Whatcha Been Playing?

[KSubzero1000]

I wish I got on with schmups more.

This seems like such a cool little corner-niche of gaming you’re all enjoying so much.

I was in a very similar position not too long ago.

They can definitely be inaccessible at times. If you want to give the genre another chance at some point, I would suggest identifying one aesthetically pleasing entry-level title and giving it enough time to see if it clicks with you. You really need to get into the mindset of retries and score-chasing with this genre. Don't be ashamed to play on the easiest difficulty either. Even something as basic as The Binding of Isaac can serve as a gentle introduction to the shooting mechanics, for example.

[Joshihatsumitsu]

I've read that the SNK 40th Anniversary Collection has the option to switch between horizontal and vertical orientation? There's definitely more than shmups in that collection.

I have the Arcade Archives Donkey Kong in my collection... I'm not sure if the option to rotate is in that game, but I'll have a quick test after work. That's also non-STG...

It's definitely a niche product (Flip Grip) for a niche audience. But it's well designed and made for what it does.

[Chopper]

Second edit - I also picked up The Council and I'm quite miffed at it. It says in great big letters on both the front and back "COMPLETE EDITION", and "INCLUDES ALL 5 EPISODES".

And then in tiny letters on the back it tells you that only the first 4 chapters are included and you have to download the fifth. So it's not complete. King's Quest did it, Tell Tale games started doing it and it pisses me off to no end. It's deliberately misleading and defeats the entire bloody purpose of buying the disc in the first place.

Oh man, that really sucks.

[Magical_Isopod]

I've been playing Spider-Man.....

I'm not sure how I feel.

One classic villain boss battle near the start. The rest of the time Spider-Man is just basically beating up generic Chinese gangsters that Spider-Man would normally be able to take out in about 10 seconds.

I do like that they took elements from the larger comics universe, but the story basically turns into Arkham City.

Spider-Man is supposed to be *fun*, not Batmanesque.

Speaking of which, it commits the same sin that the later Arkham game does. It throws tons of enemies at you at the same time, rather than throw one or two challenging enemies at you.

Trying to beat up one gangster and having no way to dodge getting shot in the back or the side isn't fun or challenging. It's just frustrating.

Really mixed feelings about this game.

Edit - I should add that the web swinging is incredibly fun and I spent about an hour listening to old Spiderman 67 songs and swinging around the city with a big smile on my face.

It's like the mechanics are there, I'm just not happy with the execution.

I have similar feelings on the Spode. In fact, I forgot I had even played it this year, that's how dull it was for me. Like, the game is SUPER polished, and the reverence to lore for the fans is really great stuff. The Web swinging and parkour is legit too - and I really enjoyed the stealth elements.

But ultimately, the story was just generic super hero drivel. It was stupidly predictable, and the SCORE in particular was just horrendous in how generic and unimpressive it was - think "superhero movie music," and that's all it is. Compare that with Batman and Robin on the Sega Genesis, where Jesper Kidd's amazing deep house OST elevates an above average cartoon adaptation into a truly magnificent, appropriately moody experience.

Spiderman is one of those games where it's super polished on a technical level, and it's clearl hard work went into it, but possibly as a restriction of the license, the end product is just a "been there, done that" affair with nothing particularly new or interesting to capture the attention of people who aren't already fans.

[Magical_Isopod]

The WRONG one.

Careful there, Brenya.

Man, I miss the GBA for just how smooth and fluid some of its animations were. Like. FireRed and LeafGreen are still my favourite Pokemon games for exactly this reason - smooth, fast gameplay, everything is flashy and speedy. Fire Emblem after FE7 feels real chonk with how slow it is in comparison.

[KSubzero1000]

Man, I miss the GBA for just how smooth and fluid some of its animations were. Like. FireRed and LeafGreen are still my favourite Pokemon games for exactly this reason - smooth, fast gameplay, everything is flashy and speedy. Fire Emblem after FE7 feels real chonk with how slow it is in comparison.

Oh man, I got an entire folder full of this stuff!

Spoiler: show

Apart from the speed differences, I think there's just a level of clarity and cleanliness inherent to 2D spritework that low-polygonal 3D animations just aren't able to replicate. All the 3D Fire Emblem games have been on comparatively underpowered consoles (GameCube, Wii, 3DS) and especially the PS1 era graphics on 3DS are a step back, in my opinion. Let's see how Three Houses turns out!

PS: Metroid suffered the same fate. I've written about this on here when the game was still fresh in my mind, but I still prefer the look of the GBA Metroid games over Hunters / Samus Returns. Low-polygonal 3D models and animations are the worst of both worlds and I don't understand why so many handheld developers aren't embracing the limitations of their platforms instead. Crisp 2D > blocky 3D.

[Senorb123]

Been listening to the CnR Resident Evil podcast got me back into the series. I finished RE Origins collection and have been working on RE 4 until RE 2 comes out. RE 4 is great.

[Goodman Darkness]

Personally speaking, the price range is spot on. It was a low risk purchase, and it paid off very well. It is only going to be of use for STG's, so if you're not a fan of shmups, there's not going to be much reason to get one.

But, if you are like me, and wish that M2 Shottrigger games would be released on the Switch, because that would truly make it the ultimate shmup-delivery-system ever, then I would easily recommend it. There's plenty of vertical shooters already available, so it's a decent investment.

This is great to hear. 2019 is the year I break into genres I've ignored up until now, so I think I'm going to use a Flip Grip and a Switch to explore the wild world of shmups.

[Magical_Isopod]

I think I missed something here - what's a Flip Grip, and why should I expect a SHMUP bones from it? I'm literally like Michiel levels of SHMUP enthusiast over here... I spend nearly a near trying to track down a Raiden II cab.

[dezm0nd]

Been listening to the CnR Resident Evil podcast got me back into the series. I finished RE Origins collection and have been working on RE 4 until RE 2 comes out. RE 4 is great.

Glad the Resi evil podcasts got you involved in the games!

[Joshihatsumitsu]

I think I missed something here - what's a Flip Grip, and why should I expect a SHMUP bones from it? I'm literally like Michiel levels of SHMUP enthusiast over here... I spend nearly a near trying to track down a Raiden II cab.

A Flip Grip is essentially just a piece of plastic! Now it's past the Kickstarter phase it's a more legit purchase.

And the Arcade Archive's version of Donkey Kong does have a screen rotate option... very happy about that...

Did you end up finding a Raiden II cab/PCB?

[Magical_Isopod]

I think I missed something here - what's a Flip Grip, and why should I expect a SHMUP bones from it? I'm literally like Michiel levels of SHMUP enthusiast over here... I spend nearly a near trying to track down a Raiden II cab.

A Flip Grip is essentially just a piece of plastic! Now it's past the Kickstarter phase it's a more legit purchase.

And the Arcade Archive's version of Donkey Kong does have a screen rotate option... very happy about that...

Did you end up finding a Raiden II cab/PCB?

Ohhhhh, it's a Switch dongly-doo.

And no, I never did... I got a lead on a marquee, which I could have at least kept for a MAME cabinet, but the guy wanted like 300 bucks for it and it wasn't even in great shape.

I'm shockingly not too interested in the PCB, because I strongly prefer the PSX version on The Raiden Project to the arcade original. I mostly wanted an old cab, preferably something already gutted, so I could make my own MAME cabinet with all the Raiden branding on it. Alas, it was not to be. I keep saying, "I'll build one when I have a bigger place," but even townhouses are running over $500k nowadays, so I doubt I'll ever have one.

Might look into gutting one of those Wal-Mart mini-cabs though. They have one with Street Fighter 2, presumably running off a chip in a breadboard or something, for like $250. I bought a full 2-player arcade deck thingy a while back, so if I could modify the whole assembly...

But at that point, I'm basically paying $250 for wood and a screen. So who knows what the future holds.

[Joshihatsumitsu]

Considering the ¥68,040 price tag for Raiden II (well, that's one price for it anyway), I'm not too shocked that you wouldn't go for the PCB! Though, compared to ¥583,200 price tag for Dodonpachi SaiDaiOuJou (and that's just for the board, with copy copies of the artwork ), it could almost be interpreted as a bargain!

There are some decent flatpacks available now too, plus if space is an issue (and space is absolutely an issue) there's some pretty decent Ikea hacks out there.

[Magical_Isopod]

Flatpacks, you say? Care to lend a link to a curious sea creature?

[Sinclair Gregstrum]

In anticipation of Shenmue 3 (still can't believe it's actually happening ), I've finally got round to kicking off a Shenmue 1 play-through.

Playing the recent HD version on PS4 and it's the first time I've played the game since my original Dreamcast play-through at release. That game only had the English dub VO (which was glorious in it's own special way), so really enjoying playing with the original Japanese track (which is equally glorious in it's own special way!).

I know my opinion is coloured by rose-tinted spectacles galore, but man I love this game. Yes it's clunky and things have moved on, but what they were trying and achieving back then was just wonderful. Nobuita might be a fraction of the size, but it still feels more like a real place than so many of the skin deep open worlds we have now. The game is full of people with jobs, houses, routines - lives!

And there are no waypoints. I'm not just running around from point A to point B with a mini-map and a beeping dot. If I want to know where something is I ask someone. Or I can go to one of the few map boards up around town and figure it out like I would in real life.

And people aren't just in a place because I want them be. Sometimes I have to wait for them to show up. Go and play Hang On in the arcade for a bit!

Not for everyone sure, but I love it!

[Magical_Isopod]

Having never played Shenmue, I feel like Shenmue is rendered obsolete by the existence of the Yakuza series. Same off-kilter goofery, none of the jank.

[Simonsloth]

Having never played Shenmue, I feel like Shenmue is rendered obsolete by the existence of the Yakuza series. Same off-kilter goofery, none of the jank.

I’ve played both and although they have their similarities I think they are quite different in tone, narrative and to an extent even gameplay.

I would say that Shenmue has been rendered less relevant by time, technological advances and its nuanced (to put it kindly) design decisions.

If the third game tries to be too faithful it will be a horrible mess but go too far the other way and fans will be rioting in the streets. I do not think the outcome is going to be pretty....but I’ll still play it to see for myself!

[Sinclair Gregstrum]

Having never played Shenmue, I feel like Shenmue is rendered obsolete by the existence of the Yakuza series. Same off-kilter goofery, none of the jank.

I’ve played both and although they have their similarities I think they are quite different in tone, narrative and to an extent even gameplay.

I would say that Shenmue has been rendered less relevant by time, technological advances and its nuanced (to put it kindly) design decisions.

If the third game tries to be too faithful it will be a horrible mess but go too far the other way and fans will be rioting in the streets. I do not think the outcome is going to be pretty....but I’ll still play it to see for myself!

Yes it’s been said many times that Yakuza is a spiritual successor to Shenmue but it’s your point about tone Simon that’s key I think.

They do appear to have similarities in a number of areas, but Shenmue is a very sincere story with a world that strives to deliver authenticity and normality in many ways. Yes it’s silly and entirely unrealistic in places (both intentionally and unintentionally), but if you compare it with some of the over-the-top craziness and violence in a Yakuza game, the two are poles apart in many ways.

When it comes to Shenmue 3 I have my expectations very much in check. They really have a thankless task in trying to please fans of the originals on a fraction of the budget, while trying not to get mauled by modern critics for the obtuse and outdated elements that are some of the game’s hallmarks.

I think they’ll fall on the side of pleasing fans, as the game wouldn’t even exist without their passion and financial support, but that will likely lead to a fairly tepid reception from the mainstream press (if it gets 6s I think they’ll have done ok!).

Storytelling and characterisation in games have also come on a great deal since Shenmue 1 & 2. While the originals still have a certain charm (and mainly to those who played them at the time), I’m not entirely confident a long-dormant arcade maestro like Yu Suzuki really has what it takes to deliver something to up modern standards in those areas.

Whatever happens, it’s going to be fascinating to play regardless and personally I can’t wait!

[Joshihatsumitsu]

Flatpacks, you say? Care to lend a link to a curious sea creature?

Quite!

Forgive the global links, but using Arcade World UK's site for example, there's various branded kits. Not good for shipping to Canada, but good for getting some idea of what's out there - maybe Retro Active, though I may leave that research to you, as Google gives me very Australian based results.

Prices are going to vary, but being pre-cut MDF it may save you some time in terms of assembling. I like this arcade cabinet site, as it's basically cabinet plans, and you can get ideas from it (and it's free), and you can see where you can save some money with a little DIY.

Finally, Arcade Otaku has a lot of resources, but this collection of manuals from various different commercial cabinets is very helpful. Understanding how things interconnect is fascinating. Plus, you know, free.

Research, research, research. I'm currently building my fourth cabinet (as my place gets physically smaller and smaller), so I'm happy to share resources and advice!

[ThirdDrawing]

I think I missed something here - what's a Flip Grip, and why should I expect a SHMUP bones from it? I'm literally like Michiel levels of SHMUP enthusiast over here... I spend nearly a near trying to track down a Raiden II cab.

I hadn't heard of it until recently either.

Here's a video on it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXLRE9ZIUYE

I'm thinking about getting one for the Psikyo collections.

I really enjoyed the stealth elements.

But ultimately, the story was just generic super hero drivel. It was stupidly predictable, and the SCORE in particular was just horrendous in how generic and unimpressive it was - think "superhero movie music," and that's all it is. Compare that with Batman and Robin on the Sega Genesis, where Jesper Kidd's amazing deep house OST elevates an above average cartoon adaptation into a truly magnificent, appropriately moody experience.

Spiderman is one of those games where it's super polished on a technical level, and it's clearl hard work went into it, but possibly as a restriction of the license, the end product is just a "been there, done that" affair with nothing particularly new or interesting to capture the attention of people who aren't already fans.

Wasn't crazy about the Miles/MJ stealth sections myself, forced stealth with weak characters is another AAA game thing that gets on my nerves.

Agree with you 100% on the music though. Even more generic than the Spider-Man movies.

To be fair, some of the side quests are interesting, there's one series of sidequests in particular I actually really liked.

There just wasn't enough of it.

Also to be fair, I'm further in now and I'm finally getting some of the boss battles I had been hoping to see earlier in the game.