Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

[BIL]

Ninja lifts an explosion and gets shot in the back with the corpses of his enemies

Ninja's sheer destructive power cannot be contained by mere code, nor the laws of physics!

New page, good timing for Part 2: Kunoichi. First draft, getting some GIFs edited up. When all five (or four, since I dunno Raiden) parts are done this weekend, I'll create a new thread - apologies to everyone's mousewheels. With the game finally reaching more regulars, I figure it's better to get some out now than all out later. :3

===

BACK TO TOP

2. KUNOICHI



Agile Grappler. Ultra-maneuverable, with a lightning-quick bulldozer slam, a destructive grapple flurry, and a versatile juggle launcher. Balanced by short reach that leaves her easily outranged on the ground. Counteract with aggressive jump-ins, and specific targeting of waking foes for slashing.

[STRIKES]

[ATTACK] = SLASH Quick, but its short range is easily outzoned on the ground. Best used as a followup to jumpkicks, or against waking enemies at meaty range.

[SLASH x 4] then [ATTACK] = KATANA Standing combo ender. Decent frontal crowd knockdown with some much-needed range. The katana stays out for a moment, and will skewer approaching foes.

[SLASH x 4] then [DOWN + ATTACK] = KATANA (LOW) Same as above, executed from crouch.

[SLASH x 4] then [UP + ATTACK @ MAX METER] = SUPER KATANA Super Combo Ender. Swift frontal crowd flattener - does some damage, but its real value is its leaving waking enemies at player's mercy.

[DOWN + ATTACK] = STAB Weak on its own, having some use as a distance-closer with evasive enemies. Much more useful as a quick juggle extender.

[UP + ATTACK @ 1/4th METER] = SHURIKEN Fullscreen triple projectile. Beyond their obvious utility VS far-off snipers, they're also a handy juggle tool, and decently strong in their own right. Can be thrown en masse to deal a quick chunk of damage to rangey foes. May also have great combo potential, resetting juggle strings on impact.

[GRAPPLES]

[GRAPPLE] then [FORWARD or BACK + ATTACK] = BULLDOZER Lightning-fast crowd flattener. Minimal damage, but that's not what it's for. Gifts the player with their choice of targets to butcher on wakeup.

[GRAPPLE] then [UP + ATTACK] = HAIR A versatile setup move. Enemies falling behind will squash pursuers. Aimed forward, they're a mortar. Also presents an easy juggle opportunity, or let foes fall to create Super Katana launchpads.

[GRAPPLE] then DOWN + ATTACK = FLURRY Hold the button for full sequence, release to break off early. Brutal damage rivalling Ninja's Atomic Drop. On SFC, the flurry is intensely vulnerable, requiring extreme care. In TNWOA it's 100% invincible, and should be used in conjunction with Kunoichi's invincible somersaults to assassinate priority targets with maximum audacity.

EZ Combo: Set it up with a jumpkick and x4 Slash, followed by a Head Slicer, Stab and Shuriken for a nice chunk of damage.

Spoiler

[JUMP ATTACKS & EVASION]

[GUARD] then [JUMP] = SOMERSAULT Critically important move, offsetting Kunoichi's short reach. Invincibly barrels through enemy attacks to land you in meaty range.

[GUARD] then [AWAY + JUMP] = BACKFLIP A good emergency retreat option, easily executed whilst under frontal attack - but verify your landing zone, as your back is left completely open.

[FORWARD + JUMP] then [ATTACK] = JUMPKICK Classic combo starter, and another vital work-around for Kunoichi's lack of reach. Learn to apex it properly - connecting too early will see the target recover before you land, while leaving it too late can get you anti-aired.

[FORWARD + JUMP] then [AWAY + ATTACK] = AIR COMBO Minimal damage, guaranteed knockdown, can repeat for as long as there's another target to bounce off of. Good at flooring meddlers, then the primary target in one sweep.

[DOWN + ATTACK] during jump = HEAD SLICER Decent air-to-air counterattack, can also "ground shave" for combo starters and quick zako kills. It propels Kunoichi forward, providing a quasi-doublejump; keep it primed to escape would-be jump punishers.

[JUMP] then [ATTACK] = NEUTRAL KATANA Standard-issue neutral, a second-tier attack. Useful for killing Flying Drones, provided your landing zone is clear - can also counter enemy strikes with proper timing.

[JUMP] then [UP + ATTACK @ 1/4th METER] = KUNAI Aerial projectile, fires 45' downward spread. Like a reverse Head Slicer, it shunts Kunoichi backward, providing a quasi-doublejump. Fun tool for short juggles, has a shotgun effect up close.

===END OF PART 2===

Part 0: Basics
Part 1: Ninja
Part 4: Yaksha

[BIL]

Gave ACA: VS. Castlevania a quick spin. Humiliating mistakes in stage 5, and silly ones in stage 6, but they led to cool bosses so I ain't complaining much.

Now, old age has taught me DON'T TRUST ANYONE OR ANYTHING, WORLD IS A FUCK, EVERYBODY BETRAY ME. However, as I'm coming to cautiously expect of ACA, this is great work. My trepidation's got little to do with Hamster's sometimes-dodgy performance in previous generations. I've accepted they truly stepped it up for this series. Seems that Gotch Technology's involvement was a reforming experience! But I vet the hell outa all my stuff, even dearest M2's. You must verify your equipment before approaching The Hellish Battlefield™!

Input response is the critical matter, as always. This feels just as sharp as my usual NES and Famicom credits on real hardware and my crusty ol' CRT. My current TV is no high-performance gamer model, either... some JVC thing I bought for my mom to watch Maury. So I'm pretty happy!

Has some nice performance accuracy options. There's a pair of audiovisual bugfixes, on by default, and what I think is sprite limit disable? The wording's a bit odd.

The split-second "load time" between floors that I always got in MAME isn't in this version. I wonder if that was a MAME artifact? Hmm. Either way, the console-quick instant transitions are welcome.

I could swear the colours aren't quite as washed-out as in MAME, but it's been a while. It still looks worse than the NES/FC - stage 2's vivid vermilion walls are now a trippy maroon, stage 3's cool blue tint has a yellowish hue - but not distractingly so. Audio emulation is utterly bang-on. Celebrated "Mup!" damage sample, the gloriously chirpy item pickups and grittily gratifying "KTHWACK" whip strikes all correct.

I read on JP Wikipedia that some ACA releases had strobing effects coded out. This is definitely the case for Saigo no Nindou, whose PCB's blistering 30hz ending flash could probably turn epileptics into werewolves IRL. (fuck, I wish they'd left it) I also remember the Rosary's flash being toned down on the eShop's portable CV1, assuming that wasn't a limitation of the 2DS's screen. Conversely, it seems as fierce as ever here. Shouldn't speak too soon I guess, might be patched out later on.

---

Regarding the game itself - I've honestly never felt much difference in VS's first loop. Ironically, the tighter time limits are done away with for later stages, meaning you can still farm the hell out of st5-2's red skeleton mob. Otherwise, it's always been NES Castlevania with parameters that are tighter... yet still not as tight as my personal precepts. I don't get hit much, I don't waste time, and if I die at CV1, I kill myself IRL. Habitual one-lifers won't be fazed.

The HARD setting (as opposed to the default EASY - ouch!) is another matter, turning the game into a two-hit killer from the get-go. It's a fun "master challenge," but with it effectively mandating no-hit play, I've never thought the game benefits. Quite the opposite, actually. CV1 is an innately punishing game, but outside of the unbalanced st6, it's not a rigid one. Like its doppelganger Ninja Gaiden, a balancing degree of bloody-nosed rough n' tumble shines. Facing a lethal boss, take a bone-jarring smack, then doggedly rallying to victory doesn't detract from the stern ethos. It enhances it, inviting gutsy players to push their combat prowess to the limit, the tacit understanding that bullshitters will die violently.

Rather than inviting, Hard drives away cutthroat aggression. The slightest error is so ruinously costly, anything beyond minimal engagement with enemies is a losing proposition. What was an odd nip from a lesser demon, relying on treacherous footing to really menace you, is now a potentially mortal wound. Had this been the game's default setting, I wouldn't have enjoyed it nearly as much as I have over the past three decades. I'd respect a knife-only Easy 1LC more than a Holy Water-cheesing Hard one. A knife-only Hard 1LC would of course be true mastery, but at what cost?

Still, it's optional, of course, and a neat "license test" thingy.
DO YOU KNOW HOW TO BEAT CASTLEVANIA WITHOUT TAKING A HIT, MAGGOT (■｀W´■)
Y-yeah, I do
GOOD JOB SOLDIER, HERE IS MONEY & PUSSY (■｀W´■)
Oh shi - in your face, dad!

Certainly more worthwhile to veterans than the FC cart's Easy mode (which is actually kinda neat, they deleted the knockback. That's heresy, but I respect it. )

TLDR: Not really necessary for those who've had their fill of CV1, but it's a technically sound offering for diehard fans. Also some novelty in playing this on Sony hardware, haha. Rock on ACA. IREM M92's gonna be amazing. Get some Taito F3 up in here pls!

DR. BIRUFORD'S DOKI-DOKI ACA DREAM LIST (ten in no real order)

THUNDER ZONE [DECO] Apex Macho. Batshit crazy & rugged as fuck topdown DECO Army Man™ action. COOLEST ONE-LINERS plus BALLS-HARD TUNES
RAINBOW ISLANDS [TAITO] Cutesy beast of dizzyingly technical action/platforming. Artfully channel your screen-shattering Froot Loops torrent!
RASTAN SAGA [TAITO] Haven't played this action/platforming icon nearly enough tbh.
GUN-HOHKI [IREM] Developed scoring in an IREM STG? Criteria: Perikles likes it, doesn't have a port = want.
LEGEND OF HERO TONMA [IREM] Pedal to the metal run & blast. Dying to compare it with the superb PCE conversion.
GEOSTORM [IREM] Body-shredding catharsis epitomised, killer "serious" Nazca run/gun aesthetic and filthy metal banger soundtrack.
ELEVATOR ACTION RETURNS [TAITO] Excellent Saturn conversion from VING but I'm a sucker for even the tiniest loadtime cleanups. Gimme that Solid State Feel™!
DEAD CONNECTION [TAITO] Was gonna put Bubble Symphony here, but tbh I'm really curious about this one's gallery shooting.
PSYCHONICS OSCAR [DECO] Drum (PBUH) loved this mecha sidescroller, sounds weird & cool. Could fuckin blow for all I know, but Drum picks are fun!
SEARCH AND RESCUE [SNK] Strictly AESTHETIC pick - maybe BATTLE FIELD is a better topdown Twist & Shoot™. Badass and creepy Aliens-meets-Tetsuo monsters!

[Vanguard]

Thanks for the Rocket Knight Adventures writeup, Vanguard. I learned some new stuff I had never noticed such as non-diagonal dashes doing double the damage.

One thing to note is you don't have to aim downward to get the spin attack. You can activate the spin attack even in midair by releasing attack without holding a direction. It's rarely practical though cause if the spin ends while you're inside an enemy you'll then take damage.

I remember thinking it was a good game that would've benefitted from a bigger playable area onscreen. There's lots of dashes you have to make blind as you say - it's a lot better than Sonic the Hedgehog is in that area thankfully, and the bosses are a lot of fun, but it's an issue when the screen's view or the sprites are large enough that things sometimes feel cramped.

I've not had the chance to play it, but was the HD release/remake any good?

Sure thing. My source on those damage numbers is TASVideos. They're pretty handy for stuff like that. I had never thought to try rocket boosting without any directional input. It makes sense that that would trigger the spin, though yeah, I don't think that's ever useful for anything.

[GSK]

SEARCH AND RESCUE [SNK] Strictly AESTHETIC pick - maybe BATTLE FIELD is a better topdown Twist & Shoot™. Badass and creepy Aliens-meets-Tetsuo monsters!

S.A.R. and almost all the other SNK loop lever games are included in Digital Eclipse's SNK 40th Anniversary collection with twin-stick controls--SNK's pre-NG stuff is also trickling onto ACA, slowly but surely, but I'd argue DE's work is of slightly better quality and the overall package is excellent, I'd put it up there with M2's Sega Ages 2500 works.

DECO's catalog is split between a few different owners and the bulk of it is currently being reissued under the "Johnny Turbo's Arcade" banner (yeah, that asshole Turbografx mascot guy). They put out games with no rhyme or reason so it's hard to know what'll show up when but their work is universally terrible so you shouldn't bother with it either way. Even Dotemu's better nowadays.

[BIL]

S.A.R. and almost all the other SNK loop lever games are included in Digital Eclipse's SNK 40th Anniversary collection with twin-stick controls--SNK's pre-NG stuff is also trickling onto ACA, slowly but surely, but I'd argue DE's work is of slightly better quality and the overall package is excellent, I'd put it up there with M2's Sega Ages 2500 works.

Oh damn, nice. Time Soldiers/Battle Field too. I'm slowly adjusting to previously okayish emulation publishers getting serious this generation.

Actually, I can't recall where I got DE having a questionable reputation from. I still have both Capcom Classics Collections for PS2, there being no better alternatives at the time for arcade Tatakai no Banka and Magic Sword, but it's been too long for me to rate them. Don't think I even knew input lag was a thing back then.

DECO's catalog is split between a few different owners and the bulk of it is currently being reissued under the "Johnny Turbo's Arcade" banner (yeah, that asshole Turbografx mascot guy). They put out games with no rhyme or reason so it's hard to know what'll show up when but their work is universally terrible so you shouldn't bother with it either way. Even Dotemu's better nowadays.

Ah, fuck. I'd heard about the catalogue being split up, but hoped it'd at least be in good hands. Somewhat along these lines, I hope Tatsujin Co doesn't offload the Toaplan license onto some jokers.

[kitten]

uraghhh, trying to get a nomiss clear recording done for jackal (nes) and i keep either getting nuked by the final boss's FLAME CANNON OF SUPREME DEATH or die somewhere stupid along the run because i've done a few at this point and am playing slightly recklessly.

is there actually a safe way to fight the final boss? i feel like sometimes you're just going to eat cannon. i've done a nomiss on this game, before, but i think you just kinda need to get lucky on the bastard. even if you have really good timing on crossing him, sometimes he'll park to fire right when you're in deep enough that it seems you can't pull out and turn around. afaik, if you're parked totally vertically on either side of the screen you won't get hit, so maybe that's reliably safe, but good god it would turn a full fight doing that into a tedious nightmare.

a few notes:

- enemy tanks can sometimes fire bullets as they die or even slightly post-explosion, so don't ever go back into one of their lines of fire immediately following their death

- if you're playing with a pal or eat a bullet somewhere inconvenient, there are a few hidden upgrades (they look like flashing stars and require bombing a hidden pot) in the game that will bring you back to full power. there's one down a vertical alcove you have seemingly no reason to go down in stage 2, one in stage 3 hidden in a jeep on the right side after the two bridges, and then one in the final level after the heli checkpoint in an alcove 4 tanks come out (it's the leftmost one). there's also one smartbomb star in the game in stage 3 hidden among the area with a horizontal spread of 4 turrets, but it's not super useful. there may be others, but i haven't discovered any

- you can loop, but there's not a lot changes. the hidden stars no longer show up, there's a couple of extra tanks in a very few places, and foot soldiers will fire a little bit more aggressively. it's mostly the exact same game, and subsequent loops seemingly change nothing at all

- the score counter eventually rolls over to 0 again, you can keep earning extends seemingly indefinitely (and more than likely play forever because the extend rate is pretty generous)

[BIL]

I was actually playing NES Jackal quite a bit this summer, was at my folks' place with my old carts. Always enjoyable, but the screen edge-riding camera annoyed me more than it used to, particularly during stage 3's laser gates. Made me curious about the FDS version's non-panning screen setup. Used to find the slight exploration scope charmingly evocative of a bigger world, along with enemy craft buzzing overhead and patrolling waterways, but the practicality of vert-only scrolling sounds more alluring now.

Can't get the FDS one on a nice cart though. 3; Not officially anyway!

The arcade version doesn't pan either, IIRC, but it shares the AC Contras' treacly aiming lag. >_<

Similarly, although I still find the rescue mission element incredibly charming, especially how the chopper buzzes past overhead after you finish offloading POWs (really evokes being part of a wider operation)... after looping the game several times and rolling the score counter, I eventually stopped bothering with anything but the POWerup (bwaaa!) guys. I'd have liked it if the game really rained a shitstorm while you were in the prison camps for something a bit arcadier, like it almost starts doing in the last stage with those nasty enemy choppers who love to shadow you.

Still a superb game, just wouldn't put it quite level with its comicbook advertisement stablemate Contra these days. They're inextricably linked in my head for that, and just playing the hell out of both in co-op BITD.

Regarding the last boss, I recall getting consistent, but still feeling like it was a pretty scary, feel-dependent pattern. I seem to recall he'll have to fire eventually, making him vulnerable to leading and a quick double-back? Might be completely off there, now I'm remembering him being faster than you.

I'd forgotten about parking up at the steps of the first phase to nullify the building's laser cannons... which made things interesting until I recalled!

Got caught totally off-guard by the

Spoiler

stage 5 POW hut housing a tank, haha.

That was great, wish there were more complications like that.

---

I've just looked up Johnny Turbo's arcade, and dear sweet Christ. I wouldn't have thought it was possible to make a trailer for Night Slashers depressing.

EDIT: aw jeeze, their trailers absolutely blow. Powerpoint slides and random muzak over barely-audible game sound? That's THE REAL ARCADE FEEL! Here's Nitro Ball.

I miss 24 hours ago, when I could still cheerfully lampoon the phrase "real arcade feel!"

[BareKnuckleRoo]

WHAT'S THIS I'VE WOKEN UP TO?! BIL DISCUSSING SHMUPS IN THIS THREAD? BLASPHEMY!

NES Jackal is rad. I've not played the arcade version to really compare, but I always have a soft spot for Jackal's pacing. The camera push issues are a definite nuisance at times since the distance you need to be at to push takes a bit of getting used to, but there's nothing truly insurmountable at least.

For what looks like a generic military-themed shmup it's got a lot of clever design, like the machine gun always being locked straight forward to allow strafing on a secondary weapon while the primary is multidirectional. Don't be fooled into thinking the pinging sound is like other shmups though, the machine goes does work even on the large tanks! Some stuff though genuinely won't take gun damage in which case it doesn't make a sound at all when hit (the s2 boss statues), and others are positioned so that only the grenades hit. There's also an interesting distinction between the weapons as you upgrade - the grenade always goes over obstacles, whereas the next missile upgrade does not, so it's important to quickly upgrade to the missiles that fire terrain piercing shockwaves.

Have you played Firepower 2000 for the SNES? The starting menu is weird and objectively bad, and the Heli is totally irrelevant to the game and shouldn't have existed because the Jeep is way more fun to play as, but the Jeep in it gave me similar vibes as Jackal. There's even more terrain to deal with and platforming later on as the Jeep can jump around, I really wish more of these ground-based shmups with manual scrolling or slower more thoughtful scrolling existed and became more popular. They're a really fun style. Toaplan's got stuff like Outzone and Fixeight but a lot of the arcade stuff that was released where you're on-foot often feels like the time limit forces you to proceed at a frantic pace, something Jackal averted.

Konami was also rad for multiplayer, the whole PRESS A & B TO USE THE OTHER PLAYER'S LIVES TO RESPAWN thing was great and meant players of different skill could play together (assuming the good player was able to carry when out of lives ).

Speaking of being able to take resources from the other player to respawn when you've gameovered, Gunstar Heroes was also great about that, until the Xbox Live release where they inexplicably removed it totally from the game, not apparently being an option for it at all. I suspect they removed it to stop potential trolls in online play (??) but why the heck remove to take half the other player's health to respawn in local multiplayer? I was showing someone the game in coop and very confused when he died and he couldn't take some health to respawn and then raged when I realized it could only have been a deliberate change. Why even buy it when emulating it crucially gives the correct co-op experience? Even more annoying, in the Xbox Live release, a dead player will NOT respawn between levels from what I remember, meaning you are forced to game over yourself to respawn your friend at all. It's incredibly stupid and frankly a bad port.

[Jonny2x4]

I've just looked up Johnny Turbo's arcade, and dear sweet Christ. I wouldn't have thought it was possible to make a trailer for Night Slashers depressing.

EDIT: aw jeeze, their trailers absolutely blow. Powerpoint slides and random muzak over barely-audible game sound? That's THE REAL ARCADE FEEL! Here's Nitro Ball.

I miss 24 hours ago, when I could still cheerfully lampoon the phrase "real arcade feel!"

The Johnny Turbo's ports of arcade games are laughable garbage and it's a shame that a genuinely good belt-scroller like Night Slashers couldn't had been licensed to someone who could actually treat the game with proper care and respect.

I remember when they released Bad Dudes vs. Dragonninja last year, they used someone's fanart from Deviantart that was basically sprite edits from the Neo-Geo Double Dragon game.

[BIL]

WHAT'S THIS I'VE WOKEN UP TO?! BIL DISCUSSING SHMUPS IN THIS THREAD? BLASPHEMY!

Nein! As the official R2RKMF pope and benevolent dictator for life, I refer you to R2RKMF mkII regulations which legitimised topdown action, with express provisions made for games regarded as "borderline" by Shumps Chat! Does this cover Ikari, Senjou no Okami and Jackal, et al? Bet your ass.

"NOW WAIT A MINUTE LMAO," someone at the back of the congregation pipes up, "WHAT ABOUT FANTASY ZONE AND DEFENDER AND KAITEI DAISENSOU, THIS POPE IS A BITCH-ASS SCRU-" *gunshot* Infidel! These games have always been accepted without question in Shumps Chat!

I still feel like an asshole about asking Stevens not to discuss Gun.Smoke here. It's a point of militant pride for me that G.S, Elemental Master & Guwange et al are fuckin shumps goddamnit and I will fight motherfuckers in the street and even CALL THEM A NOOB to defend that! "Player in aircraft Y/N" is a dumb-ass and limiting way to define your subgenre!

BUT tbh, if autoscrolling run/guns Chelnov and Wolf Fang are okay here (THEY ARE), then maybe Gun.Smoke should be too. But it's a floodgates situation I will leave as-is for now. Heavy is the hollow crown of the subgenre zoologist/niche thread dictator. Patchy-kun knows what I mean.

For what looks like a generic military-themed shmup it's got a lot of clever design, like the machine gun always being locked straight forward to allow strafing on a secondary weapon while the primary is multidirectional. Don't be fooled into thinking the pinging sound is like other shmups though, the machine goes does work even on the large tanks! Some stuff though genuinely won't take gun damage in which case it doesn't make a sound at all when hit (the s2 boss statues)

The vertical-locked MG is indeed a bit of design genius - I wish more topdown action had adopted it. Twinkle Tale (MD) switches from free shot to locked shot for its boss battles, which is welcome, but Jackal always seemed to have the best plan here. I particularly like how you can fire both the MG and launcher simultaneously, allowing cool multitasking like sniping the st2 boss's rockets while fending off its crowd.

and others are positioned so that only the grenades hit. There's also an interesting distinction between the weapons as you upgrade - the grenade always goes over obstacles, whereas the next missile upgrade does not, so it's important to quickly upgrade to the missiles that fire terrain piercing shockwaves.

Definitely noticed this "performance dip" in the upgrade curve - I could see it annoying some, but I really like it when a game throws in some wrinkles, rather than straight "more levels = more better." Dammit, I was playing something recently that did this...

Aha! Argus no Senshi/Rygar (AC). The collectable permanent upgrades to your Diskarmor are generally invaluable, but they force you to modify your base-power techniques. CROWN POWER's piercing shot loses the "rapid ricochet" effect of the default, which makes taking down large enemies a very different process. SUN POWER's surface-to-air vert shot is extremely useful for precision sniping of flying enemies... but the default vertical attack, a front-to-back overhead that'll squash enemies behind you, won't go completely un-missed.

Argus is absolutely superb btw, stampede-paced yet laser-precise sidescroller with a killer hop/bop riff. Everyone ITT should play it! The ACA release's handling is razor-sharp (tested the PS4 version).

Have you played Firepower 2000 for the SNES? The starting menu is weird and objectively bad, and the Heli is totally irrelevant to the game and shouldn't have existed because the Jeep is way more fun to play as, but the Jeep in it gave me similar vibes as Jackal.

Always thought this looked really fun from Perikles's replays, but Europhobia ( ) kept it to the bottom of my shortlist. Will have to give it a go!

Speaking of being able to take resources from the other player to respawn when you've gameovered, Gunstar Heroes was also great about that, until the Xbox Live release where they inexplicably removed it totally from the game, not apparently being an option for it at all.

This reminds me of Metal Slug 3's Xbox conversion, whose continues infamously send you back to the start of a stage. Which works ok for the first four, but becomes an utter nightmare in Final Mission with its indulgent blockbuster runtime. Particularly in a game with no extends whatsoever... I get what they were going for, but allowing a sharply limited number of on-the-spot continues (say two) would've been a better compromise. Of course it's a total Catch-22 to start with, between "LMAO I beat the game in thirty minutes!" and "BAWWW OH GAWD HALP, THE GAME IS IMPOSSIBLE" Better to leave the game intact for the fans than hobble it for an audience who'll very likely shun it anyway.

The Johnny Turbo's ports of arcade games are laughable garbage and it's a shame that a genuinely good belt-scroller like Night Slashers couldn't had been licensed to someone who could actually treat the game with proper care and respect.

It's the respect or lack thereof that gets me. I've not tried them first-hand, so I'll limit my commentary to those godawful trailers - but they're horribly reductive. Night Slashers is supercharged b-movie cheese by default, it doesn't need shitty LOLcat-tier Halloween decorations on top. Nitro Ball is a classic send-up of the "deadly future gameshow" ala Smash TV, meanwhile the trailer is obliviously TOTES X-TREEEM.

Just focus on nailing the emulation and let the games speak for themselves, FFS. I can forgive all of this if the games play properly, but right off the bat they've made it a tough sell.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Always thought this looked really fun from Perikles's replays, but Europhobia ( ) kept it to the bottom of my shortlist. Will have to give it a go!

I don't know how the other versions of SWIV fare, but I can guarantee Firepower 2000 doesn't really feel like it has the pitfalls of a "euroshmup". Well, unless you play the Heli. There's one area of the game that has deliberate inertia with the Jeep that's done specifically as a "inertia is bad and this is a hazard" thing which is trickier but not insurmountably so (the boss of the area is legitimately tricky as Jeep or Heli regardless).

The Heli's disadvantage is it doesn't get the fun of the platforming sections, there's only one worthwhile spreadshot weapon in the game so the Heli will almost never use anything other than Plasma since it can't change the direction it fires Under Defeat or DDP B-Type style. The worst part though is the Heli legitimately falls into a euroshmup-esque pitfall of having popcorn rushes be a major hazard, where the popcorn aren't and actually take a few hits to kill. I often learn what patterns of kamikaze ships are difficult to safely dodge and liberally spam special attacks on them. The lesson is don't play Heli and it won't feel euroshmuppy.

The Jeep never has to worry about fast enemies ramming into it, though you do want to avoid hugging the bottom of the screen since touching a tank will kill you and occasionally some enemies come from behind (usually it's a slow tank that fires 3 way shootable missiles).

[drauch]

Man, Guy Fieri's Turd Arcade trailer for Night Slashers bummed me out so much.

[Sumez]

RAINBOW ISLANDS [TAITO] Cutesy beast of dizzyingly technical action/platforming. Artfully channel your screen-shattering Froot Loops torrent!

With Bubble Bobble ONLY 4 UR FRENZ coming up with the original Bubble Bobble included, it's baffling to me why they aren't including some of the games that are actually tough to get ahold of nowadays!

Rainbow Islands never had a good port outside of the PCE one (I just received this one, so reserving my right to go back and rectify if needed). Parasol Stars made it to the Wii Virtual Console, but only in Japan. Bubble Symphony had an amazing Saturn port which is now more expensive than the arcade game, and Bubble Memories, a brilliant and underestimated masterpiece, never had as much as one single attempt at a home release.

Come on Taito/Square Enix/ININ/Whatevz! You got what you want. Give these people air!

edit: Nevermind. BB Memories was in on of the Taito Memories releases (again only in Japan), but unless I hear anything else reported, I'm going to assume it's as laggy as Rainbow Islands.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Man, Guy Fieri's Turd Arcade trailer for Night Slashers bummed me out so much.

They could have used the stage 1 music for the trailer instead of... whatever the hell music they used there. What a strange piece of marketing.

[Sumez]

Gah, I think I'm done with Ghouls. Struggled my way to the 3rd stage, but, crucially, I'm not enjoying myself in the slightest. Game just seems to want to screw the player over at every opportunity, whereas with GnG and Super there's usually a bit of flexibility. My attempts at playing it are punctuated with cries of 'ah that's fucking BULLSHIT', which is very rare indeed for me.

Come on man, don't do this to me ;_;
Ghouls n Ghosts is a masterpiece, and trust me when I tell you there is no bullshit in this game! In fact, it's amazing how much it manages to rely on random patterns while still coming out bullshit-free.

It's the random stuff that's infuriating me. For instance, the face/rock things at the start of ST2 - sometimes it's a breeze, but I've actually got a save state where, due to the pattern it throws them in, I've not managed to progress after a dozen+ attempts. And then there's the bridges straight after - memorisable sure, but an utter cheap-shot for a new player. And the hit boxes on the first boss's bullets are ridiculous.

I don't get any of this.
I do get that some patterns occasionally give you a complete breather, and this is especially true for stage 2's rock turtles, but just don't let it catch you off guard. The game will have no problem punishing you for assuming it's giving you a break - it's like Tetris in that regard.
I always thought of the required two-loop clear as a way to remedy occasional breaks - maybe you'll get a lucky rock turtle section on one loop, but it'll likely punish you on the next. A (2-all) 1CC should still work as decent proof that you're able to survive everything the game throws at you. And there's a pattern recognition / reaction / conquering approach to all of that. Honestly once you learn exactly how they behave, the rock turtles should rarely/never be an issue to you, no matter how badly the RNG wants to trap you.

I don't consider the bridges a memorizer - Memorization will help you a lot in Ghouls, but I can't think of any segment that'll outright kill you for not memorizing. Yeah, knowing where to jump will make the bridges a lot less annoying, but as long as you are avoiding the obvious danger of the center of the pit, the only places you'll potentially fall down will always allow you to easily escape before being chased down.

I'd say Ghouls n Ghosts is the easiest game in the series outside of SGnG (which you can memorize every ounce of challenge out of), and Ghosts n Goblins, although I really love that game, definitely has much, much more bullshit from start to finish.

[BIL]

I do get that some patterns occasionally give you a complete breather, and this is especially true for stage 2's rock turtles, but just don't let it catch you off guard. The game will have no problem punishing you for assuming it's giving you a break - it's like Tetris in that regard.

Something I've found from high-end RNG design, as seen in Dai and Saigo no Nindou - even if you get an uncommonly lucky credit, you'll still need to grapple with survivor's guilt. Yeah, you made it home, hot-shot... but only after poor Jimmy put his coin up and took a mortar turtle square in his fuckin' mout.

[Marc]

Gah, I think I'm done with Ghouls. Struggled my way to the 3rd stage, but, crucially, I'm not enjoying myself in the slightest. Game just seems to want to screw the player over at every opportunity, whereas with GnG and Super there's usually a bit of flexibility. My attempts at playing it are punctuated with cries of 'ah that's fucking BULLSHIT', which is very rare indeed for me.

Come on man, don't do this to me ;_;
Ghouls n Ghosts is a masterpiece, and trust me when I tell you there is no bullshit in this game! In fact, it's amazing how much it manages to rely on random patterns while still coming out bullshit-free.

It's the random stuff that's infuriating me. For instance, the face/rock things at the start of ST2 - sometimes it's a breeze, but I've actually got a save state where, due to the pattern it throws them in, I've not managed to progress after a dozen+ attempts. And then there's the bridges straight after - memorisable sure, but an utter cheap-shot for a new player. And the hit boxes on the first boss's bullets are ridiculous.

I don't get any of this.
I do get that some patterns occasionally give you a complete breather, and this is especially true for stage 2's rock turtles, but just don't let it catch you off guard. The game will have no problem punishing you for assuming it's giving you a break - it's like Tetris in that regard.
I always thought of the required two-loop clear as a way to remedy occasional breaks - maybe you'll get a lucky rock turtle section on one loop, but it'll likely punish you on the next. A (2-all) 1CC should still work as decent proof that you're able to survive everything the game throws at you. And there's a pattern recognition / reaction / conquering approach to all of that. Honestly once you learn exactly how they behave, the rock turtles should rarely/never be an issue to you, no matter how badly the RNG wants to trap you.

I don't consider the bridges a memorizer - Memorization will help you a lot in Ghouls, but I can't think of any segment that'll outright kill you for not memorizing. Yeah, knowing where to jump will make the bridges a lot less annoying, but as long as you are avoiding the obvious danger of the center of the pit, the only places you'll potentially fall down will always allow you to easily escape before being chased down.

I'd say Ghouls n Ghosts is the easiest game in the series outside of SGnG (which you can memorize every ounce of challenge out of), and Ghosts n Goblins, although I really love that game, definitely has much, much more bullshit from start to finish.

I'll definitely try again later, my gaming time is sporadic at the moment, but I've actually got a full evening to sit on my arse and do nothing but play games tonight - but I didn't progress in the slightest when I sat down for half an hour on Sat. Thig is with these mini consoles, is it's as easy to throw the machine as it is the joypad once you're raging hard

[Sumez]

Oh you're playing the MegaDrive Mini? I guess that explains the comment on the first boss's projectile hitbox.

And honestly, I've also found the rock turtles to be more randomly punishing in the MegaDrive port. It's an amazingly spot on port, but it's not flawless.
First stage feels easier on MegaDrive too, at least when taking the left route on the second half, which I never do on arcade.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Let's talk about the reason you really need a wired multitap (and friends) for your NES:

MICRO MAGES.

Got to try this at a meet the other day. It has physical cart releases as well as a Steam ver (and includes the ROM apparently so just pop it in an emulator). It's fun as all hell, being a fairly modern little platformer that includes Mega Man X3 style wall climbing, a charge shot, a double jump if you fire a charged shot downward (this is the super hardcore but super useful game tech) and a mid-range projectile attack you can mash out.

It's pure chaotic co-op fun with 4 players, and pretty decent solo too. There's also two powerups, one is just a true shield, the other is a feather that attaches some kind of bird to your back and lets you float. If you have both of them you can actually soak two hits (you lose the bird first, then the shield imo). Getting hit without either kills you.

Dead players can respawn by floating their ghost into a powerup. And it doesn't "waste" the powerup for a living player either since you get the powerup AND the respawn! Nifty game, great party game to pull out and play in a group.

[Sumez]

Did you manage to get your Micro Mages to work with a fourscore? Mine just messes up the controls of every player when I try it.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Is it possible your FourScore is broken? You can PM colour_thief for details on the unit (or I'll try to get him to post here), but when we played it was this unit for sure and it had no issues once we made sure the connectors for the controllers were in tight: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NES_Four_Score

[colour_thief]

I didn't have to do anything special to get it working with my fourscore, but like 'roo said it can be glitchy if things aren't well connected. Does the problem persist if you disconnect and reconnect everything?

[Sumez]

Well, it was at an event where we actually had four controllers and enough players. I might be able to dig up 4 around here if I look everywhere though.
I did try unplugging every single controller and switching ports etc, and there really was no rhyme or reason to how it worked. To my knowledge I have no other Fourscore compatible games, so I don't really know how to find out if it's working correctly.

If I knew there was a specific problem in my fourscore, I'd probably be able to fix it, but I have no idea what to look for, or if it's even that.
Do the multitap adapters possibly have a region issue similar to the controllers with a bunch of diodes that need to be bypassed?

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Oof, sorry it wasn't working for you, that sounds like it was pretty disappointing for the event. Didn't have a chance to test it prior to the event? I really don't know anything about the controllers or the multitap and how they work. For what it's worth, of the games that are on the compatible list you can test I can vouch for are:

• M.U.L.E. (weird but fun when you know what the heck is going on)
• A Nightmare on Elm Street (pretty decent game when you know what you're supposed to do)
• Super Spike V'Ball (great game)

Hopefully someone near you has another compatible game you can test the multitap itself with, or pick one up yourself to play and test with.

Since a local here has a multitap now we have an excuse to try more games next time! I've got a few 4 player ones handy. I used to have the NES Satellite that used infrared and it was honestly iffy about the inputs, but that's more to do with infrared being bad than anything.

[Vanguard]

Micro Mages looks pretty fun.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Honestly it was one of the most fun 4 player party games I've played in a while. The mechanics are simple and work well.

[Sumez]

Micro Mages is a ton of fun single player anyway. It starts out extremely easy, but if you 2-all it with four hidden items you'll unlock a harder mode, which is really great.

Didn't have a chance to test it prior to the event?

I honestly expected it'd just work.

Hopefully someone near you has another compatible game you can test the multitap itself with, or pick one up yourself to play and test with.

It's kinda crazy that I don't. I have like.. 3-400 NES games. Multitap games must be few and far between.
Spike V Ball looks *really* familiar though... I feel like I should have it, but it's not registered in my online collection.

[Austin]

I played through Majuuou (King of Demons) for Super Famicom today for the first time. It was a decent time overall. Controls are somewhat stiff and the bosses can be tricky to learn, but nothing was overly challenging to the point of giving me extended trouble. I got pretty consistent at it by the second run, having six lives to spare (seven on run #3!). Funny enough, my second run I accidentally let the first boss crystal time out and so I ended up doing the entire playthrough in human form. That was interesting and it's neat that the game gives you the flexibility to see it through to the end like that. You can also choose to try to get the best ending by switching to all forms, or stick with a single form and see it be massively upgraded on the third crystal drop. Good stuff. I'll have to try Hard mode next to see how it compares to Normal.

[kitten]

i think both vanguard and i have talked about majuu ou a decent bit and done recordings for the game - iirc i typed it like that so that you can search up the posts. it's pretty solid stuff! imho it's extremely doable to get a hard mode run down to a nomiss, and then down to a nomiss where you don't use the fairy. the game is mostly pretty breezy but i think that makes it a good time. vanguard did a run like that entirely in the human form, which feels like a thumb-murderer 0_0;;

[Sumez]

Thanks for reminding me that you can play through in human form :O I really need to try that. The first stage is my favourite of the entire game.