New Pocky & Rocky 2021 Announcement Trailer (Tengo Project )

[MidnightWolf]

At only £20 on Amazon, It's worth a look.

Nothing to lose really.

[Jonpachi]

At only £20 on Amazon, It's worth a look.

Nothing to lose really.

I spent $60 on the import including shipping... Feeling like an idiot about now.

[Sumez]

Well, you get more cleavage for it, I think it's worth it.

[Herr Schatten]

Well, you get more cleavage for it, I think it's worth it.

I'm not regret!

[drauch]

At only £20 on Amazon, It's worth a look.

Nothing to lose really.

I spent $60 on the import including shipping... Feeling like an idiot about now.

How'd it come out to 60? I'm also in the states and it was like 30ish for me from Play-Asia.

Also, 666 posts. Nice.

[BrianC]

At only £20 on Amazon, It's worth a look.

Nothing to lose really.

I spent $60 on the import including shipping... Feeling like an idiot about now.

How'd it come out to 60? I'm also in the states and it was like 30ish for me from Play-Asia.

Also, 666 posts. Nice.

The shipping price on Amazon JP, almost 3000 yen. However, the shipping seemed to be a placeholder and dropped to 1982 yen on the product page. The price will probably be closer to 45 dollars once it ships.

[Jonpachi]

Ok, I was exaggerating a bit. $51.89 with shipping and tax from Play-Asia.

[BIL]

Lads I fired up my PS4 copy and a couple observsations:

1) no input lag here, just as there was none in PS4 Ninja Warriors Once Again. Feels just like me ol SFC cart ie THATS FUKKIN TIIIIIIGHT BOYEEEE
2) whoa its beautiful
2) Manuke has a fucking massive hog he's jacking off frantically every time I bomb, is that ri - oh sorry I'd sat on my input switcher

Taniguchi & Co are in my "Follow These Men Into Gates Of Hell" file along with M2 and Hamster, so I woulda jumped on this out of principle, but even with the cruel lack of Raccoon dong, I suspect good times this weekend guaranteed!

[hamfighterx]

even with the cruel lack of Raccoon dong, I suspect good times this weekend guaranteed!

I very much appreciate many of the things you write, but this quote... next level quality. Maybe Inin needs a back of box tagline for the western release, and this is probably what they should go with.

To stay a little on topic - yesterday I had to empty out the living room of all furniture to have new flooring installed, so once that was done I settled down in the middle of the empty room at night with a cat and my Egret II mini and played the hell out of some Kiki Kaikai in anticipation. Looking forward to my physical Switch cart showing up, Play Asia shipped a couple days ago

[BIL]

They can have it FO FREE Anything to help out Natsume.

[harborline765]

Got my physical Switch copy today. Very impressed with what I played so far. I'm really glad it's (much) more than just a remix of the first Super Famicom game. Wild Guns Reloaded had iffy balancing due to the move to 16:9, so a wholly new game instead here is much appreciated.

The graphics, though, are sensational. I've done my best to ignore news and videos of this new title, and I really was blown away by what I saw when I booted up the game. Such to the extent that I sat on the title screen for a good five minutes just looking in awe at the attract modes. The hand drawn pixel art backgrounds and sprites are just gorgeous, and there's attention to detail which really brings the world to life, my favourite touch being leaves on the ground being individual sprites that react to your player. I haven't been this impressed with spritework since Alphadream's Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, a game with such attention to detail put into its character sprites that it took three years to make.

Only two nitpicks I have with the visuals are:

1) that there isn't any interpolation, so there is some pixel crawling whenever the screen scrolls. Not a dealbreaker but it does take away from the authenticity of the visual design.
2) The scanlines filter is taken from Ninja Warriors Once Again, and it's not great. You can set it to one of 10 values. Values 0-5 add thick, super sharp scanlines, giving it more the appearance of a Game Boy Advance pixel grid game than a CRT game. Values 6-9 do some sort of weird blending with neighbouring pixels, adding a sort of unnatural looking chromatic aberration effect which sort of spoils the game's natural environments. I have it set to 5.

Performance on Switch is rock solid, and input latency is very fast for a Unity engine game, can't be more than 3 or 4 frames. Superb stuff all round.

[Jonpachi]

Spent some time with the Switch version, and I'd say that, while gorgeous, the performance is not great. There's some serious judder when the screen scrolls, and major slowdown when the action picks up. I'm very curious to see how it compares to the PS4 version.

[evil_ash_xero]

Spent some time with the Switch version, and I'd say that, while gorgeous, the performance is not great. There's some serious judder when the screen scrolls, and major slowdown when the action picks up. I'm very curious to see how it compares to the PS4 version.

I've been playing it on the PS4 Pro, and have noticed zero issues with performance. I'm only in stage 3, though.

[Jonpachi]

^ Ooh, might have to double-dip then.

For anyone curious, the import (at least on Switch) does play in English on a US console and remains uncensored.

[XtraSmiley]

^ Ooh, might have to double-dip then.

For anyone curious, the import (at least on Switch) does play in English on a US console and remains uncensored.

Can anyone confirm the PS version also has English? The boobies are fun, but this is actually one game where I think the censored version sort of looks better for the game. I just don't want to wait for it! But if the Japanese one doesn't have English, I just might.

[AimeeSH]

There's some serious judder when the screen scrolls, and major slowdown when the action picks up.

Does this occur when the screen aspect ratio is set to 100%?

Seems to be stretched to 16:9 by default and wondering if that could be the cause.

[EmperorIng]

^ Ooh, might have to double-dip then.

For anyone curious, the import (at least on Switch) does play in English on a US console and remains uncensored.

Can anyone confirm the PS version also has English? The boobies are fun, but this is actually one game where I think the censored version sort of looks better for the game. I just don't want to wait for it! But if the Japanese one doesn't have English, I just might.

iconoclast plays on the ps4 and you can see from his no-death video that it is all in English.

[harborline765]

Strangely enough it seems the Japanese release wasn't the "original" SKU of the game. Looking at my Switch game card and the serial ends with "C", which implies versions "A" and "B" were finalised first, and probably refer to the European and American releases by Inin Games and Strictly Limited. I'm guessing Inin got publishing rights first or something? Universal SKUs have serial numbers that end in "A" regardless of the regional release.

Spent some time with the Switch version, and I'd say that, while gorgeous, the performance is not great. There's some serious judder when the screen scrolls, and major slowdown when the action picks up. I'm very curious to see how it compares to the PS4 version.

Thanks for flagging this. I didn't notice any judder when scrolling but there is definitely a lack of interpolation with ugly pixel crawling. Haven't seen any slowdown but I haven't had time to play beyond stage 2. Going to fit some more in today though.

For what it's worth, Wild Guns Reloaded also didn't maintain 60fps either. Same engine.

And, curiously, some graphical effects were removed. Check out the sub-boss enemy exploding here, the heat haze effect from Super Famicom has been replaced with a much simpler alternative.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=152&v=9 ... e=youtu.be

Of course, things are different with the new Kikikaikai since all the visuals have seen drastic overhauls, while Wild Guns was mostly a recreation of the Super Famicom graphics.

[EmperorIng]

I've got a score thread up and running now. Let's see you all put your money where your mouth is!

Some things from playing the game so far and listening to others:

-you need to play through the game's story mode twice to unlock all the characters (on stage 5, you either play randomly as Ikazuchi the weasel or Hotaru the Samurai)
-Free mode, which lets you play as one character the entire game, can only be played if you beat story mode once or accrue 10,000 coins. You will do the former far more quickly than the latter
-some enemies can ONLY be killed with melee, most notably the flames in stage 2 and the whispy ghosts in stage 3
-there are hidden items, like 1ups and bombs, strewn throughout the stages in invisible containers. the locations of these containers are secret and usually in hidden rooms (for example, in the destroyed house in stage 2). You reveal them by using your melee.
-in Free Mode, you have access to your special attacks (there are two: press shoot rapidly, or hold the melee button) from stage 1; in Story Mode these unlock on stage 3
-shop items so far seem mostly random with a set few always giving 1ups

[Sima Tuna]

I'll contribute to the score thread in about a month, when the baka gaijin edition releases.

[Sumez]

Got the game yesterday and got to have a bit of fun with it. It's a long'ish game, but fortunately a lot shorter than I first expecting.

Credit fed through to the end once to see what the game was like, and died a ton of times. At first it seems fairly "arcade standard difficulty", but on my very next playthrough I got to the stage 4 boss before losing my first life, only to get promptly bodied on stage 5 when its introduced a new character I didn't play as last time around. Took the rest of my credit to get familiar with that character, but after that I took the rest of the stages until the final boss in one life again, so overall a (normal mode) 1CC feels like is should be a quick job.
The power down on getting hit really widens the gap between playing well and playing poorly. As long as you got the fire attack at max power, bosses will melt at your feet, while being at base power will make everything in the game a chore. Generally, this game just feels balanced completely like a console game from the 90s, as you'd sort of expect.
I just gotta figure out how to deal with that jumping bull boss, and the grabbing hands on stage 3. Not sure I'll need them, but it feels like there are probably a few more hidden 1UPs around the game too. I've only found two so far (on stages 2 and 7).

I really like that story mode forces you to play as different characters and get accustomed to all of them instead of just one. The new special moves are cool, but it's a little much for my arcade mind to get used to. The game already has a lot of buttons for a game of this style, with both the ranged attack, melee, and the dash (I often mix up the buttons for the latter two), and especially throwing the defensive charge skill into the mix seems to make me mess up more often than it helps, and is better employed strategically than tactically.

Spent some time with the Switch version, and I'd say that, while gorgeous, the performance is not great. There's some serious judder when the screen scrolls, and major slowdown when the action picks up.

Just to give my perspective on this. Jonpachi is probably correct in his observations, but I'll say that after playing through story mode twice on Switch (docked), I didn't really pick up on these performance issues at all. It might put it below the PS4 in direct comparison, but it's definitely not something that impacted my gameplay experience.

[Sumez]

We discussed the game a bit on Discord, and these are the hidden 1UPs I'm aware of so far:


Stage 1: The old guy in the cave right before the midboss will sell you one if you can grind up 300 coins before that spot
Stage 2: Hidden chest behind the destroyed house right after a midboss
Stage 2: Old man sitting in a crevice behind some trees near the end of the canyon with the tengu demons (right before the raft). You need to scroll the screen up and then back down to go under the trees. Not strictly hidden, but very easy to miss.
Stage 3: Hidden chest just below the first rock monster (near a different hidden chest in the house which has a barrier powerup)
Stage 7: Hidden chest below a grid ceiling near the jail cells at the start of the stage
Stage 7: Hidden chest on a set of rails where several spiked balls fall through

Other hidden items I remember finding:
Stage 1: Right before the bridge, behind a curved wall is a hidden chest with a bomb item
Stage 2: Hidden chest with a dog item under the tree right behind the first store at the start of the stage
Stage 2: Another chest with a dog item behind a wall you can walk through in the hallway leading to the right with several flames jumping around in it. This one isn't a hidden chest, but its invisible behind foreground graphics, as is the gap in the wall you can walk through
Stage 3: Hidden chest with a barrier item inside the house before the first rock monster
Stage 5: Hidden chest with a bomb item on a completely inconspicious looking platform on one of the airships

There's also a clearly visible white snake behind a wall on stage 2 that has to be a shop, but I have no idea how to get through to it.

[Sumez]

Got a clear on my next playthrough, and again on the next, slightly improving my score. The game is a lot easier than I'd expected, so I started dappling in Hard Mode. It's not that notably harder outside of some changed enemy behavior, but it does create enough new chokepoints for me, that a clear might take a bit more practice.

Did anyone look into the scoring in the game? Seems a major part of it comes from the end of stage bonus (primarily from the timer) but there's a good extra gained from picking up superfluous items (bombs or healing) when your stock is already full. That bonus seems to vary though, from 5k all the way up to at least 30k, but I'm not sure what dictates that?
I'm also no sure what role coins play outside of a small point gain from just picking them up. Feels like it should be something more, but I don't see them working as a multiplier or anything.

The end of game bonus also raises the question of the random(?) shops which occasionally give a 1UP. Each worth 50k points after clearing the game, so that's a pretty massive difference that I feel should be possible to manipulate, otherwise scoring is honestly sort of broken.

[EmperorIng]

Health pickups when at max health (no matter how small the pickup) get progressively larger, and max out at 30k points.
Shield bonuses likewise increase their value to 50k.

You can see how both can start to really add up, there are usually at least a few health pickups per stage.

I haven't seen if there are max bomb bonuses yet.

Scoring well really comes down to not losing any life and trying to keep your shields as long as possible, along with some judicious milking. I guess this means the optimal strategy to be very slow and precise.

Sengoku Striker really needs to edit and change the topic title by now, as well.

[Bassa-Bassa]

We discussed the game a bit on Discord,

How's Discord a better place than this.

Impressions sound great as expected, thanks. Though I'm still unsure if the game has a pure arcade mode free of collectables in the vein of the original game?

[Sumez]

How's Discord a better place than this.

More activity, that's the only thing. I'd much prefer structured forum discussion for that kind of stuff, which is why I brought the information here.

Impressions sound great as expected, thanks. Though I'm still unsure if the game has a pure arcade mode free of collectables in the vein of the original game?

Not sure what you mean by "collectables"? The only thing there is to pick up in the game is the regular arcade style powerups.

The game has a "story mode" and the "free mode", but both are essentially arcade modes.
The only difference I'm aware of is that free mode supports 2 player co-op and lets you pick one character for the entire game, while story mode has a specific character attached to each individual stage, and doesn't unlock your special skills until stage 3.

[Bassa-Bassa]

How's Discord a better place than this.

More activity, that's the only thing. I'd much prefer structured forum discussion for that kind of stuff, which is why I brought the information here.

Impressions sound great as expected, thanks. Though I'm still unsure if the game has a pure arcade mode free of collectables in the vein of the original game?

Not sure what you mean by "collectables"? The only thing there is to pick up in the game is the regular arcade style powerups.

The game has a "story mode" and the "free mode", but both are essentially arcade modes.
The only difference I'm aware of is that free mode supports 2 player co-op and lets you pick one character for the entire game, while story mode has a specific character attached to each individual stage, and doesn't unlock your special skills until stage 3.

Ah, somehow I understood that you needed to unlock the characters by collecting them or something. I try not to read much before playing as I don't like spoilers, haha. Sounds like free mode is 90s style as it should then, thanks.

[Sumez]

Oh yeah unlocking characters (as well as free mode) is just done by beating the game (even while credit feeding). Nothing exquisite.

Beat story mode twice and everything is unlocked, as far as I'm aware. Story mode is a great way to learn how each character plays anyway, so it's good. I haven't even dipped my toes in free mode yet.

[Bassa-Bassa]

Oh yeah unlocking characters (as well as free mode) is just done by beating the game (even while credit feeding). Nothing exquisite.

Beat story mode twice and everything is unlocked, as far as I'm aware. Story mode is a great way to learn how each character plays anyway, so it's good.

But still it'll spoil the stages and stuff for me. I really hate when they do that, what's the need for it, I wonder. Too afraid of one-time reviewers, I guess.

[Sima Tuna]

It's always a bit of a shame when arcade isn't a truly separate mode that's available at the start. Huntdown provides arcade mode on a fresh save file, but warns you when starting it up that arcade is harder than story difficulty. Which it is, so fair enough. But Arcade mode is also way, way more fun.