Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

[Steven]

Most of the crowdfunded games that I've played, whether I participated in the crowdfunding or not, were either Xeno Crisis or mediocre at best. I don't know why, but crowdfunded games very rarely turn out to be worth playing, provided they even get released. Maybe it's just me, but maybe it isn't.

[Sima Tuna]

Most of the crowdfunded games that I've played, whether I participated in the crowdfunding or not, were ... mediocre at best.

Same. I don't have any experience with Xeno Crisis so I elided that from the quote, but the number of kickstarted games I've played that were actually amazing has been very small. Not to say that indie games can't be awesome but crowdfunded games have a tendency to over-promise and under-deliver, in my experience.

The really awesome stuff tends to be from groups like Tengo Project who (I think) work outside of the whole crowdfunding environment.

There are some good crowdfunded projects out there but they tend to be decades in the making (literally-check out Caves of Qud.) I don't remember if Final Vendetta was crowdfunded or not but that game was legit too.

[Steven]

Most of the crowdfunded games that I've played, whether I participated in the crowdfunding or not, were ... mediocre at best.

Same. I don't have any experience with Xeno Crisis

Xeno Crisis is AWESOME. It's legitimately one of the best games on the Mega Drive. The Dreamcast version is even better and the PC version is even better than the Dreamcast version. No idea about the Nintendo versions, but the Sega versions and the PC version get my highest recommendation. The modern console versions are probably the same as the PC version, so those should be safe as well. Neo Geo doesn't have enough buttons for the intended controls and sucks miserably as a result, so stay away from that. Same with MD if you only have a 3-button controller.

the number of kickstarted games I've played that were actually amazing has been very small. Not to say that indie games can't be awesome but crowdfunded games have a tendency to over-promise and under-deliver, in my experience.

The really awesome stuff tends to be from groups like Tengo Project who (I think) work outside of the whole crowdfunding environment.

There are some good crowdfunded projects out there but they tend to be decades in the making (literally-check out Caves of Qud.) I don't remember if Final Vendetta was crowdfunded or not but that game was legit too.

Yeah, I've played only a handful of cool/great crowdfunded games, and of those, there was only one in which I participated in the crowdfunding: R-Type Final 2. Maybe Afterimage as well, although I'm still not sure how I feel about that game. There is also Switch and arguably PC Triggerheart Exelica, which I also did not do the crowdfunding for, but I don't think that counts because it's a port and not a new game. Everything else goes firmly in the "whatever" pile, which might as well be the "I wasted my money on this mediocrity" pile. I don't do crowdfunding for games anymore.

There is also the matter of "you didn't participate in the crowdfunding or didn't donate a huge amount of money to our game which is very likely to suck or be mediocre? You can buy it on Steam now that it's finally released four years after it was originally planned/supposed to release but fuck you, you can only buy an incomplete version because you don't deserve the crowdfunding-exclusive rewards!", but that is a separate matter.

[it290]

Xeno Crisis is AWESOME. It's legitimately one of the best games on the Mega Drive. The Dreamcast version is even better and the PC version is even better than the Dreamcast version. No idea about the Nintendo versions, but the Sega versions and the PC version get my highest recommendation. The modern console versions are probably the same as the PC version, so those should be safe as well. Neo Geo doesn't have enough buttons for the intended controls and sucks miserably as a result, so stay away from that. Same with MD if you only have a 3-button controller.

I picked up the SNES version on a lark thinking it would be a good version for my many handheld emulator devices. Joke's on me—it has some kind of proprietary hardware inside that basically plays back the MD version's soundtrack from MP3 files or something. It adds some minor graphical touches, but because of the SNES's lower resolution compared to the MD, it also loses a lot of detail, and it looks like they basically took the route of just scaling all the pixel art down algorithmically rather than redrawing anything. It really has no reason to exist other than as a collector's novelty.

Given that the GBA has only four buttons and even fewer pixels to work with, I have to imagine that one is even worse.

[Stevens]

XC is a fucking dope modern day re imagining of 2084. I had it on the PS4, but I lost that account when my hard drive shit the bed. From Steven's enthusiasm I take it that it is worth picking up again on PC.

[Randorama]

Some more new material is up, folks:

Teddy Boy Blues: Here (This is a revision)
Time Soldiers: Here (This game is a hybrid of top-down action and rotary shmup)
Surprise Attack: Here (I cannot believe that this game did not fall into oblivion; thanks, Hamster Co.)

More is to come: the relevant thread has now an updated plan of releases.

[Randorama]

Sunday's Data East time: Robocop. I plan on completing a Dark Seal squib this coming week, too, which might qualify as a hybrid game after all.

Random musing:

Quite a few top-down action games (isometric, for DS) are not really different in mechanics from Toaplan's Outzone, which is a "vertically freely scrolling shmup", according to the wiki entry in the link. I definitely concur with the definition, and I will probably multi-link once the squib is done. In the long term, I will write mildly bemusing squibs about other such hybrid games and about Data East games, too: 2025 is still in its infancy.

[BIL]

So rad that arch theyaboos DECO would enjoy the Robocop license! Their innocent bubble pop-jingoism plays so charmingly off the film's vantablack satire. At least I think it was innocent. 50/50 tbh. Those motherfuckers were crazy like foxes when they wanted to be! PICK A WEAPON

RESPECT THE BADGE / FEAR THE GUN / I AM THE LAW (■｀w´■)

I can feel them.

But I cannot remember them.

*NUTS SHOT TECHNICAL BOUNS* ;w;7

Quite a few top-down action games (isometric, for DS) are not really different in mechanics from Toaplan's Outzone, which is a "vertically freely scrolling shmup", according to the wiki entry in the link. I definitely concur with the definition, and I will probably multi-link once the squib is done. In the long term, I will write mildly bemusing squibs about other such hybrid games and about Data East games, too: 2025 is still in its infancy.

I was quite shocked, upon finally trying out Marchen Maze's recent ACA release, to find a bonafide isometric run/gunner; the jumping element recalling KID (of RECCA fame)'s underrated Max Warrior. Granted, Marchen's shooting is not the end in itself, instead shunting enemies into the void; but it undeniably ignites the same diehard neurocircuitry. Beefy charge shot even recalls Aicom's doughty Viewpoint. A clear antecedent of Atlus's more conventionally destructive Purikura Daisakusen (STV/SAT), too.

Had I not been so delayed, I'd have given the ACA index thread a bump at its release. Have since added it as a cheeky borderliner pick, ala Dead Connection; time being of little consequence in the rarefied niche of AKEDO/GE-SEN.

Even in its draft repository form, RRR has become splendid. I'll make sure to give each squib its own entry when I finally get back to the R2R index!



^ declassified CCTV of your errant OP procrastinating on his thread duties

[Randorama]

Data East had this run of Reaganite games in the late 1980s that was amusing (e.g. Bad Dudes, Sly Spy, Chelnov), but other "burgerland" games were also wildly original, too (e.g. Edward Randy, The Great Ragtime Show, etc.). They actually had a strong grasp of Heroic Fantasy too, as their games in the genre had rather cryptic but sophisticated homages (e.g. the two DS games do pilfer from WarHammer Fantasy and other sources). As a company they were a bizarre blend of near-plagiaristic re-elaboration of other people's ideas and just plain, left-field and highly original new concepts. Play Nitro Ball for score and you will see what I mean, I guess. In retrospective, it is a bit of a miracle that they lasted until 2000, though their 1997-200 years were just a twilight period. The Capcom vs. Data East case might have contributed, but their 1995-1996 games were also hardly memorable.

The "isometric perspective" micro/meta-genre would be an interesting pandora's box to open. There aren't that many titles, but they are all great and they span quite a few genres (shmups with View Point, Beat'em ups with Taito's Lightbringer, etc.). Just to be picky, though: Dead Connection is on this side of the weak shmup/action game very soft border, since characters can roll around.

I am emptying the tanks with RRR so that I will slow down and write longer drafts regarding more "theoretical" topics, one of them being genres and the likes. Going through drafts can be interesting - at some later point, all this material will take a much more organised (and, I daresay, publishable) form, but waiting years to see the finish product might be tedious. Thinking aloud on the forum is also helping me to avoid becoming a serial killer, as work and life pressure are...well, you can guess. Five new entries this weekend? Let's see what we got. I have enough hubris to think that my first drafts of anything might be enjoyable reads, anyway.

[Randorama]

Coming Soon:

Super Pang! (with cross-posting in the single screen thread)
Bionic Commando
Dark Seal (with cross-posting in the Dungeon crawlin' thread; the review version might pop up in the "reviews" section)
Crime City

Spread the gospel, ladettes and lads.

[Daytime Waitress]

Legit was about to warn you that the links were busted because I clicked them in my haste whilst completely failing to read the opening two words of the post.
I'm very eager to have more to devour on Crime City, is all.
Between BIL's proselytising, Lord BBH's gorgeous aria, and Hamham's act of canonisation, this one has commanded a considerable amount of my attention as of late.

[Randorama]

Oh yeh sinner of poor faith! The link is now up!

...it's a simple but extremely stylish game, and one I can recommend to players who want gentler challenges and 1-CC's that are reasonable goals and yet rewarding in terms of skill ceiling(s). I apologise if I have just written a sentence that sounds like a poor PR exercise for somebody trying to sell a port of the game, of course

I am not going to add any spoilers in this thread, but I can guarantee that the other squibs will appear in due time: I am trying to focus on weekends, releasing squibs at lunch and around midnight (because, as we all know, midnight in a perfect world is all about the right intellectual pursuit).

EDIT: Bionic Commando is now up, and Dark Seal will be up tomorrow at lunch time on the Bejing's time zone (midnight in New York, 6 am in ol' blighty?). I may sneak in a fifth squib but it will not me an R2RKMF, I guess.

EDIT TO THE EDIT: We also have Dark Seal in place, so all those who worship the dark lords of DECO can now start their blasphemous chanting to appease their eldritch gods of old (...the way Lovecraft wrote, I would have punch him until he would have become a quiver lump of flesh marmalade. Get a high school diploma, kids.)

[1KMS]

Tribute's next belt scroller, Marvel Cosmic Invasion, was announced a few days ago.
https://youtu.be/19_uUhZsjsg

The dot art is pretty spectacular. Hopefully the devs have learned more about belt scroller design after Shredder's Revenge. Half of SR's runtime was padding, seemingly to stuff in all the characters, which was exacerbated by the stagnant difficulty curve. Maybe split this game into 2-3 episodes that are better paced and noticeably ramp up in challenge, with an option to play them in a single sequence after all are cleared individually.

And can we stop with the number piñata BS in action games? lol It doesn't make the game smarter or more tactical, it's just meaningless visual noise. Save it for the debug mode.

[it290]

Not to nitpick, but shouldn't that go in the belt scroller topic?

I agree about the game, though. Was pretty shocked at how closely the sprites mimicked their Capcom counterparts, not that I'm complaining. Hopefully this one gets lots of DLC characters. The enemy characters look a little generic and I thought it was kind of a weird choice to include Nova as a playable character, but whatever. It does at least look like the characters are much more distinctive gameplay-wise than in TMNT.

Also agreed on the number thing, though hoping that is just because this is an early preview or at the very least is something that can be turned off in options. If the game has RPG mechanics ala River City or Scott Pilgrim that's going to turn me off immensely.

Also pretty weird that Annihilus is the bad guy but no FF characters are playable?

[BIL]

Beltscrolling, topdown, and general hard scrolling action are A-OK here since 2017 ^__^ (was initially a favour to thread regulars, because their dedicated topics kept falling off the front page, but in hindsight, going full megathread was the right call.

...come to think of it, this was years before the Other Gaming / Off Topic split, so stuff disappeared a lot quicker back then, too )

[BryanM]

stuff disappeared a lot quicker back then, too )

That was such a good problem to have, before we became ded forum. Well, at least now nothing anyone says can fall through the cracks.

The leniency in this thread on hop and boppers n' the like is the reason we have that one deranged maniac using it as the general video game thread in general...

Most of the crowdfunded games that I've played, whether I participated in the crowdfunding or not, were either Xeno Crisis or mediocre at best. I don't know why, but crowdfunded games very rarely turn out to be worth playing, provided they even get released. Maybe it's just me, but maybe it isn't.

Yeah, that's to be expected... Professionals would just make the thing, as would serious amateurs. You only need money to hire people (and as AI is improved, you won't even need that). It's actually super weird you don't see more examples of 'we need money to hire a guy to implement X feature/content' kickblasters, but also perfectly understandable, for the kind of animal we are. You don't earn donations off of having a full game with placeholder art, you earn donations off of graphical mock-ups and having Some Guy People Know's name on the thing.

Exactly like how comedy is more about marketing these days. Everything's become marketing as the competition to entertain people is so ridiculously fuckin' brutal these days.. Royalroad writer forums are chock full of people begging for someone to read their webnovel, and since everyone else is busy with their own work and there's infinity entertainment they'll never get around to on their stack already.. It's like a bunch of masochists tied up in bondage gear asking each other to hit them, it's so sad. The fact the site's revenue comes from writers paying for ads for stories they're offering for free is super messed up.

As for making a good videogame that's worth people's time, it's pretty dang hard. I've come to think of it like Starcraft, there's so many things to get better at - Art, world building, systems design, music, etc. With small teams it's hard to be great at everything that makes up a game. (Even just improving yourself to basic competence in a domain you've had zero experience in before feels like torture as your brain brutally re-wires itself... I really do understand why so many people prefer to stay frozen in time in carbonite.)

A month ago I saw a trailer for a Metal Slug inspired indie game. The pixel art was fantastic, you could see the miserable hours of drudgery that went into animating every sprite. While the game play itself... well....

[1KMS]

Are you talking about Guns of Fury? I'd agree that missed the mark. I would've hoped that someone inspired by Metal Slug noticed that scroll locking is an essential part of its stage design secret sauce, and tried to bring that over to a subgenre infamous for letting you bail out of enemy encounters at-will. Even without it, they could've doubled the enemy count and added timer-based zako spawns.

If you're talking about Aqua Ippan, I believe some members of that team are working on Black Finger Jet now, so MISSION COMPLETE for them I guess.

Moreover on the subject of amateur game travails, the developer of Megaman X: Corrupted just released his annual "I'm Not Dead" video, Abe Vigoda style. Looks sick.
https://youtu.be/ZcFep4A7PzA

Also pretty weird that Annihilus is the bad guy but no FF characters are playable?

There are 8 more characters in the works.
https://x.com/mmmmmmmmiller/status/1905275769544225106

[BIL]

stuff disappeared a lot quicker back then, too )

That was such a good problem to have, before we became ded forum. Well, at least now nothing anyone says can fall through the cracks.

tbh whenever this thread was asploding violently in 2015 or 2017, it was typically all of three nerds going at it and I was one of them. See also 2023 and Kaettekita Makaimura, where it got noisy enough to summon ranking crazy motherfucker djmikehaggar. Same in any cozy cultic scene tbh. >w> One guy gets a job a town over and the other pulls his back at the goat farm and suddenly you're a Tarkovsky protagonist. WAAAA

Good times aren't as far away as you think Bryan! But neither is cold embrace of grave (■｀w´■)

ACA Thread gets a lot of my vital energy atm personally. But maybe it's not the worst thing for a soft-as-shite console-bred wanker. I considered proposing a move here to Other Gayming, tbh. Then my TRUE+HONEST Index would be the NEW Shumps ACA Chat thread. Its for STG ONRY, NOOB! But everyone seems happy. Other than Discord nutters who want to delete OG+OT altogether! And particularly in this global economy, I reckon ~63% will lose their virginities in the next five years, the once stalwart ~NO PUSSY CREW~ collapsing into unbridled sectarian carnage.

The leniency in this thread on hop and boppers n' the like is the reason we have that one deranged maniac using it as the general video game thread in general...

I get sad at those posts tbh, as if this mandates Itagaki Ninja Gaiden. (great thread btw )

But I learned long ago, when you smell nice people will want to hang out (*'ω' *) I'd rather this be a place for Cabalesques and Quarth and Cave Noire with the odd arrant shitpost to Clorox out.


(tm/c 2017 kitten <3)

Well, to run the hoover, lookit this badass - and SUPERUNKNOWN, tres hipster - Topdown Army Spectacular! I will copy over some posts, as this thread taught me a lot about Front Line!

=Part 1: A Dream To Not Get Buttfucked Like With Jackal (´・ω・`)=

Spoiler

Longtime personal interest in this one. Seems very forgotten. Its predecessor Front Line is underrated as FUUUUUUCK in its field, popular memory tending to slam to a halt at Senjou no Okami and Ikari. Everyone knows DECO ripped off SNK but in fact, SNK ripped off Taito! Excellently, mind! I ain't complainin you fuckin lousy pricks

Perhaps this is another obscure scion that lost its identity, ala Blast Off to Bosconian, but I'm just happy to see it given reference treatment. While very Senjou-influenced at a glance, the pace seems comparably quick, and the hit ratio scoring might be Caravan dynamite. Barring any dreadful exploits, dohoho!

What awaits us on April? We don't know, but one thing is certain for sure. It starts with a red "n"

OH NO WAAAAAH I ONCE GOT A RED END FROM JACKIN IT

I'm still holding out for NEBULASRAY and BLASTER don't jinx me motherfucker (*'ω' *)

---

YEEE THIS PWNS Exactly the Caravan fire I'd hoped. The ratio system is a bit merciless by nature, though by the same token, ensures a high performance ceiling. Not entirely unreasonable, either; while Great Bonus (10k) demands 100% hit rate, you can still get Nice Bonus (5k) for staying above 75% hit rate.

Non-shooting kills - flattening infantry with your boat or tank, and mass BOMBAAA wipeouts - add a further wrinkle. These can drive your ratio over 100%, not earning extra bonus, but creating a nice buffer for extra shots. Pretty nice overall; splattering poor bastards under your treads/stern is more tactical than the subgenre norm. PREFERENCE OPUSHON shot+ratio display is great! Very handy for keeping track of said bomba buffer. Love how it's directly incorporated into the game HUD, too.

No aim lag whatsoever, thankfully. Would really suck in such a system. Player shot is slightly offset to the gun's side, inverting depending on whether you're facing up or down ala Ikari. I've never been a fan of this, but it's by far the lesser of endemic 80s run/gunning evils.

Brutal Gradius syndrome will chew up respawners. Happily, the upgraded machinegun's piercing shot tears through everything, so it's one of them there buckin' bronco affairs. Keep your shit together and you'll go far. Rounds are blitzkrieg-quick, you can tell they knew their Senjou. OG Front Line's vehicle hijacking is proudly upheld and expanded on; some fiendishly tight, tide-turning steals under pressure. Round 3's battleship heist particularly white-knuckling / arse-clenching. Awesome steamrolling firepower and mobility across ~LAND N' SEA & AIIIR~ got me hollerin YO JOOOEEE MUHFUCKAAA like Roadblock's rudeboy cousin who never passed basic.

If you hate Senjou/KiKi's lack of strafing, you'll hate it here too; but aforesaid upgraded shot really takes the load off. Some nice concessions on enemies. Planes can only fire in the direction they're pointing. Tanks take a while to fire after trundling onscreen. Infantry are harmless to overlap with.

Seems like it could have real legs in Caravan mode. Cheat code for MO SCO is pretty goofy at first, but there's a couple others that award more firepower... so maybe it's more tactical than the minor bungle it first seems. (UDRL, UDRL, DDD at Round Clear screen for more points; haven't memo'd the others yet, all are in the ACA manual )

Includes JP/EN/US, not sure how much varies, manual says it's just the title. Love the EN's "STORMING PARTY"

=Part 2: TOP WO NERAE (｀w´メ)=

Spoiler

Had a blast with the Caravan; not sure how well I did, was at #3 on PS4 earlier, but the regulars are beasts so might've gotten shunted down. EDIT: Ah! Kept #3, touching distance of CLOBTA-sama in second place. ^__^ South Korean badman RIO-K took the top spot this week, great international collaboration! Clob got #1 on Switch as usual, seems I'd have qualified for #2 there.

These early Caravans are great fun! I think I could get the 900k, plenty of deaths to trim out and places to improve. I wonder if it's possible to nail the entire slate of eight rounds in the 5min... would be rad @ 100k per PERFECT BOUNS. I think it loops endlessly otherwise, might be wrong. White-knuckle pace either way. Like Macross's Medal HUD, the Hit Ratio display is an absolute godsend; an ostensible cheat that genuinely makes the game more enjoyable and tactically intelligible. EDIT2: Yeah I think 1mil is my target for Caravan. Seems like Round 7 might be the theoretical furthest. Will stick with this a while, ala Juno First it's super-compulsive.

A champion wrinkle: nailing multiple targets with the piercing L2/L3 shot, as well as running over troops with tank/boat, or wiping out entire screenloads with BOMBA. This is a really cool touch; I'm amazed I've not seen it before, in similar systems! It maintains the icy pressure of one shot/one kill, while letting you artfully recapture a lost 100% Hit Rate... or create a nice fat safety buffer, and allow the occasional rapid-fire indulgence. (great for the hectic boss takedowns, where crowds can interfere) Blasting a round through three grunts, a heli, a tank, and a house to assert your PERFECT BOUNS be some KAGEROU/KIMOCHI

Even advancing at top speed, the enemy design really lends itself to this measured sniping, drilling multiple targets with each shot. There are generous cooldowns on most enemy units, with the balanced exception of stationary turrets, which can ofc be dodged around. The North By Northwest man vs plane action is especially hot-blooded; you can safely run under them, and while the overlappable infantry can fire in eight directions, making prolonged contact deadly, planes are strictly limited to firing wherever they're pointing. Rank does get vicious from Round 3, but in a nicely adaptable way; shorter windows on enemy attack and cooldown, it seems. These relentlessly-spawning motherfuckers will keep you in SELF DEFENSE SITUATION! As verification player SPT says, "Want to live? ADVANCE!"

Sorry to note there is in fact a tiny degree of aim lag when suddenly changing direction; it feels like a frame at most, I really have to try in order to trigger it, having a bullet fly one way while about-facing. Boat seems the slowest, though even it's very quick, followed by heli. On-foot seems nearly instantaneous. My current route never uses tank, not sure there. Decidedly Maju no Oukoku accent, rather than lagfest ala Super Contra, Jackal, or Holy Warrior Amaterasu. I wonder sometimes how much was mid-80s teething, and how much was deliberate.

A tip for the Round Clear cheats: let go of the directions as the boss dies. There's no need to dodge, and it's critical you not be moving around when the tally appears, as a perfect entry of the code is required. Felt dreadfully inconsistent at first, as I was still fidgeting about while the boss died; a snap, once I got used to letting off the dpad. A bit daft, but I headcanon it as bomb disposal / passcode hack. It's not that many points tbh, and perhaps there'll be a situation where the Power Up code is preferable. Weird but workable imo.

Altogether a very respectable release, and an easy rec for fans of its subgenre. (assuming tolerance/charity for its lack of strafe )

=Part 3: THE RULERS BACK (■｀w´■)=

Spoiler

Oh shit son! I sit down for an afternoon of STORMIN Only to see none other than our hometown hero and Topdown Macho Maestro, BBH-SAMA, has taken the #1 spot AND the 1mil! Reaching Round 7. Quickly busted n' de-rusted my old 700k with a new 830k, then 898k; gotta shatter 900k to challenge BBH, RIO-K, and reigning Caravan MVP KUROBUTA. (currently a four nations top 4, haha) I can definitely see how, will be enjoying this for a while.



Superb Caravan game. The combination of icy sniping, offbeat tricks, and whopping Round Clear bonuses give it a relentless and enviably aesthetic pace. STORMING PARTY indeed!

PS4 Caravan tables generally ain't as crowded as Switch (50 vs 100+ for LSA), but the latter sees a lot of one n' dones. (a shameless overture to HOLY CONSOLE WAR ) Top scorers across platforms seem very even; it's a shame there's no global leaderboard. Maybe Ham-chan's tryna double-dip on the hardest of hardcores. Te clever COONTS!

This is one of those games with crafty digit tricks; I'm always bad at those! No mathematics aptitude whatsoever, and bad at paying attention to both score and screen. I can get the Angels (20k) consistently though, easy enough. You need to have a 7 thousands digit, then shoot an already-destroyed battleship / air control tower. They take two shots to destroy, initially. First just scuffs 'em; wait a bit, then deliver a second to swiss cheese the bastard. Don't waste Hit Ratio! You have to wait before landing the coup de grace. There's three I know of; the battleships in Rounds 1 and 4, and the Air Traffic tower right after the fence in Round 3.

Fuuuck manipulating those S/B spawns and variables, though! Ah, maybe I can do it. Numbers bro, how they work >w>

EDIT Ohshi I get it use the Infantry - generally not worth the time to stop and blast, outside of SELF DEFENSE SITUATION - as tick points to manipulate the 100s digit. I think! Getting that "0" in the thousands column for 10k on B seems doable, too. Super nice manual, as usual.

EDIT2: Oh yeah, also, getting the early [P]iercing Shot. Hold up/right - same direction your dude's running! - during the intro for the same spawn RNG every time. Run over those two motherfuckers who'll be all up your bidness (free Hit Ratio buffer!), and snipe the gunboat on your six. BLAOW! B is now P. I dunno if this is a good idea even. P's worth less, and finishing any Round with 100% Hit Rate will get you the maxed shot, anyway. (Piercing + Rapid + Long Range... that Ikari influence ) But! Clearing out that early battleship for the Angel is much easier, since Piercing will tear straight through turrets, towers, and planes alike, no need to muck about with grenades. Perhaps the time saved will pay off? That's an extra 100k if you can make it to Round 6's tally screen like BBH-sama.

...or perhaps you just gotta get good with the trusty ol' PINE. Hmm! >CURRENT METHODOLOGY< I'm sure Clob's got something rad uploaded, but as with Juno, I like going at it alone for a while. Enjoying the mystery and all that.

Happy to see my cheat code tech worked like a charm. First time back after three days' absence, nailed each round. You gotta drop the d-pad like a bad habit the instant the boss blows up. It's tempting to keep on scrapping for extra kills, and that's probably a skill unto itself at the absolute limits, but it's otherwise not worth blowing the 7k. I still maintain they shoulda flashed up a CODEC with a *MZZT MZZT* RESPOND NOW MUHFUCKA!! *BEEP* countdown.

Between Juno and LSA, March was a splendid month for hardcore Caravan shooting! (and Senkyu's no slouch either ) These two most definitely go on the shortlist with VP1 and Senjyo. (and Shao-Lin's Road!)

[Sumez]

BTW, Bushiden has a playable demo out for Kickstarter backers. Does anyone remember Bushiden?
https://youtu.be/GxopZCqPt9Q

Wow that looks really nice! Getting serious Ninja Gaiden vibes from that video!
I wonder if it does anything to keep the player moving, or at least preventing retreats or a slow stop-and-go pace. That's one thing that could really make or break this game for me.

[Randorama]

Wild tangent during a lunch break:

Cosmo Police Galivan strikes me as a "caravan R2RKMF" game, since players basically loop variants of the same four stages over and over again (with the same theme playing over and over again, and that's all good because the theme is this one).

I believe that there were a few other caravan-like games in the R2RKMF genre, too, with Kunio-kun's first adventure perhaps qualifying as one case (...players may end up looping the same four stages over and over again, right?).

Other wild tangent: BIL, I have all the links to all the squibs and reviews of mine, when you need'em. PM and the usual amount, cash only, same place as always. Please brush up your wannabe "Italo-American mafioso" accent for the occasion, because we care about being classy.

I would add more on threads and virgin boys, but I...no, no thanks, bye.

[BIL]

Other wild tangent: BIL, I have all the links to all the squibs and reviews of mine, when you need'em. PM and the usual amount, cash only, same place as always. Please brush up your wannabe "Italo-American mafioso" accent for the occasion, because we care about being classy.

Copy that, I will be arriving with fire team, No Pussy Crew operatives scattered after this morning's driveby with mop-up in progress.

[Sumez]

edit: Re-post due to bunch of points added to the crowdfund thing

And can we stop with the number piñata BS in action games? lol It doesn't make the game smarter or more tactical, it's just meaningless visual noise. Save it for the debug mode.

I'm not concerned with the actual visual clutter of those numbers popping up. I don't care if they can be turned off or not. Them existing at all has always been one of my biggest immediate red flags in an "action game". It's a really good way to tell early on if a dev has no intention/knowledge of how to properly implement actually good arcade-style action gameplay.

I don't know why, but crowdfunded games very rarely turn out to be worth playing, provided they even get released. Maybe it's just me, but maybe it isn't.

Definitely just you. I've never found any correlation between the two at all.

It's kind of hard to investigate exactly which games were crowdfunded, but here are some really good ones off the top of my head that I know were:
Outer Wilds
Bug Fables
Steel Assault
Sea of Stars
Thimbleweed Park
Divinity Original Sin 1 and 2
Yooka-Laylee
Shovel Knight
Freedom Planet
A Hat In Time

Of course there are also a ton of crowdfunded games that aren't great. But there are a ton of games that aren't great in general, so I don't think the proportion is necessarily that much different

Also, this isn't really a defense of Kickstarter or anything. I think BryanM's points are all valid. It very quickly turned into just another way to promote a video game. And the thing is, for video games at least it's not really helping with the actual "I have a cool game I'm working on, but need money to finish it", because you basically need what amounts to completely finished graphical assets *at least* (but functional gameplay demo and stages helps as well) in order to properly advertise said game on the platform.
I do not back anything on KS either, and haven't for years, even if the game looks great. I can just buy it afterwards, and that was also my approach to that Toaplan documentary. The only exception is if it feels like it actually does need my donation to succeed.

[BryanM]

Kaettekita Makaimura

Urgh, it was like this place came back the dead when that came out... I felt like a total loser not getting to play the latest ghosts n' ghoulies... it looked so cool too.

One of the few times in my life I ever felt that 'peer pressure' thing the humans always talk about...

Are you talking about Guns of Fury?

Aqua Ippan?

Neither. The artstyle isn't a completely close clone of Slug, and I think it had an angled aiming system instead of cardinal directions.

On the topic of non-cardinal directions, Abuse always comes to mind. (Also another Aliens-themed game.) The keyboard and mouse control scheme is something that's really rare in R2RMotherFuckers, I always appreciate novel control systems. Makes games actually feel different from one another.

When it and SubSpace were released freeware when the company went out of business, they were a real treasure for the early internet. Looking at it now, it's lacking in a number of ways but standards were way lower back then. Way less competition.

When Braid came out and there were only like 40 indie games released that year, it really set off a gold rush. Now there's like 40 games released an hour, you can't exactly compete with Pitfall! anymore.

I feel bad for things like Ganja Farmer. You can get some of the same magic and feels from troweling around itch.io and fantasy console sites, but normies will never be garbage pile explorers like I am...

I'm not concerned with the actual visual clutter of those numbers popping up. I don't care if they can be turned off or not. Them existing at all has always been one of my biggest immediate red flags in an "action game". It's a really good way to tell early on if a dev has no intention/knowledge of how to properly implement actually good arcade-style action gameplay.

It's weird. I completely loathe this in Diablo or Vampire Survivor clones, and yet I feel like Secret of Mana/Rune Factory games would feel completely wrong without it. Maybe it has to do with how important spacing and dodging is, versus a game that's really about something else.

[BIL]

Kaettekita Makaimura

Urgh, it was this place came back the dead when that came out... I felt like a total loser not getting to play the latest ghosts n' ghoulies... it looked so cool too.

Had been out for a whole two years by the time I got to it. Would've been later, if not for the calibre of trusted peeps like Sumez and mikehaggar vouching for it. Never too late, etc etc! Fujiwara's masterpiece, not said lightly. Works equally well as balls-out arcade challenge or a longer-form ARPG, ala the Makaimura Gaidens.

Actually, it's probably best approached as a matroska-type deal. Enjoy the longer-form game first, ferreting out upgrades and figuring out which routes you like best, then go for gradually more arcade-compact runs. Crucially, getting those upgrades in the first place requires you to master each stage, much as you would for a conventional 1CC. Banging your head against the wall won't work, there's no GRINDAN attrition here! You gotta use yer fuckin loaf to conquer and survive. Cue much whining from noobs.

So it's a fantastic experience, even if "just" going for an easygoing tour ala Souls. Capital Hard Gaming entertainment.

On the topic of non-cardinal directions, Abuse always comes to mind. (Also another Aliens-themed game.) The keyboard and mouse control scheme is something that's really rare in R2RMotherFuckers, I always appreciate novel control systems. Makes games actually feel different from one another.

Didn't that come with its own level builder, too? I seem to recall the NOS copy I got for cheap on a stateside visit in the late 90s having a little blurb on the front, advertising a stage design contest. I still have it and fellow hardcore run/gun Betrayal At Krondor, good memories. Babbages closedown sale, IIRC. Never played either for more than a couple minutes, to my chagrin, being far more interested in the heaving stack of MURDA SIMZ from id and 3D Realms in same suitcase. Something for the rainiest and furthest-flung of days, hoho.

This reminds of a couple Raven Software titles around then, a topdown ARPG, and a topdown army run/gun... I don't normally amble down memory lane like this, but Abuse feels of a piece with them and I like to bat away dementia. Stuff that I'd probably be raving about had they been on console, like Sub-Terrania and Red Zone.

Ah fuck yeah, Mageslayer and Take No Prisoners. The latter's enemy taunt - "You better run boy!" - ruined my little boy brain, much as Postal's did. Here's one for ya muddah! TNP's perspective is actually quite interesting... it's like Namco's Assault via Raystorm's angled overhead.

Wow, the late 90s PC had a lot of hardcore R2RKMF content not named Duke Nukem or Jazz Jackrabbit or Jill Of The Jungle! :O And by a lot I mean four, including Betrayal At Krondor, but it's more than I recalled!

[Bassa-Bassa]

If you're talking about Aqua Ippan, I believe some members of that team are working on Black Finger Jet now, so MISSION COMPLETE for them I guess.

That's too bad as that Jet game looks like it's going far from what made the Slugs great. Aqua Ippan at least wasn't deviating from the original formula.

[1KMS]

I don't think the footage of BFJ's stages we've seen so far will have much resemblance to the final designs. I'm more worried about the game being too orthodox and not including basic actions, like the ability to drop down from platforms, that MS should've added by 3.

[Bassa-Bassa]

Even if they end up using pixel art for the backgrounds (which seems highly unlikely, if you ask me), zoomed-out camera is almost certainly a given. That alone should be enough in a genre like this, but I don't see it getting arcade-like difficulty and structure either, being a game for today's market. I wouldn't be surprised even if it's being designed for analog controllers.

I hope you don't mind me if I'll say that drop down from platforms was never a basic action in my book, as it can collide with the basic action of jumping, given that it's normally done by pressing down+jump. Moreover, down+jump has another use ever since the fourth game, so there's that. Not saying that I dislike the action per se, mind, just that it does not need to be on every game in the genre.

[1KMS]

I don't mind you saying that, and your reasoning is similar to what the original developers have said. Same principle as to why there aren't any ladders in MS games. I just never saw the harm in not including it, since it's been a staple since Rolling Thunder, and could open up stage design possibilities without resorting to double jumps or i-frame dodges. But a platform gap can function almost the same as a drop-down jump, just like a series of vertical platforms can function like a ladder.

[Sumez]

It's just a game design difference. Changing elevation is a core element of Rolling Thunder, it's not really in Metal Slug. It could be, sure, but it would be a very different game.
Metal Slug also doesn't have collision damage, which also separates it from nearly every other game in the genre.

[Randorama]

Hello folks, new squibs coming within the next few hours:

Rolling Thunder: here.
Devil World;here.

Short-term future plans involve Namco's Rolling Thunder 2 and NMK's/Jaleco's Psychic 5 (next week, promise!). Longer-term plans include...we will see, but expect some kusoge love.

I am all ears about how people would classify Psychic 5, though I would go for a boring "multi-scrolling anime-style platform with puzzle-like elements", or some mildly flippant label that may only confuse casual readers. A fun fact is that Psychic 5 seems to be NMK's first first non-shmup game. Considering how creative and innovative the game was, mechanics-wise, I am even more amazed about this little glorious company and its early demise. The arcade world was really ruthless, eh.