Shmups

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Michiel K
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Re: Shmups

Post by Michiel K »

Stanshall wrote: February 21st, 2019, 11:31 am Yikes, you're sitting on a goldmine! :D

Here's that shmups forum thread, by the way:

https://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?t=58787

It looks like you can get Ginga Force via the JPN store no worries. Eschatos (and Espgaluda 2) is available via the HK store but requires a bit of VPN trickery. They're region free but IP locked. That will definitely be on my list at some point so I'll certainly share my notes and feedback on how that goes.

And I'll look forward to the shmups guide for the website!
Superb, thanks!
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shadowless_kick
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Re: Shmups

Post by shadowless_kick »

After my buddies got heavy into the tournament side of fighting games, I sorta fell out of the love with the genre and retreated to the SP refuge of shoot-em-ups. It’s now my favorite genre.

Funny that ESP Ra.De. was mentioned, as that’s probably my second favorite and always seems to be overlooked when people discuss Cave. I actually bought the PCB years ago in anticipation of a cab that has yet to materialize, but the day is coming… :twisted: Luckily, I caught it before prices started going interstellar (plus, it's the "cheap" Cave game, as Joshi pointed out). In the meantime, I'm eagerly awaiting the M2 PS4 port. *rubs hands*

My top pick, though, is Guwange, which I feel is pure poetry in motion at its best moments. It’s one of the few shooters in which I feel I’m actually getting better; I’ve managed to get up to the slug-baby boss [the final boss?] on one credit. No other game gets me into the zone/flow state like this one. It completely nails the balance of looking impossible while still being totally doable with practice, IMO.

Others I really enjoy are Psikyo’s Strikers 1999 and Mushihimesama Futari for their relatively straightforward, welcoming nature; I’m not big on complex scoring mechanics at all, and until I 1CC any of these, I play strictly for survival.

I went on a short tear around the release of the Analogue Super NT and snapped up some SNES/SFC titles with good reputations behind them:
Pop'n Twin Bee
Jyukyo Oshaberi Parodius (300 yen at a flea market!)
Sonic Wings
Super Aleste (really good based on the short amount of time I’ve spent with it)

Shout-out to the original Bangai-O on Dreamcast, though I don’t think it really counts as a “shmup” in the traditional sense. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to find my old copy of that or Einhander :(

I’d like to play more recent shooters, but I honestly don’t like the way a lot of them look. Polygons aren’t an automatic dealbreaker, but I just love sprites :geek:
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ratsoalbion
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Re: Shmups

Post by ratsoalbion »

Happily, Guwange is available as a cheap download on the Xbox marketplace - even in Europe and the US - and plays on both 360 and Xbox One.
Joshihatsumitsu

Re: Shmups

Post by Joshihatsumitsu »

Guwange is pretty damn fantastic!

Speaking of multiple digital accounts, I have the far more affordable Japanese PSN versions of Einhander and Harmful Park, which is definitely a huge difference in price!

It's a bit of a pain that there are so many hurdles to accessing games, whether because of region or otherwise.
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Stanshall
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Re: Shmups

Post by Stanshall »

Michiel K wrote: February 21st, 2019, 11:50 am
Stanshall wrote: February 21st, 2019, 11:31 am Yikes, you're sitting on a goldmine! :D

Here's that shmups forum thread, by the way:

https://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?t=58787

It looks like you can get Ginga Force via the JPN store no worries. Eschatos (and Espgaluda 2) is available via the HK store but requires a bit of VPN trickery. They're region free but IP locked. That will definitely be on my list at some point so I'll certainly share my notes and feedback on how that goes.

And I'll look forward to the shmups guide for the website!
Superb, thanks!
As a brief update, I've managed to get Muchi Muchi Pork and Pink Sweets via the JPN Marketplace. It was OK in the end, doable. Unfortunately, I've not been able to buy anything from the US store so I guess none of the Games on Demand are region free. I'm also struggling to buy Akai Katana and Deathsmiles even from the UK store which is confusing. I've looked up error codes and it seems they might just be unavailable now despite still appearing on the site. I've ended up ordering disc copies for a bit cheaper anyway but my all digital plan has sadly perished. Mushihimesama Futari is coming from Japan at some point, thirty quid but that seems pretty reasonable to be honest. EBay prices are double and triple that.

Anyway my brief assessment is that Muchi Muchi Pork is really very good, even if the aesthetic is pretty gross, and Pink Sweets is a little bit basic. I'll look forward to giving them a proper workout this weekend.
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KSubzero1000
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Re: Shmups

Post by KSubzero1000 »

ASTEBREED is dope. ...I think?

Controls are rather complex but also really tight. There's quite a bit that goes into deciding when to use which attack against which enemy type in order to maximize your score, which is interesting.

Soundtrack and mech design are really good. Graphics are crisp, animations are fluid. Looks, sounds and feels cool.

I just "beat" the game and I have zero clue who's fighting what war against what faction and who's related-but-not-really-related to whom. I think AIs or androids are involved? I know I'm a lost cause because I'm the least multitasking-capable person on Earth, but does anyone actually pay attention to the dialogue and story bits that take place during gameplay? There's no way I can focus on the lady reciting War and Peace while I'm playing these things. At least it's not as bad as Raiden which straight up reserves half the screen real estate for the giant talking heads.

Anyway, gotta respect any game that has the audacity to evaluate your performance by way of a TENSION GRAPH after every chapter.

More tomorrow, probably.
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Stanshall
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Re: Shmups

Post by Stanshall »

Really pleased to hear you're enjoying it and sorry for not replying properly to your previous post yet. That Ikaruga back and forth was one of the highlights of my year in terms of gaming. I really loved that race to S Rank and I have to bow down to your high score. I've never managed to come close again. Such a singular game, such a narrow rabbit hole to go down! I loved it, I found it thrilling and all-consuming but by the end I was mentally exhausted. I wish I'd got into shmups twenty years ago! :D

Talking of mental exhaustion, I've spent literally six hours yesterday and four hours today trying to set up a bloody Hong Kong VPN via my laptop to connect my 360 via Ethernet to buy Espgaluda 2. It's finally finally finally downloading and if I can pull this off, it's probably going to be the greatest achievement of my adult life. I managed to put the HK dollars in a HK account quite easily but it's been a hell of a road since then!

I should have just bought a chipped console and pirated the bloody lot! Ah, the pains of living honourably... :D

Edit: The little bastard. Failed at 99%. Starting again, only this time I'm closing the window, closing the door, standing still, turning off the TV in the living room. Going back to the Acorn Electron days of desperate ritualistic cassette loading.
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KSubzero1000
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Re: Shmups

Post by KSubzero1000 »

Stanshall wrote: February 24th, 2019, 4:23 pm Really pleased to hear you're enjoying it and sorry for not replying properly to your previous post yet. That Ikaruga back and forth was one of the highlights of my year in terms of gaming. I really loved that race to S Rank and I have to bow down to your high score. I've never managed to come close again. Such a singular game, such a narrow rabbit hole to go down! I loved it, I found it thrilling and all-consuming but by the end I was mentally exhausted. I wish I'd got into shmups twenty years ago! :D
You're telling me! I booted it up again a few weeks ago and I couldn't even get to the Pursuer! :lol:

It was a lot of fun for sure. Psyvariar Delta can't come soon enough.


PS: I don't know how relevant this is considering you're trying to buy the digital version, but google tells me the Limited Edition of EspGaluda II is region-locked whereas the standard edition is region-free and should run without issues on an EU console. Maybe this helps?
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Stanshall
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Re: Shmups

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Cheers mate. Basically, the Hong Kong store digital version is region free but not IP-free (if that's an expression!) so you need to set up a VPN which is a pain in the arse with my home router and ISP so I had to send it through my dying laptop via Ethernet which was painful...I've done umpteen different things to try to get it working but finally (literally five minutes ago) saw it had downloaded successfully and I booted it up. Need to cook now though and entertain my wife whom I've abandoned all day!

Looking forward to some Psyvariar challenges soon, too. Glad to have had a few more months of practice first! :D
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KSubzero1000
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Re: Shmups

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Image
Joshihatsumitsu

Re: Shmups

Post by Joshihatsumitsu »

Geez... reading that journey just to buy Espgaluda 2...

When I get home today I'm going to go to my physical 360 Cave collection, and give them a hug and say "I appreciate how uncomplicated you are!"
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shadowless_kick
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Re: Shmups

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speaking of the 360, I've got a HRAP EX-SE on that console that served me well my brief time with the system, but I need recommendations on a good shmup-friendly stick for the PS4. not into modding/customization, though, so something right of the shelf is what I'm lookin' for. anyone?
Joshihatsumitsu

Re: Shmups

Post by Joshihatsumitsu »

shadowless_kick wrote: February 24th, 2019, 11:50 pm speaking of the 360, I've got a HRAP EX-SE on that console that served me well my brief time with the system, but I need recommendations on a good shmup-friendly stick for the PS4. not into modding/customization, though, so something right of the shelf is what I'm lookin' for. anyone?
Speaking for myself (whether it's the best or not I'll leave others to debate), use the Mad Catz Street Fighter V Arcade FightStick TES+.

It covers both PS3 and 4 (both still very much plugged in), and covers every game that doesn't require the second analogue stick.

Pricey, though, but it's solid, and I've had no problems with it.
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Michiel K
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Re: Shmups

Post by Michiel K »

Stanshall wrote: February 23rd, 2019, 12:17 am Anyway my brief assessment is that Muchi Muchi Pork is really very good, even if the aesthetic is pretty gross, and Pink Sweets is a little bit basic. I'll look forward to giving them a proper workout this weekend.
Dude, Pink Sweets is the business!

It uses a bomb/shield mechanic, like Yagawa's own Recca, where you build up a shield when not firing, which you can deploy as a bomb, when you start firing. The shield stops regular projectiles, but missiles have to be shot and bosses use semi-random patterns that force you to alternate between shielding and shooting, turning them into something like a Punch-Out fight. When played right, you should be doing very little dodging in this game... were it not for the incredibly mean Yagawa-style dynamic difficulty. Literally everything you do raises the rank, so things can get pretty hectic fast. Still, a genius game and criminally underappreciated even by genre fans, if you ask me.

MM Pork is I guess a lighter, more fun game. I don't find the aesthetic as much gross as it's just bewildering to me, in a sense similar to that of the Cho Aniki games.
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Stanshall
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Re: Shmups

Post by Stanshall »

Thanks for the explanation of the mechanics. That probably explains a good deal of why I found it a bit basic, I didn't know what I was bloody doing! :D I'll definitely give that a go in earnest this week. There's definitely an accessibility to Muchi Muchi which drew me in quicker but I'll probably have a watch of the STG Weekly episode on Pink Sweets to see how to better approach it. It's funny when I think back to how I used to feel about Ikaruga - namely, that it was a bit dull and restrictive - when it became one of my favourite games ever once I finally found out how to play it properly.
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Re: Shmups

Post by Joshihatsumitsu »

I have a lot of love for Muchi Muchi! The art-style is exaggerated to the point of absurdity, and if you're going to go weird, go all out or don't bother. Not to everyone's taste, but then, what is?

Definitely a lighter and more accessible shooter.
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Stanshall
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Re: Shmups

Post by Stanshall »

I couldn't resist MM this evening, to be honest, even though I planned to play some Pink Sweets. It's such a fun game and I love the various medals and pickups. They're designed in a really appealing way. I don't know what it is exactly but those golden cubes in particular are just, I dunno, the whole thing seems so overabundant. It's the same with the parachuting pigs, you're smothered in these various goodies and it pushes my buttons. As for the designs, I'm not really a Twitter outrage kind of guy but I've just noticed that compared to my previous Cave experiences, like DDP, DOJ, Progear and Espgaluda, the likes of MMP, Pink Sweets, DDP SDOJ (in particular) and Deathsmiles are 'aesthetically challenging'. No need to discuss though really, it's a separate thread. The Mushi Futari review on the C&R site covers a lot of the same ground.

I've also been playing a good chunk of Espgaluda 2 and what a game that is! The bullet cancelling in particular is mesmerising and addictive. I'm really enjoying the BL mode, it's so tightly designed in that you tend to always cancel and earn your safety at the very last moment. Gus of Mushi Futari fame is on the STG Weekly episode for this one so I'll probably watch that tonight and see him tear the game wide open. This is my favourite so far alongside the Akai Katana demo and looking forward to the full game turning up in the next couple of days.
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shadowless_kick
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Re: Shmups

Post by shadowless_kick »

Joshihatsumitsu wrote: February 25th, 2019, 1:39 am Speaking for myself (whether it's the best or not I'll leave others to debate), use the Mad Catz Street Fighter V Arcade FightStick TES+.

It covers both PS3 and 4 (both still very much plugged in), and covers every game that doesn't require the second analogue stick.

Pricey, though, but it's solid, and I've had no problems with it.
thanks for the tip. these things can get up there in price fast :shock: I do wish I could get it without the SFV graphics, though. oh well.

the fact that researching only the sticks (square/octogonal gates, button manufacturers, lag, custom graphcs, etc.) can be as deep a rabbit hole as it is really illustrates the passion people have for fighters/shooters.


as for Muchi Muchi Pork, I've only played it once. I'm not a fan of the aesthetics either, but the ridiculousness of it (perhaps the "overabundance" Stanshall mentioned) makes it easier to swallow than some of Cave's other ...questionable design choices. still though, give me a badass archer with an 8-tailed fox over a plump pig girl any day of the week. 8-)
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KSubzero1000
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Re: Shmups

Post by KSubzero1000 »

Vasara Collection coming to PC, PS4 and Switch.

More classic shmup ports to modern systems, please!
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Re: Shmups

Post by ratsoalbion »

Nice!
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