Perhaps because of the evidence currently given to Dariusburst CS...CIT wrote:Quite surprised to see all this Darius love! I'm sure a couple of years ago the result would have looked very different.
Your favourite iconic horizontal series
Re: Your favourite iconic horizontal series
-
KyoKusagani1999
- Posts: 61
- Joined: Thu Jan 26, 2012 1:50 pm
- Location: Southington, CT
Re: Your favourite iconic horizontal series
I have loads of praise for the Darius series for being a three screened beast that demands anyone's attention the moment they lay their eyes on the cabinet.
On top of having an impressive resolution, Taito's horizontal shooter went above and beyond setting itself apart from its brothers with
its luscious, mouth watering soundtrack composed by the fine folks at Zuntata, whom continue to rock the house even to this day !
Granted, there's no question that R-Type and Gradius are just as influential, but Darius was the one that left
a personal impression on me, and thus, my vote goes to the fishiest one of them all.
On top of having an impressive resolution, Taito's horizontal shooter went above and beyond setting itself apart from its brothers with
its luscious, mouth watering soundtrack composed by the fine folks at Zuntata, whom continue to rock the house even to this day !
Granted, there's no question that R-Type and Gradius are just as influential, but Darius was the one that left
a personal impression on me, and thus, my vote goes to the fishiest one of them all.
Re: Your favourite iconic horizontal series
It's a high quality field looking at the choices but I went for Gradius. It's consistently good and it also covers Parodius. G I, II and Gaiden are superb games. The rest aren't half bad though III and IV aren't that friendly. G V was a nice comeback.
Re: Your favourite iconic horizontal series
Darius 24 votes and Gradius 20 votes. Only 4 more to a draw ...
One of the coolest things about Darius beyond the "Fishes" and Music are the Multiple Paths that the player can choose. An invention ahead of its time!
One of the coolest things about Darius beyond the "Fishes" and Music are the Multiple Paths that the player can choose. An invention ahead of its time!
Re: Your favourite iconic horizontal series
Make that 5Kobayashi wrote:Darius 24 votes and Gradius 20 votes. Only 4 more to a draw ...
Tough choice between the two, but I chose Darius over Gradius due to the multi-screen effect during gameplay
I wasn't much of an R-Type fan and never played any Thunder Force games
Re: Your favourite iconic horizontal series
I really don't think I can cast a vote. All series have their ups and downs.
Starting with Darius, 'Gaiden Extra Version' has it's mammoth 26 stage mode, which in itself makes it a king among hori's. The firepower is chunky and impressive, lots of great effects. G-Darius has a lot of the same brilliance, it's shorter, but its 3D and more modern. Truly great stuff. The capture system adds an interesting variety to it and I really appreciate choosing my next level path. I emulate the excellent Darius Burst (PSP) but I just feel the series could branch out a bit in terms of the aquatic foes you (always) come across. Give the fish a rest, try something new?
Gradius: I think the total magnificence of GV is hard to put into words. It is possibly the most slickest, sickest, hori I've seen. It really tried to be 'the hori to end all horis' and the production values were off the scale. It was pure. The music was astounding. Gaiden also lays claim to greatness. The series as a whole has a mature vibe and is probably the thinking mans shooter. However the power-up system is a bit too technical for my liking, for example, collecting too many power-ups can work against you. A lack of variety in weaponry and craft holds it back a bit, but what it does correctly, it does with aplomb.
R-Type: The most famous of the bunch, and probably the series that was the most incapable of moving with the times. The high point of R-Type was Delta. 4 ships, each with wildy different themes. A great mix of weaponry, it has power-ups, charge shots, smart bombs, pods, and bits. It felt like a 'best of' R-Type while pushing the bundaries like never before. The older games were brilliant, but in ways they look every one of their 30+ years. The 'plodding' nature of R-Type works against it in my opinion. The complete opposite to TF. Final's 101 ships is a great thing, but the levels were quite boring.
Thunder Force: The most under-rated of the bunch sadly. The pyotechnical aspect of the series is absolutely super. Juggling 5 different types of firepower with different buttons makes the player look like a top don. Now I'm using homing shots. Now I'm using lock-on weapons. Now I'm firing backwards. Brilliant stuff, even TF3 holds up well nowadays and TF5/6 took the adrenaline packed gameplay and gave it an astounding visual upgrade and added more ships. The cool factor of the game can change from cheesy to pure Hollywood in the blink of an eye.
Therefore I cannot really cast a vote, as all the series have their peaks and troughs. I might be swayed to say Gradius V is my all-time favourite, with Thunder Force 6's pure energy and pizzazz making it a very close second, ignoring the fact that it's so very similar to TF5.
Starting with Darius, 'Gaiden Extra Version' has it's mammoth 26 stage mode, which in itself makes it a king among hori's. The firepower is chunky and impressive, lots of great effects. G-Darius has a lot of the same brilliance, it's shorter, but its 3D and more modern. Truly great stuff. The capture system adds an interesting variety to it and I really appreciate choosing my next level path. I emulate the excellent Darius Burst (PSP) but I just feel the series could branch out a bit in terms of the aquatic foes you (always) come across. Give the fish a rest, try something new?
Gradius: I think the total magnificence of GV is hard to put into words. It is possibly the most slickest, sickest, hori I've seen. It really tried to be 'the hori to end all horis' and the production values were off the scale. It was pure. The music was astounding. Gaiden also lays claim to greatness. The series as a whole has a mature vibe and is probably the thinking mans shooter. However the power-up system is a bit too technical for my liking, for example, collecting too many power-ups can work against you. A lack of variety in weaponry and craft holds it back a bit, but what it does correctly, it does with aplomb.
R-Type: The most famous of the bunch, and probably the series that was the most incapable of moving with the times. The high point of R-Type was Delta. 4 ships, each with wildy different themes. A great mix of weaponry, it has power-ups, charge shots, smart bombs, pods, and bits. It felt like a 'best of' R-Type while pushing the bundaries like never before. The older games were brilliant, but in ways they look every one of their 30+ years. The 'plodding' nature of R-Type works against it in my opinion. The complete opposite to TF. Final's 101 ships is a great thing, but the levels were quite boring.
Thunder Force: The most under-rated of the bunch sadly. The pyotechnical aspect of the series is absolutely super. Juggling 5 different types of firepower with different buttons makes the player look like a top don. Now I'm using homing shots. Now I'm using lock-on weapons. Now I'm firing backwards. Brilliant stuff, even TF3 holds up well nowadays and TF5/6 took the adrenaline packed gameplay and gave it an astounding visual upgrade and added more ships. The cool factor of the game can change from cheesy to pure Hollywood in the blink of an eye.
Therefore I cannot really cast a vote, as all the series have their peaks and troughs. I might be swayed to say Gradius V is my all-time favourite, with Thunder Force 6's pure energy and pizzazz making it a very close second, ignoring the fact that it's so very similar to TF5.
Last edited by tizerist on Tue Oct 25, 2016 4:37 pm, edited 3 times in total.
-
copy-paster
- Posts: 1790
- Joined: Thu Apr 30, 2015 7:33 pm
- Location: Indonesia
Re: Your favourite iconic horizontal series
I go for Gradius, because this series is introduce me the 'shump world'.
Honestly there's only few Darius games that I absolutely like. G-Darius is the best of them all and my first game in the series, followed by Darius Gaiden, PCE Super Darius and arcade Darius Extra. Not a huge fan of Burst series.
R-Type still amazing for the 'deep' game atmosphere. R-Type Delta is my #1 favorite, hard to say whether R-Type III puts on my second favorite, because of the bland first stage (besides, everthing is just perfect).
Honestly there's only few Darius games that I absolutely like. G-Darius is the best of them all and my first game in the series, followed by Darius Gaiden, PCE Super Darius and arcade Darius Extra. Not a huge fan of Burst series.
R-Type still amazing for the 'deep' game atmosphere. R-Type Delta is my #1 favorite, hard to say whether R-Type III puts on my second favorite, because of the bland first stage (besides, everthing is just perfect).
I read an interview on certain site, interestingly the first arcade Gradius team originally added a feature that after cleared one stage, the player have a branching choice of stages where to go. But that idea was scrapped due of hardware limitations.Kobayashi wrote:One of the coolest things about Darius are the Multiple Paths that the player can choose. An invention ahead of its time!
Re: Your favourite iconic horizontal series
Really interesting. I really didn't know that. Thanks for sharing!copy-paster wrote:I read an interview on certain site, interestingly the first arcade Gradius team originally added a feature that after cleared one stage, the player have a branching choice of stages where to go. But that idea was scrapped due of hardware limitations.
In a certain way this information obscures the originality of this feature with regard to Taito. Maybe some "Spy" infiltrated inside the Konami's building eventually discovered this information and reported to Taito Team who loved the idea and applied it to Darius in the following year.
-
bikingjahuty
- Posts: 53
- Joined: Tue Dec 27, 2016 7:46 pm
- Location: Colorado, USA
Re: Your favourite iconic horizontal series
I've never been a fan of Gradius for the most part; I just feel bored a few stages in regardless of what Gradius title I happen to be playing.
I've been a fan of RTYPE for a while, but sadly I've liked it less and less over time. Still have a blast with R-TYPE Delta or the original when I'm in the mood.
Sadly, I have yet to sink some serious time into any of the Darius games to really have a valid opinion on it as a series. I've played Darius Gaiden a bit, and from what I did play I liked, but still, not enough to go on to judge the series as a whole.
Thunder Force! Now you're speaking my language! I don't care for 2, but the rest of them are pure gold. Sega needs to bring back this franchise, or at least give us a collection or something.
I've been a fan of RTYPE for a while, but sadly I've liked it less and less over time. Still have a blast with R-TYPE Delta or the original when I'm in the mood.
Sadly, I have yet to sink some serious time into any of the Darius games to really have a valid opinion on it as a series. I've played Darius Gaiden a bit, and from what I did play I liked, but still, not enough to go on to judge the series as a whole.
Thunder Force! Now you're speaking my language! I don't care for 2, but the rest of them are pure gold. Sega needs to bring back this franchise, or at least give us a collection or something.
Re: Your favourite iconic horizontal series
Having played them all, I keep going back to Thunder Force as my favorite series, especially 2, 3, & 4, with 3 being my all-time favorite Genesis game. The music was badass, and the visuals were incredible for the system. Load it up in crystal clear RGB, or play it on an emulator, and it still kicks ass to this day.
Re: Your favourite iconic horizontal series
Damn so little love for Thunderforce?!
Like the guy above, it's the one series I go back to the most.
Like the guy above, it's the one series I go back to the most.
Re: Your favourite iconic horizontal series
Agreed. The visuals (especially the level backgrounds in 4) are superb.FBX wrote:Having played them all, I keep going back to Thunder Force as my favorite series, especially 2, 3, & 4, with 3 being my all-time favorite Genesis game. The music was badass, and the visuals were incredible for the system. Load it up in crystal clear RGB, or play it on an emulator, and it still kicks ass to this day.