hamfighterx wrote:BIL wrote:75% weird shit, 25% rabidly in-demand debuts.
Heh, I like that ratio. I really dig some of the "weird shit" that I had zero experience with; Black Heart is the kind of Arcade Archives release that I just love (and OMG that music, thanks for the heads up
). For another example, I unexpectedly got
really into Sea Fighter Poseidon for a while this summer. Who knew!
I was surprised at Poseidon myself - I was expecting quality work from Taito, but the hijacking mechanics are remarkably finessed. Sniping and clobbering dudes without totalling their rides is an appropriately suave process, very Roger Moore.
<3 Hide-Kaz's NMK work
Thunder Dragon's got some bangers in the same starkly fiery vein; he's got a decided post-punk austerity and militance that fits hardcore shooting to a T. (Listening to Kaz always makes me think of his predecessor,
Sizzla Okamura, who somehow makes the smoothest grooves ever work just as well... a man of wizardly calibre
)
Of all the 80s/90s catalogues that could've seen quality treatment on modern console, NMK and UPL are two I'd never have expected, but definitely the sort I approve of. A good selection of hardcore standards, plus some total one-offs, like Mutant Night and Ninja-kun II, the latter of which only ever got a customarily shoddy Micronics FC port. I just hope they don't sleep on Valtric, assuming it's not tied up somehow. (Jaleco-published NMK, so hopefully not too big a stretch)
Somewhat on the subject of mounted body ramming ala Poseidon, was interested to see this annotation in Black Heart's manual, RE the International version:
I really like this setup, being a big fan of aggressive tactile mechanics; snuffing out flak feels like a cheerfully cut-rate Dragon Breed.
Pairs great with the mid-ranged flamethrower, as well as the dragonrider aesthetic. Get in close and unleash the beast, but don't get blasted off his back like a tick!
Dive Dive Dive
Enjoying this one, as expected - some schoolboy visibility issues in stage 2 aside, it's got a similarly accessible getup and go to Hachamecha, only without the crushing difficulty. Love the goofy yet unmistakably fiery art style - I'd have little trouble believing it was a Euro refugee ala their earlier Makai Densetsu... I have an affinity for JP releases of Western stuff, along similar lines.
POWER OF ANGER (■`w´■)
Reminds me a lot of UPL's
Vandyke, actually. Cheap n' cheerful cod-fantasy with a deceptively solid STG chassis.
I think we can all agree that getting the more notable never-ported stuff is fantastic, but quirky oddball never-ported stuff is cool with me too. The ones I'm less excited about are things like yet another Pac Man or Rally X release. I get it though, they're surely happy to put famous Namco games out and those probably get more total sales thanks to the name value for casual fans (so they do help subsidize the rest of the series).
This is exactly how I view the so-far conservative Namco picks. More Xevious and Mappy won't blow anyone's minds (would swap for Metal Hawk and Nebulasray, easy) - but besides always appreciating first-rate console emulation of classic AC games (my previous source for these was the PS1 Namco Museums - excellent conversions, but naturally not 100% accurate), Hamster have more than earned a little playing to the crowd. I hope the Namco deal works out handsomely for 'em.
(and tbh, sometimes "big in Japan" stuff is new to me too - had a great time finally sitting down and figuring out Genpei Toumaden, a smash hit in its native land that's only ever seen one EN translation)