Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

[Randorama]

...I definitely will write a mini-article, ok

The flyer is certainly a visual reference to some cult movie that I just cannot recall now, and so should be the various shots in the intro. The title screen is from Kubrik's 2001, after all. I imagine that Akamatsu Hitoshi was given free rein to cram as many homages as he could, for this title. I think that Sima Tuna perfectly summed up the point: some of these late 1980s to 1990s games should contain dozens of visual references and "homages", though we may not recognise them. It's all good! Use references to show what new results can be achieved by building on past knowledge, I always tell my students. Just cite the references in the bibliography or it will be considered plagiarism, ahem

Not sure why they sandwiched an "SF quiz mini-game", but my geek 11 years old me found it funny. I do remember two guys spending their credits while arguing over the game's physics (BA students in the subject...), but I "forgave" them because they taught me stages 7-2 and 7-3 ("you're too young to like Star Trek, kid"). I think that this was already one of the last "tactical action" titles, wasn't it? Even if players actually have unlimited ammos. Such a shame: stages' design and generous i-frames for enemies having 2 HPs invites players to use bullets wisely. At least the "high speed dude" clearance label is a major motivator to keep it fast

[BIL]

I think that Sima Tuna perfectly summed up the point: some of these late 1980s to 1990s games should contain dozens of visual references and "homages", though we may not recognise them. It's all good! Use references to show what new results can be achieved by building on past knowledge, I always tell my students. Just cite the references in the bibliography or it will be considered plagiarism, ahem

Building the future and keeping the past alive are one and the same, as they say ;3

BTW, regarding Stanley, are you familiar with Cue Brick? I'd no idea it existed until the ACA Surprise Release! Pretty goddamn hardcore block-slider; spiritual sequel to the charmingly tactile Guttang Gottong, aka Loco Motion.

Haha, yeah Stan I - wait WHAT (｀w´メ)

Did a little Speculative Dick Archaeology, re its curious "MACHINE NAME" setting. Kubrick and/or Dick jokes aside, seems it was quite innovative!

Not sure why they sandwiched an "SF quiz mini-game", but my geek 11 years old me found it funny.

I heard from Skyknight that Surprise Attack was a planned Batman (1989) license, presumably lost to other bidders like Sunsoft and Atari. (Konami later getting a piece of the pie with their superb SFC brawler, and an excellent action/platformer for the latter-day GB)

Interesting detail I found at Time Extension: Surprise Attack’s engine was originally going to be for a Batman game, except Konami couldn’t get the license from Detective Comics in time. So, original IP, although you can still see how the quiz woman resembles Kim Basinger.

Strictly offhand, I could see it being a clever bit of cross-promotion... maybe Kim Basinger (and her HAWT TWIN SISTER ) would ask you about the film? Or just Bat-trivia in general, I suppose. Maybe that rad Batmanga from back in the day.



Was happy to see you can disable them entirely in the International revision; and even happier that the INT rev is (seemingly!) one of those rare Konami AC titles not mangled in transit! The ACA release uses International for its Hi Score and Caravan modes; not something Hamster will do, unless it plays Japan-spec. See also Kicker subbing in for Shao-Lin's Road during Caravan - killer 5min game, btw!

EDIT: hm. Continuing on from Wild Fang and Ninja Kids, Shao-Lin's is another R2R with invincible jumps... come to think of it, FC Contra's 3D stages have the mechanic, too. Can't say if I recall it in the arcade version. I'm becoming quite fond of it; gives a little extra flexibility to tight-fought games, on the classic proviso that if you spam, it's your ass. As it so often does, Rygar has a particularly excellent take, with its regular jump being vulnerable, but the DARKNESS BOP somersault i-framed.

The Special Commando Operations in XMILLION YEARS BC (■｀w´■)

Spoiler

[Randorama]

Cue Brick and Loco Motion are both games that I played a few times in situations that are vague at best, in my memory. Yes, though, I played them both and your mention allows me to go and try them again. WIth Cue Brick I have this faint memory that I played while I was in Turin for a holiday with my father, who was there for work commitments. We spent a few evenings playing game at a local arcade that had hundreds of titles and that was notable in not using any lights at night: arcade gaming must be in the dark!

Anyway, thanks to my father, the ACA archive is already sprawling and messy. I will never 1-CC all the titles we have, and those bastards keep going at it every week

I forgot about Time Extension, because I need newsletters/reminders for my non-work readings (cue EAR quote again, eh). Thanks a lot, and here is something fresh for today: A port of Crime City, though not exactly "next gen".

I am very glad that we get John (not Jack) Ryan's adventures, to be fair. I am not exactly a fan of Bruce Wayne, and vastly prefer the whole "heartfelt hard(core) SF homage" re-interpretation. Possibly, because I like SF; super-heroes, not so much The flyer does make me think of a Bruce Wayne portrait re-drawn to meet the new design, anyway, but I also suspect that it refers to some SF movie.

Anyway, no sales numbers, but this article suggests that the project is financially solid: considerable number of employers, (relatively) long-term research and development plans (1+ years), solid relationships with licensing companies...those are all possible if the project brings him the good bucks. Then again, there begin to be books and papers and etc. explaining how complex and risky can be "cultural preservation" in the bit-rot era. They found a way to merge the useful (game preservation) with the entertaining (play the games!). Justice and peace is with them, I daresay

[Lander]

MST3K never did Krull, you probably found a Rifftrax. Rifftrax is basically the inferior final hosts of MST3K phoning in an absolute torrent of lazy content to avoid getting real jobs.

I'm not going to get into the who was better debate; but it was always very clear that Joel and Trace actually loved the old movies they were riffing on, while Mike and Bill hated them. The tonal shift with the host change was very distinct. It's the same thing with Beavis and Butt-Head, where you can always tell which of the bands they were ripping on Mike Judge actually liked.

Ah, you're right - Rifftrax does ring a bell. And also goes some way to explaining why the name shows up really frequently in certain places! Consider MST3K's name redeemed

Sounds a bit like a Giant Bomb situation; the production starts good and earnest, serves its audience, then inexplicably (well...) undergoes total staff turnover and completely changes tone.

Deathstalker 2 is too much fun for me to hate it. "I'll have my revenge and Deathstalker 2?" I mean c'mon. I'm a sicko Wynorski fan so I have to love that stuff. His first movie, The Lost Empire, is still his best, though.

At any rate, I have a huge softspot for the sword 'n' sandals genre in general. Weirdest one I've seen lately is Lucio Fulci's Conquest, which is just one completely insane film with a crazy ass Claudio Simonetti score. Definitely recommended!

I suppose Deathstalker is more of a gradual dip. Though reusing that tavern scene so many times has to qualify for a paddling

And Conquest is incredible where's our hardcore arcade action adaptation of that, eh? Hard tunes, beastman zako everywhere, two playable characters with unique mechanics, and a perfect opportunity for exploitative Final Fight / Ninja Gaiden AC CONTINUE? countdown with hovering warpick and an ultra-gory deadline.

"You can have her too, if you like!"

[Air Master Burst]

I suppose Deathstalker is more of a gradual dip. Though reusing that tavern scene so many times has to qualify for a paddling

Deathstalker 3 is downright disgraceful and totally earned it's place on MST3K.

They also did the Ator movies, which was super fitting. That scene where Ator goes on a hang glider bombing run might be the silliest thing the genre's ever done.

ETA: unless you count David Warner doing his best attempt at Peter Sellers in Quest of the Delta Knights.

[BIL]

The game might be a bit more budgeted than Wild Guns Reloaded or Pocky and Rocky Resrhrined as evidenced by the lack of a remade intro but it FUCKS like a Natsume game should. Go play it when you get a chance to get it.

I might've misunderstood you old fren, but there's definitely an intro, damn good one too. Shatterhand-calibre. Tabbed back to the game, after taking a sec to file it in my R2R_On folder, got my face melted. As did a bunch of enemy troops!



I've been in two minds WRT the character designs since the reveal... I prefer the old Dark Professionals. These two look neither dark nor professional. If it were up to me, it'd have been as unsmilingly hard-edged as the FC game. (which, in true Hokuto spirit, has a healthy balance of goofiness via its enemy + boss designs, ofc) But the absolute joie de vivre is most definitely there, and that's ultimately more important to me. That intro would do any of their FC/SFC glory days proud.



Game seems cool too! Currently just a bit snowed under with all the goodies this weekend. What an unexpectedly wonderful era of R2RKMF this proved to be. Just having Natsume back from exile and Fujiwara slapping his cock across the industry's face with GNGR would've been plenty, but there's even a few killer originals I'd put on par with the 8/16/32bit years.

[Lander]

They also did the Ator movies, which was super fitting. That scene where Ator goes on a hang glider bombing run might be the silliest thing the genre's ever done.

I've been meaning to look at those eventually - a show I watch uses one of the running montages as interlude during breaks, so I've seen that pained god no, not another jogging scene! look on poor Ator's face more times than I can remember

[copy-paster]

R2RKMF bros is eating good this month with the arrival of KAGE remake and DS trilogy+HC Revisited released very stealthy . I was labbing around while waiting for KAGE remake a week ago and I was like "Okay maybe try to do sword only" and I did it, and pushing it down further to no items and 1CC and finally nomiss. 2-2 and 6-2 is the real gatekeeper for a nomiss it's easy to get knockbacked and fell to the death and I had to learn slash cancel for the final bosses.

Thanks to SKY_e's replay for the strats in 6-2 and 6-3 and I think I can say that NG1 is by far my most favorite game in the console, with CV1 is the second.

[BIL]

Bah gawd. Superlatively done! Champion thumbnail, too!

Time to update the replay collection. Good occasion to create a special replays category, and also, to move it back to the front page, now we've got nicer spoiler tags.

[Steven]

Apparently Gimmick! 2 is out now. Anyone tried it/going to try it?

[Sanguis]

Apparently Gimmick! 2 is out now. Anyone tried it/going to try it?

Haven't played it but I've seen someone play it. It looks much more approachable than the original Gimmick!, but it's far from being a pushover. It seems pretty good.

[Steven]

Apparently Gimmick! 2 is out now. Anyone tried it/going to try it?

Haven't played it but I've seen someone play it. It looks much more approachable than the original Gimmick!, but it's far from being a pushover. It seems pretty good.

It seems people are criticizing it for high input lag and a complete failure to understand the original's gameplay mechanics and stage design. That's concerning, but hopefully it's just people overreacting. One of my friends super loves the original, so if he gets this, (not likely, I think; pretty sure he basically won't play anything released for the first time after 2005) I'll ask him how it is.

[Sanguis]

It seems people are criticizing it for high input lag and a complete failure to understand the original's gameplay mechanics and stage design. That's concerning, but hopefully it's just people overreacting. One of my friends super loves the original, so if he gets this, (not likely, I think; pretty sure he basically won't play anything released for the first time after 2005) I'll ask him how it is.

Yes it looks definitely different from the original. Personally I don't mind, as long as it is enjoyable. Input lag (I couldn't comment, as a mere spectator) is indeed concerning.

[Steven]

It seems people are criticizing it for high input lag and a complete failure to understand the original's gameplay mechanics and stage design. That's concerning, but hopefully it's just people overreacting. One of my friends super loves the original, so if he gets this, (not likely, I think; pretty sure he basically won't play anything released for the first time after 2005) I'll ask him how it is.

Yes it looks definitely different from the original. Personally I don't mind, as long as it is enjoyable. Input lag (I couldn't comment, as a mere spectator) is indeed concerning.

Yeah, I'm not super familiar with the original, so I'd probably be fine with the differences, but high input lag makes me hesitant, even if there aren't any lag numbers yet.

[Stevens]

Hello fellow lovers of running and killing. Check out what the team behind Steel Assault is cooking:

https://x.com/ZenoviaLLC/status/1832268807735538003

Looks amazing.

[Sima Tuna]

A-are they making... A cabal-like gallery shooter?

Lads, I think I'm erect.

[Air Master Burst]

I really hope they make a proper 4:3 mode for actual CRT screens like they did with Steel Assault. I mean, I'm buying it either way, but don't let me down here!

[Lander]

Foreground runner-gunner and gallery at the same time, has that been done before? Wild Guns and bits of NES Contra are as far as I've really been down the into-the-screen hole. A few more gameplay gifs if you scroll around the twitter, as well.

Very stylish, and it's got The Dodge Roll!

[1KMS]

Here's some footage of the upcoming Shinobi game from Lizardcube. Is this all that's available so far?
https://x.com/ryanfrombronx/status/1832249373465387169
https://streamable.com/lv8wq3

If Super Shinobi 2 is the template, the exaggerated attack hitboxes and i-frame dodge seem unnecessary. Those are features more appropriate for 3D games where there is naturally more spatial ambiguity.

The i-frame slide would largely nullify the standing/crouching enemy projectile dynamic of SS1, but hopefully there will at least be some restriction on exploiting it to pass through most lesser enemies.

I really hope they make a proper 4:3 mode for actual CRT screens like they did with Steel Assault.

Neon Inferno was designed for widescreen from the beginning, so I doubt it.

Foreground runner-gunner and gallery at the same time, has that been done before?

MD Dick Tracy, if you count that. The background action is similar to Dick Tracy, and the foreground action is essentially Shin Contra + melee.

[Sumez]

Foreground runner-gunner and gallery at the same time, has that been done before?

Worst thing it feels like the kind of idea that should have been cashed in on decades ago.

[Lander]

Here's some footage of the upcoming Shinobi game from Lizardcube. Is this all that's available so far?

https://x.com/ryanfrombronx/status/1832249373465387169
https://streamable.com/lv8wq3

If Super Shinobi 2 is the template, the exaggerated attack hitboxes and i-frame dodge seem unnecessary. Those are features more appropriate for 3D games where there is naturally more spatial ambiguity.

The massive hurtboxes and floaty aerial raves are certainly a bit DMC, versus the expected measured ninja action. Though I like the discretely-animated wall run in the second clip; very 3D Ninja Gaiden.

MD Dick Tracy, if you count that. The background action is similar to Dick Tracy, and the foreground action is essentially Shin Contra + melee.

Aye, I don't see why not - pretty fundamental, but the concept is obviously there.

Very much enjoying the contrast between picking off foreground guys with a classic gumshoe shot (no recoil compensation - golden age heroes don't miss!) then whipping out the chicago typewriter to swiss-cheese the background

Worst thing it feels like the kind of idea that should have been cashed in on decades ago.

On the bright side, at least there are still ideas in the barrel easy to assume it's long dry what with the average innovation : prevalence ratio of the medium these days!

[Sima Tuna]

Foreground runner-gunner and gallery at the same time, has that been done before? Wild Guns and bits of NES Contra are as far as I've really been down the into-the-screen hole. A few more gameplay gifs if you scroll around the twitter, as well.

Very stylish, and it's got The Dodge Roll!

Sunset Riders and Mystic Warriors have hybrid run and gun/background shooting gameplay, but I don't think they're simultaneous.

[Randorama]

I cannot open the X post, but given the descriptions so far...is the new Zenovia game like Taito's Rambo III, or Konami's G.I. Joe or Devastators?

[Lander]

I cannot open the X post, but given the descriptions so far...is the new Zenovia game like Taito's Rambo III, or Konami's G.I. Joe or Devastators?

Not really; it doesn't scroll 'inward' like the Konami games, and you're not locked facing the background like Rambo.
More like Contra in the foreground (sidescroll, platforming) with Wild Guns galleries in the background that you can turn and shoot into.

[Randorama]

Not really; it doesn't scroll 'inward' like the Konami games, and you're not locked facing the background like Rambo.
More like Contra in the foreground (sidescroll, platforming) with Wild Guns galleries in the background that you can turn and shoot into.

OK, thanks a lot! I am officially excited in an inappropriate manner, but it's lunch break and we are discussing the topic in a very SFW manner

[Sumez]

Sunset Riders and Mystic Warriors have hybrid run and gun/background shooting gameplay, but I don't think they're simultaneous.

I'm definitely getting a massive Sunset Riders vibe from Neon Inferno, and that's honestly a great thing. It was the very first thing I noticed about the game. The large player sprite is a bold move, and I applaud it.

[1KMS]

[Vanguard]

Came across a Megaman X fangame that seems pretty solid and thought of this thread. It's called Mega Man X8 16-bit, and it is a remake of Megaman X8, a game I've never played, but with gameplay and visuals that imitate the original Megaman X. I am only halfway through the 8 mavericks, but it seems quite solid. The feel is just right, the look is pretty close, level design has been at least as good as Capcom's so far, difficulty feels half a notch above the original Rockman X, which is right about where I want it for something like this. They've still got time to drop the ball, but from what I have seen, I doubt that will happen.

I don't know if this was in the original X8, but I love that it let me smuggle a ride armor suit into Vile's midboss room. How do you like it, shithead? Not so funny now that the shoe's on the other foot!

I'm given to understand that there are like 6 playable characters in Megaman X8, here it's just X, but that's fine with me.

You can get it here: https://sonicfangameshq.com/forums/show ... -bit.2184/




I hear the next Tengo Project game came out. On a scale of 8 to 10, how is it?

And BIL: I watched your Cadash Ninja video. Solid play, and I enjoyed the subtitles!

[Sumez]

I hear the next Tengo Project game came out. On a scale of 8 to 10, how is it?

At least a 9. There's a thread dedicated to it, should be fairly easy to track down

[it290]

Eh, I’d rate it more like a 7 myself. It’s a fun game, but the original is pretty much better and not even a top tier NES game on its own. The remake has a lot of questionable control decisions and just asks you to make do with them. A lot of fun can be had but it’s not tightly designed.