PS1 is an underrated console for shoot 'em ups?

[Bassa-Bassa]

All the differences we know about so far on the Saturn port of DG:
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=68121

Interesting to know that it was outsourced. It's far from arcade perfect, but a great version of the game in it's own right. The various rank differences that serve to make the Saturn version an easier game overall are probably the biggest change.

Even G.Darius was outsourced to Ai system for its PS1 version, it seems. They really were a prolific ninja company.

[Klatrymadon]

Wow, cheers for that, Bassa-Bassa - I wasn't aware of Ai System's involvement in DG at all! Definitely makes the relative accuracy of the port all the more impressive...

[Gamer707b]

I'll chime in and say, I'm in the majority here. I saw the Saturn as being way easier to play imports (action replay) and I couldn't be bothered trying to figure out how to play imports on PS1. Plus, my thinking was that I already got A LOT of use out of my PS1 in the 90s. I was way late in picking up a Saturn and wanted to fully discover its library 10 years ago. That was when I started to get into shmups and started researching and buying different ones on Saturn. So, I never saw the PS1 as a "shmup console" and didn't and don't pay much attention to it in this respect now. Though, I did buy R Type Delta couple months ago and love it. Anyway, interesting topic.

[neorichieb1971]

Some of us, like myself just bought a Japanese Saturn about late 95 in time for the Virtua series to hit at Xmas.

I only bought 2 domestic PAL titles for it, Tomb Raider (timed exclusive) and Panzer dragoon RPG which I sold for cost about 3 days later as I didn't like the RPG elements. The other 50 or so titles I bought are Japanese (mostly exclusives) and I have most today. Many are shmups. I used to buy and sell shmups on here which I miss dearly btw.

Some of the PS1 shmups I bought back in the day which I had high regard for were Harmful park (sold for $100), Kyuiin (Sold for $30). I even liked Raystorm when it came out along with others like Einhander and the Rtype series, Raiden DX, Strikers 1945 part 2. I bought most of the Parodius games on PS1, but since replaced them with Saturn versions as they were released much later in the 32 bit era.

On the Saturn I bought too many to mention, even the obscure ones. Regrets sold were RSG ($160, but bought again recently on this forum for a tad more) and Battle Garegga ($100).



I believe the 32bit era is under rated still. There are many great great games that are somewhat timeless. Still the best era for me. I was at the ripe age for gaming, 3 great consoles giving different experiences (instead of today where most consoles give very similar experiences) and the diversity was off the charts. I really miss arcades too.

Of course the PS1 has the PS2/3 for B/W compatibility, which means ps1 games have many more means to play them on.

[davyK]

My initial console purchase that gen was the N64. I had come off the SNES and was a real platform game fan at the time - the SNES was very strong in that dept. I've always loved shmups and had a few of the better SNES games like Super Aleste, Pop n Twinbee etc. The N64 was great (still play F-Zero X) but my love affair with platforming was waning and I craved some arcade shooting. When it came to shooting games it had nothing (there's the Star Soldier game but it didn't get a PAL release).

So looking at the other 2 consoles around '98 I went for Saturn as I wanted some arcade games and shooting games. First 2 games I got were Sega Rally and Darius Gaiden. That scratched the itch OK! The Saturn was the machine that got me importing too. RSG was the first game I ever imported. Still have it.

I only went for PS1 very late that gen but have since grown to appreciate its import library too.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

The Agetech release of Strikers 1945 for PS1 stateside (aka Strikers 1945 II) has the tate option removed whereas on the JPN PS1 port (done in-house by Psikyo themselves), tate option is present from the get-go.

Some of the PS1 exclusive titles include Squaresoft's iS - Internal Section (a modern day remake of Atari's Tempest but with 60fps framerate & some cool vibrational haptic feedbck EFX courtesy of the Dual Shock 1 controller setup + some slick graphic designer aesthetics going on through out the entire game from beginning to eventual conclusion).

The vibrational haptic feedback EFX used on Irem's R-Type Delta for PS1 with a Dual Shock 1 controller is simply pure genius & very well done/polished & accentuates/enhances the gameplay experience even further.

Treasure's Rakugaki Showtime on the JPN PS1 is another console exclusive with only 10,000 copies produced in it's entirety back in 1999 (not to mention the sky high prices it fetches on the secondary video game collector's market nowadays).

Protip: You can use a Playstation 2 Dual Shock 2 controller on a PSX/PS1 console as well as it's backwards compatible with it courtesy of SCEI.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[gray117]

PS1 is pretty underrated, but that's probably mostly due to other genres/titles taking the thunder on that platform. Saturn found itself with a relative void in interest and a type of player that stuck with it - 2d fighters and shmups eventually became THE reasons to own a saturn. Whereas ps1 had multiple different reasons... which kind of diluted the appeal/reputation as a shmups machine - especially back in the day when access/knowledge of these games was limited - even if you were going to pirate something you had to know about it first...

With shmups in particular the saturn's library still remains the most intriguing imho. BUT unless you brought the entire range back in the day you're not going to be necessarily taking advantage of that breadth these days as a collector... unless your pockets are deep...

Price wise it's harsh to say, but I do think it's always kind of great to see the hobby at large elevated by the worth that people attach to these antiques. I don't think this practically has too much impact on the genre's accessibility, since on the flip side is we're seeing ode's, ports, re-releases and emulation improving accessibility to those interested in these games... the higher the prices/profile the more likely it is that we'll see re-releases appearing...

Is something often lost? Yep it often is. But that's still way better than it disappearing forever... or dropping that $100 - 1000 cd... But, yeah, it's a shame that for a dedicated niche that's basically denying the opportunity of ownership today.

Is this particularly harsh for a genre who's most defining games are often older releases? Sure it is. But you've got to make peace with that - along with the lack of crts, arcades, and fps games no longer being called doom clones...

[davyK]

The PS1 pad is abysmal but I have a HORI mini arcade stick and it's great. I use it with my PS2 shmups too.


But PS1 is a great console for oddities. Parappa the Rapper was one of the reasons I got it. It's easy to forget how new that was. Set aside the mainstream games and check out the library's oddities and you find some really nice experiences. Devil Dice, Kurushi/IQ, Point Blank, Power Shovel, Puchi Carat , Vib Ribbon and Bishi Bashi are just some examples of its library of offbeat games. It got some Pro Pinball games, Beatmania games, and some original puzzle games like Landmaker and One Piece Mansion.

It's a solid interesting console still and offers some nice side games like the above along with its shmups and retro compilations.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Another NTSC U/C PS1 game by the name of Macross Plus (and was supposed to be distributed by Bandai of America themselves) was slated to be sold in North America back in 2000 (but it was cancelled at the last minute despite it being 100% finished & all English text translated from the get-go). There was a single first stage demo of Macross Plus released on a U.S. Official Playstion Magazine demo disk to try out. Unfortunately, all this hard work that went into producing the unreleased American Macross Plus PS1 game didn't go to waste as 1,000 brand new copies were given away during a contest giveaway held in Japan to lucky PS1 gamers. I had to order a brand new copy of JPN PS1 Macross Plus from console importer, NCSX, just to see how it played -- it's a fine Macross game in it's own right.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Flashman]

My initial console purchase that gen was the N64. I had come off the SNES and was a real platform game fan at the time - the SNES was very strong in that dept. I've always loved shmups and had a few of the better SNES games like Super Aleste, Pop n Twinbee etc. The N64 was great (still play F-Zero X) but my love affair with platforming was waning and I craved some arcade shooting. When it came to shooting games it had nothing (there's the Star Soldier game but it didn't get a PAL release).

So looking at the other 2 consoles around '98 I went for Saturn as I wanted some arcade games and shooting games. First 2 games I got were Sega Rally and Darius Gaiden. That scratched the itch OK! The Saturn was the machine that got me importing too. RSG was the first game I ever imported. Still have it.

I only went for PS1 very late that gen but have since grown to appreciate its import library too.

Yeah it's funny that, back in the day console platform games were pretty much all I played, now Castlevania and the occasional itch scratch on an early Mario game aside, I hardly ever touch them.

That said I am hooked on Donkey Kong arcade at the moment, which is pretty much the first platform game

[davyK]

Loved the older SMB1 games. 1 and 3 on NES and SMW and YI on SNES. The All Stars cart on SNES was a great compilation. I was a fan of earlier games like Chuckie Egg and Jet Set Willy (UK 8bit computer games) and yeah - original Donkey Kong is still a great game, as is DK Jr. I have 1CC-ed / no deathed arcade Wardner. Still really like Castlevania IV, Plok, Toki and some others from the 16bit era but they don't get a lot of play now.

I still enjoy the Mario upgrades and the newer 2D Rayman games played in local MP casual but it isn't a genre I like that much any more. I tried Super Meat Boy a few years ago and while I appreciate how good it is it just didn't hold my attention - I'd rather get a Cave 1-ALL than an Iron Man / survival clear on Meat Boy.