The Aleste series: I don't get it

[pilotwings]

Does super aleste not have anything to do with any of these alestes. Plus what does aleste mean anyway?

[Shatterhand]

I Know Super Aleste has some plot... but the western versions cut out it, so we would need someone who owns the JP version and can understand what the manual says about it.... even the ending of both versions is different AFAIK, the JP one giving a conclusion to the story...

[pilotwings]

I have a jap version but i can't read jap ;(

[Shatterhand]

Can you scan it? Maybe someone here could translate it.

I know a guy who knows japanese (And thanx to him I know so much about the Aleste story), but I dunno if I can contact him now, or even if he's interested in any Aleste game that's not an MSX one...

[ccovell]

I read ages ago that Aleste (pronounced "Arrester") in Japanese is katakana for just that, a lightning arrester, or lightning rod. Can anyone confirm?

[ED-057]

the Super Aleste ending is online here http://www.vgmuseum.com/end/snes/c/saleste.htm although it doesn't tell me a whole lot, not knowing the backstory

[Herr Schatten]

I always thought that Super Aleste played more akin to GunHed than to the Aleste series, so maybe it's actually a sequel to the PCE game and got part of the Aleste series by accident?

[Ceph]

the Super Aleste ending is online here http://www.vgmuseum.com/end/snes/c/saleste.htm although it doesn't tell me a whole lot, not knowing the backstory

Is that the translated SFC Super Aleste ending?

[Ed Oscuro]

It plays great but I'm a gamer who likes his story in a game.

lmfao

also +points to shatterhand for, er, eradicating this misconception. It amuses me to no end how (many) shooters have insanely over-engineered storylines.

the Super Aleste ending is online here http://www.vgmuseum.com/end/snes/c/saleste.htm although it doesn't tell me a whole lot, not knowing the backstory

Is that the translated SFC Super Aleste ending?

It's probably the PAL release of the game.

[Shatterhand]

Hmm... I dobut this is the japanese ending, and what I read is that the japanese ending is different.

Who the hell is Thi and Laz anyway?

[pilotwings]

This is in the front of the jap super aleste manual. It looks like the story.

http://img375.imageshack.us/img375/8601/img1uw2.jpg

(HUGE embedded pic, changed it to a link instead -Ghegs)

[ED-057]

big glowing sphere attacks earth's cities and then parks itself over central American jungle, Aleste squad retaliates but is ineffective, Thi appears and turns Laz's ship into Super Aleste so he can save the day

ishitai means ghost(s) I guess??

[Despatche]

Old topic, but hey. And yeah, plot bits can be fun, I think Shatterhand explained that pretty well.

About the plot of Dennin: basically an alternate-universe feudal Japan that gained Gundams. You're one of Nobunaga's soldiers, you eventually realize he's a demon, and go kill him. Nobunaga being unholy and/or a demon is a common bit of his legend; think he had some nicknames to that effect.

I read ages ago that Aleste (pronounced "Arrester") in Japanese is katakana for just that, a lightning arrester, or lightning rod. Can anyone confirm?

I think in this context, it's more of a pun. I also find it odd that タ (sounds like ("tah") is being used for "te".

On the subject, the name was probably chosen for the same reason names like "Thunder Force" were, though it could also refer to the Aleste craft being a "arrester" for the crazed biocomputer (bioelectricity).

I always thought that Super Aleste played more akin to GunHed than to the Aleste series, so maybe it's actually a sequel to the PCE game and got part of the Aleste series by accident?

The thing about the Aleste series is that there are a lot of games in it that seemingly shouldn't be and a lot of games outside it that seemingly should. Really, nearly all of Compile's shooters (Spriggan mark-2 seems like a good exception) could be referred to as "Aleste" and it'd make sense, especially seeing as Aleste itself is simply "Zanac 2" in all but name.

I'm thinking there's so much variance between all the games because there are different creative designers for this and that. Likewise, a lot of the people who worked on Super Aleste probably also worked on Gunhed, and Mahou Daisakusen was specifically meant to be Musha as an arcade game.

Also, remember that stuff like Gaiden and Musha/Dennin are pretty weird by Aleste standards; a big part of Zanac/Aleste is the fairly large amount of weapons.

[Pretas]

Nobunaga being unholy and/or a demon is a common bit of his legend; think he had some nicknames to that effect.

I'm no expert on the subject, but it probably stemmed from his Christian affiliations.

[nosorrow]

I love that we now have two (!) Compile-related topics on the first page. (I take the blame for one of the two )

P.S. I enjoy modern shooters as much as the next guy, but I wish, as a part-time lurker, that there were a bit more discussions about 90s (or late 80s) shoot 'em ups on the forum.

[LordHypnos]

I love that we now have two (!) Compile-related topics on the first page. (I take the blame for one of the two )

P.S. I enjoy modern shooters as much as the next guy, but I wish, as a part-time lurker, that there were a bit more discussions about 90s (or late 80s) shoot 'em ups on the forum.

Yeah, it's pretty lacking. Would be nice even if only for variety.

[nosorrow]

That's the main reason I have been ressuscitating old topics lately: to read about the older games too. So, I'm combing through the archives in search of interesting discussions/takes about the classics and/or games I might have missed (it's a shame that there isn't any pre-2005 content though, but I think the data might have been lost at some point (?)).

Anyways, even back in 2005, classic shmups weren't the talk of the town anymore, but they were at least discussed on a semi-regular basis. /old man rant

[Mortificator]

I always thought that Super Aleste played more akin to GunHed than to the Aleste series, so maybe it's actually a sequel to the PCE game and got part of the Aleste series by accident?

The thing about the Aleste series is that there are a lot of games in it that seemingly shouldn't be and a lot of games outside it that seemingly should. Really, nearly all of Compile's shooters (Spriggan mark-2 seems like a good exception) could be referred to as "Aleste" and it'd make sense, especially seeing as Aleste itself is simply "Zanac 2" in all but name.

I'm thinking there's so much variance between all the games because there are different creative designers for this and that. Likewise, a lot of the people who worked on Super Aleste probably also worked on Gunhed, and Mahou Daisakusen was specifically meant to be Musha as an arcade game.

Building on that, I'd say that series usually haven't been important in the world of vertical shooters. Outside Compile, Strikers 1945 is the successor to Sengoku Ace in all but name, as is Varth to 1941, or Kyukyoku Tiger to Flying Shark...

This is different from many other genres, and even from horis, where four big series dominated.

[LordHypnos]

That's the main reason I have been ressuscitating old topics lately: to read about the older games too. So, I'm combing through the archives in search of interesting discussions/takes about the classics and/or games I might have missed (it's a shame that there isn't any pre-2005 content though, but I think the data might have been lost at some point (?)).

Anyways, even back in 2005, classic shmups weren't the talk of the town anymore, but they were at least discussed on a semi-regular basis. /old man rant

You know, you can find some topics from an earlier incarnation of shmups forum (2001-2002) archived (?) here: http://www.network54.com/Forum/121510/

Can't bump the topics, though

[nosorrow]

oh, wow! thanks Hypnos.

I remember reading reviews from the site way back in 1997/1998 or something... Is that possible? I see the name of the guy (Malc) who used to run the site back then on the forums now and then, is it the same guy?

Can't bump the topics, though

lol!!

[LordHypnos]

oh, wow! thanks Hypnos.

I remember reading reviews from the site way back in 1997/1998 or something... Is that possible? I see the name of the guy (Malc) who used to run the site back then on the forums now and then, is it the same guy?

Can't bump the topics, though

lol!!

Might have been the xenocide files. Those reviews go pretty far back. Couldn't tell you exactly how far.

[nosorrow]

that's exactly that... wow, takes me back!

[GSK]

Nintendo Saturn, you might wanna try Strania if you haven't already--it's a modern game that obviously takes a lot of influence from the likes of Spriggan and Aleste.

[nosorrow]

It can be downloaded on a J 360, right?

Isn't that the G Rev game? I was always interested in this, until someone told me it sucked... I was then prompted read a few reviews and they were all underwhelming. Can you vouch for the game? I have Border Down and (soon) Under Defeat on the Dreamcast and I'm always a sucker for games from a simpler time (90s) that are well crafted. (I won't be hard to convince to give it a shot, unless it is broken and/or too badly designed.)

P.S. I also made a thread about it in Trading Station, but I might just ask here as well: anyone here willing to sell off their copy of Sega CD Robo Aleste (VG condition, at least)? If so, please let it be known!

[BulletMagnet]

There is a demo of Strania if you want to see for yourself.

[Doctor Butler]

"yeah, that looks sorta cool... but what's it about? i can't play a game without a story."

Tell them to watch a movie.

[Skyknight]

I seem to remember hearing that Aleste 2 revealed that Dia51 had been reprogrammed by alien spores. The senders turn out to be a race of what appear to be humanoids, but actually plant-based. (Well, if Lovecraft could come up with fungal crustaceans...) Turning Dia51 against humanity was their attempt to make colonizing Earth that much easier. So, after discovering that their new weapon was quelled, they start by killing poor Ray...

I think MUSHA Aleste is supposed to be in its own continuity. You certainly face BOTH the mad(dened) supercomputer (Daia 51--note the change in pronunciation) and the corrupting influence (Ayanokouji) in the same game.

[TWITCHDOCTOR]

I never thought that the story was really important, in a shmup.
All this time, I could have sworn that the main nemisis was/is "Dire 51".
At least in MUSHA USA version.

Great games by the way...

[Shatterhand]

Only recently I found some really curious stuff about Aleste 2

The game came in 3 disks, and like everyone here in Brazil, my copy was pirated, disks were labeled disk 1, disk 2 and disk 3.

DIsk 1 shows the intro, then after you start the game, you have to insert disk 2. There's a message in japanese that I could never read, but there's clearly a letter A in the message.

When you reach level 5, you have to insert disc 2 to keep on playing, but the message in japanese clearly has a letter "B"

When you finish the game, you have to insert disc 1 again to see the ending, but the message asking to change the disk doesn't show any letter.

I recently found that originally the disks are labeled "VISUAL DISC, "DISC A" and "DISC B"

And when you reach level 5, you can ACTUALLY INSERT THE VISUAL DISC and there's a cut-scene there. I've played this for more than 20 years and I only found about this a couple of months ago! The message says something like "Insert Disc B to skip cut-scene or Visual Disc to watch cut-scene"

Also, you can boot the game from any disk (You can skip the intro by booting the game from Disk "A", or Disk 2 as it was labeled to me), but this actually CHANGES THE DIFFICULTY LEVEL! If I remember correctly, botting from Visual Disk gives you MEDIUM difficulty, booting from Disk A gives you EASY and booting from disk B gives you HARD.

For a more detailed plot of Aleste 1, taken from a translated text I found on web sometime ago:

20 years ago, Earth´s environment-regulating supercomputer "DIA51" got infected with a virus, warping all its data.
DIA51 created a freak of plants, bursting through mankind´s concrete, fabricated world, growing so fast it eventually struck people.
The supercomputer´s core explodes with plants. The explosion blows the roof of the building housing it.

One of the scientists working with DIA51, a woman named "Yuri", is struck by the explosion.
She's wondering what kept her boyfriend, who was supposed to pick her up from work.

Her boyfriend is a man named "Ray Waizen"; a pilot of prototype jet fighter "Aleste".
He arrives only to find Yuri injured and unconscious. He swears to DIA51 that he can not forgive this.
Ray flees from the building, dragging Yuri along to a hospital; or "medical emergency".

Ray Waizen ascends with Aleste to end the DIA51 menace which is crawling planet earth already.
Ray Waizen completes the mission with Aleste.
When returning to "the base", he finds Yuri to be alive.
Together, they leave Aleste´s landing platform.

Intro for Aleste 2:
A.D. 2029

Earth human exploring ship "Dark Truth" cruises the galaxy.
The legendary Ray Waizen is aboard.

The virus which infected DIA51 was sent to Earth by the "Vargants"; a plant-based humanoid species.
The preservation of their species relies on infecting other planets and absorbing all life force off of them.
When the plants, which are sent preceding any attack, have succeeded in overpowering the planet, they will send a signal to the Vargants to commence harvesting it.

Next target is planet Earth.

Commander "Ruuza" and Weapon Commander "Brafnel" observe Earth.
Vargant Emperor "Gaizel" orders to attack.
Earth is attacked; first target is New York, U.S.A.

Ellinor Waizen, daughter of Ray and Yuri Waizn, sets out to avenge her father.
She pilots an improved type of the Aleste plane.


You then play areas 1 to 4

Middle Cut-scene:

Ellinor destroyed the base of the invading enemy.
Weapon Commander "Brafnel" rises from the demolished war machine.

He tells Ellinor that the attack she diverted was merely a lead-off strategy.
The battle she fought, took place in a time-bubble.
In reality, 3 months have passed.

Brafnel tells Ellinor that planet Earth is now a world of fire.
Ellinor kills Brafnel with Aleste´s board guns.

She leaves the time-bubble to find Brafnel was right.

The player now has to play the same levels in reversed order, but earth is completely destroyed by the Aliens

Ending:
It's just a credits-roll, that shows that Gaizel is defeated, the pilot escapeing from the exploding base and all her friends await her.
Ellinor drops flowers into the ocean as a tribute to her father, Ray Waizen.
At the beach, Commander Ruuza picks up the flowers and puts them in her hair.

[Despatche]

Wow, the way they used disks like that is incredible. I wish more games did that, instead of having some silly opening disk that you can't even switch from sometimes.

Hm... wonder if this "Ruuza" shows up or is referred to in any other game.