STGT 2k6- Week #4 Poll (Psikyo Week)

[Randorama]

Uhm, the game is quite interesting actually, but still a goddamn pain in the ass.

Still, Icarus is the Satan and must be banned FTWOG!!1!


(?)

[Icarus]

Uhm, the game is quite interesting actually, but still a goddamn pain in the ass.

Still, Icarus is the Satan and must be banned FTWOG!!1!

Play through the pain barrier, Rando. ^_-
(I advise taking some ibuprofen beforehand.)

[Randorama]

Play through the pain barrier, Rando. ^_-
(I advise taking some ibuprofen beforehand.)

*Pile-drops Icarus*

The best part is when i get random frameskipping and all of a sudden everything goes to hell. Can i play with a couple of extra lives due to hardware problems -_-;;;?

[freddiebamboo]

I get the same problem with all Psikyo games in mame.

The PS2 port is usually available for under £10 in the bargain bins of most shops these days.

[Kiken]

My one issue with DB is how absurdly fast the rank escalates. It feels very poorly balanced when compared to Strikers 1945 II... or even Gunbird 2.

[Randorama]

Thanks freddieb., but i lack a modded PS2, sadly. bah, nevermind...

[Super Laydock]

Dragon Blaze easily ranks up there with the Sengoku games.
As the most hated, not understood Psikyo games (well by me anyway).
How could games with such (sometimes) brilliant artwork be so...so...bleh.

Give me Gunbird, or even better Gunbird 2 over his ANY day!

I do not like playing it and this reflects in my score which so far is too low to even being worth mentioning (REALLY, not out of embarresment. But I'll only post this score if it's my high at the end of the week). I am SOO deserving last place overall atm.

[Rob]

or even better Gunbird 2 over his ANY day!

I'm surprised by this opinion.

I'm glad this is finally pushing me to play it again and clear it, which was one of my goals this year.

My one issue with DB is how absurdly fast the rank escalates. It feels very poorly balanced when compared to Strikers 1945 II... or even Gunbird 2.

I think the rank increases as much as GB2 at the start. The major difference is in GB2 the fixed stage 4 is easy while in DB it's not (dreaded last random stage). GB2 more than makes up for this in 5 and 6. After the first death in DB (and the steady stream of them that follow) it stays pretty tame. After a death in GB2, it's like it forgot about it after 30-60 seconds.

[professor ganson]

or even better Gunbird 2 over his ANY day!

I'm surprised by this opinion.

Yeah, I heard you say this before, Super Laydock, and it surprises me as well. Gunbird 2 is a hard-hitting, pure shooter that requires deep familiarity with attack patterns for success (at least for normal players). Dragon Blaze is no different. It just looks better, has easier-to-see bullets, and has the beloved dragonshot. Rob is right, though, about the difference at level 4. Level 5 in each game is seriously hard for me.

EDIT: If you're like me and find coin chaining tedious and aggravating, the dragonshot makes a HUGE difference to gameplay, as an alternative method of picking up points via coins. It's just much more pleasant to slam fish-like demons over the head to get those extra points. What could be more fun, really?

[freddiebamboo]

Thanks freddieb., but i lack a modded PS2, sadly. bah, nevermind...

It got a pal release Rando without sol divide on the disc. It shouldn't be too hard to track down, although a lot of online shops seem to have sold out of it. Don't know how common they are in stores, but I see copies about occasionally.

[Super Laydock]

or even better Gunbird 2 over his ANY day!

I'm surprised by this opinion.

Yeah, I heard you say this before, Super Laydock, and it surprises me as well. Gunbird 2 is a hard-hitting, pure shooter that requires deep familiarity with attack patterns for success (at least for normal players). Dragon Blaze is no different. It just looks better, has easier-to-see bullets, and has the beloved dragonshot. Rob is right, though, about the difference at level 4. Level 5 in each game is seriously hard for me.

I'll have to disagree there!

First of all: Gunbird 2 has a somewhat more straightforward system.
You have shot, close attack, charge attack and your bomb.
In DB you have: shot, shot charge attack, dragon attack, dragon charge attack and your bombs. There's a whole extra (complicating things) attack.
The Dragon shot is also much more important for scoring than the close attack in GB2, which imo is more important for survival than for scoring there.

Seond: I think Gunbird has MUCH easier to see bullets and easier (well up to level 5 at least) bullet patterns. I can (somewhat) easily reach stage 5 in GB2, while I have serious problems geting to 4 in DB.

I suppose the extra attack level and the somewhat unbalanced Dragon Shot (read: over important for scoring) is what makes the difference for me.

I really dislike this game so far!

[Turrican]

Gunbird 2 has a somewhat more straightforward system. You have shot, close attack, charge attack and your bomb.
In DB you have: shot, shot charge attack, dragon attack, dragon charge attack and your bombs. There's a whole extra (complicating things) attack.

Yes, but you can forget of those attacks imho. at least one of them is useless depending on ship. For example, Quaid's breath is effective but the fire spear isn't much. Besides, as you say, Dragon Shot's is so important that you'll use it 90% of time instead of those charges... Which I only find useful to pass the first boss incarnation quickly.

The Dragon shot is also much more important for scoring than the close attack in GB2, which imo is more important for survival than for scoring there.

Yes, but it's also quicker and more intuitive to perform. (yeah, holding button is bad)

I suppose the extra attack level and the somewhat unbalanced Dragon Shot (read: over important for scoring) is what makes the difference for me.

I don't know --- I really am not a fan of "wait until the medal shines" system - I guess I prefer the "ram your dragon into everything to get gold" system a bit more.

[professor ganson]

Just in case you missed my edit above, I want to repeat it, as it agrees with Turrican.
You wrote:

The Dragon shot is also much more important for scoring than the close attack in GB2, which imo is more important for survival than for scoring there.

Right. But that's a good thing. <Here's the part I edited in above:> If you're like me and find coin chaining tedious and aggravating, the dragonshot makes a HUGE difference to gameplay, as an alternative method of picking up points via coins. It's just much more pleasant to slam fish-like demons over the head to get those extra points. What could be more fun, really?

[Turrican]

It's just much more pleasant to slam fish-like demons over the head to get those extra points. What could be more fun, really?

A game with this system programmed by Compile and with an intelligent learning curve that doesn't make an hell any stage after the third, perhaps?

Seriously, DB isn't bad - but it's way too hard. This is the classic arcade coin-milker which would have benefitted from a 16bit era conversion (read: overhaul), rather than straight emulation/port of these days.

[professor ganson]

It's just much more pleasant to slam fish-like demons over the head to get those extra points. What could be more fun, really?

A game with this system programmed by Compile and with an intelligent learning curve that doesn't make an hell any stage after the third, perhaps?

Seriously, DB isn't bad - but it's way too hard. This is the classic arcade coin-milker which would have benefitted from a 16bit era conversion (read: overhaul), rather than straight emulation/port of these days.

Since this is my favorite game, I should disagree with you. But I won't. In fact, the game is almost certainly too hard for me ever to clear (without devoting my life to doing so). The game was not made with my skills in mind. Still, I don't count that against it too much. There are probably plenty of works of art and scientific theories that are too subtle for me to appreciate entirely (without devoting my life to doing so). I won't count that against them either.

[Turrican]

Since this is my favorite game, I should disagree with you. But I won't. In fact, the game is almost certainly too hard for me ever to clear (without devoting my life to doing so). The game was not made with my skills in mind. Still, I don't count that against it too much. There are probably plenty of works of art and scientific theories that are too subtle for me to appreciate entirely (without devoting my life to doing so). I won't count that against them either.

Fair enough - I understand this logic. But I still think the best things in life are accessible on almost an universal basis.

[Rob]

A game with this system programmed by Compile and with an intelligent learning curve that doesn't make an hell any stage after the third, perhaps?

No. Play less Compile and it won't seem so hard.

[Turrican]

A game with this system programmed by Compile and with an intelligent learning curve that doesn't make an hell any stage after the third, perhaps?

No. Play less Compile and it won't seem so hard.

You don't want to argue this with me, Rob.

[Super Laydock]

Just in case you missed my edit above, I want to repeat it, as it agrees with Turrican.
You wrote:

The Dragon shot is also much more important for scoring than the close attack in GB2, which imo is more important for survival than for scoring there.

Right. But that's a good thing. <Here's the part I edited in above:> If you're like me and find coin chaining tedious and aggravating, the dragonshot makes a HUGE difference to gameplay, as an alternative method of picking up points via coins. It's just much more pleasant to slam fish-like demons over the head to get those extra points. What could be more fun, really?

Yeah I kinda missed your edit...

But all in all I'll have to disagree with you, though it is more on basis of personal taste here...
Because, unlike you, I find the coin chaining as present in Gunbird 2 much more fun (and easier) than once again trying to catch these silver and gold coins while at the same time doging bullets (which are harder to see for me -due to some backgrounds *cough underwater* - and seem MUCH more confusing ).

All in all I find DB to be relying a bit too much on this dragonshot attack for scoring. And I like GB2 more because it's more straightforward, with the close atack being more supporting survival than score. But as you probably know already I am more a fan of emphasis on survival in my shmups (while there's always the odd exception of course). GB 2 is imo much more a game of survival than of scoring.

[Rob]

I was actually more surprised about the GB2 > GB1 part.

I like DB's scoring system. Simple and different. (I also like the coins + less bullet clutter of GB2 just a bit more.)

[Super Laydock]

I was actually more surprised about the GB2 > GB1 part.

Why? Wouldn't you agree that GB2>GB.
And not just a little, but by a mile or 2!

[Twiddle]

A game with this system programmed by Compile and with an intelligent learning curve that doesn't make an hell any stage after the third, perhaps?

No. Play less Compile and it won't seem so hard.

[Rob]

Why? Wouldn't you agree that GB2>GB.
And not just a little, but by a mile or 2!

Yeah, GB2 is much better. I thought you would like the older Psikyo games and glad to be wrong. GB/older style Psikyo has too much support for just not being as hard and without horrible complexities like spinning coins.

Spinning and flashing I mean. I think GB's crappy little 200 pt. coins spin too.

[BulletMagnet]

I think Gunbird has MUCH easier to see bullets

Mediocre Orange versus Neon Pink? I dunno...if anything would make GB2's bullets easier to see, I'd guess that it would be the more muted colors in its backgrounds as opposed to DB's more vibrant ones, not the bullets themselves. They should have switched colors a ways earlier, imo...

[Turrican]

I think Gunbird has MUCH easier to see bullets

Mediocre Orange versus Neon Pink? I dunno...if anything would make GB2's bullets easier to see, I'd guess that it would be the more muted colors in its backgrounds as opposed to DB's more vibrant ones, not the bullets themselves. They should have switched colors a ways earlier, imo...

Speaking of which, I wonder if there's a game that lets you change the bullets' color in the option settings...

[BulletMagnet]

I've encountered a doujin game or two that lets you do that...Blue Wish did, IIRC, along with maybe one or two others. As for "official" shmups, offhand I'm not sure...there's the "bullet type" options in Ibara's Arrange mode and the "Red Ball" option in Garegga, if those count.

In any event, it's an option I'd certainly like to see more often. "Hardcore" players can shun those "ugly" colors, and the rest of us can enjoy actually seeing what's being fired at us.

[Icarus]

"Hardcore" players can shun those "ugly" colors, and the rest of us can enjoy actually seeing what's being fired at us.

You just can't leave it alone, can you.

[BulletMagnet]

Well, I am The Source of All Evil, and all that. But I thought players like yourself liked stirring up a bit of controversy (or is it you who has to be doing the stirring)? Anyways, I don't mean to be overly abrasive or anything, just couldn't pass up the opportunity, given the circumstances. I'll play nice now.

[Icarus]

Well, I am The Source of All Evil, and all that.

Actually, you're the vice-Source of all Evil. ^_-

[Randorama]

Well, I am The Source of All Evil, and all that.

Actually, you're the vice-Source of all Evil. ^_-

I wonder who's the spider at the centre of the web, then!