shmups.system11.org

If you want the crisp arcade-spec 60fps alternative version of AB to play with, then the PCE or TG-16 version is the one to get.

If you want to play the version that is most like the arcade PCB version of AB, then the MB or Genny version is the one to aim for.

Or better yet, buy 'em both and find out for yourself, greg.

I, personally, like the PCE/TG-16 version of AB despite currently owning both the Genesis & TG-16 versions of AB. Of course, there's no substitute with playing/owning the real PCB deal that is Air Buster.

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Air Buster/Aero Blasters Factoid:

Why is the PCE/TG-16 version of Aero Blasters labelled as such?

Answer: It was labelled as that particular name since the Air Buster name had already been claimed for the MD/Genesis and would run into name copyright infringement issues. And so, thus the different name change when AB was released for the PCE platform and later on, for the TG-16 platform in 1990. And why there was no such Aero Blasters PCB release either but just the sole Air Buster PCB release from Namco/Kaneko joint endeavor business venture. Air Buster Jamma conversion kits were properly distributed in the USA in addition to Japan as well (I recall playing it at a San Francisco based arcade joint back in 1991 and at a Modesto, CA based arcade in 1993).
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PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

Yes, I think I may end up getting both. What I think I will do is hook up my Xbox because I'm sure I have both as roms on there, then compare the two. I imagine that aside from the framerate, the graphics are probably pretty close to each other, but the sound effects and music is better on the Genesis.

So I've only been playing this seriously since last night (PC Engine) so I'm not all that well acquainted with it yet, and there's not a lot of in-depth info on it around the web. But is this a rank-based game? I just had my best run so far, got halfway through phase 4 without dying until I took a random death. The screen stayed absolutely choked with enemies, I'm not sure how I was even supposed to survive that with just a pea shooter. I could barely move. I chain-deathed so hard I ran through 4 credits before things seemed to calm down and I was able to make it through to the mid-boss of phase 5.

Did I kick the beehive by getting fully powered up & not dying, or does the game just shift into murder-gear at that point? Because it didn't seem to be so bad on previous runs.

Only played the first level. Seems like it could be a fun game, but it seems way too difficult to be enjoyable. The gimmicks with the power ups and the anti gravity stages kind of kill it for me.

The arcade original is probably the best-looking game on 8-bit hardware (uses 3x Z80s). Dunno if Kaneko used any special chips for the graphics. MAME/System-16 do not say.

This game was what taught me how to dodge properly with its bullshit space stage inertia, which is quite ironic, but hey, it worked. Also, nice tunes.

Given the way every description of this game talks about the two anti-gravity phases, I was expecting some uncontrollable nightmare. I've read it's worse on the arcade & Mega Drive versions, but on PCE the inertia only carries you one ship length after you stop moving, and can be managed by moving in the opposite direction. And if you keep moving it won't really impact you much at all. From what I've experienced, I only really felt it mattered at certain tight spots in phase 5, which I'm sure are solvable with routing. (DISCLAIMER: I haven't cleared phase 5 yet, I reserve the right to do a 180 on this in the event of excessive design cruelty toward the end).

The power ups are no big deal. The carrier that comes on screen takes a few shots to destroy, so the trick is to just wait until it's close to you to shoot it so you don't have to chase things down through zako & enemy fire. The only one that matters is the P, which powers up your main shot, and will always be at the top of the arc of power ups that burst out. The others just switch you to the associated subweapon, which don't power up. So once you've grabbed the one you need (which mostly just seems to be the 6-way) you can ignore them.

...The 6-way? Interesting choice. I usually take the green missiles myself. If I recall correctly, they have full homing which is very consistent.

I was maining the side attack canons, and they're still very useful if only because they can act as shields. But sometime last week I stumbled on this guy's blog, he's done over 500 1CCs and written some detailed commentary on each one. He mentions this about Aero Blasters:

By strategy I mean sticking to certain auxiliary weapons at specific points in the game. Despite its apparent weakness, for example, the 6-way shot is actually the best aid you can get from level 3 onwards, at least until you reach the stage 5 boss. Missiles are a nice choice for stage 2, and the rear shot really shines throughout the death circus in stage 6. The only weapon I couldn't find use for was the revolving shot (H).

I, also, have not found any use for the revolving shot ("Hell Pod" as the Japanese instructions call it, which explains why its pickup is an H). But yeah, given the way the game starts assaulting you from all angles the 6-way is pretty versatile. But I'll give the missiles a shot, I'm sure they're really useful for situations like the obnoxious mecha centipede in stage 3.

The arcade version, yes is very rank-based on the P powerups and quite noticeable after the first two. The PCE version I don't think so. If it's there I've never noticed it after playing through dying/not dying with various levels of firepower.

btw the first part of stage 4 is probably the hardest recovery in the game. Lots of homing stuff that you can't just cancel through with the buster, and your shots get blocked by debris.

I also like using the 6 way in certain parts of the PCE version, as it shoots a bit faster than the arcade version and has decent penetration against 1-hit enemies from multiple angles (if you don't want to buster a lot). But then again all the subweapons feel good in the PCE version, with the exception of the yellow one that just spins behind you. Sure some have advantages in certain sections, but I've never thought to myself "damn I have X instead of Y in this part, I'm screwed".

Something that's fun is carrying the stage 2 bumpers into stage 3, and then you can push against the enemies in the dogfight section (just before you enter orbit) for surprisingly quick damage. But don't try keeping the bumpers to the end of the game, in stage 6 it'll bounce you into the tight walls.

Thank you! Yes, I think you're right, even on a lousy run, the screen stays choked with enemies.



I genuinely don't even see how it's possible to survive those large ships that fill the screen with dozens of homing boomerang scythes if you've only got the pea shooter. They're too fast, even if you succeed at shooting a wave down they just launch more, and they come at you at angles you can't defend. I don't think the second half of the phase gets any easier in terms of recovery, with enemies coming from behind at both the top & bottom of the screen firing at you and dropping bombs every two tile lengths, while gun emplacements shoot lasers diagonally across the screen restricting room to move even further, and almost no empty space anywhere.

In fact this stage as a whole might be the toughest recovery I've come across in any game, I literally can't seem to do it. If I die and lose my power ups, I'm basically left scrambling to stay alive for as many seconds as I can manage, and hoping I have enough credits left to i-frame surf to the end of the stage. Where mercifully, the boss is a total pushover.



I managed to do this this evening, fun indeed. That whole dogfight section is pretty cool imo.

I will try to go through various point step by step. Note that this post is only about the arcade version and the MD version (and not about the other versions).


I agree.

Here is some context to the post. I got the 1CC on the original MD version (normal difficulty) well over a decade ago. Then few years later I tried the arcade version. I practiced it for a while but then moved over and then didn't play it again.

Couple of years ago I started the arcade version again. I posted a clear in the hi score section [it was a 1-miss clear with the miss being on stage-5]. Note that the score I posted on the hi-score board was a 2-miss clear (on stage-4 and stage-5). That was my second clear of the game immediately after getting the first one. The game instantly becomes easy once you lose a life (and then starts picking up on difficulty again gradually). Also, past a certain point, the arcade version also seems to give quite a few extra lives.

Then I saw another video posted by some other player in the same thread and I noticed a noticeable difference in difficulty. It was something similar to what you mentioned. It seems that the base weapon strength wasn't upgraded much.

Apparently, my impression is that the rank in ARC version seems to depend on two things. However, I don't know much about the details. The two biggest factors seems to be:
(i) How long you are going with a no-miss.
(ii) Power-level of main shot.

Personally, I find it more fun to play the arcade version without manipulating power-level. Also, I don't seem to re-call any rank on MD version (to any significant extent at least). So keeping power-level down won't work there I think.

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Now I will try to cover some other points. Regarding the "secondary weapon", here is my ranking of them. Once again this applies to arcade version and MD version:
(i) Side-pods
Easily the best. Also, on stage-4 and stage-5 they are very useful (unless the rank is really low on ARC version).

(ii) Red and Green guided missiles
Both are decent. Certainly don't seem to be as good as pods though. Red missiles seem to have more "power". On the other hand, the green missiles seem to be more "guided".

(iii) Rotating turret
Pretty powerful. However, due to the slow rotation and low frequency of fire, it isn't as good as the above two weapons.

(iv) Six-Way shot
Weakest secondary weapon.

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Regarding the ARC and MD versions, there are number of differences. As mentioned before, one difference is rank in arcade version (which seems to be absent or minimal in MD version). The second difference that I noticed is that boss battles for stage-4 and stage-6 seem to have some differences in both ARC and MD versions. Personally I find the stage-4 boss battle to be somewhat unfair in both versions.

It is also worth mentioning the hardest difficulty setting in the MD version is a fun challenge if you have already got a 1CC on normal.

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Finally, some discussion about "free movement" in stage-4 and stage-5. In both ARC and MD version, if I am not re-calling incorrectly, once your ship takes a certain direction [left, right, up, down or some diagonal direction], then it doesn't seem to stop unless you press a direction button again.

One simple tip is that, generally speaking, I keep holding the left button just press up and down button to dodge attacks. However, note that this only works if you can afford to stay on the far-left of the screen. There are good number of points where this doesn't apply. For example, towards the last section of stage-4, I usually try to avoid moving up/down and just move left/right as much as possible (while trying to stay close to the floor).

My strategy here with no powerups: The bombers start at the top of the screen, however each bomber is a little bit lower than the last. So after the first few I can slip between to the very top of the screen. Here I can stay ahead of the lasers and toss out an occasional buster cancel any bullets or missiles heading up. Also use the edge of the screen trick, press up to stop your left/right momentum. The green/pink ships movement is based on your position, so less movement is better to avoid hitting them.

Thanks! I don't quite have it down yet, but already I can tell this strat makes things more manageable. The bombers don't seem to uniformly appear lower - it seemed to oscillate back & forth - but that's still better than the complete cheese grater that section was before.

I also went back and watched this old Shmup Junkie video where he compares the MD & PCE versions. The footage makes it clear the other element I was missing here was equipping the rear-fire weapon for that section:

https://youtu.be/VkNvt9JodX0

He also points out all the ways that Hudson made the PC Engine version much harder than the Mega Drive port. Enemies firing much more aggressively, gotcha sections, removing the warning signs from the speed level, fewer power ups, etc. etc. It seems like the tone of conversation I'd read previously was that they were practically the same, just one had like better sound effects or something. I'm feeling kind of vindicated here.

Mood RN: