui composed a fantastic futuristic OST that fits the post-industrial graphical aesthetic well. Einhänder is a great looking, fun to play shmup with a unique and delightful weapon system... highly recommend to genre enthusiasts.
+Gorgeous 3D graphics running smoothly. +Unique and excellent weapon system. +Fantastic techno OST. +Great boss battles. +Nice animated CG cutscenes. -No two player mode. -Stage designs are really simple. -The world/enemy aesthetic lacks variation. -The final boss battle may give some players motion sickness. -Probably too easy for hardcore shmup hounds. Ex's time to beat: 57 minutes Ex's rating: 8/10
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Post by Sarge on May 25, 2021 22:42:50 GMT -5
That's definitely one I've always wanted to finish. I should probably give it a go before the month is up!
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