I suspect Dragon Spirit, like Dangerous Seed, Pistol Daimyou and Galaga '88, has significant native lag. I was wondering about this
a few weeks back, with ACA Dangerous Seed. Copying over from that post...
---copy starts
Did a little light reading/refreshing on Namco's SystemXX hardware foibles.
Turns out it was Haze's post I was recalling, re Galaga '88's PCB. I'm guessing the ACA releases replicate the hardware performance, as is Hamster's wont. TBH I wish they'd look into tightening up inputs a bit.
That said... I switched from PCB Speed back to 60hz (in Preference Options), and while placebo effect can never be ruled out,
I could swear it feels marginally tightened-up. Macro sweeps and cutbacks felt more immediate, and micro-taps less sluggish, on stages and bosses alike. It felt like I was really fighting aginst the controls
previously, while I was sweeping Roller Snail and going for 100% destruction sans bombs. (an aside, 30hz + Fast Autofire tears bosses to shreds, as expected - very Darius Gaidenesque, think I'll stick with just the PCB Fast Auto for now)
I'm also reminded of Pistol Daimyou, which (going by MAME) has quite a bit of native lag too. I only ever played that one's ACA release at 60hz, was surprised at how responsive it felt, considering. Granted, part of that is the game design, with its big, forgiving shot hitboxes and relatively agile player character. As ever, I'm a fuckin caveman on this stuff, but perhaps the higher framerate = less perceptible input processing time? At any rate, I think I'll be leaving the later 80s/early 90s Namco STGs at 60hz for now.
Much comfier input response. Slipping and sliding? NAW! That ass I be riding (■｀w´■)
Unlike Dangerous Seed, I don't notice any lag in ACA Dragon Spirit (PS4), when set to PCB Speed. But just for peace of mind, after my experience with DS, I've left it at 60hz Speed.
The autofire stuff you mention sounds about right - real PCBs will do that too, ie Gradius III's extreme slowdown causing 30hz autofire to fail, and ImageFight slowing down abnormally with the same frequency (ACA ImageFight has a note in the button config advising of this). It's just the usual issue of game logic conflicting with external autofire, whether it's hardware circuit or emulator-based.
Here's
WIZ's #1 caravan score, for reference.
Very cool! I've not seen that mechanic before.
Includes both OLD and NEW versions, just like good ol' Namco Museum Volume 5. Also mentions an interesting collision bugfix for the st4 boss, ON by default.
(as is the soaring, spiralling, face-melting one that dominates st2/Volcano) Lately I've become particularly fond of st4/Graveyard's punky efficiency. Not much more than a simple call/response riff and a jammy lead, but the cumulative effect alongside the simmering backbeat is electrifying.
