Arrow Flash is kinda meh

LoneSage · Post by **LoneSage** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 3:01 am

Played through it tonight, my opinion of it lowered just a tad. Mainly because of the boring environments, and that I shoot the same enemies coming in nearly the same patterns for 5 whole minutes in a level...

After playing it, I played summa that Sol-Deace on the Genesis, too, and that game's hardcore. Any other shmups Wolf Team's worked on?

Ganelon · Post by **Ganelon** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 3:07 am

Glad you liked Sol-Feace. It gets a lot of flak nowadays, for being simple I guess. Yeah, Arrow Flash is a bit monotonous. Wolf Team also did Granada, which was even more boring IMO.

LoneSage · Post by **LoneSage** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 3:15 am

Wow cool Renovation must have had some deal with Wolf Team then to have brought Granada over too...did WT make AF, by chance?

Granada's pretty cool, I need to put more time into it. For overhead tank shooters you can do no wrong with Iron Tank by SNK.

still haven't tried out Guardian Force on the Saturn, yet.

Ganelon · Post by **Ganelon** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 3:29 am

Meh, can't stand tank shooters myself... esp. not multi-direction ones.

Renovation was the American branch of Telenet, which was closely affiliated with Wolf Team during the early 90's, hence why all (I think) Wolf Team games were published by Telenet in Japan and by Renovation in the US. For more info on Wolf Team's pre-Tales games, check out this site:
http://www.shadatannis.com/wolfteam/

Telenet themselves made games as well, one of which was Arrow Flash. So nope, no Wolf Team involvement there.

overdrive · Post by **overdrive** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 8:46 pm

I thought the second level of Arrow Flash was kinda cool-looking, but overall, that was a pretty boring game. It doesn't help that the Arrow Flash weapon is so overpowered that it'll obliterate bosses in next-to-no time at all.

tehkao · Post by **tehkao** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 10:34 pm

Have u tried Whip Rush? That game is so much better than Arrow Flash.

LoneSage · Post by **LoneSage** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 11:34 pm

Yeah, I like Whip Rush a lot more. I'm certain the AF team also made WR, if I'm not mistaken.

I haven't played my Genney in quite awhile, but today I bought Air Buster so I'll be breakin her out tonight.

overdrive · Post by **overdrive** » Fri Apr 01, 2005 4:25 pm

I liked Air Buster. The "zero gravity" outer space stuff in a couple of later levels was kinda blah, but overall, it was a pretty fun little game with some cool levels.

Inspired by all the times it was mentioned in the worst game ever thread, I decided to break out Curse last night. I wouldn't call it horrible, but it's not great either. The only thing I really hate is that I suffered a couple CHEAP deaths early on by running into trees I thought were in the background. And I'm not overly fond of how a powered-up weapon can make mincemeat out of bosses.

But other than that, it's been fairly non-offensive in the early going. Kind of a "manic lite" game where there can be a ton of stuff coming at you, but it's not overwhelming on anything. Maybe the game gets a lot tougher later on, but at this point (3 or so stages), I'm thinking that the multi-hit absorbing shield was a mistake, as it can make things too easy. On the other hand, I like how they make power-ups plentiful so you're not screwed when you lose a life.

LoneSage · Post by **LoneSage** » Fri Apr 01, 2005 5:45 pm

Wow, I really like Whip Rush. I thought the zero gravity level was pretty fun too, and the best thing about the game is its bosses.

I gues I'm a little biased towards it to because I'm a Kaneko fan.

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Fri Apr 01, 2005 8:31 pm

I really like Whip Rush too. I have the Japanese version. What does the text say in the intro of the US version?

jiji · Post by **jiji** » Fri Apr 01, 2005 8:39 pm

Arrow Flash is pretty dull on normal, yeah, but has anybody tried it on hard? It practically turns into a Toaplan-style shooter in terms of difficulty and the number of aimed bullets. That's not to say it's necessarily better - it's just quite a bit more interesting. Also, it's interesting that the game lets you choose between charged and stocked super shots. The game feels like it wasn't designed with as strict a design document as most arcade shooters (and perhaps suffered for it).

Fans of Granada should try Metal Stoker on the PC Engine. It's fairly similar, but it's better on a technical level and it tries some different things. I think its gameplay and level design are tighter and a bit better-designed, too.

LoneSage · Post by **LoneSage** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 2:03 am

BrianC wrote:I really like Whip Rush too. I have the Japanese version. What does the text say in the intro of the US version?

Oops, I meant to say Air Buster

Though I also own Whip Rush, next time I boot it up I'll tell you what it says.

overdrive · Post by **overdrive** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 3:28 am

Whip Rush 2222AD's American text.....

In 2222 AD,
Three exploratory spaceships departed
our overpopulated solar system...

In search of new worlds to colonize

Five years later, the ships were
listed as 'missing and presumed lost'.

Their last transmission:
'We are approaching the planet,
Voltegeus...'

Less than a week after the incident...

A massive alien vessel materialized
in the vicinity of Mars

The vessel's heading?
The third planet from the sun ---
Earth.

After the whole explosion thingie.....the title scree then reads

Whip Rush
2222AD: The Invasion of the Voltegians

Thunder Force · Post by **Thunder Force** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 9:17 am

Anyone knows who did the soundtrack for Whip Rush, and what else they worked on?

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 9:38 am

overdrive wrote:Whip Rush 2222AD's American text.....

In 2222 AD,
Three exploratory spaceships departed
our overpopulated solar system...

In search of new worlds to colonize

Five years later, the ships were
listed as 'missing and presumed lost'.

Their last transmission:
'We are approaching the planet,
Voltegeus...'

Less than a week after the incident...

A massive alien vessel materialized
in the vicinity of Mars

The vessel's heading?
The third planet from the sun ---
Earth.

After the whole explosion thingie.....the title scree then reads

Whip Rush
2222AD: The Invasion of the Voltegians

Thanks. I would like to know who did the soundtrack too. That game has some cool music.

SheSaidDutch · Post by **SheSaidDutch** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 12:38 pm

If you thought Whip Flash was monotonous check out Strike Gunner onthe Snes

It's what nightmares come from...

Blade · Post by **Blade** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 4:20 pm

*looks at thread* ;_________;

Arrow Flash was my first shmup guys....I liked it.

Thunder Force · Post by **Thunder Force** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 5:27 pm

To remind folks who may have missed it last year, Sega re-registered their formal trademark for Arrow Flash at the Japan Patents office. Often when such patents are registered it can mean there is an internal project proposal being considered for approval for further development. Maybe they were considering an Arrow Flash remake project for PS2.

Melf · Post by **Melf** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 6:18 pm

I liked Arrow Flash, but I agree that it was kind of monotonous. Whip Rush rocks, but my favorite Renovation shmup is Gaiares.

tehkao · Post by **tehkao** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 9:24 pm

Arrow Flash and Whip Rush were also some of the few rare American Genesis games that had good box art....

tehkao · Post by **tehkao** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 9:32 pm

BTW Melf, hope you don't mind me stealing my avatar from your site. Your site is the frickin bomb BTW.

Melf · Post by **Melf** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 9:57 pm

No problem dude. That pic is originally from the now-defunct Starbase 299. I love the little animation it had. My avatar is from Arrow Flash too!

Thanks for the kudos!

overdrive · Post by **overdrive** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 4:13 am

Blade

Don't get me wrong. Arrow Flash is NOT a bad game by any means. If it'd been my first shooter or even my first 16-bit one, I'd have loved it. But in comparison to a good number of other shooters from that general time period, that game just came across as a bit on the "average" side with little to recommend it over those others.

landshark · Post by **landshark** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 5:18 am

I enjoyed both of these games back in the day. They may not live up by today's standards, but back then they were a good time.

Blade · Post by **Blade** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 6:28 pm

Thunder Force wrote:To remind folks who may have missed it last year, Sega re-registered their formal trademark for Arrow Flash at the Japan Patents office. Often when such patents are registered it can mean there is an internal project proposal being considered for approval for further development. Maybe they were considering an Arrow Flash remake project for PS2.

If they made a more modern Arrow Flash 2...I would so be giddy with joy...as Arrow Flash has a lot of (for me personally) some of my favorite Genesis music. Of course Thunder Force 4 and M.U.S.H.A. beat it...but still...

TWITCHDOCTOR · Post by **TWITCHDOCTOR** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 6:34 pm

landshark wrote:I enjoyed both of these games back in the day. They may not live up by today's standards, but back then they were a good time.

Even back in the day it was average...but then again, "average" is at least good, just not as good or epic as say ThunderForce III.