Two new Triangle Service shmups for 2007

[D]

Exzeal video from the same guy (sanafe ) on youtube who has the Otomedius video. We need to keep an eye on this guy's vids.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuZabz9r-hY

This is maybe that other game, not sure:
Shooting Proficiency Measurement
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-By7EYZMH4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IM4jPpRXn08

[Limbrooke]

Exzeal video from the same guy (sanafe ) on youtube who has the Otomedius video. We need to keep an eye on this guy's vids.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuZabz9r-hY

Stage 2 sounds exactly like XII Stag St2. Not to mention with the whole spinning feature (sans RSA) seems to be more similar to that game than Trizeal.

That sanafe fellow has lots of other videos from AOU07 also, check out his other material. Most notably Chase H.Q. 2. To make a real sequel only took 20 odd years eh.

[Necronom]

Video looks really promising. Finally some cool shipdesigns and what looks like a nice flow gameplaywise.
Does anybody know what hardware it's running on?

[Kiken]

Exzeal video from the same guy (sanafe ) on youtube who has the Otomedius video. We need to keep an eye on this guy's vids.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuZabz9r-hY

Joystick wiggling RETURNS!

Using it to charge up your shot is an interesting concept. Level 2 looked really nice (the soundtrack was a remix from XII Stag) and level 3's push-the-blocks mechanic was cool. You wonder if the XII Stag and Trizeal ships will be selectable via some sort of code.

[jiji]

Look at all that waggle. It's gotta be murder on the wrist. (Probably causes blindness, too.) Looks better than Trizeal, but it seems to use a lot of the same ideas (like the same big ships repeated over and over in rapid-scrolling sections, like a PC Engine shooter). They've improved their 3D skills a lot. I'm not sure if I'll be following this one, though.

strong resistance from certain member(s) of the IC establishment to not link this forum again

We love you too, Recap.

[Fighter17]

Shooting Proficiency Measurement is their best so far.

[Herr Schatten]

Exzeal looks great and is clearly supposed to be a sequel to Trizeal, while still trying to satisfy the XIIStag fans. The logo and the in-game font link the game to Trizeal very strongly. It even has the same stage clear jingle. The first level looks like a vamped-up remake of the first level from Trizeal, even the boss looks like Scarab's younger brother. I wonder if it's possible to trigger the appearance of some dragons. Like Trizeal, this game seems to be full of original ideas. The only thing that bothers me is that the first two stages seem to play very similarly, while one of the main strengths of the predecessor was that the stages played totally differently.

I'm definitely looking forward to the finished game and will buy a port instantly.

Shooting Proficiency Measurement is obviously based on the omake game from the PS2 port of Trizeal, but seems to take the concept to the next level.

[SuperGrafx]

When I first saw the logo and screen font, I knew without a doubt that this was indeed a sequel to Trizeal. I can't wait for this one...loved Trizeal, and seeing pics of it in action really helps drive that feeling home.

I'm also wondering what hardware it's running on. Sort of has that Naomi style, though I somehow get the feeling that it is running on Taito's Type X.
Anyone confirm this yet?

[Ghegs]

I just hope the port has an option to map the waggle into a button, like XII Stag had.

Isn't that Stage 3 music from somewhere in Trizeal? Seems awfully familiar.

[Kron]

Its running on the Naomi

[Strider77]

jerk a joystick off play mechanics return......

[nZero]

Mmm, the return of joystick wiggling. Looks like it might finally have the basic level of graphical polish that Trizeal should have had, instead of looking like a lazy PS1->Dreamcast (or G-Net->NAOMI as may have been the case) port. We'll see how it turns out, I guess.

Isn't that Stage 3 music from somewhere in Trizeal? Seems awfully familiar.

Yeah, Stage 5 (Fortress Trizeal). I wonder if the final version will have such re-use of assets.

[Xexyz]

That sanafe fellow has lots of other videos from AOU07 also, check out his other material. Most notably Chase H.Q. 2. To make a real sequel only took 20 odd years eh.

Woah, talk about a surprise! When did Taito finally deside to get with the program and start making arcade action games again? Maybe Darius will make a ressurection in the future.

[Ed Oscuro]

Woah, talk about a surprise! When did Taito finally deside to get with the program and start making arcade action games again? Maybe Darius will make a ressurection in the future.

That's totally unexpected in this quarter as well. Last I heard we were mourning the demise of the Taito collections and basically the whole brand name (since it didn't seem to be getting much money for SquareEnix, whom own it now).

[neoalphazero]

If it's Naomi it's definitely a step up for Triangle, though I've always wondered if Trizeal began life as G-Net. *-neo

[Strider77]

trizeal looked awful..... a low quality PS1 game running on bleem

[dave4shmups]

Exzeal video from the same guy (sanafe ) on youtube who has the Otomedius video. We need to keep an eye on this guy's vids.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuZabz9r-hY

This is maybe that other game, not sure:
Shooting Proficiency Measurement
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-By7EYZMH4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IM4jPpRXn08

So you get no power ups, just a regular shot and charge shot?? I'll pass.

[icepick]

Wow. This looks like a blast to play! It might be cheesy, but I really like that high-energy electronic music in the first stage, especially when the ships flip around all unrealistically. I'm serious, it looks like they're dancing and either way, I really like it. Parts seem somewhat reminiscent of Espgaluda music to me, although of course different.

Triangle Service does seem to have a flair for storytelling... the ships coming up out of the clouds, the second stage boss ascending in the background and finally attacking after jettisoning its booster rockets... I'm sure it'll get old, but that was my first time seeing a "boss approaching" cutscene take place while the stage action is still going on, and I thought it was literally awesome. They also seem to like those flipping, transforming ships; popcorn enemies flitting in from the sides and background; bosses that you can take apart piece by piece; all of which I enjoy as well. The explosions are pretty satisfying, and I really like the new bullet style additions as well. Those glowing ones are really pretty, especially when the second stage boss shoots them out in big circles! I also like how things seem... I'm not sure, more 'organic,' somehow. The way that some of the smaller enemies come in, those 'swarming' bullets that the first stage boss shoots out... it seems pretty cool.

That part in stage 2 (in the video around 4:19), where the numerous big ships start to scroll down the screen quickly, really seems like a "break out" area. I have no idea of how one could destroy all of them, though!

... wait, I think that I know. If the charge shot can take two out in a column, then as long as you're fast enough, you could go right-middle-left and that should take out six of the ships, which would give you about enough time to get back to the right and repeat the sequence. It starts with one in the middle column though, so that could be tough.

You wonder if the XII Stag and Trizeal ships will be selectable via some sort of code.

I do wonder. It's not the same thing, but in the beginning of the video, there seems to be a second ship. It looks similar, although not exactly like the XIISTAG ship, as the icon appears to have a multi-directional attack. The stages and enemies seem to be geared more towards the forward burst (which the player selects), so I'm wondering how well it works. If it's truly multi-directional, then it could probably be quite adept at taking out those large orbs with the single weak point, at around 1:39 in the video.

The only thing that bothers me is that the first two stages seem to play very similarly, while one of the main strengths of the predecessor was that the stages played totally differently.

That's a good point. I'm not sure of how far along the game is, but who knows... maybe it has 12 stages? Ha ha.

At first, I thought that the charge shot seemed weak, but after watching the video a few more times, it seems to be of particular use. It's wasted on those very small, insect-like enemies, while proving much more useful against the larger ones. The first boss also seemed like somewhat of a pushover, but rank might have something to do with it, as the player did die twice in the stage.

I just hope the port has an option to map the waggle into a button, like XII Stag had.

I'm not sure... The use of the charge shot seems as though it'd add a pretty interesting element to gameplay, not unlike medal collecting. For example, the "starburst" pattern of the stage two boss is probably fairly simple to negotiate until you bring the rolling mechanic into the equation... sure, it might be simple, but it could also be simple yet effective. I myself wouldn't complain if they included a roll button (as in XIISTAG and Psyvariar), but I also probably wouldn't use it. As easy as it would be on your muscles and joystick, I also think that it would take a lot of fun out of controlling the ship and would also probably require a separate scoreboard.

I wonder how many buttons the game uses, though... I feel like I've seen the ship use the charge shot without any stick movement. It's also nice that it seems as though one can charge the shot up, but wait to fire it off when ready.

Isn't that Stage 3 music from somewhere in Trizeal? Seems awfully familiar.

Yeah, Stage 5 (Fortress Trizeal). I wonder if the final version will have such re-use of assets.

Hmm. If the stage 2 music is from XIISTAG, and the stage 3 music is from Trizeal, then what's the stage 1 music from? I was thinking the same thing, though... that maybe the songs for stages two and three are placeholders for the AOU show, as a way of linking to the previous titles. In any case, I wouldn't mind it if they remained.

(By the way; Exzeal stage 3 seems to be called "Fortress [something]," maybe it's a reference?)

So you get no power ups, just a regular shot and charge shot?? I'll pass.

I thought that was peculiar as well. I don't have a lot of shooting games, but I remember trying to go through them all in my head to figure out if I had any where powering up wasn't possible. The only one that I could come up with was Shikigami no Shiro II, although I know that a lot of people prefer the first because it does allow one to power up instead of giving full power from the start.

After thinking about it a bit, I noticed the counterpoint: No power-ups also means not getting your ship handed to you after dying at an inopportune spot, due to being underpowered. Then again, things like jp's recent fun Power Strike story also couldn't happen under this condition, so it's still a tradeoff.

I was also trying to figure out if I had any games without an end-of-stage summary screen, since Exzeal doesn't seem to have one (yet?).

I'm definitely looking forward to the finished game and will buy a port instantly.

Same here! I only hope that I have whichever console it's on.



As for the "Shooting Proficiency Measurement"... If it's selectable from the main screen as well as Exzeal, does that mean that both are running natively on NAOMI? I thought that the Shooting Proficiency Measurement (alright, "SPM") was said to be "mobile," or something like that.

In any case, the... SPM does look pretty fun and interesting. I laughed when I saw that "Save the world" part, which is a pretty good pun now that I think about it. It seems as though it'd be more fun for those less-versed in shooting game skills, as opposed to the experts. I like how things start out relatively simple, and then gradually get crazy and crazier.

Overall it seems like an interesting way to spend some time and assess one's skills, but will it truly be released as a standalone game? It seems to be running on the same game engine as Exzeal, so I wonder if it's to stand by Exzeal as an additional mode, either in arcades or the hopeful home port, or both.

[eretsua]

excellent post icepick!

regarding the music in exzeal: i don't know either where the music from stage 1 is from but i do hope it will be in the final game. i also think that the XIISTAG/trizeal songs just are place holders. actually the whole footage looks like they "only" have an idea or concept for a new game and not a real game yet.

the graphics really look a notch or twelve up from trizeal yet they keep that feeling of primitive retro-ness, i really like that! despite the joystick wiggling i'm really looking forward to seeing more of this game. and i'm already hoping will get a homeport.

~eretsua.

[Ghegs]

Stupidity moved to here. Back on track.

[dave4shmups]

Wow. This looks like a blast to play! It might be cheesy, but I really like that high-energy electronic music in the first stage, especially when the ships flip around all unrealistically. I'm serious, it looks like they're dancing and either way, I really like it. Parts seem somewhat reminiscent of Espgaluda music to me, although of course different.

Triangle Service does seem to have a flair for storytelling... the ships coming up out of the clouds, the second stage boss ascending in the background and finally attacking after jettisoning its booster rockets... I'm sure it'll get old, but that was my first time seeing a "boss approaching" cutscene take place while the stage action is still going on, and I thought it was literally awesome. They also seem to like those flipping, transforming ships; popcorn enemies flitting in from the sides and background; bosses that you can take apart piece by piece; all of which I enjoy as well. The explosions are pretty satisfying, and I really like the new bullet style additions as well. Those glowing ones are really pretty, especially when the second stage boss shoots them out in big circles! I also like how things seem... I'm not sure, more 'organic,' somehow. The way that some of the smaller enemies come in, those 'swarming' bullets that the first stage boss shoots out... it seems pretty cool.

That part in stage 2 (in the video around 4:19), where the numerous big ships start to scroll down the screen quickly, really seems like a "break out" area. I have no idea of how one could destroy all of them, though!

... wait, I think that I know. If the charge shot can take two out in a column, then as long as you're fast enough, you could go right-middle-left and that should take out six of the ships, which would give you about enough time to get back to the right and repeat the sequence. It starts with one in the middle column though, so that could be tough.

You wonder if the XII Stag and Trizeal ships will be selectable via some sort of code.

I do wonder. It's not the same thing, but in the beginning of the video, there seems to be a second ship. It looks similar, although not exactly like the XIISTAG ship, as the icon appears to have a multi-directional attack. The stages and enemies seem to be geared more towards the forward burst (which the player selects), so I'm wondering how well it works. If it's truly multi-directional, then it could probably be quite adept at taking out those large orbs with the single weak point, at around 1:39 in the video.

The only thing that bothers me is that the first two stages seem to play very similarly, while one of the main strengths of the predecessor was that the stages played totally differently.

That's a good point. I'm not sure of how far along the game is, but who knows... maybe it has 12 stages? Ha ha.

At first, I thought that the charge shot seemed weak, but after watching the video a few more times, it seems to be of particular use. It's wasted on those very small, insect-like enemies, while proving much more useful against the larger ones. The first boss also seemed like somewhat of a pushover, but rank might have something to do with it, as the player did die twice in the stage.

I just hope the port has an option to map the waggle into a button, like XII Stag had.

I'm not sure... The use of the charge shot seems as though it'd add a pretty interesting element to gameplay, not unlike medal collecting. For example, the "starburst" pattern of the stage two boss is probably fairly simple to negotiate until you bring the rolling mechanic into the equation... sure, it might be simple, but it could also be simple yet effective. I myself wouldn't complain if they included a roll button (as in XIISTAG and Psyvariar), but I also probably wouldn't use it. As easy as it would be on your muscles and joystick, I also think that it would take a lot of fun out of controlling the ship and would also probably require a separate scoreboard.

I wonder how many buttons the game uses, though... I feel like I've seen the ship use the charge shot without any stick movement. It's also nice that it seems as though one can charge the shot up, but wait to fire it off when ready.

Isn't that Stage 3 music from somewhere in Trizeal? Seems awfully familiar.

Yeah, Stage 5 (Fortress Trizeal). I wonder if the final version will have such re-use of assets.

Hmm. If the stage 2 music is from XIISTAG, and the stage 3 music is from Trizeal, then what's the stage 1 music from? I was thinking the same thing, though... that maybe the songs for stages two and three are placeholders for the AOU show, as a way of linking to the previous titles. In any case, I wouldn't mind it if they remained.

(By the way; Exzeal stage 3 seems to be called "Fortress [something]," maybe it's a reference?)

So you get no power ups, just a regular shot and charge shot?? I'll pass.

I thought that was peculiar as well. I don't have a lot of shooting games, but I remember trying to go through them all in my head to figure out if I had any where powering up wasn't possible. The only one that I could come up with was Shikigami no Shiro II, although I know that a lot of people prefer the first because it does allow one to power up instead of giving full power from the start.

After thinking about it a bit, I noticed the counterpoint: No power-ups also means not getting your ship handed to you after dying at an inopportune spot, due to being underpowered. Then again, things like jp's recent fun Power Strike story also couldn't happen under this condition, so it's still a tradeoff.

I was also trying to figure out if I had any games without an end-of-stage summary screen, since Exzeal doesn't seem to have one (yet?).

I'm definitely looking forward to the finished game and will buy a port instantly.

Same here! I only hope that I have whichever console it's on.



As for the "Shooting Proficiency Measurement"... If it's selectable from the main screen as well as Exzeal, does that mean that both are running natively on NAOMI? I thought that the Shooting Proficiency Measurement (alright, "SPM") was said to be "mobile," or something like that.

In any case, the... SPM does look pretty fun and interesting. I laughed when I saw that "Save the world" part, which is a pretty good pun now that I think about it. It seems as though it'd be more fun for those less-versed in shooting game skills, as opposed to the experts. I like how things start out relatively simple, and then gradually get crazy and crazier.

Overall it seems like an interesting way to spend some time and assess one's skills, but will it truly be released as a standalone game? It seems to be running on the same game engine as Exzeal, so I wonder if it's to stand by Exzeal as an additional mode, either in arcades or the hopeful home port, or both.

Well, I wonder if you can power up the main weapon? I wouldn't worry about wiggling, the PS2 port of XII Stag had a very nice auto-wiggle function (R1 or R2, IIRC), so hopefully any home port of this game would include the same.

Shooting Proficiency Measurement looks fantastic! As much as people over here love games like Brain Age, and the Wario Ware series, I can definately see this game getting a domestic release. Mad props to Triangle Service for doing something so different with a shmup.

[Dann]

stage 3 with all the block pushing was just starting to get interesting when he died

[nZero]

(Wow, did you have to quote that entire post, Dave?)

The arcade Shooting Proficiency Measurement looks exactly like the extra mode from the PS2 release of Trizeal backported to NAOMI. Was there anything different?

Also, is there any evidence of a bomb so far? Triangle Service has always managed to get the right feeling from a bomber attack in their games. It'd be a shame if this one has to go without.

[dave4shmups]

(Wow, did you have to quote that entire post, Dave?)

The arcade Shooting Proficiency Measurement looks exactly like the extra mode from the PS2 release of Trizeal backported to NAOMI. Was there anything different?

Also, is there any evidence of a bomb so far? Triangle Service has always managed to get the right feeling from a bomber attack in their games. It'd be a shame if this one has to go without.

So, this is just a port of that extra mode?? As far as a bomb goes, the charge shot, at least from the vids posted, looks pretty powerful; I'm not sure it needs a bomb.

[ArrogantBastard]

It is generally annoying to quote a huge bulk of text to only chime in with a short response.

[dave4shmups]

It is generally annoying to quote a huge bulk of text to only chime in with a short response.

Ok, I'll keep that in mind; I'm just bad at editing posts in that regard. But I'll do my best.

Back on topic, I seriously do think this game would sell well in the US. I found the slowdown in Trizeal to be a nuisance, but overall I like what Triangle Service has put out, and it's great to see them back in the game! These two new shmups are a very pleasant and unexpected surprise-I honestly didn't think we'd see ANY more games from Triangle Service.

[KBZ]

did anyone else get the ikaruga spoof with the boxes. or is it just me?

i thought it was funny, I always get so pissed off at those boxes, gotta hit the right one or you might as well just reset and start over! I'd much rather just push them all away. GTF OUTTA HERE BOXES!!!

[Herr Schatten]

The arcade Shooting Proficiency Measurement looks exactly like the extra mode from the PS2 release of Trizeal backported to NAOMI. Was there anything different?

Yes, a lot. Most of the scenes shown in the videos were not in the PS2 omake game. The only scene that was exactly the same was the one with the huge black orbs and the scrolling changing direction every few seconds. The bit with the indestructable boss is also taken from the omake game, but it seems to have undergone a few changes for SPM. The rest, as far as I can see, is completely new.

[Ceph]

Hmm, unless the charging will be mapped to a button instead of having to wiggle, Exzeal won't play well with a d-pad...

Anyway, a new Naomi game - I wonder if that means that the rumors about a GD-Rom production stop were unfounded.

[Neon]

Wow. This looks like a blast to play! It might be cheesy, but I really like that high-energy electronic music in the first stage, especially when the ships flip around all unrealistically. I'm serious, it looks like they're dancing and either way, I really like it. Parts seem somewhat reminiscent of Espgaluda music to me, although of course different.

Triangle Service does seem to have a flair for storytelling... the ships coming up out of the clouds, the second stage boss ascending in the background and finally attacking after jettisoning its booster rockets... I'm sure it'll get old, but that was my first time seeing a "boss approaching" cutscene take place while the stage action is still going on, and I thought it was literally awesome. They also seem to like those flipping, transforming ships; popcorn enemies flitting in from the sides and background; bosses that you can take apart piece by piece; all of which I enjoy as well. The explosions are pretty satisfying, and I really like the new bullet style additions as well. Those glowing ones are really pretty, especially when the second stage boss shoots them out in big circles! I also like how things seem... I'm not sure, more 'organic,' somehow. The way that some of the smaller enemies come in, those 'swarming' bullets that the first stage boss shoots out... it seems pretty cool.

That part in stage 2 (in the video around 4:19), where the numerous big ships start to scroll down the screen quickly, really seems like a "break out" area. I have no idea of how one could destroy all of them, though!

... wait, I think that I know. If the charge shot can take two out in a column, then as long as you're fast enough, you could go right-middle-left and that should take out six of the ships, which would give you about enough time to get back to the right and repeat the sequence. It starts with one in the middle column though, so that could be tough.

You wonder if the XII Stag and Trizeal ships will be selectable via some sort of code.

I do wonder. It's not the same thing, but in the beginning of the video, there seems to be a second ship. It looks similar, although not exactly like the XIISTAG ship, as the icon appears to have a multi-directional attack. The stages and enemies seem to be geared more towards the forward burst (which the player selects), so I'm wondering how well it works. If it's truly multi-directional, then it could probably be quite adept at taking out those large orbs with the single weak point, at around 1:39 in the video.

The only thing that bothers me is that the first two stages seem to play very similarly, while one of the main strengths of the predecessor was that the stages played totally differently.

That's a good point. I'm not sure of how far along the game is, but who knows... maybe it has 12 stages? Ha ha.

At first, I thought that the charge shot seemed weak, but after watching the video a few more times, it seems to be of particular use. It's wasted on those very small, insect-like enemies, while proving much more useful against the larger ones. The first boss also seemed like somewhat of a pushover, but rank might have something to do with it, as the player did die twice in the stage.

I just hope the port has an option to map the waggle into a button, like XII Stag had.

I'm not sure... The use of the charge shot seems as though it'd add a pretty interesting element to gameplay, not unlike medal collecting. For example, the "starburst" pattern of the stage two boss is probably fairly simple to negotiate until you bring the rolling mechanic into the equation... sure, it might be simple, but it could also be simple yet effective. I myself wouldn't complain if they included a roll button (as in XIISTAG and Psyvariar), but I also probably wouldn't use it. As easy as it would be on your muscles and joystick, I also think that it would take a lot of fun out of controlling the ship and would also probably require a separate scoreboard.

I wonder how many buttons the game uses, though... I feel like I've seen the ship use the charge shot without any stick movement. It's also nice that it seems as though one can charge the shot up, but wait to fire it off when ready.

Isn't that Stage 3 music from somewhere in Trizeal? Seems awfully familiar.

Yeah, Stage 5 (Fortress Trizeal). I wonder if the final version will have such re-use of assets.

Hmm. If the stage 2 music is from XIISTAG, and the stage 3 music is from Trizeal, then what's the stage 1 music from? I was thinking the same thing, though... that maybe the songs for stages two and three are placeholders for the AOU show, as a way of linking to the previous titles. In any case, I wouldn't mind it if they remained.

(By the way; Exzeal stage 3 seems to be called "Fortress [something]," maybe it's a reference?)

So you get no power ups, just a regular shot and charge shot?? I'll pass.

I thought that was peculiar as well. I don't have a lot of shooting games, but I remember trying to go through them all in my head to figure out if I had any where powering up wasn't possible. The only one that I could come up with was Shikigami no Shiro II, although I know that a lot of people prefer the first because it does allow one to power up instead of giving full power from the start.

After thinking about it a bit, I noticed the counterpoint: No power-ups also means not getting your ship handed to you after dying at an inopportune spot, due to being underpowered. Then again, things like jp's recent fun Power Strike story also couldn't happen under this condition, so it's still a tradeoff.

I was also trying to figure out if I had any games without an end-of-stage summary screen, since Exzeal doesn't seem to have one (yet?).

I'm definitely looking forward to the finished game and will buy a port instantly.

Same here! I only hope that I have whichever console it's on.



As for the "Shooting Proficiency Measurement"... If it's selectable from the main screen as well as Exzeal, does that mean that both are running natively on NAOMI? I thought that the Shooting Proficiency Measurement (alright, "SPM") was said to be "mobile," or something like that.

In any case, the... SPM does look pretty fun and interesting. I laughed when I saw that "Save the world" part, which is a pretty good pun now that I think about it. It seems as though it'd be more fun for those less-versed in shooting game skills, as opposed to the experts. I like how things start out relatively simple, and then gradually get crazy and crazier.

Overall it seems like an interesting way to spend some time and assess one's skills, but will it truly be released as a standalone game? It seems to be running on the same game engine as Exzeal, so I wonder if it's to stand by Exzeal as an additional mode, either in arcades or the hopeful home port, or both.

I didn't read this

All they said was that Sega was going to stop making them, right [edit - GDRoms]...does it have to be Sega, though.