Homura PS2 PAL release 23 June 2006

MA7 · Post by **MA7** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 4:51 pm

I'd heard this was being released, but not seen any real proof...

£15 at Play - release date 23/6/06, which is not far off (but sadly right in the middle of the World Cup!)
http://www.play.com/Games/PlayStation2/ ... oduct.html

shmups go marching on!

- Apologies if this has already been posted -

Post by **system11** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 5:46 pm

It's a shame the delays are so huge - most enthusiasts will have already picked this up on import. If they fix the green blood, I'll buy it though.

Yes, I realise the odds of that happening.

Ord · Post by **Ord** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 7:09 pm

Brilliant! This was one game that I never got round to picking up on import.

Soldato J · Post by **Soldato J** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 7:52 pm

What about us over here on this side of the pond? Give us some budget priced love, random chance-taking would-be shmup publishers....

sjewkestheloon · Post by **sjewkestheloon** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 9:23 pm

yeah i'll definately be picking this up as i've never had a chance to try it or even see it in action. what's it like? who's it by?

also can't wait to pick up a legit copy of dragon blaze as i've only given it a few runs in mame and loved what i saw (although admittedly i saw very little because it beat my arse into the ground. hard. by the second stage.

)

oh and lets not forget raiden 3.

pal gamers are getting treated well.

GunSpike · Post by **GunSpike** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 10:34 pm

Yeah, you PAL users are sure gettin' the shmup love. Wish we'd get some of that here in the States. But I heard Raiden III might be getting a US release this summer. Anyone hear anything of the like?

BeauZilla 002 · Post by **BeauZilla 002** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 10:58 pm

Raiden III is coming stateside in August right?

Glad I bought the Jap version for $60.Damn.

Soldato J · Post by **Soldato J** » Fri Jun 09, 2006 12:27 pm

I guess I don't feel so bad about RIII...I got the Korean version from Play-Asia for like 30 or something IIRC.

WarCheese · Post by **WarCheese** » Fri Jun 09, 2006 7:37 pm

Hi all:

Looks like a purchase... Are we in the NA continent going to get a release as well?

Cheers.

WarCheese

GunSpike · Post by **GunSpike** » Sat Jun 10, 2006 7:24 am

That's what a buddy of mine said he read. That, and he also read that The Red Star is also going to be published. I can only hope it's true for both...

theevilfunkster · Post by **theevilfunkster** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 12:45 pm

Ok, play.com just sent the postage conformation. Looks like it's finally out today.

fl0w · Post by **fl0w** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 1:41 pm

Great! Please confirm it's not 50-Hz only when you get it!
Have you bought anything else (think "Dragon Blaze" here)?

Herr Schatten · Post by **Herr Schatten** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 1:50 pm

fl0w wrote:Have you bought anything else (think "Dragon Blaze" here)?

I did. I got the information that Homura has shipped, Dragon Blaze hasn't.

elvis · Post by **elvis** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 2:17 pm

bloodflowers wrote:It's a shame the delays are so huge - most enthusiasts will have already picked this up on import.

Precisely.

I'm in a PAL territory, and would absolutely love to suport any PAL publisher who's going to brnig these titles over. But as it stands I already picked this up some time ago via import.

Delays of 1 or 2 months - I can handle that. 6 months to a year... by that time I've assumed the game won't be seeing a local release and have gone import. It's a shame, because then the sales figures for the PAL release will be skewed by all the people who have done the same, and there's a chance PAL-release shmups will be seen as a flop.

On the flipside, I have been converting a few import-shy friends lately to my style of gaming, and the delayed PAL releases will mean they've played my stuff a few times over and will probably go out and pick up a local copy themselves.

Danny · Post by **Danny** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 6:43 pm

Homura has shipped, in fact my copy that I ordered from play.com is in the post as we speak so I should be getting the game tommorow or Monday the latest. Dragon Blaze has been pushed back 1 week for some reason, I think it's something to do with distrubution(!).

Danny · Post by **Danny** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 9:34 am

Right the game finally arrived at my door step today and I have to say that I am really pleased with it.

Vital Statistics
50/60hrz: Yes
Tate: Yes
Save: Yes
Extras: Yes (an art gallery from what I can tell so far)

Anyway the game comes in a very nice box with bright and colour art on it which gives it a genuine feel to it. Inside the box as well as the CD you get the wonderfully coloured manual which actually tells you how to play the game and how to use the game's finer scoring techniques.

The game itself I have to admit, I was blown away with when I got it. Wonderful and vibrant 3D graphics though out and the player (homura the fallen angel) and enemy characters (ranging from ninja's to angels and hulking great war machines) look wonderful and are very well animated.

The gameplay itself is fairly different from the average shooter while at the same time perfectly fitting for the soundings of the game. You have three buttons which are Shoot, Sword and Bomb. The sword can not be used constantly so you the player must build up it's power by collecting coins which he/she can do by shooting the enemies as they come on screen. Once the player has gained enough "sword power" as I like to call it they can either use it to deflect bullets (which produces coins) or go near an enemy then use it for a devastating combo attack which kills all enemies on screen and gives the player a multiplier (the more enemies you get the better the multiplier number) which will deplete over time but can be "topped up" again by performing another close ranged sword attack on an enemy.

This game may only have five levels but yeah they all have multiple routes. Let me tell you that this game will not bore the die hard shmup fan because from the middle of stage one there is the option to go onto the "hard" section thus making level one not as boring as other first level's from other shmups in the past. The levels and bosses themselves are very well designed and the bullets patterns are beautiful to look at. Saying that I wouldn't admire the beauty for long because this game requires concentration because it's a toughie although I may just be saying that because either I suck at shmups or that I've not really gotten to grips with the game yet or quite possibly both of the above.

I'm hoping that there is some form of extra mode once one player is completed but if not this game is still a cracker, the art gallery mode is a very nice addition though because the art work in this game is stunning to say the least.

Overall this game is worth your attention if you are a fan of vertical shoot-em-up's in general. The difficulty may put some off at first but if you stick with it then you will learn how to play the game and at the same time learn to love the game itself which is a world beautifully released by a arcade game creating legend Taito. Homura gets a big thumbs up from me and if you have not got it yet then I strongly suggest you go out and buy it at play.com right now!

Naiera · Post by **Naiera** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 11:00 am

Thanks for the 60Hz and Tate confirmations. I expected both to be there but I didn't want to spend £15 on the game before knowing they're there for sure.

Gorecki · Post by **Gorecki** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 1:53 pm

If you have it then fingers crossed it should be waiting for me in the letterbox at home. Thanks for the review Danny, I'm really psyched about playing this now.

Gorecki · Post by **Gorecki** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 6:15 pm

I've just been messing around with Homura since I got in from work, and I have to agree with everything said above. It's a beautiful port with a really nice manual and all the options you could want. The only thing wrong with it really is a glaring typo in massive print on the back cover.

Some of those patterns look absolutely mental as well. Oh and the blood is green.

msm · Post by **msm** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 9:31 pm

got the PAL one today too. and as above, really pleased with it, no idea how to do the sword moves yet. was a bit scared at first as it says on the back of the box it's only compatible with the analogue sticks

luckey thats rubish and it works fine with a saturn pad. also tates both ways, brilliant

hope raiden 3 is just as good.

takohiko · Post by **takohiko** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 1:29 am

noticed a problem.. well, more of a massive oversight. The name entry/stats screen after a game over is still in Japanese.

Danny · Post by **Danny** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 5:45 pm

Yeah I noticed that to but it's pretty obvious what everything means. One means score, one means max combo. one means bombs used and one means what position you are in on the score board. On the score board itself I beleave everything is in english though.

MA7 · Post by **MA7** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 5:53 pm

Mine arrived monday, but we're decorating the house and all my PS2 gear is stashed away in boxes...... curses!

Good to hear the 60Hz/tate options are in there, i hope to start playing sometime soon. Anyone else spotted the howler on the back of the box?

'Guide Homura, the fallen angel, through his perilous ourney'

EDIT- just re-read earlier posts and Gorecki beat me to it!

Danny · Post by **Danny** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 7:00 pm

Yeah Gorecki pointed it out...

sideshow · Post by **sideshow** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 9:38 pm

So the PAL version has pretty much all the features of the PS2 Japanese version that was released December 2005.

EOJ · Post by **EOJ** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 10:05 pm

sideshow wrote:So the PAL version has pretty much all the features of the PS2 Japanese version that was released December 1995.

You're about 10 years off there, buddy (it was released for the PS2 in Dec 2005).

sideshow · Post by **sideshow** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 10:31 pm

Ya, I goofed. Well I fixed the date back to its proper 21st century date.

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 10:46 pm

GEEZ, I know we're getting Raiden III over here in the States, but we're getting shafted on shmups!

Sure, there could be more after Raiden III, but I seriously doubt it, considering that there's never been a Cave port over here.

sideshow · Post by **sideshow** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 6:03 am

Ya, US does get shafted but thats why I just mod my systems and get the imports. Besides, companies like XS games seem to like to butcher the translations. For vertical shmups, I want the TATE mode. I think a big part of shmups not coming out in the US is SONY of America rejecting them. Only the high fly acts like Ikaruga, Gradius V, R-Type Final seem to make it.

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Sun Jul 02, 2006 12:40 am

Yeah, we do get fewer shmup releases here, unfortunately, but on the bright side we share the whole NTSC thing with Japan, so we don't have to worry about any of that stuff, which makes importing a bit easier. Everyplace has its good and bad points, and all that mush.

shmups.system11.org

Homura PS2 PAL release 23 June 2006

Homura PS2 PAL release 23 June 2006

PAL

Hopefully