Szycag's Game Boy 8-bit Shmups thread (DONE!)

szycag · Post by **szycag** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 5:25 am

EDIT (Probably the 3rd or 4th one)
Here's the final list I ended up using. There will be some games missing, that Zoids game is intentionally missing because no one's sure if it's actually a shmup, but I can always do a missing games list afterwards like Rob did. I gotta finish this thing sometime.

1942
A-Force
Aerostar
Battle Unit Zeoth
Burai Fighter Deluxe / Space Marauder
Centipede (color)
Chikyuu Kaihou Gun ZAS
Choplifter II
Choplifter III
Dropzone/Dropzone Color
Galaga/Galaxian (Arcade Classic 3, Namco Gallery 1 and 2)
Galaga: Destination Earth
Joust/Defender GBC
Konami GB Collection 1 / Nemesis / Gradius
Konami GB Collection 2 / Parodius
Konami GB Collection 3 / Twinbee Da!
Konami GB Collection 4 / Gradius: Interstellar Assault
Macross 7: Ginga no Heart o Furuwa Sero!!
Magical Chase
Mercenary Force (Tenjin Kaisen)
Millipede/Centipede
Namco Gallery Vol.3 (Sky Kid)
Project S-11
Quarth
R-Type DX / R-Type / R-Type 2
Sagaia
Solar Striker
Space Invaders - Super Game Boy (1994, Taito)
Space Invaders - GBColor (2000, Crawfish)
Space Invasion
Star Hawk
SWIV
Taiyou No Yuusha - Firebird GB
Vattle Giuce
Volley Fire
Xenon 2
Yar's Revenge

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 5:29 am

There has to be about 500 others, right? Or at least some exclusives (in name)? The amount of downsized versions might spoil it.

szycag · Post by **szycag** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 5:46 am

be my guest if you want to hunt down any others for me to play

Game Boy "8-bit" only so no GBA stuff

shinsage · Post by **shinsage** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 6:03 am

Battle Unit Zeoth isn't a total shmup.

half the stages are shmuppy, the other half are incredibly lame Assault Suits ripoffs.

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 7:15 am

Magical Chase GB isn't on that list. It's a GBC version of the TG-16 and PCE game. Taiyou no Yuusha - Firebird GB also seems to be a shmup.

nem · Post by **nem** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 8:02 am

There's a Zoids game that seems to be pretty shmuppy (atleast the first stage is.. which is where I lost interest in the title).

szycag · Post by **szycag** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 8:14 am

shinsage wrote:Battle Unit Zeoth isn't

it's on the xenocide files so i'm playing it!

Ceph · Post by **Ceph** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 11:38 am

szycag wrote:
shinsage wrote:Battle Unit Zeoth isn't
it's on the xenocide files so i'm playing it!

Heh, I actually own that one from back in the day. Yeah, I'd say it qualifies; at least half the stages are auto scrolling without gravity.

Mortificator · Post by **Mortificator** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 3:45 pm

I can shed light on a couple of the color re-releases.

The four-volume Konami GB Collection is a little different in Japan and Europe. The Japanese versions are for the original Game Boy with enhancements if you're playing them on TV with a Super Game Boy: borders and four-color palettes. The European versions came out a few years later and were released for the Game Boy Color, and so are fully colorized. I'd say you're best off playing those.

Each volume has four games, one of which is a shooter. The same games are included in the European and Japanese collections, but which game is in which volume differs. Going by the European numbering...

Vol. 1 has Gradius (originally called Nemesis). It copies a lot of enemies, levels, and music from the arcade and MSX versions of Gradius and Gradius II.

Vol. 2 has Parodius, a port of the first arcade Parodius. It does have a unique level, like all the Parodius ports got.

Vol. 3 has Twinbee Da!, a port of the original Twinbee. They call it Pop'n Twinbee on the cart though, I guess because that name's more familiar to people outside Japan.

Vol. 4 has Gradius II: The Return of the Hero (originally called Gradius: The Interstellar Assault in the U.S. and Nemesis 2 in Japan). It's the only completely original shooter in the collection, and my personal favorite on the Game Boy. And while you have the game in, you should check out Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge.

Now R-Type DX has R-Type I and II, available in original monochrome or colorized versions. It also has "R-Type DX" (proudly labeled "THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE!"), but it's just the stages from the two games combined into one big game. You get a little drawing program for beating it. I made Dobkeratops!

These games are missing a few stages from the arcade versions. R-Type cut arcade stages 4 and 5, while R-Type II lacks stage 4. They're not bad little ports, especially compared to most of what you'll see on Game Boy, but there's not much reason to play them nowadays.

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 4:47 pm

Mortificator wrote: Vol. 1 has Gradius (originally called Nemesis). It copies a lot of enemies, levels, and music from the arcade and MSX versions of Gradius and Gradius II.

It uses music from the older Gradius games, but the actual levels are new. Even the first stage with the volcano is a bit different from the original.

Vol. 3 has Twinbee Da!, a port of the original Twinbee. They call it Pop'n Twinbee on the cart though, I guess because that name's more familiar to people outside Japan.

Twinbee Da!! is not a port of the original Twinbee. A couple of the levels are based on levels from the original Twinbee, but they are remixes and aren't entirely the same. It has a hex grid stage ala Twinbee 3, an underwater stage with bubbles instead of clouds and currents that can pull you, a stage up in the clouds with plants that grow and attack you, and a stage with moving islands. The bosses are different too, with one exception that's a bit of a spoiler.

Twinbee Da!! was renamed to Pop 'n Twinbee for the b/w cart in Europe too. Pop 'n Twinbee SNES was released in Europe. The b/w version of Twinbee Da!! came out before Pop 'n Twinbee in Japan, but was released after it in Europe. It was probably renamed to Pop 'n Twinbee for the same reason Metal Gear Ghost Babel got renamed to Metal Gear Solid in US and Europe, name recognition. Twinbee Rainbow Bell Adventure SNES was renamed to Pop 'n Twinbee Rainbow Bell Adventure in Europe.

The irony is that the name change to Pop 'n Twinbee for Twinbee Da!! actually sort of fits considering the last boss. Don't want to give too much away, but he is Pop 'n!

The collection version of Twinbee Da!! is missing a feature from the original b/w version, two player simultaneous play. Two carts are needed for the two player mode with the original GB cart, though.

ubersaurus · Post by **ubersaurus** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 6:40 pm

No Yars Revenge?

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 9:03 pm

There's also Centipede/Millipede and the color version of Centipede.

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 9:42 pm

Great clarification post about Twinbee, BrianC. It's awesome to have experts on board.

A note on the two Dropzones. The 1999 GBC release can be played on regular B/W Gameboys, but it basically switch to the earlier code of the game (the Mindscape release). Kinda like R-Type DX does.

I advise to try them both in order to value them carefully, as the quality of "emulation" and enemy's behavior is much more consistent in the color Dropzone.

szycag · Post by **szycag** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 12:47 am

37. Xenon 2 - Megablast

Couldn't imagine playing this on the real hardware when most of your targets are these little leaves/dog dropping things. I guess I'm supposed to give some bonus points for that Predator ripoff looking shopkeeper. I kinda hate shops, I usually just put up with them, but this game has a shop AND an energy bar. Well there you go. The game is also slow as hell. 1/10

36. Volley Fire

Imagine Change Air Blade with the simplicity of Space Invaders and you're there for the most part. Can't believe I played this through to the next planet thing. Absolutely mindless. 1/10

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 1:11 am

Yeah... I think Volley Fire doesn't qualify as a shmup, really.

By the way szycag, the Gameboy stuff would really benefit to be played on real hardware: with the crisp quality of emulators, there's no way to tell how much of a shitty blur all those good backgrounds would cause on the real thing. The risk is to vote high stuff that played on the system plain sucks.

If you can, I'd suggest a Game Boy Pocket.

mainpatr1 · Post by **mainpatr1** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 1:13 am

szycag wrote:Xenon 2 - Megablast

Couldn't imagine playing this on the real hardware when most of your targets are these little leaves/dog dropping things. I guess I'm supposed to give some bonus points for that Predator ripoff looking shopkeeper. I kinda hate shops, I usually just put up with them, but this game has a shop AND an energy bar. Well there you go. The game is also slow as hell. 1/10

Volley Fire

Imagine Change Air Blade with the simplicity of Space Invaders and you're there for the most part. Can't believe I played this through to the next planet thing. Absolutely mindless. 1/10

Toei Animation?

Is this game based on an anime?

szycag · Post by **szycag** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 1:17 am

mainpatr1 wrote:Is this game based on an anime?

No clue, is it?

Guys don't quote my whole block of text and screenshots and everything... we're already like 12 posts down before I get to any reviewing... although I'm thinking of turning this into a webpage at some point...

To Turrican: the only Game Boy 8-bit shmup I own is Sagaia... I'll do it on my Game Boy brick

shinsage · Post by **shinsage** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 4:14 am

NUMBER THE LIST

please

makes it more..dramatic!

szycag · Post by **szycag** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 5:03 am

I still need to put a number on just how many there are, besides counting down the actual releases, if I'm gonna review color remakes together with the mono original... etc.

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 5:37 am

szycag wrote: To Turrican: the only Game Boy 8-bit shmup I own is Sagaia... I'll do it on my Game Boy brick

Sagaia! I got it from Japangamestock. I have been playing it lately. Very good remix of Darius. I'm curious how it is on the older GB, though. I only played it on SGB, GBC, and GBA.

Ceph · Post by **Ceph** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 6:38 am

You know, you can play GB games on GBA, very crisp, no blur, super-gameboy color schemes (like in those screenshots). I for one couldn't care less what a game looked like on the original Gameboy.

It's a different story for Famicom/NES. Those games look better on a tv, imo.

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 10:16 am

Ceph wrote:You know, you can play GB games on GBA, very crisp, no blur, super-gameboy color schemes (like in those screenshots). I for one couldn't care less what a game looked like on the original Gameboy.

It's a different story for Famicom/NES. Those games look better on a tv, imo.

I'd understand if you're talking about a backlit SP. But a regular GBA? A GBC or even a Pocket is a thousand times better. And for the record, you should care at least a bit, I don't think it's clever to praise games that were shit in their original form. Battle Unit Zeoth is a good example: on emulator it looks crisp and detailed, on the real thing it was a mess

Ceph · Post by **Ceph** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 10:21 am

Well, you can play it on better hardware now (I meant GBA-SP); it wouldn't make sense to rate Famicom games according to how they looked via RF either (the original Famicom didn't have composite AV)

--

So those GBC-enhanced Konami GB Collections were only released in Europe? That explains the rarity. Especially the 4th (and best in my opinion) with Gradius 2 and Castlevania 2 seems to be almost impossible to find nowadays; I suppose it had the smallest print run of the four.

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 10:29 am

Ceph wrote:Well, you can play it on better hardware now; it wouldn't make sense to rate Famicom games according to how they look via RF either (the original Famicom didn't have AV-out)

Yeah, but the nature of handhelds is that they are bound to the screen they came built in. Respect the developers which had the intelligence to develop background graphics simple enough not to get too blurry. The comparison between RF/AV doesn't really apply.

--

Ceph wrote:So those GBC-enhanced Konami GB Collections were only released in Europe? That explains the rarity. Especially the 4th (and best in my opinion) with Gradius 2 and Castlevania 2 seems to be almost impossible to find nowadays; I suppose it had the smallest print run of the four.

It's speculation, we can't say for sure one issue had more limited production than others. From what I can tell, loose carts show up regularly on ebay even for vol.4, of which I have two copies.

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 10:38 am

Another godawful GB shmup:

A-Force (Armour Force) 1993 Commin

RotateMe · Post by **RotateMe** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 12:40 pm

I actually liked Xenon 2 Megablast and be it only because of the VERY detailed level graphics. I mean, look at all the tiny stuff going on around your ship. The shop wasn't this bad as well, but not in a shmup-y-sense... (???)

szycag · Post by **szycag** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 11:06 pm

Turrican wrote:Another godawful GB shmup:

A-Force (Armour Force) 1993 Commin

this is pissing me off, how am i supposed to number the list when people keep submitting new games

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 11:24 pm

szycag wrote:this is pissing me off, how am i supposed to number the list when people keep submitting new games

I guess what Shinsage meant is to do a showdown in Rob's style, starting from the absolute worst to the cream of the crop (in your opinion).

That's why I advise you to play all of them first, come up with a rough list in your head, and only then start to write stuff here. At least, that's how I'd do it.

Sorry about adding new stuff, then again these things are most satisfactory if they offer the best platform coverage.

szycag · Post by **szycag** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 11:57 pm

haha don't apologize

And I'm still doing the worst to best... I probably still have some 1/10 scores to give, probably to this A-Force and maybe Mercenary Force

Ceph · Post by **Ceph** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 12:02 am

Turrican wrote: It's speculation, we can't say for sure one issue had more limited production than others. From what I can tell, loose carts show up regularly on ebay even for vol.4, of which I have two copies.

Yeah, it's speculation, purely based on what I've seen on ebay during the past months/year. For some reason complete copies of 1-3 seem to appear more often than 4. Of course that could simply mean that more people enjoy Vol. 4 and therefore don't sell it.