Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

[BareKnuckleRoo]

I was playing the PC version at a friend's place. I know someone else who was able to get a hold of a cart that used a dump of the rom flashed onto it and played it that way, but the official PC release plays fine.

As far as I know the official carts haven't been printed and shipped yet because they wanted to give them time to issue any emergency patches beforehand. Any carts you're purchasing are unofficial sellers using a cracked rom that was extracted from the PC port to cash in on something they aren't entitled to profit from (it's literally a new game for god's sake).

Something really important to keep in mind is this is literally a Sega Genesis game made entirely by only two people, so it's both really impressive and understandable that they're giving the PC release time to get extra playtesting and polishing before they burn roms to carts. Yuzo Koshiro's already said as much on his social media.

[LordHypnos]

Hehe I am the same, I always try to route myself first @_@"...

What is even more satisfying... is when I start aiming higher and I watch superplays and I find sections of my route which are 100% the same as the superplay route.

Feels good!~

It is a balance though. Sometimes, it can be very difficult to do major route changes because muscle memory.

The secret to this is to entirely forget the game before trying to improve your score so that you have to relearn it anyway. At least that's how it worked out the one time I've tried to get a really good score in something (Mars Matrix).

Also, slight self-correction

It is cool how solid Konami’s GB shmup ports are. Kind of a shame they didn’t do anything on the GBC. Even just a “DX” version of Parodius would be pretty sweet.

They actually did colorize most if not all of their GB shmups in the GBC Konami Collections It's obviously not PCEngine numbers of colors, but still pretty cool stuff!

EDIT: As for what I've been playing recently:

• Giga Wing - Still my main focus. Have figured out decent routes for S6 and S5 boss, but S5 is still a bit tough for me to route. It's tricky, because on a good day I can mostly wing it, and it's not like... an easy stage to memorize enemy spawns in for whatever reason, but I'm just not consistent enough to get it in a full run
• 19XX: The War Against Destiny - Just a few credits here or there. Fun game that I might want to pursue seriously at some point
• Out Zone - Same as above
• Nemesis GB -Got to final stage a few times. Final stage is hard though. Also checkpoint recoveries are hard, though I've succeeded a few times. I think this one hits a good place in terms of being handheld-friendly but not overly claustrophobic. The small hitbox probably helps with this. Nemesis II GB starts out really hard which is deterring me from playing it as much. Parodius starts out fine, but the sexy lady boss requires super precise tapping, as I mentioned earlier.
• Cotton NGPC - Stage 5 has some really tricky spots, so I might need to come back to this later. Biggest problem is the screen crunch combined with a pretty big hitbox.

[Sweatlord_STG]

Hehe I am the same, I always try to route myself first @_@"...

What is even more satisfying... is when I start aiming higher and I watch superplays and I find sections of my route which are 100% the same as the superplay route.

Feels good!~

It is a balance though. Sometimes, it can be very difficult to do major route changes because muscle memory.

The secret to this is to entirely forget the game before trying to improve your score so that you have to relearn it anyway. At least that's how it worked out the one time I've tried to get a really good score in something (Mars Matrix).

Also, slight self-correction

It is cool how solid Konami’s GB shmup ports are. Kind of a shame they didn’t do anything on the GBC. Even just a “DX” version of Parodius would be pretty sweet.

They actually did colorize most if not all of their GB shmups in the GBC Konami Collections It's obviously not PCEngine numbers of colors, but still pretty cool stuff!

EDIT: As for what I've been playing recently:

• Giga Wing - Still my main focus. Have figured out decent routes for S6 and S5 boss, but S5 is still a bit tough for me to route. It's tricky, because on a good day I can mostly wing it, and it's not like... an easy stage to memorize enemy spawns in for whatever reason, but I'm just not consistent enough to get it in a full run
• 19XX: The War Against Destiny - Just a few credits here or there. Fun game that I might want to pursue seriously at some point
• Out Zone - Same as above
• Nemesis GB -Got to final stage a few times. Final stage is hard though. Also checkpoint recoveries are hard, though I've succeeded a few times. I think this one hits a good place in terms of being handheld-friendly but not overly claustrophobic. The small hitbox probably helps with this. Nemesis II GB starts out really hard which is deterring me from playing it as much. Parodius starts out fine, but the sexy lady boss requires super precise tapping, as I mentioned earlier.
• Cotton NGPC - Stage 5 has some really tricky spots, so I might need to come back to this later. Biggest problem is the screen crunch combined with a pretty big hitbox.

The Game Boy games by Konami are SO fucking dope. I read your post and it made me want to play them again. Srsly there is something about the GB, I mean the charme of its games due to their unique look and sound. But that's also true for any hold hardware you like.





I also own the cartridge. I just love how the music sounds in this one and how everything looks. Same for the first Contra on GB.

[LordHypnos]

The Game Boy games by Konami are SO fucking dope. I read your post and it made me want to play them again. Srsly there is something about the GB, I mean the charme of its games due to their unique look and sound. But that's also true for any hold hardware you like.

[snip]

I also own the cartridge. I just love how the music sounds in this one and how everything looks. Same for the first Contra on GB.

Yeah, the music is really fantastic, and they did a really good job on the monochrome pixel art. There's also apparently a special stage you can get (with some difficulty) in stage 4. How cool is that?

On the topic of GB Contra, both Nemesis and Contra are on the Konami GB Collection Volume 1. Imagine having that one back in the day. Looks like it commands a pretty penny nowadays, though.

They also did make parodius about as colorful as they could given the limitations on Konami GB Collection Volume 2


Also this is pretty amusing

[Sweatlord_STG]

It's funny how when you fight that one boss in Nemesis GB, the music is from Parodius.

I just googled the secret stage you were talking about. I knew about this in the PCE version but not in this one:

"There is a secret level in stage 4. Right below the third skull that shoots balls at you, fly to the bottom left of the screen and stay there for two seconds. You will be taken to a secret stage."

Cool! I need to try it out.

[LordHypnos]

Cool! I need to try it out.

It's a bit tricky. there's an enemy in the way who you don't really have a great angle to destroy (I had been just flying past it), then you need to kind of back into the spot. Probably just takes a bit of practice though



(circle added to indicate spot)

[Sweatlord_STG]

Cool! I need to try it out.

It's a bit tricky. there's an enemy in the way who you don't really have a great angle to destroy (I had been just flying past it), then you need to kind of back into the spot. Probably just takes a bit of practice though



(circle added to indicate spot)

Hold on I'll try.

Did you notice stage 2 boss has the same music as the dancing woman in Parodius Da!? Kinda weird and lazy to use that asset in a Gradius game. Wait. Or was it the other way around? :O Both games are from 1990.

[Samildanach]

Cool! I need to try it out.

It's a bit tricky. there's an enemy in the way who you don't really have a great angle to destroy (I had been just flying past it), then you need to kind of back into the spot. Probably just takes a bit of practice though



(circle added to indicate spot)

Hold on I'll try.

Did you notice stage 2 boss has the same music as the dancing woman in Parodius Da!? Kinda weird and lazy to use that asset in a Gradius game. Wait. Or was it the other way around? :O Both games are from 1990.

Nemesis GB was definitely out before Parodius GB. In fact all the Nemesis boss themes are found in previous games, the first being the original Gradius boss music, second being the final boss music from Gradius II and the music for the last three first appearing as the boss music in Nemesis II on the MSX.
All four Konami shooters for the Gameboy are arguably some of the best of the system.

[Sweatlord_STG]

Cool! I need to try it out.

It's a bit tricky. there's an enemy in the way who you don't really have a great angle to destroy (I had been just flying past it), then you need to kind of back into the spot. Probably just takes a bit of practice though



(circle added to indicate spot)

Thanks! I just got there.

It's a bit tricky. there's an enemy in the way who you don't really have a great angle to destroy (I had been just flying past it), then you need to kind of back into the spot. Probably just takes a bit of practice though



(circle added to indicate spot)

Hold on I'll try.

Did you notice stage 2 boss has the same music as the dancing woman in Parodius Da!? Kinda weird and lazy to use that asset in a Gradius game. Wait. Or was it the other way around? :O Both games are from 1990.

Nemesis GB was definitely out before Parodius GB.

Yeah, but the questions is was Nemesis GB out before the first Parodius? Or rather the first Parodius that had this song? Iirc the first Parodius was on MSX but I'm not sure whether it contains the song in question. The first Parodius arcade game came after, but that one definitely had it.

It's a bit tricky. there's an enemy in the way who you don't really have a great angle to destroy (I had been just flying past it), then you need to kind of back into the spot. Probably just takes a bit of practice though



(circle added to indicate spot)

Hold on I'll try.

Did you notice stage 2 boss has the same music as the dancing woman in Parodius Da!? Kinda weird and lazy to use that asset in a Gradius game. Wait. Or was it the other way around? :O Both games are from 1990.

In fact all the Nemesis boss themes are found in previous games, the first being the original Gradius boss music, second being the final boss music from Gradius II and the music for the last three first appearing as the boss music in Nemesis II on the MSX.

Yes I know, but as you said yourself these songs are all from other Gradius games, not from an entirely different series (Parodius) that has an entirely different theme.

Which game is your avatar from?

[LordHypnos]

I think I remember a boss track that I recognized from Life Force NES (different arrangement of course), might have also been in a gradius game though

[Sweatlord_STG]

I think I remember a boss track that I recognized from Life Force NES (different arrangement of course), might have also been in a gradius game though

Yeah probably, I can't remember right now from the top of my head. There are also bosses or alterations of them in Gradius games, but I think it fits in because Salamander/Life Force are part of the Gradius series.

I don't know what it is but this topic reminded me of how much I like the GB. I also had a GG at the time, which was technically superior, but there is just something magical about the limitation of the GB. I don't need to name any games as you know them already, but there is just something so pretty and charming and appealing about them (which is true for any old system as they all had their own unique hardware that made the games look and sound distinct). It really makes me want to take out my SFC right now so I can play these games on CRT via the Super Game Boy 2. Gargoyle's Quest, Contra, Bubble Bobble Junior, Gradius 1&2, I love all those games. And there are actually dozens or even hundreds of good games on the GB imo, I think its library is one of the best besides MD, PCE, SS and PSX.

Just look at this.

[LordHypnos]

I think I remember a boss track that I recognized from Life Force NES (different arrangement of course), might have also been in a gradius game though

I'm pretty sure this is just wrong, nvm

Yeah, GB has a really excellent library. Probably one of the best of any handheld system. Perhaps some of the later ones exceed it, but it was very popular for a very long time, and got tons of games.

[Marc]

Zero Wing. It's..... crap. It feels very 'Euro'. Tedious stage design, drab, awful visuals, boring weapons..... Worst Toaplan game I've played so far.

[Steven]

lol Zero Wing has beautiful graphics, as you'd expect from Hayashi Miho and Ogihara Naoki, the two best artists who ever worked at Toaplan.

It's also way, way, WAY better than Tatsujin Ou.

[Marc]

I think it's the lack of animation that does me, it just feels lifeless. Only had a brief mess with TO, but that too seems to suffer with the 'default weapon is piss weak' problem

[Steven]

MD Zero Wing has less animation than the arcade version, but in general I think the MD version is possibly the best version of the game. MD version has a score exploit against the last boss that doesn't exist in any other version, though. Still, Zero Wing was never meant to be released at all; it was a training project for new recruits, hence Hayashi Miho's involvement, as that was her first game. She did a bunch of stuff for this game, including the stage 7 boss, which is named Miporin after her. Tomizawa Toshiaki was new at the time as well, and although he worked on Horror Story before Zero Wing, he also got put on Zero Wing and did just under half of the game's music.

But yeah, if the game seems undercooked, that's probably why.

[Sweatlord_STG]

MD Zero Wing has less animation than the arcade version, but in general I think the MD version is possibly the best version of the game. MD version has a score exploit against the last boss that doesn't exist in any other version, though. Still, Zero Wing was never meant to be released at all; it was a training project for new recruits, hence Hayashi Miho's involvement, as that was her first game. She did a bunch of stuff for this game, including the stage 7 boss, which is named Miporin after her. Tomizawa Toshiaki was new at the time as well, and although he worked on Horror Story before Zero Wing, he also got put on Zero Wing and did just under half of the game's music.

But yeah, if the game seems undercooked, that's probably why.

I've never played Zero Wing much yet, but I remember people saying the MD version was better than the arcade version for some reason, iirc. Or was that Hellfire?
It does seem a bit weird at first glance. So there are two buttons I think? Shot and grab. You can grab small enemies, then throw them away as an attack, but this gimmick seems useless? Please explain Steven-kun.

[Steven]

Arcade 1P Hellfire > MD Hellfire (which is different enough to be a different game) > arcade 2P Hellfire

MD Zero Wing has way better music than the arcade version thanks to Iwadare Noriyuki and enemies don't have super bloated HP like they do on the arcade version, so it's much nicer to actually play. Arcade extend score is so high that you get like two score extends per loop, which combines with sub-par checkpoint recovery design to make it one of the harder Toaplan games because you're pretty much fucked if you die in the wrong place and have only a tiny amount of chances to recover, but scoring is different on MD and I don't remember how it works out, just that you can milk the last boss (I think infinitely) because it gives enough score to give an extend on MD, which doesn't happen on arcade. Don't worry about Zero Wing's tractor beam except for on stage 4, or to grab an enemy to hold it as a shield if you lose your bomb. I also would not recommend the PC Engine version at all because it's super slow and boring.

[pegboy]

I kinda liked Zero Wing, it's crusty as hell but the music is incredible.

[Sweatlord_STG]

Arcade 1P Hellfire > MD Hellfire (which is different enough to be a different game) > arcade 2P Hellfire

MD Zero Wing has way better music than the arcade version thanks to Iwadare Noriyuki and enemies don't have super bloated HP like they do on the arcade version, so it's much nicer to actually play. Arcade extend score is so high that you get like two score extends per loop, which combines with sub-par checkpoint recovery design to make it one of the harder Toaplan games because you're pretty much fucked if you die in the wrong place and have only a tiny amount of chances to recover, but scoring is different on MD and I don't remember how it works out, just that you can milk the last boss (I think infinitely) because it gives enough score to give an extend on MD, which doesn't happen on arcade. Don't worry about Zero Wing's tractor beam except for on stage 4, or to grab an enemy to hold it as a shield if you lose your bomb. I also would not recommend the PC Engine version at all because it's super slow and boring.

Oh. I didn't realize I could use them as a shield, although it's quite obvious Doesn't that mean I should just always hold an enemy while shooting?

[Steven]

I kinda liked Zero Wing, it's crusty as hell but the music is incredible.

I have days where I have a lot of fun with Zero Wing. Second half of the game is pretty good, too, as the game really picks up once you get to Submarine Tunnel. Of course you can skip most of that with the warp that's unique to the arcade 1P version, but that's no fun and it feels like cheating.

As for the music, this is pretty much obligatory at this point every time the music is mentioned: https://youtu.be/X1wpqKazoWM?si=wHMQFvC-Wc6hLifd
^ that is one of Tomizawa-san's tracks, but Tomizawa-san's goal with that one was to make it as much like Uemura-san's music as possible, and everyone likes it, including Uemura-san, hence the new arranged version.

Oh. I didn't realize I could use them as a shield, although it's quite obvious Doesn't that mean I should just always hold an enemy while shooting?

Basically if you don't have a bomb, grab an enemy and hold it and that's your shield until you get a bomb. If you see a bomb, pick it up and hold it as long as you can, unless of course you are on stage 4 and need to pick up the Pipirus to get a ton of points. You basically should play that entire stage using nothing but the tractor beam until you get to the boss so you don't kill them by mistake and lose the points. Don't throw enemies off the screen because you won't get any points from it. If you're going to throw an enemy, throw it into something so it is destroyed and you get points.

[AGermanArtist]

Had to pause to enthuse about some super cheap games I've just picked up on Steam.
I bought Red Blue Cell after loving the demo, so I tried GanaBlade's demo, and bought that and love it (Steam reports no controller support, but it does - my 8-bit-do works just fine), tried the G Warrior demo and of course I bought that too and now Zombies Attack is in my Wishlist having also loved that demo. Looks like we have a new Terarin situation here. These are great games