PSP Platypus

[Brian]

I have no idea if this has been mentioned, so please forgive me if it has. But, I went into EB on my lunch hour and noticed a new horizontal shooter for the PSP called Platypus. I bought it, but have not yet played it as I am still at work. But, the gameplay is 2D and the graphicss are claymation. The controls are as simple as it gets, shoot and move. It also has a survival mode which gives you 1 life and that's it.

It seems like it has the potential to be solid. It was made by some company called MumboJumbo which I have never heard of in my life. Anyway, I am looking forward to giving it a try later.

[Damocles]

Give it a try and tell us what you think. Apparently it's a port of a PC game, so who knows. ...definately snuck up on me.

[SuperGrafx]

Oh wow, I had no idea.
It came to Mac OS X as well. Pretty fun game, but it's kind of simplistic (think early 16-bit Genesis hori shooter with sparse enemies and basic patterns). Still, it's got a unique graphical style and plays rather well.

[Icarus]

Here's the Mac OSX demo version:
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/19946
Looks kinda meh.

[SuperGrafx]

Here's the Mac OSX demo version:
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/19946
Looks kinda meh.

It looks meh, but it is a fun title (particularly on the Mac where the shmup scene is even more non-existent than on consoles and PC's).

Just don't go expecting Progear or Blazing Star and you'll be OK.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Here's the Mac OSX demo version:
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/19946
Looks kinda meh.

It looks meh, but it is a fun title (particularly on the Mac where the shmup scene is even more non-existent than on consoles and PC's).

Just don't go expecting Progear or Blazing Star and you'll be OK.

The MVS version of Blazing Star is legendary...do not miss the chance to play it on full-size MVS cabinet with true stereo speaker setup. ^_~

That's cool there's another PSP shmup title to add besides Gradius Collection, etc. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[dave4shmups]

You can download a free 1 hour trial of this game for Windows here:

http://absolutist.com/kid_games/platypus/

Awesome stuff! This is definately the type of thing that the PSP needs more of; both in terms of genre, and originality.

[nem]

A bit off-topic, but here's the story of the guy who made the game.

[Thunder Force]

A bit off-topic, but here's the story of the guy who made the game.

Hmm, that shmup developer's story was not a very happy one...

Making this game was a long, painful process for me, which I did not profit from. Now, I'm not even able to have it on my website any more. This is the sort of world we live in.

Update - 23/02/2006
Idigicon have cancelled the deal with Retro64, and by extension, with me. I have had to take Platypus off my website now. The game is now solely in the "care" of the people who have contributed the least to its success, while profiting the most.

From the sounds of it, the original author won't see any money from the PSP port.

[Ceph]

Intellectual property laws are there to protect companies and not the people who originally created the intellectual property, to allow said companies to hold intellectual property hostage, sell it over and over again and keep others from improving it.

[Brian]

Well, maybe the developer should have thought of the most basic of problems before publising this. I played this last night for about 45 minutes and it is a fun little game. The weapons are not that cool, but they get the job done. If you destroy entire formations you get a score bonus. Some enemies explode with fruit being left behind (Banagi-O homage?), and some give up stars that you can capture and have a 20 second power up.

The game is somewhat decent, if elementary. But, it matters nothing because the most basic point of the game is bugged. If you lose a life, your life meter does not always go down. So, if you have 4 ships and you lose one, guess what - you might still have 4 in reserve. Or, you may have 3. It just depends on the mood of the game at the time. How did this get through QA?

[K-J N.]

Is the music in the PSP version all Commodore 64 remixes like in the PC version?

[the2bears]

Intellectual property laws are there to protect companies and not the people who originally created the intellectual property, to allow said companies to hold intellectual property hostage, sell it over and over again and keep others from improving it.

I agree with that. I think it would have been nice if the publisher gave credit to the original developer. Not required, but it would have been the proper thing... copyright might change hands, but the developer is always the developer.

Bill

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I went down to my local Gamestop today 11-30-06 and went to see if they had any copies of this new fangled PSP shmup title by the name of PSP Platypus...they didn't have any copies in. Oh well, at least I tried. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[dave4shmups]

Intellectual property laws are there to protect companies and not the people who originally created the intellectual property, to allow said companies to hold intellectual property hostage, sell it over and over again and keep others from improving it.

That definately has the ring of truth to it-I am reminded of being told by people that game developers often work their arses off to develop a game, but see little of the profits.

@ PC Engine Fan X!- I would try Ebay; I'd be surprised if they don't have any copies available.

[Damocles]

So what's the verdict chaps...is the game any good? I saw it at my local EB but decided to pick up Ultimate Ghosts and Goblins and Wipeout Pure instead.

[Fighter17]

The only thing I can say is that this game might be rare in the future. It's going to be a rare game, but it won't cost a lot of money in the future. I could be wrong.

[Fighter17]

So what's the verdict chaps...is the game any good? I saw it at my local EB but decided to pick up Ultimate Ghosts and Goblins and Wipeout Pure instead.

My verdict:

Meh. You just move around and shoot. The clay animation is interesting, but can be ugly at times. The game just gets a little boring after a little while. Get it if it's cheap.

[Kaspal]

So what's the verdict chaps...is the game any good? I saw it at my local EB but decided to pick up Ultimate Ghosts and Goblins and Wipeout Pure instead.

My verdict:

Meh. You just move around and shoot. The clay animation is interesting, but can be ugly at times. The game just gets a little boring after a little while. Get it if it's cheap.

agreed... i tried it, and there are some things that annoy me... like:
1) when you kill an enemy formation and happen to get a power up and get killed, you CANT get that power up cuz your respawn its PRETTY SLOW
2) there are gaps of about 10-20 seconds from level to level... and i dont think its because the game its loading... its pretty annoyin... it could have been better to put a loading screen or somethin... (you dont feel the load times in Gradious collection)
3) the main weapon its REALLY underpowered... and the wave one... SUX!

like the other guy said... this game gets pretty boring after 10-20 mins... after i played it, i had to load up the CPS2 emu on the PSP, so that i cold get to play a real shmup (Progear) on it.[/b]

[professor ganson]

I found this for $10 at a Blockbuster Video tonight. I got F-Zero GP Legend free in the process. (Buy one, get one.) I'll try to post some impressions soon, as this thread needs some.

[320x240]

The main problem with Platypus is that the developer first of all wanted to get his graphics style working, which he did, but the actual gameplay suffered in the process. It's a bit like a lot of the old british games - lots of presentation and small technical details, but very little gameplay. It's a pity his platformer seems to be put on hold though, as he no doubt learned a lot in the process of making Platypus.

As an aside - someone should write a book titled 'Classic Japanese Arcade Game Level Design' and spread it to the world.