Slap Fight 3671 UPDATE: is basically cancelled

[Steven]

It looks like Ichikawa Mikito, who worked on Slap Fight MD, might be making a sequel to Slap Fight MD titled Slap Fight 3671, and Koshiro is involved with the music again. Here's the article.

https://note.com/beep21/n/ncd94d6b47320

The half of the article that talks more about Slap Fight 3671 itself is mostly blocked by a paywall, as most of the rest of it looks to be about Slap Fight MD. Looks like there might be a crowdfunding campaign, so it's probably something to watch out for in the future.

[Martinov]

Very interestng! Slapfight is possibly my favourite Toaplan game and also the reason I ended buying a MD Mini, so I'm looking forward to this.

edit: Wait, is this old news? I see tweets referring to this from 2019. Is this a cancelled project?

[Steven]

It looks like this is something that Ichikawa has been planning for some time or at least working out with Yuge, as Yuge's new company holds the rights to the Toaplan games, but it's just now getting to the point where it's time to actually start working on it. Hard to tell with the best part of the article behind a paywall, sadly, but this is what it looks like to me.

I love Slap Fight MD so much. It was worth buying the MD Mini just because of Slap Fight MD. It's so good and I'm really looking forward to the M2 Slap Fight release, but I'm very excited about this Slap Fight 3671 and I hope it happens.

[Koa Zo]

With the topic of a new Slap Fight being discussed, seems like an opportune time to remind everyone of the little known Slap Fight Tiger from 2006,
this was an official remixed version of Slap Fight that allows you to play as the copter from Tiger Heli.

Spoiler

Slap Fight Tiger - It is now possible to play as Tiger Heli from the Tiger Heli series; Tiger shoots differently, and the powerups function differently for Tiger. The gameplay is otherwise the same except for a new boss at the end of the game; Taito's Space Invaders appear at the end of the game and behave as they did in the original Space Invaders. Two machines appear on the bottom of the screen and create a laser beam between each other, that keeps the player's ship from moving vertically, emulating the original space invaders. There are no stationary defense bunkers though, but the player keeps their power-ups during the boss fight. The Space Invaders defend the red energy core, and only after defeating them can the player blow it up. It is possible to unlock the original ship in the arranged version of the game to fight the new final boss with it.

Good luck finding a Taito Nostalgia 2 unit (and the requisite proprietary AC/AV plug), apparently the games are available on MAME.

[Steven]

Yeah, I am really hoping that Slap Fight Tiger will be on the M2 release. I am also wondering about Slap Fight MD on that same release, as there is the Space Invaders alien that shows up in a few places. I heard they modified the ROM on the MD Mini to remove him, but I don't know if they replaced him with anything or if they just cut him out entirely, so I wonder if they will get the rights to put him in there on the M2 release, as he can be shot to get a ton of points.

[Udderdude]

Could be interesting, I'm keeping my eye on this one.

[BIL]

Mickey's a cool dude, and SFMD was a real labour of love - so good to see him back in action on the STG front!

[PerishedFraud ឵឵]

I didn't know MD took 4 years to make. Then again it was an absolute banger. Looking forward to this!

What a name though. Is it a rip on Darwin 4078?

[UD2]

What a name though. Is it a rip on Darwin 4078?

I believe Mikito Ichikawa chose it as his birthday is June 3, 1971. I recall reading this in an interview but I can't seem to find it now.

[Despatche]

The king has returned to claim his throne...?

He also made Alien Field 3671, a completely unhinged attempt to challenge Pac-Man Championship Edition. But all of his stuff is completely unhinged. This probably will be too, if it ever releases.

[BrianC]

Last game Mikito Ichikawa/Mindware released was a remake of Hover Attack, a game that was possible inspiration for Bangai-O and Ex-Ranza. I hope this remake of Slap Fight ends up on Steam like his other games.

[jehu]

Slap Fight 3671, Snow Bros. Special, Hishou Same! Same! Same!

Damn, do I love the spoils of intelligent IP licensing. The rise of Tatsujin Co. LTD. has been a great boon for us all. Thank you, Daddy Capitalism.

[Steven]

Yeah, Yuge's probably been swimming through piles of licensing cash he's likely made since he founded Tatsujin Co..

Anyway, I am curious enough about this to consider paying to see the rest of the article. I might try some of Mindware's newer games on Steam to see what kind of quality I can expect from him now. Anyone played any of his newer games? His pinball game and Cosmic Cavern seem to have mixed reception, but everything else seems fine. Hover Attack looks interesting, so I might try it.

Alright, screw it. Time to find out what the rest of the article says. Will translate the good stuff and post it.

Okay, it's going to be Steam-exclusive at first. No mentions of other platforms, but it will at least be on Steam.

2 game modes, one of which is going to be a "roguelike shooter" with randomly/procedurally generated enemies and map. This will take place in space as you fly through space to attack the enemy base. The other mode seems to be a traditional vertical shooter where you defend Earth from aliens.

Planned composers = Koshiro Yuzo, Ozawa Junko, Yuge Masahiro, Uemura Tatsuya. More may be added based on Kickstarter funding. Yuge apparently wanted to do the music for this from the beginning of discussions years ago. Each composer is doing a complete score, so you will have at least 4 and up to 8 separate soundtracks to choose from.

Crowdfunding will be on Kickstarter at the end of February, so yeah, we can expect this to show up very soon. Target goal is not fixed as of the article (which was like a month ago now), but he is considering $1,000,000 USD.

Stretch goals will be included, looks like adding more composers is one of them. The interviewer asked Ichikawa about adding Slap Fight MD as a stretch goal, which Ichikawa had never considered before, but he seems to like the idea, so it might happen.

There will be crowdfunding tiers with limited edition versions of the game, tiers with goods (physical, I assume), and something about a tier that gives you the privilege to directly affect the game's development... not sure what that means, as he doesn't go into specifics, but there you have it. He specifically said ゲーム開発に直接関われる権などが用意される場合もある, so I'm assuming that backers might have some ability to influence the game in some way, although I have no idea how since it doesn't say anything else about it.

So yeah, start checking Kickstarter next week if you want this to happen. I want this to happen, so I'll be there.

[PerishedFraud ឵឵]

There will be crowdfunding tiers with limited edition versions of the game, tiers with goods (physical, I assume), and something about a tier that gives you the privilege to directly affect the game's development... not sure what that means, as he doesn't go into specifics, but there you have it. He specifically said ゲーム開発に直接関われる権などが用意される場合もある, so I'm assuming that backers might have some ability to influence the game in some way, although I have no idea how since it doesn't say anything else about it.

So what you're saying is...

...it is possible to finally make the Slap Fight ship actually slap things...

I hope whoever gets that tier understands their duty.

[Steven]

There will be crowdfunding tiers with limited edition versions of the game, tiers with goods (physical, I assume), and something about a tier that gives you the privilege to directly affect the game's development... not sure what that means, as he doesn't go into specifics, but there you have it. He specifically said ゲーム開発に直接関われる権などが用意される場合もある, so I'm assuming that backers might have some ability to influence the game in some way, although I have no idea how since it doesn't say anything else about it.

So what you're saying is...

...it is possible to finally make the Slap Fight ship actually slap things...

I hope whoever gets that tier understands their duty.

lol possibly. I read it again just now and slightly above that section it's written that whoever does back at the higher tiers will likely have some influence over designing the bosses. Maybe someone will suggest a giant hand that slaps your ship out of existence as one of the bosses. Now just add a slapping hand to your Slap Fight ship and then it will truly become Slap Fight.

[BIL]

Thanks for the translation, Steven!

Ozawa Junko

Nice. She may not be as instantly recognisable (at least to us) as Yuge/Uemura/Koshiro, but Cyber Sled's OST is killer. And Klonoa's is lovely too! EDIT: And I should STFU and go to bed, Sled was Hosoe. Ah well, enjoy the tune, it's amazing! Sky Kid's still nothing to turn one's nose up at.

[Steven]

Thanks for the translation, Steven!

No problem.

There is some more in there, as well, but this is the basics.


Some other things that are in there that I noticed on a repeat read are that apparently he's been wanting to do a sequel/evolution of Slap Fight for a while, but Toaplan died and he didn't know who had the rights. Then in 2017 Yuge made Tatsujin Co. and Ichikawa went to Yuge and Yuge gladly agreed to this project (and asked if he could do the music).

Speaking of the music, Ichikawa mentions that he is basically leaving the music entirely up to the composers, but it's possible to expect something Mega Drive-ish from Koshiro and something Namco C30-ish from Ozawa. No mention of what to expect from Yuge and Uemura, but I think we know what to expect from those guys. After mentioning that there could be up to 4 additional composers, there is also this line, as well: シューティングならこの人も入れたいよね、という方はもちろん、イマドキならではの仕掛けも考えています。I'm not really sure what to make of this line and I might be reading it wrong (and I think I am), but if he's hinting at people wanting a certain shooting composer, he's considering how to make it happen. There's a specific shooting composer that I can easily think of, especially since I bought a certain (in)famous Raizing game's OST recently, and I certainly hope he's involved, but we'll see. The other guys that come to mind are Iwadare, who did Gleylancer and MD Zero Wing, and Sakimoto. We'll just have to wait for the Kickstarter to find out, but it would be really great to have Namiki, Iwadare, and Sakimoto doing scores as well.

He's also aware of the problems associated with crowdfunded games, so he's considering publishing regular development reports and stuff to prevent people from being uneasy about the project. At this point, it's hard to say anything aside from "we'll see" based on this article, but it's nice to know that this is in fact happening and that basically everything has been carefully planned for several years now.

[Skykid]

Mickey's a cool dude, and SFMD was a real labour of love - so good to see him back in action on the STG front!

He sure is! One of my favourite interviews I did was with Mickey, and all about Slap Fight MD, no less:

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015 ... p-fight-md

[BIL]

That was - and is! - splendid work; regardless of one's interest in STGs, it's worth reading just to see a dream project made real. I wish Yuzo Koshiro was my sempai

[Steven]

Hell yeah, more info just got released! Translating now, but rejoice, as there is a screenshot!

Okay, not much here this time, but here it is:

Collision with certain ground obstacles is planned.

Typhoon Bomber is back!

One of the proposed composers is Juno Reactor. One of the others is European and another is Japanese. No names given, but Ichikawa says they are both very famous.

Kickstarter is now scheduled for mid-March. Release is scheduled for the end of 2024.

Here's the screenshot.

https://imgur.com/a/xBlsOq5

Not very exciting, but this is it. Everything is WIP. He is experimenting with the status bar from Slap Fight MD on the right side, but maybe it might go away, I guess. This screenshot is specifically from the randomly/procedurally generated game mode, which he is working on.

That's it for now.

[BIL]

Excellent news, thanks in advance!

[donluca]

Holy shit, Juno Reactor? This is gonna be lit.

[Steven]

Yeah, I'm now fairly convinced that when Ichikawa was considering $1,000,000 USD for the target amount, it was for the music. Apparently the European and Japanese composers are like really famous, and they are musicians that people who don't care about games at all know about. I wonder who the Japanese composer is...

[jehu]

I want this game more than the air I'm breathing, but ONE MILLION DOLLARS seems like a delusional ask for SlapFight in 2022. I'll pitch in, but that's basically a doomed Kickstarter unless he sobers up. But hey, I'd absolutely love to be wrong about the enthusiasm for this project.

Steven, you wrote "when Ichikawa was considering $1,000,000 USD" - 'when'... did he reconsider?

[Udderdude]

ONE MILLION DOLLARS

It must be posted. https://youtu.be/EJR1H5tf5wE?t=15

[banjoted]

Yeah, Yuge's probably been swimming through piles of licensing cash he's likely made since he founded Tatsujin Co..

Anyway, I am curious enough about this to consider paying to see the rest of the article. I might try some of Mindware's newer games on Steam to see what kind of quality I can expect from him now. Anyone played any of his newer games? His pinball game and Cosmic Cavern seem to have mixed reception, but everything else seems fine. Hover Attack looks interesting, so I might try it.

Alright, screw it. Time to find out what the rest of the article says. Will translate the good stuff and post it.

Okay, it's going to be Steam-exclusive at first. No mentions of other platforms, but it will at least be on Steam.

2 game modes, one of which is going to be a "roguelike shooter" with randomly/procedurally generated enemies and map. This will take place in space as you fly through space to attack the enemy base. The other mode seems to be a traditional vertical shooter where you defend Earth from aliens.

Planned composers = Koshiro Yuzo, Ozawa Junko, Yuge Masahiro, Uemura Tatsuya. More may be added based on Kickstarter funding. Yuge apparently wanted to do the music for this from the beginning of discussions years ago. Each composer is doing a complete score, so you will have at least 4 and up to 8 separate soundtracks to choose from.

Crowdfunding will be on Kickstarter at the end of February, so yeah, we can expect this to show up very soon. Target goal is not fixed as of the article (which was like a month ago now), but he is considering $1,000,000 USD.

Stretch goals will be included, looks like adding more composers is one of them. The interviewer asked Ichikawa about adding Slap Fight MD as a stretch goal, which Ichikawa had never considered before, but he seems to like the idea, so it might happen.

There will be crowdfunding tiers with limited edition versions of the game, tiers with goods (physical, I assume), and something about a tier that gives you the privilege to directly affect the game's development... not sure what that means, as he doesn't go into specifics, but there you have it. He specifically said ゲーム開発に直接関われる権などが用意される場合もある, so I'm assuming that backers might have some ability to influence the game in some way, although I have no idea how since it doesn't say anything else about it.

So yeah, start checking Kickstarter next week if you want this to happen. I want this to happen, so I'll be there.

Cheers for this, mate.

[Ms. Tea]

I might try some of Mindware's newer games on Steam to see what kind of quality I can expect from him now. Anyone played any of his newer games? His pinball game and Cosmic Cavern seem to have mixed reception, but everything else seems fine. Hover Attack looks interesting, so I might try it.

Space Mouse 35th Anniversary and Space Mouse 2 are fantastic. Not STGs, but real quality games and well put together. He's also super passionate and cares about making good games; I implicitly trust anything he's working on.

[Sumez]

Holy shit I had no idea Juno Reactor even still existed. I'm on board.

[BrianC]

I might try some of Mindware's newer games on Steam to see what kind of quality I can expect from him now. Anyone played any of his newer games? His pinball game and Cosmic Cavern seem to have mixed reception, but everything else seems fine. Hover Attack looks interesting, so I might try it.

Space Mouse 35th Anniversary and Space Mouse 2 are fantastic. Not STGs, but real quality games and well put together. He's also super passionate and cares about making good games; I implicitly trust anything he's working on.

Have you played Alice and You in the Planet of Number? It's a spinoff puzzle game with characters from Space Mouse and it's great fun.

[Steven]

I want this game more than the air I'm breathing, but ONE MILLION DOLLARS seems like a delusional ask for SlapFight in 2022. I'll pitch in, but that's basically a doomed Kickstarter unless he sobers up. But hey, I'd absolutely love to be wrong about the enthusiasm for this project.

Steven, you wrote "when Ichikawa was considering $1,000,000 USD" - 'when'... did he reconsider?

Yeah, I worry about it as well. It does seem like a lot of money and I'm not sure how much appeal this has except among people who love Toaplan or Slap Fight already. With both Yuge and Uemura doing the music, this is probably the closest we'll ever get to a new Toaplan game. I'd never thought about it until now, but I'm surprised that Yuge hasn't tried making some new sequels now that he's owned the rights for several years.

Anyway, there is nothing about the target goal that I have seen aside from that tentative $1 million USD, but Ichikawa knows that is a lot to ask, and if the Kickstarter begins in mid-March, which is basically this week, I imagine he's decided by now, although the negotiations with the other musicians are still ongoing as of yesterday's article, so only Ichikawa and probably Yuge know what the target is at this point.

Cheers for this, mate.

Sure, no problem!

I might try some of Mindware's newer games on Steam to see what kind of quality I can expect from him now. Anyone played any of his newer games? His pinball game and Cosmic Cavern seem to have mixed reception, but everything else seems fine. Hover Attack looks interesting, so I might try it.

Space Mouse 35th Anniversary and Space Mouse 2 are fantastic. Not STGs, but real quality games and well put together. He's also super passionate and cares about making good games; I implicitly trust anything he's working on.

Yeah, I'll take a look at some of his stuff. I've been distracted by other games recently, but I'm also trying to save some cash right now, mostly so I can dump like half a paycheck into Slap Fight 3671 if needed lol