Cannon Spike...a secret shmup (for a minute)

[awbacon]

https://youtu.be/rjWc4jzMooI

I'd love to know what Psiyko and Cannon were going for with Cannon Spike. Obviously Psiyko was known for shmups but Cannon Spike feels like a shmup that was pivoted to a run and gun shooter with some shmup aspects (and a minute long shmup level) tucked in for good measure.

I'd love to know the development history behind it because in some ways it feels like it may have started life as a shmup

[davyK]

It's always felt like an arena shooter to me. Could almost be twin stick.

[dark]

I've always thought it feels a lot like Zero Gunner 2.

[emphatic]

I've always thought it feels a lot like Zero Gunner 2.

This.

[DietSoap]

It's a shmup 'n bmup.

[bigbadboaz]

I don't know why you'd assume it started off as a shmup.. seems fairly common for a dev with one specific expertise to try something different as a one-off. When making that one-off, the influence of their typical style almost always ends up very evident.

[Kiken]

Gun Spike/Cannon Spike feels like an evolution of the basic concepts explored in Sol Divide: short stages, emphasis on melee attack sequences, health bar, etc.

[davyK]

It's a very nice game. Because of its shortness one can really grind it with multiple playthroughs in a session. I'm lucky enough to have picked it up (PAL) for Dreamcast when it was on the shelves. Stoked to the rafters with Capcom fan service with the levels and characters too.

It has a large number of difficulty levels too, so the replay value with that and the different characters is excellent. I remember it getting canned in reviews because it is a very short game but clearly the reviewers had no concept of what replay value means.

[Jonpachi]

I remember it getting canned in reviews because it is a very short game but clearly the reviewers had no concept of what replay value means.

Yeah, reviewers in the late 90's were always trashing arcade games in reviews. There was just no real understanding of the genre, and you'd always see mags like EGM giving shmups 4's and 5's for being "20 minute long experiences."

[Rastan78]

Great memories of playing this on my DC back when it came out. Gaming journalists noobs aside I can still see the length being an issue for some. IIRC the first loop is like barely over 10 min long? Psikyo is known for having some brief levels, but these are so short its really almost a boss rush. Overall cool game though that's fills a niche not covered by many other games.

Capcom was in this era where they were collaborating with shmup devs left and right. It's true it seems like not that much info about these collaborations is out there. I've also always wondered about 1944. I mean we know it was developed by Raizing but who were the staff that actually made it?

Edit: God damn a quick glance at the price of this game now makes me wish I held onto my copy.

[Jonpachi]

Edit: God damn a quick glance at the price of this game now makes me wish I held onto my copy.

I almost sold my copy off back in the day as well, but decided I might want to give it another go someday and held onto it. Can't say the same thing about a LOT of Saturn games I will now never own again.

[dark]

I remember it getting canned in reviews because it is a very short game but clearly the reviewers had no concept of what replay value means.

Yeah, reviewers in the late 90's were always trashing arcade games in reviews. There was just no real understanding of the genre, and you'd always see mags like EGM giving shmups 4's and 5's for being "20 minute long experiences."

IGN trashed Gigawing 2 over this. Although from the average joe point of view, I don't think score based replay value means that much.

I managed to find an archived copy of IGN's Gigawing 2 review, its even worse than I remembered.
https://web.archive.org/web/20050211054 ... 588p1.html

Curiously, while they mentioned Cannon Spike has limited replay value and is short, they didn't ding it nearly that much compared to Gigawing 2
Here's the Cannon Spike review: https://web.archive.org/web/20050204155 ... 734p1.html

[davyK]

Re Cannon Spike What a "review". Saying there's no replayability when it is all about replayability. No concept of what "beating" an arcade game is I suppose. To be fair though, it is slight on content. A few different modes would have been welcome. Even if it was survival, time attack etc. One or two console exclusive levels added to form a "Dreamcast mode" would have been nice too. Some Saturn ports got exclusive modes for example.

Both reviews display a complete ignorance of what using continues actually means.

Whilst my default controller of choice on DC is the arcade stick, Cannon Spike works really well with the pad.