Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

[BareKnuckleRoo]

I'm not crazy about panning, even in CAVE games. While it does add a more "dynamic" feel to the movement, it also has the serious impact of making multiplayer incredibly disorienting. Panning basically limits the game to being strictly single player for practical intents, which is a shame because a lot of them would be fun in co-op otherwise.

I can think of tons of great games, both vert and hori, that do not have panning and where I don't feel as though I am missing out as a result.

[Sima Tuna]

I wish the ratio of horizontally-locked verts to scrolling ones was inverted. 3; As in, not just Video System/Psikyo and the odd NMK (and SameSame2P, and ImageFight, and Elemental Master, and Gun.Smoke, and Dangun, and you know what fuck it... )

Worst of all is when you find a good game with bizarre scrolling policies, ie Trigon and Gunnail, both of which have your ship hit the screen edge before it's done scrolling all the way.

None of this stops me from enjoying the typical Toaplanesque horizontally-panning vert, I'd just nix it in a second. Adds a silly extra layer of memorisation (ie FUCKOFF MASSIVE TANK CLUSTER HERE / 2000MPH TURRET BATTERY HERE). Thunder Dragon 2, among the most curatively feelgood arcade STGs ever, benefits hugely from the locked horizontal cam. Perfect ship speed/shot/hitbox, and no offscreen bullshit.

On the subject of R2RKMF, Ikari and Dogosoken play beautifully with their vert-only battlefields. Player and enemies alike move glacially, but you can instantly see the whole picture, so it's all good. Guevara OTOH can be an absolute pain in the ass, on top of just being a biblically mean sonofabitch in general. The last two stages are hands-down the toughest, technically - yet they're actually less of a pain to nail down, since they return to classic vert-only scrolling. Nails-hard yet crisply visible stages have nothing on blindly bumbling into the offscreen fug.

Scrolling action camerawork is an underrated discipline imo (adding that thread to the index, some good stuff in there :9). Nothing will kill my interest quicker than shitty character framing... I still can't stomach Athena, worst game I've bought in two decades. Worst scrolling camera I've ever seen. Also a bunch of other issues, but the framing is the kiss of death. I only occasionally revisit it because so many badass JP/Korean players seem to love systematically demolishing it.

Gain Ground is also locked IIRC, with battlefields that aren't scrolling but may as well be vertical orientation. Since you start at the bottom of the screen and the goal usually requires upwards progression. I know the game is hard as balls, but I like Gain Ground. It's even fucking slower than Ikari, if anything.

One thing that every camera-scroll shmup/run and shooter needs to have by default is bullet sealing. If an enemy sprite is not fully visible on the screen, it should not be capable of firing a bullet at you. Likewise, enemies which appear on a lower layer than your ship (such as tanks,) should not fire if your ship is flying over them. Raiden scrolling is very mean. But then, so is the entire game.

Gradius II's first stage is a hell of a camera-panner, but I love that one. I think what works about Gradius II's scrolling is how slow threats in that first level move. Sure, you can absolutely still scroll into a bullet or dragon you couldn't see. But it's uncommon. Most of the threats move very slowly and panning the camera is a very deliberate action by the player.

[BIL]

Gain Ground is so good. If Ikari is 70s Sabbath sludge, GG is outright skull-crushing doom. The way it generates a sense of vast, perilous distance on those single-screen stages is remarkable. Intense pressure saving injured doods with enemies closing in from all sides.

I played it many years before the AC versions of Ikari and Dogo, and instantly wondered if those had influenced Sega's guys at all. Precisely the same lethal gravity. I remember firing up Dogo after a few credits of Dangun, and blithely trying to sidestep an upscreen machinegunner. LOL NO, driven into a corner and hacked to bits by his runner comrades. Rare breed of hardcore action where unleavened twitch is not just unreliable, but outright lethal - though at the same time, you can survive some hellacious scrapes with enough verve. God I love these three's calculatedly simmering mode of action.

(fun fact, DECO flat-out stole Ikari to create Heavy Barrel and arguably ended up surpassing SNK, or at least going head-to-head; hard to choose between Search And Rescue and Thunder Zone)

Quite fond of Gain Ground's MD interpretation too - it's naturally a bit smooshed due to the lower res, but it's pretty entertaining in its own right, and packs an interesting curio in its Hard mode. Which might perplex initially, giving you all characters from the start. Catch is, there are no POWs to rescue, and wounded characters are instakilled. You can PWN up a storm with dream teams like MUD PUPPY and THE PROFESSOR, but dead is dead!

The PS2 AGES remake (sadly from before M2 whipped things into proper, archival shape with Space Harrier II) was actually pretty decent too, imo - preserves the AC spirit more closely than the budget polys let on. Ultimately its best feature is S.S.H.'s sterling AST.

My thoughts exactly re: Burning Heat! It's got a caravan-esque replayability to it, zipping up and down the screen grabbing powerups and nailing those imposingly massive yet sensibly dozy dragons. Also a simple timeless thrill in climbing/diving past those monstrous fireballs before they can crush you against the screen edge.

[Sir Ilpalazzo]

I've been meaning to post about some stuff I've played recently.



Finally got around to playing all the way through Blaster Master, which I'd wanted to do for years. Messy game, though I do like it more than I dislike it in the end. It starts off immediately good-feeling - the graphics are pleasantly earthy, Kodaka's music is great as always, and most importantly the Sophia tank's controls are thoroughly lovable (extremely fun to steer it around, which is important to get down in a game with so much exploration) but it's riddled with annoying elements.

The core mechanics are pretty good - but the moment-to-moment level design is always just capable at best, never really coming together to form anything exciting, and at worst it becomes dull (the sewer area, 4, is repetitive). There are a lot of awkward and incoherent-feeling elements, too - most of the subweapons, especially the tragically cool-looking lightning one, are largely useless and there are several enemies like the annoying slug-like crawling enemies who move at high speed and who are too short to shoot with your main cannon.

The hover upgrade is extremely fun - but having it tied to randomly-dropped pickups and also necessary for progress means the player is strongly discouraged from using it outside of moments where it's needed. The first wall-climbing upgrade is fun and allows for some interesting puzzle-like design in area 7... but the second wall "upgrade" feels game-ruiningly awful; the massively deleterious effect it has on your ability to even jump off ledges makes the precise platforming area 8 asks of you very frustrating.

The top-down stuff is cool in concept - I like the idea of switching back and forth between two "worlds" of different genres, the basic controls - the grenades and aim lock are both cool elements, the top-down stuff has the chassis of a strong action game - and even the idea of building and maintaining separate power levels for each of your two characters, but it doesn't really work out. Most of the top-down areas end up being dull, and for a game where being hit and losing shot power punishes you pretty heavily, it's too fond of spawning in enemies directly on you with unpleasantly frequently. The bosses are fun fights, though, and though my initial impression was that recovery on them would be a huge pain, they're (mostly) pretty generously designed and can be beaten comfortably even at minimum power.

I like the game enough overall. It's a fairly satisfying little playthrough with a world that's fun to figure out and strong aesthetics, but I think it's a game that gets by more on vibes than mechanics. I managed to play all the way up to the final area without a death, but unfortunately got slapped down and was only able to finish it on my final life and final continue - makes me consider going for at least a 1CC someday to avenge that. (I also think the US version forcing limited continues into a game that takes two to three hours to get through blind is a pretty bad call.) It really makes me want to try out the Zero games and see if they manage to get the original's pleasant, if flawed, mechanical core into a game with more thoughtful design.



And played through NES Rygar a bunch of times too. This game is great! It never quite reaches the highs of the strongest NES action games, its action and level design aren't quite as fleshed-out as things like Castlevania or Ninja Gaiden - but it has great pacing overall. Despite its ARPG elements, it's a really brisk game. The level curve is good in that you never really need to grind but also are very unlikely to break the game through farming.

The basic combat - movement, shooting, bouncing off enemies - is all really enjoyable. The level design never really gets complicated, but stages are just dense enough to make the action feel pleasant. It does have its quirks and weaknesses, though - the overworld is a little too empty and you do spend a decent chunk of your playtime traversing it, most of the bosses have really nothing going on, and there are some mild odd control and enemy spawning oddities - but they aren't enough to truly drag the game down.

Very good companion to the excellent arcade game, which really is a superlative action game from what I've played (though I need more time with it for sure, my best runs have only gotten up to stage 18, and not consistently). The NES game is certainly not as developed as the arcade original but it's very strong in its own right - definitely a minor NES favorite of mine now.

[Sima Tuna]

(fun fact, DECO flat-out stole Ikari to create Heavy Barrel and arguably ended up surpassing SNK, or at least going head-to-head; hard to choose between Search And Rescue and Thunder Zone)

Excuse me, Sir Biruford, I'm not familiar with this game called "heavy barrel." I know only of HEBBY BARRUL. Very different.

https://youtu.be/dp77yFd_L4o?t=639

^Timestamp should show the HEBBY BARRUL in acton.

Anyone who likes blaster master nes should play blaster master zero. They fixed the hover to recharge on its own. Just one among other substantial upgrades to the core game.

[BIL]

Excellent postage Ilpallazo, marked for index! Will reply in more detail later, just a flying visit.

Excuse me, Sir Biruford, I'm not familiar with this game called "heavy barrel." I know only of HEBBY BARRUL. Very different.

https://youtu.be/dp77yFd_L4o?t=639

^Timestamp should show the HEBBY BARRUL in acton.

I myself grew up with DECO's customarily struggling but likeable NES port, "Ħ▓░▓▓░▓ ßƼ║║"

[Sumez]

It really makes me want to try out the Zero games and see if they manage to get the original's pleasant, if flawed, mechanical core into a game with more thoughtful design.

I think the Zero games generally feel better than the original, but the first one especially shares many of the same flaws. Especially in how exploration through the overworld areas is mostly uninteresting, and the top-down sections feel pointless.
This second one massively improves this. The overworld areas are tighter and feature more actual boss fights, while the top-down areas receive a massive overhaul and unique gimmicks to make them all stand out between eachother. I feel like BMZ2 is the ideal that all games in the series should have strived for. Biggest downside in that game is the cringeworthy story scenes, but it's possible to ignore that most of the way.

[mycophobia]

all horizontally panning vertical shmups shouldve just been 4:3

[BIL]

AGAIN, LEGENDARY MEN RETURN



Long live Taniguchi & Iwatsuki & all other Tengo peeps, lawd its beautiful ;-;7

[Bloodreign]

I saw a playthrough of the new Kiki Kaikai with someone using the Goddess girl yesterday morning, it really is quite a beautiful game that retains the flavor, and the spice of the original game it is based upon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1bfwrN6w24 Some gameplay of the first 2 stages, with some from the third one. Won't link the playthrough I saw, can't spoil too much of the game.

[Sima Tuna]

As a non-importing scrub, I'm going to be waiting a month for the english release.

[BIL]

It'll be worth the wait

I'm so glad this game made it out. WGR seemed to come out of nowhere, and it was truly surreal when TNWOA got announced a little under four years or so ago. Now the classic Natsume SFC Power Trio has been done justice. I'd love to see them try their hand at something new (Ninja Warriors 2 pls), but just seeing Tengo Proejct through to this point has been a valiant display from Natsume.

[BryanM]

Have quite a bit nostalgia for Blaster Master. The biggest flaw we can mostly agree on is the lack of passwords or a Super Mario 1 level skip-type feature. That will always be my biggest beef with many linear games - when you feel like playing stage X, but you have to waste time on stages you don't wanna play to get there.

I'm not entirely sure if the later stages were reduced in scope due to budget (time) constraints or if they wanted the pace of the game to accelerate toward its climax. A bit of both, I think.

As a Metroid clone, it does lean a bit more toward the liminal than the active. Games where sightseeing/cruising around is the draw. But is way better than NES Metroid by being fun, and providing some action. Them deciding to reuse the engine in Fester's Quest and Gremlins 2, but just the topdown parts, was cruel. The concept of having two different games in one was part of the appeal.

It's a bit of a shame these kinds of platformer adventure games always stayed relatively rare; even into the SNES era I guess they were too expensive to make versus churning our some five stage Alf shitte that'd get just as many sales, or whatever. And by the time standards increased, they were already into the 3d age and it was reduced to... Symphony of the Night.

Which is why I understand completely the love for Cave Story and the ensuing explosion of the genre on PC from the indie scene; what the corpos wouldn't provide, we had to provide for ourselves.

[BrianC]

Mine hasn't shipped yet, but it looks like it will be shipping soon since I was charged for it.

I was surprised that Manuke (aka Rocky) remained intact in the Kiki Kaikai stage in the US NES version of Rainbow Islands.

[Sir Ilpalazzo]

I actually like Metroid a lot more than Blaster Master, really. Blaster Master seems comparable at first, but it's more of an A-to-B action game in the end, with more of an exploratory flavor to it. Metroid is more of a full-on open-ended adventure, with more choice afforded to the player regarding what path to take through the game, which areas and bosses to tackle first, which powerups to take or skip and in what order, and so on. Of course that concept by itself doesn't make it a better game, but I think Metroid is well-executed enough that I'd take it over Blaster Master, despite some issues (the 30 health thing sucks, and Brinstar's vertical shafts are a bit of a dull way to start replays on). It's a very quick and dense game that's very satisfying to learn how to route and then nail down in an hour, whereas Blaster Master really has a lot of bloat despite ostensibly having more room for interesting action, since it has better mechanics.

That bloat is especially harmful to Blaster Master given the US version's limited continues, I have to repeat. Certainly you can pare your clear time down pretty far given enough time with the game, but making the already particularly-harsh final area so much more punishing, in a game of this (relative) length and with design that isn't really conducive to immediate replayability - I like the game overall but it becomes a bit of a drag, given that. Still has stellar vibes and is pleasant overall though.

Also the new Pocky and Rocky really does look phenomenal. Just from watching a bit of it, I get the feeling it might really end up the best of the Tengo Project games. Very, very much hoping they get to do more after this; I'd love to see them do something original - or even a successor / expanded remake of one of their NES games.

[BIL]

Holy cow, I'd forgotten about the limited NES continues! That sucks. I mean, I guess I can imagine the added pressure being memorable, but it's not at all conducive to a good time imo. Nonlinear (and pseudo-nonlinear ala Blaster) games are best when you can wander a bit without getting absolutely crucified for landing in the wrong hood.

Blaster Master Zero 2 is superb - I can't recommend it highly enough, except perhaps to say it's the kind of game I like to think Sunsoft would've made in the 16/32bit gens, had their cutting-edge action expertise not semingly vanished overnight.

I used to wish there'd been an FC Blaster Master 2 with Gremlins 2-quality shooting (don't be fooled by st1's shitty tomato, the later spreadshots and rockets are Umechan-calibre firepower). In truth Zero 2's topdown is significantly better, with its ripping body-ram attacks reaching a near-Alien Soldier viscerality. It's a wonderful game, seriously. The two DLC characters are a blast, as well. They're designed around being as deadly (or moreso) on foot as they are in their tanks, a wildly fun alternative to Jason's deliberately frail form.

Fall damage?

Spoiler

Wazzat?

Spoiler

Minor spoiler: DLC character "EMPRESS" vs midgame boss



Zero 1, as noted, is nowhere as exceptional. It's basically the FC original all over again, with every gain (much less annoying meters) neutralised by some annoying new stricture (you now have to clear out every single topdown dungeon... which would be ok in principle, but most of the bosses are barely worthy of the name). It's not offensive or anything, but if you've only got time for one, make it Zero 2 without question.

I was really liking Zero 3, but then I got hit by... somethingorother, I think it might've been ACA Thunder Dragon 2? At any rate, have to go back and finish that one this summer. EDIT: Blimey, it was actually ACA Crime Fighters 2. What a year it's been.

[Stevens]

Trek to Yomi comes out May 5th. Looks really good. Hopefully combat is on point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LrAn2ZjGjQ

[BrianC]

I'm glad the NES Spelunker isn't a DLC character for any of the Blaster Master Zero games. Insta-kill falls, even in tank!

[BIL]

What's a bit unfortunate is how Copen (Luminous Avenger DLC) is merely damaged by the lategame's instadeath cables, on foot... but if you're in his tank, you'll explode and die just like everyone else. Decidedly on the other end of the scale from Jason, with Empress a little less so. Her Dragonmobile can be kinda fun in spots, but I virtually never used Copen's odd Thomas The Tank Engine rig unless forced to, basically to break walls.

[BrianC]

Is Luminous Avenger iX 2 worth picking up? The premise sounds interesting (Copen in Reploid land), but I heard the game mechanics changed for the worse in an attempt to make the game more like Mega Man Zero.

[Marc]

Been playing a lot of Rolling Thunder, and the second story is some deliciously tricky shit. The end of the first one still trips me up a little at times - enemy behaviour there seems a bit random so the drop into the boss room sometimes sees you completely surrounded, unless I'm missing a way to manipulate things. It's interesting how it can be played in two ways also, just using the SMG doors once results in a really neat tactical play, using the exploit results in a somewhat OP run, negated by the fact that you're sure to be tight on time and leading to some missteps that wouldn't normally be made.

Never managed to get into the sequel back in the day, can't remember why but I'll be taking a good look at that next because this is the tits.

[Volteccer_Jack]

Blaster Master Zero 2 is awesome. It's the fulfilled potential of the charming ideas buried under the first game's tedium. I just got BMZ3 (I've been saving it cuz I know it'll be great) so I'll have some thoughts on that in the next few days. First impression: even better than BMZ2.

Is Luminous Avenger iX 2 worth picking up? The premise sounds interesting (Copen in Reploid land), but I heard the game mechanics changed for the worse in an attempt to make the game more like Mega Man Zero.

tl;dr version:
-Yes it's absolutely worth picking up
-It's not really "Reploid land"; it's a post-apocalypse setting and the entire game takes place in a giant tower called the Grave Pillar
-At no point did I get the impression that they were trying to make it more like MMZ (not that it would be a bad thing), and IMO the changes are near-universally improvements from previous Copen outings.

The two big obvious changes are the melee weapon and the removal of bullits and reloading, which go hand in hand. Acura-kun now has exactly 1 bullit dash; he can still extend the dash by bouncing off walls, but once that dash ends he can only get another by landing on his feet. Make no mistake, even with this limitation he is ridiculously mobile, but now you need to be thoughtful about traversal. This obviously precludes his old 'the-floor-is-lava' approach to combat, hence the new melee weapon and accompanying new scoring mechanic. The new weapon is a sawblade with a 3-hit combo, which can be held out continuously to do reduced damage and destroy some projectiles. Notably the third hit of the combo does big damage and hits a gigantic area, expanding the saw to become taller than Copen and as wide as it is tall. The new scoring mechanic is specific to the sawblade, and rewards a bonus for killing an enemy within 5 seconds of your last kill. The pre-existing Copen scoring rules are still there, but they are so limited by the bullit dash that quick kills with the saw are the fastest way to build kudos when you're below 1000.

The next big change is that your score actually matters! Once you reach 1000 Kudos and enter Overdrive state, Acura-kun regains his ability to bullit dash multiple times consecutively, now governed by a bullit meter that appears in Overdrive. The meter amounts to about 5 or 6 bullit dashes and what's more, bouncing off any wall or enemy completely fills the meter, meaning that once you enter this state touching the ground is basically optional, and the-floor-is-lava scoring makes a triumphant return. The catch here is that touching a checkpoint cashes in your Kudos and ends Overdrive, so the immense powerup comes at the cost of skipping checkpoints. Result is a really cool dynamic where Copen has two distinct playstyles that share a basic moveset but handle situations very differently. Choosing which checkpoints to activate is a meaningful decision based on the desirability of Overdrive for each section in comparison to the risk of death, as well as scoring opportunities to quickly regain Overdrive after hitting a checkpoint.

Copen was already a blast and a half to play as, and iX2 refines that sloppy fun into a leaner, meaner, machine without sacrificing any of the core appeal. Easy recommendation from me.

Couple other notes:
-Prevasion is gone, thank fucking god. The ripple effects of Prevasion were catastrophic on every game that featured this shit mechanic. That's all gone, we're back in the land of sane game design. The replacement baby mode feature is an infinitely reusable subtank. Which still completely obliterates the game's difficulty of course, but unlike Prevasion you can just pretend this thing doesn't exist. It also resets your Kudos when you activate it, so even in casual play you have an incentive to avoid using it if you can.
-Copen's ground dash now doubles as tackle to knock back and stun enemies (including a couple of the bosses!!). It's minor but adds a nice bit of nuance to combat, and still serves this function even if you attack during the dash.
-The default Stellar Spark weapon is no more, it has been replaced by the Anchor Nexus homing dash from the first iX game. iX2 is the best set of EX weapons Copen has had so far IMO.
-The hidden emblems from iX are back in iX2, but they're much more relevant now, first because each one grants a whopping 500 Kudos to help you get into Overdrive, and second because you have to collect them all to unlock Hard mode, and you have to clear Hard mode if you care about the true ending.
-Copen's sprite looks so goddamn cool in this game. It shifts on the fly between his grounded 'break' form and his high-flying 'bullit' form, a nice touch and a nod to the dual playstyles the game is pushing.

[BIL]

Excellent post, indexed! I could've sworn I remembered you posting about iX2 before. I liked what I saw of iX1, but as usual with me, I got distracted and put it up for later. Good to hear there's a refined sequel out, I could tell the first had some great ideas.

[Volteccer_Jack]

At the risk of pontificating, I'll give some thoughts on the evolution of Copen in relation to the Gunvolt franchise, because it's very relevant to the quality of the iX games and the somewhat contentious nature of iX2. The Gunvolt games are heavily score focused. You're either playing the score maniac game carrying one combo chain across the entire stage and never taking damage, or metaphorically credit-feeding through everything with Prevasion, and there's almost no middle ground between those extremes (the lack of any such middle ground is a big part of why I don't like them).

Copen was introduced as an alternative playstyle in Gunvolt 2, and is just as score focused as Gunvolt. This intent is transparent in the designs of the weapons. For example, the Stellar Spark weapon has a long delay between firing and actually hitting, and the obvious purpose of this is so you can fire the Spark, then weaken the enemy with blaster shots while waiting for the Spark to arrive and finish the enemy off, because a special weapon kill is worth double the points. He even has an option to unequip his EX weapons, which serves no purpose at all except a few scoring tricks. What's particularly unfortunate about this is that all of Copen's scoring mechanics are tied to lock-on, so while all of his weapons have 2 distinct functions for locked or unlocked combat, the latter will virtually never see use if you care even a little bit about score. That said, as a card-carrying fanboy of all three Sparkster games, the sheer fun of zipping around with Copen was enough to outweigh all the issues for me.

iX is largely a level pack sequel to Gunvolt 2 Copen, recycled assets and all. But with Copen carrying the whole game by himself, and a different devteam at the wheel, there's more of a focus on the core fun of the character, and a small but noticeable step away from the previous scoring focus. The Stellar Spark had a new feature added to allow it to seamlessly leap from one enemy to another without the long delay, and the new set of EX weapons were designed for practicality/support first and scoring second, much more akin to the weapons you'd see in a Mega Man game. There's one weapon which functions as a double jump, and another which is able to temporarily disable environmental hazards. The Photon Detonator in particular is often harmful for score due to the massive area of effect causing unwanted collateral damage. There are 4 hidden emblems in each stage to encourage exploration for casual play, which give a large score bonus and unlock extra postgame content. The boss and enemy designs have even made a clear step away from the memorization-heavy designs of Gunvolt. But it still leans on Prevasion and scoring to modulate the difficulty, so if you aren't invested in the rather perfectionist scoring system then the game's difficulty will be pretty anemic.

Where iX was a baby step, iX2 could be called a bit of a leap. Prevasion is gone, unlimited flight is locked behind a powerup, and getting hit no longer breaks score chains (on Normal mode anyway ) in a very clear move away from the two extremes that have defined the Gunvolt games and toward that middle ground. The new scoring mechanic is specific to unlocked combat, giving some much needed scoring value to the other half of Copen's arsenal. The EX weapon design has been refocused on supporting the dual playstyles and enabling smooth transitions between grounded and aerial combat, exemplified by replacing the scoring gimmick Stellar Spark with the powerful mobility tool Anchor Nexus. Tying Copen's mobility to a score threshold adds an engaging challenge without holding the player to the perfectionism of full high score runs. Being able to build up 1000 Kudos in a short amount of time after a checkpoint is directly reward by a significant powerup.

So in summary, it's not terribly surprising to me that the diehard fans of Gunvolt would have a problem with the iX games, as they represent a divergence from Gunvolt's design ethos, particularly iX2. But diehard fans of Gunvolt have shit taste so I don't care lol sue me

[Sumez]

Blaster Master Zero 2 is awesome. It's the fulfilled potential of the charming ideas buried under the first game's tedium. I just got BMZ3 (I've been saving it cuz I know it'll be great) so I'll have some thoughts on that in the next few days. First impression: even better than BMZ2.

BMZ3 is good, but I don't think it's anywhere near as good as 2. It's better than 1, but it scales back on both of the most important improvements that the second game did, which is weird to me. And the story is the cringiest yet. It has a couple of real fun boss fights in the late game though.
I posted some thoughts on it somewhere, but I can't remember where...

[Sima Tuna]

Played a little bit of some top-down SNK run-shoot-scroll games. Bit of Ikari, bit of Dogosoken, bit of SAR, bit of TNK III, Iron Tank, etc. I was playing them via twin stick, so some imprecision is going to be a result of that imperfect attempt to bridge the gap to rotary controls. I don't hold that against the games.

I have always loved the way Ikari looks and sounds. It has this lovingly deliberate pace, set to the marching beat of its main theme. The game pushes you forward and then punishes you for rushing. Cool game. But damn, I am awful at these kinds of shooters. Gameplay-wise Dogosoken definitely feels like an upgrade. You start out with a flame bazooka and can grab a sword in the first level. But it's still way too fucking hard for me. TNK III and SAR felt a bit easier. TNK III/TANK gives you an hp bar, which is helpful for scrubs like me. SAR adds the dodge roll and some really fucking sweet visuals to soften the blow of zerg-rushing hellspawn. I think I like TANK the best though. I'm a sucker for tank video games and tanks in general. It has the same slow, strategic pace of Ikari, which feels appropriate for tank combat. Gotta also respect the swagger of creating an arcade game about driving a tank and calling it TANK. Tune in soon for my hit new rock single: ROCK.

[Ed Oscuro]

I played a bit of Magician Lord, with the advice of my metal brethren ringing in my ears for encouragement. It's actually a bit of fun once the "unusual" nature of the design is taken into account. However, the music and just general everything about Stage 3 really gets me down. Fun music facts: The Neo Geo CD version seems to go out of tune at times which actually sounds a bit fitting at times. Do check out the piano cover of some of the game's tunes from Wayo records! Side B, near the end.

Batman NES: Still good. Health generation via respawning enemies is a drag, but I do enjoy the puzzle-like aspects of using Bats' wall jump in intelligent ways.

High Seas Havoc: Needs to be understood in the context of games with the SMB-like inertia model being a rarity on platformers. It is my guess that many people note the audiovisual similarities to Sonic the Hedgehog and have a gut reaction to it not playing more (or less) like they expect from the model. Taken as a Super Mario Bros-style platformer with some verticality and quite generous reaction times it's certainly not bad, but I'm a guy who'd always rather play Comix Zone, Shinobi, or Kid Chameleon. Also quite interesting how much it does with just one button, doubling as jump and a spin dash attack which is actually pretty cool looking. Perhaps this is actually a clue it was intended for JAMMA from the start?

Oscar: My previous experience with a Titus interactive game was the rather lame but somehow affable Hercules on N64, which is a good source of images to troll Kevin Sorbo when he's acting up. But my goodness, Oscar is such a shame of a game.

Played a little bit of some top-down SNK run-shoot-scroll games.

Hell yes, good shit! Now I'm curious to make the direct comparisons too. I think I would more or less come down where you have. Never tried thinking of reimagining these as twin-stick shooters. I might look into doing something similar for Data East's Gondomania which I find very difficult to control via mouse in MAME with defaults.

[BIL]

Ikari is 90% classic, imo. The fly in the ointment are those invisible panels o' doom; their prominence gradually increases over the game's course, finally becoming a real headache in the final stretch. They're especially odious given how finely-tuned the game is, otherwise. You've got a perfect view of the battlefield at all times, your armour and artillery do biblical carnage, and while you're slow on-foot, so are enemies - resulting in a simmering proto-Gain Ground intensity, with regular raucous boil-overs via tank rampage.

If I sound down on the last stretch, it's only for how bang-on everything up to there is. (Cyborg Zombie Hitler gets all the press, but it's Frogman Shahid Unit with their ruthless pincer attack that's the real lategame MVP)

Dogo... I have no idea if it's even possible to 1CC without at least one Sword-wielding player onscreen. I'm sure it's technically feasible, but goddamn.



^ become a master OR ELSE! Shoulda splurged on extra ROM for a sample of Richard Roundtree saying "GET THA SWORD NOW MUTHAFUCKA" whenever one drops.

It's alright though, because this game is Built For Banzai Don't flee those MG nests, you'll only die tired! Get up in their grill and - as Mr. Fuji would yell in the good ol' days of teevee wrasslin' - CHOPPY CHOPPY PEEPEE

Chopping PeePee - AMERICAN STYLE (｀w´メ)

Spoiler

Chopping PeePee - DOGOSOKEN STYLE (■｀w´■)

Spoiler

Balls-hard yet, ala Ikari, surprisingly magnanimous, and this time without blind panels to memo around - just a biblical onslaught in much the same simmering mode. I think it'd have been more elegant if the Sword were a permanent midgame upgrade, with your gun and grenade wielded off-hand. Still, the final effect is pretty much that. If you ever see R34 of Ralf and Clark "crossing swords," you can blame Dogo.

Guevara, the TRVE & HONEST Ikari III (the game bearing that title has nothing to do with Ikari's signature tactical shooting, being a lukewarm topdown brawler with the faintest pretense of gunplay), is simultaneously legit mean as all hell, and also slightly bungled by an insistence on horizontal scrolling. Works great for SAR, not for stubbornly Ikari-heavy movement. I like it as a final, ferociously tough statement from Obada-san, but by the same token it's not an easy recommend. Delivers tactical topdown deathgrind hell in spades though.

Search And Rescue is the best topdown rotary shooting SNK ever did, from what I've seen. It's also a model example of generosity in arcade design, something that clearly caught on (to good effect) as the 90s rolled in. Much nearer Shock Troopers than Ikari; player movement is agile, firepower is comfy even at base, and you've got some nice i-frames to play around with; opposite this a relentless all-sides tension (none of Guevara's jank, everything's signposted perfectly - including the hordes that'll spawn at your heels if you hesitate on your express elevator to xenohell).

All aided by an impressively morbid air of techno/occult horror. (I notice key dev SICK_OF later directed Sengoku 2, a similarly all-cylinders action/horror affair )

I loved what I played of TANK, but after Ikari, Dogo and Guevara I was a bit burnt out and scarpered shamelessly. I particularly like the vampire mechanic (run over those poor bastards for instant HP refill ).

[Sima Tuna]

Guevara, the TRVE & HONEST Ikari III (the game bearing that title has nothing to do with Ikari's signature tactical shooting, being a lukewarm topdown brawler with the faintest pretense of gunplay), is simultaneously legit mean as all hell, and also slightly bungled by an insistence on horizontal scrolling. Works great for SAR, not for stubbornly Ikari-heavy movement. I like it as a final, ferociously tough statement from Obada-san, but by the same token it's not an easy recommend. Delivers tactical topdown deathgrind hell in spades though.

Can I also just say how much I love the little military SNK sprites in TANK, Guevara and Ikari? They remind me of my beloved River City Ransom, with that mix of comedy and violence.

Spoiler

The little Che sticking half his body out of the tank as he (somehow) drives it by himself is both awesome and adorable. I never get tired of the little spinning death animation the soldiers do in Ikari either. All of these SNK top-downs are great at giving you positive feedback when you blow the shit out of enemies.

I'm not sure if TANK or IRON TANK is better, based on what little I played. Iron Tank, the nes game, has some rpg elements and expanded systems, but I think I might prefer the simplicity of TANK's arcade action. It's nice to see that both games are good, however. TANK was apparently the prequel to Ikari Warriors, and the first of the rotary snk games that I know of. Makes sense. The turret on a tank tracks separately from the treads, which probably gave them the idea.

[BIL]

Aw man, I feel me ol' brainmeats firin' up at that screenshot. That's right about where I finally twigged that just because you can blow up bridges, doesn't mean you should! That alleyway is a meat-grinder on foot, but get armour in there and well...

The 1950s - Somewhere in A Country Ruled By A Dictator (tm/c SNK):

DOWN ON THE CORNUH ♫
OUT IN THE STREET ♫
WILLEH AND THE FASFGASGASDFDFHDSAFH BAND ♫
W/THE NEW OL' HANDEH BEAT ♫

Mama mia! This newfangeld wireless from Another Country sure is fun! What do you think, Tied Up Dissident Dude? Wait, what's that sou - OH HELL NO

AIEEEE

Spoiler

Man, the payoffs on those chokepoints are euphoric. The stronger the shackle... the more violent its shattering! As with Ikari and Dogo, a fist-tight ~15min course bringing ultimate hardship, and unparalleled dominance! Well almost. TBH the final stage's ammo drought is bullshit. Just one powerup - let alone a tank - would've broken it wide open. Serendipitously, there's a certain glitch that just about equalises the famine... albeit you're still performing under pressure. Take too long = killed by timeout during the ending sequence. Call it historical fiction, except instead of an asploding cigar, the CIA just shelled the fuck out of Castro.

Those miniature mushroom clouds, and bosses' habit of shit-talking you ( ) make me suspect a few of the same people worked on NAM-1975. That game's fourth boss is practically a parody of a caricature, with his Bluto beard and booty-clapping downfall.

Apparently Obada got the inspiration for Guevara's Mike Dukakis tanks from an Ikari bootleg that didn't swap the soldier/tank sprites properly, creating either a disarmingly cute armoured deathmachine, or some nightmarish man/machine chimera straight outta Quake II - guy was perceptive, also spotting DECO's craven theft of his Ikari code for Heby Baru! If you've not seen it, this is a great read. See also rigging the Ikari PCB with XTREEM amperage to drown out the rest of the arcade.

Speaking of audio... while Ikari and Guevara's OSTs are generally stone-faced, and Dogo's st1+boss BGMs get off to a similar start, the remainder is a different beast entirely. Fierily plaintive hard rock redolent of Toaplan and DECO, a wonderful surprise when I finally played the AC version!

> Cruel Killers (power chord barrage reminds me of Bloody Wolf's opening motorcycle rampage - also, one for the Evocative VGM Titles thread!)
> Run To The Field (fiery! IKARI, even! traversing the hellish battlefield, cutting down fiends left and right! )
> Count Down (the only stage BGM used twice, in succession at that, classy pick for the tough final stretch)