Night Striker Gear announced!

[kid aphex]

Way undercooked.
I’m not talking about the graphics - they’re kind of ugly but have a distinct style. The aesthetics are fine.

But game length is brutal - levels are way too short - mechanics underwhelming -

Actually feels like this could’ve been a lot deeper of an experience. For brief moments I can feel the edge of a better game’s potential, then BAM, WARNING, level’s over.

$9.99 game, at best.

[EmperorIng]

The pacing is good though 4 stages is kinda low.

FWIW, you get a fifth stage + real ending if you meet certain conditions during your normal run, in case you didn't know.

[Sanguis]

Bought it because of the Iuchi direction. Played it for 30 minutes, not really interested in digging more. One day, maybe...

[Some-Mist]

I love it and just hit normal standard G yesterday. I still haven’t played the original, but I love the running mechanic, which feels similar to NMK bumping/riding in hacha mecha fighter/zed blade/p-47 aces.

Figuring out a way to maximize points by running, making sure not to miss out on enemy packs, and not getting caught flat footed (because running feels like slow dragging) is a nice delicate balance.

Same with trying to figure out how to keep the gear level up and planning out when I’m going to use the gear attack. It took me a couple hours to figure it out and break the top 100, and I just hit #18 on the steam leaderboards yesterday.

[AGermanArtist]

I love it for what it is. It's a modern arcade game I'm going to play now and again. It does what it does well, and it looks amazing doing it.

[Some-Mist]

is it right that with a max gear level you do more damage or did I read that wrong? so you'd have to weigh out if you want lower attack damage to use a gear in a pinch?

[caincan]

yokeee
https://x.com/GASQ_Q/status/1985287831896682597

https://x.com/GASQ_Q/status/1982425879147089933

[dmk1198]

I love it for what it is. It's a modern arcade game I'm going to play now and again. It does what it does well, and it looks amazing doing it.

I like it but the body of the ship covers my bullets alot so can't see what I'm shooting at it's annoying
Tough game to lol only played twice but died early on 2nd level both times lol

[SavagePencil]

Does an alternate soundtrack open up with B-Side (or any other unlock)? The orchestral wallpaper music really detracts.

[Some-Mist]

The pacing is good though 4 stages is kinda low.

FWIW, you get a fifth stage + real ending if you meet certain conditions during your normal run, in case you didn't know.

Do we know what the conditions are? I finally 1CC’d standard normal after around 7 hours and every time I beat the 4th stage I was shifted to stage G. I’m pretty positive I got the “good” ending

[D]

yokeee
https://x.com/GASQ_Q/status/1985287831896682597

https://x.com/GASQ_Q/status/1982425879147089933

Would it not make more sense to use a flight stick type of input device like for Space Harrier?

[EmperorIng]

The pacing is good though 4 stages is kinda low.

FWIW, you get a fifth stage + real ending if you meet certain conditions during your normal run, in case you didn't know.

Do we know what the conditions are? I finally 1CC’d standard normal after around 7 hours and every time I beat the 4th stage I was shifted to stage G. I’m pretty positive I got the “good” ending

iirc the condition is that you need to get a Wipe Out bonus on at least one of the previous stages.

[Some-Mist]

FWIW, you get a fifth stage + real ending if you meet certain conditions during your normal run, in case you didn't know.

Do we know what the conditions are? I finally 1CC’d standard normal after around 7 hours and every time I beat the 4th stage I was shifted to stage G. I’m pretty positive I got the “good” ending

iirc the condition is that you need to get a Wipe Out bonus on at least one of the previous stages.

nice, wipe out isn't too hard compared to perfect wipe out, which I thought I got many times up until today
I wanna figure out how to get the bad ending and maybe that's the main factor

[Some-Mist]

Hard mode isn’t really the jump I had expected, it’s just faster so if you have a route down it pretty much still works. I was able to get to the stage G boss on hard after a couple tries last night

Bosses seem to have the same amount of hp as far as I can tell

edit: hard mode 1CCd, pretty damn sick

[EmperorIng]

Finally am playing this, and it's pretty fun. Is it me or is it hard to line up your shots? It feels like the original game had a more steady stream of bullets which made it easier to see where you were aiming.

I am also surprised that for how sloppy I am right now, I am still getting consistent wipe-outs on several stages, and thus unlocking the true final stage each time (even when I was purposefully trying to play poorly to get a "bad ending", ha). Stage G is kicking my ass with my 3 continues, so as of this introductory dive I haven't seen the final boss yet.

The bosses are so excellent, some of the freshest in the super-scaler sub-genre that I have seen in quite a while. I love how many of them try to trap you in these pseudo-tunnels of bullets, it just feels very dynamic and cool to thread the needle. I do love the theming of the 4 sub-bosses prior to G, it feels very Treasure. In fact, this game does feel like the most "Treasure" style game we have had in a while.

Steam version plays fine, but annoyingly my controller is not recognized on the main menu, but is fine in game! What the hell??

[Some-Mist]

aiming was difficult for me too, but I was primarily using the d-pad as I usually prefer d-pads, and as soon as I switched to using the joystick, it became significantly easier. just putting that out there in case you're running into the same thing

[EmperorIng]

huh, really, it makes that much of a difference? I guess I'll dig out my now-old Xbone pad - I usually do most of my gaming on controllers that lack analog.

[Some-Mist]

Yeah at least for me that was the case. I found that I had to keep tapping on the d-pad in the same direction to try and line up shots, creating much more of a rubber band effect the entire run with the ship snapping back into position, and with the joystick it was significantly smoother. I was solely using d-pad for the first 5 hours of runs before I decided to give the joystick a try

I haven’t tried it with an arcade stick yet

Spoiler

you can notice it more when playing than in the video but

from an earlier run when I was using d-pad before I got the clear
https://youtu.be/KlXUBwkT200

my hard mode clear when I was using joystick
https://youtu.be/_6aL_Bbm2bg

[velo]

Really enjoying it myself. It feels more like a shmup in 3D than any other rail shooter I've played. I don't think I've seen one with such elaborate bullet patterns and formations. Although it's not super difficult, it was a little overwhelming until I had some familiarity with the stages, but then it clicked. The bullet sealing mechanic is a clever idea and I don't think I've seen it in this kind of game before: enemies "behind" your ship (from the player's perspective) can't shoot. Gear mode fills the role of a smart bomb tweaked for 3D. I was annoyed at the lack of practice options like a stage select at first, but with the way shields work and the pace of the game, it doesn't matter that much. It's more fun to do full runs anyway.

I started on Rogue Flight at about the same time, and after a couple hours in both, I'm definitely giving NSG the win. NSG is like a arcade shmup to RF's euroshmup.

Has anybody even tried Pacifist? I'm not seeing the appeal of playing this game without killing stuff.

[EmperorIng]

I found that I had to keep tapping on the d-pad in the same direction to try and line up shots, creating much more of a rubber band effect the entire run with the ship snapping back into position

You can turn this option off in the menu, if you mean the "snap back to neutral" effect when you are playing. Nice job on the hard mode clear btw!

[qmish]

As I use trusty old logitech gamepad, while using analog stick is better here, I still wish they would include sensitivity setting as it feels I need it to be slower. When you don't feel full control in game, you become annoyed as it feels more about fighting the controls at some point. Using d-pad surely worse here anyway.

Still on the fence about whether or not game has visibility trouble/overwhelmingness, but bullets becoming orange when close to player definitely help. On the other hand, as our own are blue, I didn't expect those light blue ones from bosses. Also I still don't understand those attacks when they throw a circle of bullets at you, do you need to be in the center of that or they just trick your attention?

Not a fan of semi-orchestral soundtrack, though some tunes are pleasant. It's just original Night Striker had such an amazing and distinct music, and when we talk modern Zuntata I surely enjoyed what was done with Dariusburst, meanwhile in this game it's not as memorable as either, and I'd prefer it to be more energetic or melodic.

[Some-Mist]

I found that I had to keep tapping on the d-pad in the same direction to try and line up shots, creating much more of a rubber band effect the entire run with the ship snapping back into position

You can turn this option off in the menu, if you mean the "snap back to neutral" effect when you are playing. Nice job on the hard mode clear btw!

!! I had no idea that was a setting and I’m sure that would have helped a bit. Ty

Also I still don't understand those attacks when they throw a circle of bullets at you, do you need to be in the center of that or they just trick your attention?

I haven’t really figured it out either. When I stay in the circle it’s easier for me to see the other bullets on screen, but you run into the chance that you’ll be pinned by a direct shot in there. I feel like I do more damage to the midboss too, but that’s just a theory. That stage G midboss wrecks me almost every time

[m.sniffles.esq]

That auto-center option (and the fact that's it's enabled by default) was just confounding to me.

Like I'm sure it exists for some purpose (or why else would it be there?), I'm just stumped as to what that purpose could be. Playing with it enabled feels like you're constantly fighting an invisible black hole in the center of the screen

[SavagePencil]

With an auto-centering stick like the arcade had (and the Cyberstick offers), it makes more sense.

You’re specifying [-1, 1] directly vs doing relative movement.

[EmperorIng]

The ingame "manual" is pretty cryptic about it, but I only realized that your car's power-level is tied to your Gear - so overusing the transformation mechanic can be pretty detrimental depending on the stage, and especially during bosses, since you don't have an opportunity to power up much during them (and fighting them at level 1 power takes forever!). With this in mind I have been able to make better progress, but I am far and away from a 1cc yet. At the very least I finally beat all 4 final stages (with credit-feeding through G each time). That final stage really throws you for a loop, but the environmental obstacles in the previous stages are really what usually do me in.

Planes that shoot missiles also tend to come much faster than I expect - they feel faster than the original missiles in Night Striker which gave me some more leisure time to dodge them!

Regardless of how hellish the development was for Iuchi, I hope he's at least consoled by the fact that he directed a good game.

[velo]

With an auto-centering stick like the arcade had (and the Cyberstick offers), it makes more sense.

You’re specifying [-1, 1] directly vs doing relative movement.

Yeah, it's how the original works, it's how Space Harrier works, it's how a lot of other Space Harrier clones work, and for me it's the natural way to play the game. I just de-inverted the controls so that up is up etc which feels better to me with a thumbstick.

The ingame "manual" is pretty cryptic about it, but I only realized that your car's power-level is tied to your Gear - so overusing the transformation mechanic can be pretty detrimental depending on the stage, and especially during bosses, since you don't have an opportunity to power up much during them (and fighting them at level 1 power takes forever!).

Ooh, thanks for that. I've had a problem with certain bosses timing out on me and I bet that's got something to do with it.

[m.sniffles.esq]

Yeah, I guess back in the Space Harrier port days I accepted it, as the port's raison d'être was to be 'just like the arcade'. But emulating an arcade version that doesn't exist seemed a little goofy to me.

But whatever, it can be turned off (thankfully).

[TransatlanticFoe]

Physical Operation Night Strikers arrived last weekend!

Haven't played Operation Thunderbolt yet. Bit disappointed it's an old build on the card - version 1.1 which prompts for an update and has a bug where SMS Space Gun refuses to let ZL/ZR be remapped (they always open the system menu). Occasionally the menu button stops working and it needs to be force closed/restarted.

Switch gyro control works well, and that's just with the bare joycons - I do have a shotgun cradle which makes it easier to remain centred (and thus not recalibrate as often) but fuck knows where I put it when I moved house. I'm struggling with Operation Wolf SMS because I'm used to the light phaser muscle memory aiming, it's a fast-paced game and I need to get used to the cursor lag and have confidence in my relative aim positions - disabling the reticle won't help because it does need the occasional recentre. Space Gun's slower gunplay (arcade and SMS) works really well though and rarely needs recalibrating - I cleared that one without hassle. I don't know why they couldn't get gyro working for the NES and SNES titles though, perhaps it's down to all the light guns operating differently - with only the SMS light phaser actually detecting the position on screen when you pull the trigger (the SNES Super Scope requires an external sensor, the NES Zapper blanks the screen and uses white hitboxes)? For the SMS games it's definitely using gyro in lieu of a light gun rather than the control pad mode with a fixed-speed cursor.

Not sure what M2 is doing with the super easy modes though, they are insultingly easy but, unlike the Toaplan Arcade Garage titles, don't add any interesting mechanics - they're just a cakewalk. Even bumping the difficulty settings doesn't make a big enough difference. It does feel like the US arcade revisions are manageable with easy selected in the settings, they're a bit brutal otherwise! I miss the custom mode settings from Toaplan Arcade Garage though, Space Gun especially would benefit from an adjustable timer - or hell, just an M2 custom arrange mode would be nice instead of either brutal arcade or piece of piss easy mode.

Haven't really gone into Night Striker much yet either, the analogue control method reminds me of Space Harrier via Shenmue on the DC and I found it a bit awkward with the joycons (they have a short throw so precision is tricky).

[AGermanArtist]

I found US Easy is what I was used to playing in the UK/Ireland back when it was new. US Normal just brutalised me, it feels like the equivalent to the UK's second loop. If not even slightly more difficult. I got it on Steam and it's great with a mouse. Overall, I think it's one of M2's better efforts. I really like the presentation. The Gadgets are great to look at, but don't really offer anything of use with the exception of Space Gun where it's easier to see what weapon you're currently using.

[TransatlanticFoe]

On the contrary, every Operation Wolf cab I ever experienced was brutal - obviously I was very young with underdeveloped hand/eye coordination, but I never got off the first stage and I never saw anyone get beyond the jungle stage. I expect UK cabs were either the US version or bootlegs, just with the difficulty turned up to make money off holiday folk (yeah it worked!).

The ammo count is really helpful on Space Gun! But yeah, Operation Wolf is so busy that oh yeah there are gadgets cool oh right game over.