EspRade... Most profane marriage of sorcery & science..

[ST Dragon]

I just played through EspRade on MAME and I must say I’m very impressed!

It shares a lot of elements with Shikigami No Shiro series, as you don’t have aircrafts but the main characters use magic as a mean of flight, rather than conventional flying devices.
While heavily influenced from sorcery, the magically powered Mechs, tanks & spaceships, the enchanted citadels and the blonde, red dressed Sorceress as the Final game Boss; this is one of the most profane marriages of sorcery & science / technology seen in a shooter.

The graphics are breath-taking, as it boasts some of the best looking pre-rendered sprites only matched by those in Psikyo’s Shooters.

The level music is awesome & the Techno / Epic Boss tracks keep you vigil though out every fight.

The weapons are very destructive and offer a great visual fest, especially the fully powered quad blasts, with the temporary impenetrable shield that surrounds you.

Gameplay is the typical Atlus / Cave manic-shooter formula, with the overwhelming bullets storms and the kick-ass Boss fights!

I wish this had been released on a console.
It would have been a perfect PSX, Saturn or DC port back in 1998-1999.

[ST Dragon]

It also features some poetically dramatic quotes.

Specifically right before the Last Stage (Yaksa Strong Hold)

Desperate cries echo.
The scream of anger shakes the earth and you discover that it came form your soul.

[Valgar]

Best looking Pre-rendered sprites, errr.. each CAVE game has gotten better and better in that area, ESPGaluda II now being the best.

[Icarus]

It shares a lot of elements with Shikigami No Shiro series, as you don’t have aircrafts but the main characters use magic as a mean of flight, rather than conventional flying devices.

Esprade was out long before Shikigami, so if anything, Shikigami borrowed those elements from Esprade. Esprade still does it better though.

[GaijinPunch]

I find it difficult to go back to after playing Cave's recent offerings. Lots of bullets, but with a relatively large hitbox. Still brilliant though, even if the boss-milking issue is boring as hell.

I've got a lot of info on it at my site but there are database issues at the moment. I'm in the process of moving to a new server within Gamespy IGN. The move isn't complete, but if you fancy looking at it, here's the new link.

[ST Dragon]

You're the creator of Japanese Gaming?!
It's a great site & resource.
Congrats!

[GaijinPunch]

Dat be me. Glad that it's of use.

[gameoverDude]

I wish this had been released on a console.
It would have been a perfect PSX, Saturn or DC port back in 1998-1999.

I would've loved to see ESPRaDe, Guwange, and Progear all get versions made for the Saturn 4M RAM cart.

[iatneH]

One of my favourite games, and I'm glad to have the PCB as part of my small (but growing) "essentials" library.

As a side note, I'm even more glad to have it now because my school's arcade, which used to have the game 1 Coin 1 Credit on default settings, has now sold out and is charging 2 Coins 1 Credit on Hard mode.