Blimey, yeah! I must've been thinking of the PCE version there.Bassa-Bassa wrote:Rabio Lepus predates Da! by almost 3 years. It released right after R-Type and Dragon Spirit, though I don't think neither was an influence for Video System's. It was oddly successful in Japan, though.
Up on JPSN now with a customarily apropos thumbnail.
Man it's been a while, last encounter was actually from the bad ol' days of Oretachi Gesen Zoku (PS2). Totally forgot there were Novice and Amateur courses (the latter awarding 2x score).
DIP options let you select between regular and Metal Black-style burst-fire on the main shot, interesting... sort of thing I'd expect via ship select / powerup. I wonder which is the standard. The Preference Setting includes a Voice Volume slider, makes me think of Gunnail... it's at 7 by default, I almost get the feeling it's meant to be cranked up a bit (has a note warning that maxing it can cause artifacts).
The bomb fragment system, and the cluster bomb attack, give me surprise Battle Garegga via Gun Frontier feels - but then Rabio predates GF by years too! I do wonder. The superjump mechanic is interesting, too... the classic [crouch then UP] input, well-known from SNK and Capcom, but also seen earlier in GAU's Ex-Ranza (MD). This is the eldest example I've seen of it.
TBH with the bent tone and all the cheesecake, it feels more like Nakamura and co influenced Konami than anything.
Neat to see the little "I <3 Kyoto" in the intro photo. Recalls "SUPER HOTEL KYOTO" from Sonic Wings 2. I guess VS were hometown boys?