I want to buy this game, just want to know which version to get.
My considerations:
- Saturn Version costs twice as much.
- PSX Version doesn't have redbook audio. Does the Saturn version?
- Which port is better?
The PSX/PS2 Storm/Crisis double packs are out of the question, btw, since I already have Layer Section (SAT) and Raycrisis (PSX), so I need Raystorm to fit in next to them.
IIRC, the Saturn version has a bit of extra stuff in it (I forget exactly what...maybe an extra selectable ship?), but the graphics aren't as good as on the PS1. I've only played the latter though.
wasn't there a a thread some months ago that listed the differences between the Saturn/PSX/PS2/Dc versions of shmups ports. i'm pretty there was. wasn't able to find it when a search though.
There are two versions of RayStorm on the PSX. The original Japanese release (which is a pretty solid port from the arcade rev.. Taito G-Net I think) and the later re-release (which was certainly the version available on the Double Shooting: RayStorm X RayCrisis version and the US version).
The re-release adds 13-ship mode. You are given a single credit to play through with 13 lives (3 R-Gray-1 Manual, 3 R-Gray-1 Auto, 3 R-Gray-2 Manual, 3-R-Gray-2 Auto and finally 1 R-Gray-0.
The Saturn version has rather poor textures in comparison to the PSX version as well as having one or two tracks of music remixed (the main transfer screen after selecting your version of game comes to mind... it featuress a shot of the R-Gray 1 against a metalic background). The Saturn version allows selection of the R-Gray 0 in any mode as a default ship.
Seven Force wrote:Do you know if the SAT version has redbook audio. i.e. can the audio tracks be ripped from the game CD?
I've actually tried burning the soundtrack from the Saturn version onto a blank CD-R once. And it worked fine. I did the same with Layer Section, Thunderforce V, Darius Gaiden & Rockman X3. I've never actually tried ripping an individual song. It should work though. I hope this helps ya.
BTW, I'd get the PSX version if I were you. The in-game graphics and the intro/cut scenes look much better than the Saturn version.
One of the main issues people had with Layer Section II's visuals was the absense of transparencies. MediaQuest instead used mesh techniques. There was also more slowdown.
I wonder, did the Saturn version include Extra Mode, like the original PSX release? (I don't think Extra Mode is available on The Double Shooting)
Kiken wrote:There are two versions of RayStorm on the PSX. The original Japanese release (which is a pretty solid port from the arcade rev.. Taito G-Net I think)
Actually Raystorm was on Taito's FX-1B hardware, alongside G.Darius, which was PSX-based. So in the same case as Sonic Wings Special, the PSX version is as close as you can get to a 1:1 console arcade port.
You weren't that off, though. Raycrisis was the one on G-Net.
Skyline wrote:I wonder, did the Saturn version include Extra Mode, like the original PSX release? (I don't think Extra Mode is available on The Double Shooting).
The Double Shooting version has the PS-exclusive Extra Mode.
Skyline wrote:
Kiken wrote:There are two versions of RayStorm on the PSX. The original Japanese release (which is a pretty solid port from the arcade rev.. Taito G-Net I think)
Actually Raystorm was on Taito's FX-1B hardware, alongside G.Darius, which was PSX-based. So in the same case as Sonic Wings Special, the PSX version is as close as you can get to a 1:1 console arcade port.
You weren't that off, though. Raycrisis was the one on G-Net.
Ah, thank you. I had a feeling that G-Net wasn't right For Ray Storm. It seems that G-Net shmup ports to PS1 have a tendancy to lose the 2nd player (Ray Crisis and Night Raid come to mind).
I just nabbed the Double Shooting: RayStorm X RayCrisis....is there any reason to keep the US PS1 verions?
well, from my experience the US PS1 version of Raystorm is botched by the fact that you can't play the whole game unless you set the difficulty to 5 or higher. IIRC the default is 3, which is already devil-nasty hard.
So yeah, then I got the JPN version but I still wasn't able to 1CC this damn beast of a game because I suck.
Thank you for making a ten-year bump into a two-year one.
Ray Storm runs on PlayStation-based hardware, making a port very easy. The original Japanese PlayStation release is more or less a direct port, though I theorize there is more slowdown in the same manner as the G Darius arcade to PlayStation port. This port also adds a number of goodies: an arrange soundtrack, stage select, a kills display, a "13 Players Order Mode" where you play with 13 lives made of various ship types, and an "Extra Mode" that's a little different everywhere. In 2001, there was a rerelease of Ray Storm and Ray Crisis as part of D3's Simple 1500 Series, called The Double Shooting. It's almost identical to the original release, but the arrange soundtrack was removed.
The US PlayStation release is strange. It's the same game, but they changed the default settings. Here, you have 5 lives and the game is set to difficulty 4, rather than the 3 lives and difficulty 2 that is innate to Ray Storm. It also adds a very nasty mechanic where the game ends after beating stage 4 if you set the difficulty below 4 for any stage, making it impossible to set the options back to the original defaults. Some small aesthetic changes too: the opening music was changed to something completely unfitting, and the title screen is now integrated into the game itself (in the Japanese version, the title screen leads into a simulation of the arcade environment, like Raiden Project).
It is generally believed that the original Japanese PlayStation release does not have 13 Players. This is completely false, and I don't know where Sotenga got that idea. 13 Players, as with a number of other options, can and must be unlocked in all PlayStation versions; I think you just have to finish Extra Mode to get it.
The Saturn version would be stranger than the US version if it wasn't a totally different port by different people. It was released later on in 1997, and was renamed Layer Section II to match the earlier port of Ray Force. Aside from the graphical changes, there are a large number of differences. The default difficulty has been raised to 3 for some reason. Extra Mode, the arrange soundtrack, and 13 Players Order Mode have been removed. Things like stage select, the kills display, and the credit limit are already unlocked, and the R-Gray 0 from 13 Players is a selectable ship. The stage select has been slightly expanded into the "Attack Mode", and you have to unlock each stage at a time.
I knew there was some difficulty-fuckery with the Working Designs port, but I didn't know it messed with the game that much. The USA PS1 port is now a lot less desirable in my eyes, especially compared to the PS2 Taito Legends 2 port. I always felt that the PS1 game was way too hard as it was, though I really liked the arrange mode. Victor Ireland I wish you weren't such an asshole. >=(
I do wonder what fresh fuckeries Vic and the boys might've been tempted to visit on Hyper Duel, Blast Wind and the TF Gold Packs, had WD's proposed NTSCU localisations happened.
Maybe have HD subtract tick points for staying still.
At least NTSCU Raystorm has a super-shiny logo for blinding potential muggers! Daylight ones at least.
Do not buy the Saturn version unless you are a hardcore fan of the games and want to collect them all. Compared to the PS1 version, it looks like ass, runs like ass at parts, and isn't worth twice the price as a result.
What does everyone think of the PS2 Taito Memories port? Is it pretty much arcade perfect? It looks muddy to me, like the game has some ugly bi-linear filtering going on.
It's fugly but plays very accurately, AFAIK. Much like G-Darius on the same disc. Neither seems to have any slowdown whatsoever, might be worth mentioning (I don't recall if either game had much in AC format). Handling feels sharp, though the graphics aren't.
In related news, I am constructing Soviet gulag in backyard for all the PS2 port devs who insisted on hideous N64 graphics filters. There's a lot of the fuckers, but we're on track to rounding 'em all up and having them breaking rocks in the hot hot sun by 2020.
Austin wrote:Do not buy the Saturn version unless you are a hardcore fan of the games and want to collect them all. Compared to the PS1 version, it looks like ass, runs like ass at parts, and isn't worth twice the price as a result.
It really doesn't look much worse, and the R-Gray0 alone is worth it. It's not worth the price, no. Most console games are not worth the crazy prices they command.
I'm not sure I ever want to equate "hardcore fan" with a mindless collector of a series that would never sit down to study the versions. Eww.
I don't know if this warrants its own topic, but I figure I'd ask: Does anyone know off-hand if Working Designs made any changes to Taito's port of RayCrisis for the PS1? The whole difficulty-changing thing still has me steamed. RayCrisis at least benefits from being a far shorter (and imo, more "dynamic" -due to the level select-) game, so it's not unthinkable to reach the final boss with practice.
Thanks for the Raystorm info. I think I'll go for the JP PSX version. I like what I played of the PS2 version. Is the PS1 the best home version available? Raystorm HD is stretched poorly.
Glad it wasn't just me that thought this. I take it the game isn't redone or cropped, just stretched out so everything is fat and looks like shit? can the widescreen be turned off?
EmperorIng wrote:I don't know if this warrants its own topic, but I figure I'd ask: Does anyone know off-hand if Working Designs made any changes to Taito's port of RayCrisis for the PS1? The whole difficulty-changing thing still has me steamed. RayCrisis at least benefits from being a far shorter (and imo, more "dynamic" -due to the level select-) game, so it's not unthinkable to reach the final boss with practice.
Only things I've found:
-"YOU MUST CHOOSE NOW THE COURSE OF YOUR FUTURE." -> "YOU MUST NOW CHOOSE THE COURSE OF YOUR FUTURE."
-Selecting Easy brings up a message about a password in the Japanese versions
Maybe the original Infinity requirements are in the Japanese version, or maybe playing on Easy prevents you from reaching Infinity in the WD version. I have no idea.
Glad it wasn't just me that thought this. I take it the game isn't redone or cropped, just stretched out so everything is fat and looks like shit? can the widescreen be turned off?
It is possible to patch the ps1 version to run in widescreen. Unfortunately not on real hardware, yet....
When Working Designs was considering bring Taito's PSX port of Raystorm to the USA, for it's SPAZ label debut, decided to have a $10,000 contest (hence the very different default difficulty settings/changes just for that particular contest alone to determine a fair way to play it without resorting to cheating devices like Goldfinger, Super Game Wizard, Game Shark, etc). I entered this RS contest and managed to place in the top 10 rankings -- my consolation prize was a cool but memorable Working Designs RS mouse pad that I still have to this very day. You had to submit a VHS tape of a special final screen with your overall highest score and send it in before a certain cut-off date to enter the contest. I used an PSX Ascii joystick to get my final RS score to be submitted for final consideration and hoped for the best. It paid off in the end with that aforementioned special mouse pad, indeed. It was well worth the time and effort spent to enter this RS contest.
Working Designs, also, sold a beautiful RS poster that features the signatures of the original Taito PSX RS staff as a bonus on the the backside. I bought one but WD managed to slip in two for good measure -- had one RS poster professionally framed (and no trimming to it as it's an odd-sized poster to begin with) but to the tune of $222.00+ but well worth in the end & was very pleased with the overall framing presentation. The professionally framed WD Spaz label RS poster still hangs on my bedroom wall to this very day.
Working Designs' port of Ray Crisis remains the same like it's Japanese Taito PSX counterpart of the same name. Even the WD port of RC still retains the cool Pocket Ray mini game to download to a Pocketstation handheld. How cool is that? SCEA was planning to sell/distribute the Pocketstation in the USA back in 1999-2000 (it was later axed) and thus a handful of NTSC-U PSX titles still have Pocketstation compatibility from the get-go including WD's port of RC & Namco's Ridge Racer Type 4. Again, Working Designs had another $10,000 contest for RC as well which I entered (but didn't place in the top 10 rankings this time around).
Interestingly, the Taito PSX port of Ray Crisis demo was setup at the Spring 2000 Tokyo Game Show for all attendees to try out that year on Saturday, the first day that the TGS was open to the general public. I got in line to try it out and later found out that it was a single stage demo at best (but still fun nevertheless). Konami had a dedicated booth showing non-stop video footage of it's upcoming PS2 based Gradius III & IV shmup that some video game journalists were very eager/interested to learn more about. Other than those two noteworthy shmup related tidbits, no other shmup-worthy info was disclosed/announced at that Spring 2000 TGS event.
I recall asking when the Taito PSX port of Ray Crisis was going to be officially released in Japan. The answer given was to be on April 20th, 2000. So I pre-ordered a copy from NCSX and it arrived as promised during April of 2000. Was tickled pink to learn about Pocket Ray but it takes a whopping 14 blocks + 1 block free for the actual Ray Crisis game saving functionality (so in all, the entire 15 block of memory of a typical Pocketstation setup is used up leaving the user with absolutely no free blocks to use at a later date/time). So it makes sense to have a dedicated Pocketstation on hand for use with PSX RC exclusively.
When I got word that Working Designs was porting RC stateside, I managed to pre-order a copy through my local Software Etc. (yep, those were the days when Software Etc, Funcoland, Baggage's, Electronic Boutique & Gamestop were separate competitors/franchises in the speciality video game retail business of lore) and got it on day one of release when it was released. I personally asked how many copies were shipped in and the answer was 6 copies came in (all pre-ordered/reserved, of course).
Due to the memory constraints of the PSX hardware, both NTSC PSX ports of RC (JPN & USA) feature single player only whereas on the original Taito G-Net arcade hardware setup, RC is a two-player game from the get-go (however, the cool R-Gray 0 fightercraft is locked/not selectable on the G-Net Card iteration upon booting it up for the first time with default settings -- am not sure what the exact requirements are to unlock it/save it directly to the G-Card for posterity to play/choose at a later date/time -- the PSX ports of RC do have the cool R-Gray 0 already selectable from the get-go which is a nice touch/bonus as it is so that's cool in my book). That's a given in this day of age.
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Here's an Easter Egg trick for the Working Designs port of Raystorm: "Unlock Free Play Mode"
When the words "Press Start Button" appear at the title screen, hold L1 + L2 + R1 + R2 buttons and press Start; when the main menu screen appears, continue to hold L1 + L2 + R1 + R2 buttons and press Up (on the D-pad) seven times, then Down, then Up four times, then Start; you'll hear a voiceover say, "Limiter released" and you should now be at the "Option" menu. Choose "Configuration" and you'll find a new "Credit Limit" option; turn it off to get infinite credits/free play.
Note: Working Designs finally released this particular aforementioned easter egg trick after their $10,000 Raystorm contest had ended. There was no previous knowledge of it's existence until after the contest had run it's course.
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RayCrisis at least benefits from being a far shorter (and imo, more "dynamic" -due to the level select-) game, so it's not unthinkable to reach the final boss with practice.
