Thanks for clearing that up! The game does indeed seem to work fine regardless; from the superplays I've seen, I might not've realised aiming up was even a thing. I'll have to revisit, ACA's had it forever now.Bassa-Bassa wrote:Yeah, jump and aim up both share the stick's up direction sadly:
https://abload.de/img/zz121il3.png
It's part of Kung-Fu Master's legacy - jump is up and nobody learning from the formula questioned that until... Shaolin's Road, I believe?
You don't need to totally get used to it though because good plays are about being powered-up at max., and diagonal shooting has no place there. I myself never really put a lot time, mind, but, as this friend of mine told me, can easily see how it was a clear influence to Contra.
...now I think about it, Legend of Kage is this way too, with its shuriken. Dunno how I forgot that. I suppose since you spend so much time airborne, in that one. Or maybe it's because I always relied more on the sword. I could almost believe the designers didn't want players just motoring along the forest floor, sniping incoming jump-slashers at leisure... or maybe it was just plain control panel limitation. It too works fine, despite sounding like a trainwreck on paper.
With Contra (NES) and its flawless 8way shot being one of my OG holy trinity (alongside Ninja Gaiden and Castlevania), it's always surprising to me when other 80s landmarks (with dedicated [jump] buttons) flub the mechanic. There's AC Contra and Super Contra, famously, and also their close contemporary Jackal/Top Gunner (all tightened-up to 8way for FC)... and speaking of Nichibutsu, their Holy Warrior Amaterasu aka Soldier Girl Amazon (a pretty nice topdown run/gun with some inspired Front Line vehicle hijacking). IIRC, Senjou no Okami's FC port actually added in 16way lag.
Even my beloved Saigo no Nindou has a touch of it. I think it's clearly deliberate (if no more likeable) there, since it affects only one of your two shooting weapons; Shuriken are 16-way, Grenades are 8.
Grenades / 8-way Shot: Defending this tree is a snap!
Spoiler
Shuriken / 16-way Shot: Expert handling required to avoid a complimentary hardwood enema!
Spoiler
Shuriken having the game's highest DPS and screen coverage, it's as if IREM were conscious of AC+FC Contra's ostensible achilles heel, the Spreadshot leaving every other weapon in the dust (only an ostensible achilles, of course, OG Spread being one of hard scrolling action's iconic raging boners ). Unnecessary, imo, with their lack of bullet cancel and piercing properties giving blades and Grenades more than enough respective cachet. Still, I can imagine IREM being particularly leery of torpedoing their new board's biggest USP (REAL NINJA ACTION GAME )
Sunset Riders (1991) is the earliest I can think of for AC sidescrolling with more or less flawless 8way aiming (ignoring loop lever/spinner games). There's technically a tiny quirk - aiming [down] from a standstill is delayed by a couple frames - but it's so minor you might not even notice, unless you're playing on an already-laggy setup. Pretty late in the day - I'm sure there's an earlier example.