New Neo-Geo shmup -- Last Hope [also for DC]

[nem]

Play-Asia was lying, btw. They are NOT the only ones selling the Limited Ediition.

Well, Van Basilco and Last Hope's publisher redspotgames are the same entity, so it's a bit like Working Designs publishing something and then Gamestop claiming they are selling that game exclusively. Not really a lie, just not telling the whole truth

If you are in Europe I strongly suggest you buy it there to avoid expensive shipping and import tax which you WILL almost certainly have to pay when buying at Pay-Asia.

Fair point about customs, but expensive shipping is a load of bull. Postage at Van Basilco is $11.18, Play-Asia's would have probably been around $6. And I live in mainland Europe.

[theevilfunkster]

Ask play-asia nicely and they'll mark down the price on the package by half. The shipping was £3.32 GBP, the cheapest they do but it still usually arrives within a week.

[Strider77]

i ahve the limited edition preordered... you can ask them to lower the price of the game?

[BIG]

I mean, who wouldn't believe the one man on earth who's actually played EVERY SINGLE SHMUP THERE IS?

You want me to write a review of this putrid turd?

No thanks,I wouldn't touch 'Last Hope' ever again even if you paid me.

B-

[iatneH]

i ahve the limited edition preordered... you can ask them to lower the price of the game?

Not lower the price of the game, lower the declared value on your customs slip.

As an example:
I'm in Canada, usually I'll get taxed around 30% for my shipments from P-A.

With no value markdown on the slip, I pay $60 to P-A and $60 x 30% = $18 to Canada customs.

With half value marked on the slip, I still pay $60 to P-A but only $30 x 30% = $9 to Canada customs.

It might seem small, but it really fucking hurts when you have a big $200+ order.

That's why yesasia rules, because even for gigantic huge packages, they get marked at HKD$120 or less, which ends up being a CAD$ value small enough that customs doesn't bother taxing me at all.

[elvis]

You want me to write a review of this putrid turd?

No thanks,I wouldn't touch 'Last Hope' ever again even if you paid me.

B-

Well, I thought I'd be nice and give you a chance. Goes to show I should have stuck with my gut instinct which was screaming "don't feed the troll".

Your word is mud as far as I'm concerned.

[Nate]

BIG wrote:

You want me to write a review of this putrid turd?

No thanks,I wouldn't touch 'Last Hope' ever again even if you paid me.

I'm curious as to the circumstances by which you came in contact with the game, as it's kind of a tough game to get for a lot of reasons - price being the most blaring.
Did you order it and play it on your Neo Geo AES and then decide it wasn't worth the money and then sell it? Did you play it at a friend's house? Did you somehow acquire the ROM? Did you play it at a Wal-Mart? What? And, where? I'm not trying to disqualify your opinion of the game by revealing you as a liar, cause I know you actually have played it. It was obviously a very unsavory experience for you, and I'm asking you to ignore the terrible memories of the game and give a couple of details on how you got to play Last Hope. And, no I can't pay you...hmm-heh *slurp*

[BIG]

BIG wrote:

You want me to write a review of this putrid turd?

No thanks,I wouldn't touch 'Last Hope' ever again even if you paid me.

I'm curious as to the circumstances by which you came in contact with the game, as it's kind of a tough game to get for a lot of reasons - price being the most blaring.
Did you order it and play it on your Neo Geo AES and then decide it wasn't worth the money and then sell it? Did you play it at a friend's house? Did you somehow acquire the ROM? Did you play it at a Wal-Mart? What? And, where? I'm not trying to disqualify your opinion of the game by revealing you as a liar, cause I know you actually have played it. It was obviously a very unsavory experience for you, and I'm asking you to ignore the terrible memories of the game and give a couple of details on how you got to play Last Hope. And, no I can't pay you...hmm-heh *slurp*

I played it at one of Droid's get-together. This one dude actually bit the bullet and bought the AES release (he goes by the name of 'FAKK2' over at neo-geo.com).

Believe me,the shit was terrible. When FAKK2 asked us what we thought about the game,we kinda just looked at each other and told him it was 'alright'. Alot of people tried to hold it in,but being the asshole that I am,I burst into laughter a few seconds after.

B-

[sideshow]

Still you have to keep in consideration that this is a homebrew game. If there were lots of money and people backing it up then it would of turned out respectable. Of course I have not played this yet as I am waiting for the Dreamcast version. From the vids I have seen it just seems like a R-Type clone which I dont mind at all. I cant judge it though until its in my hands.

[Ceph]

According to the official Last Hope Dreamcast website
http://www.lasthope-dc.com/

The Dreamcast version will feature the following

Exclusive Dreamcast™ Game Modes:

* Adjusted difficulty (Reduction of shoot frequency and flight velocity of enemy bullets / no ranking)
* Explosions / particle effects reduced for more clarity on screen
* Better hitting response for hit enemies
* Improved visualization of boss hit zones

The Limited Edition is now sold out at Play Asia and Van Basilico

2007.01.11
The planings of the Last Hope Limited Edition are completed and it will be delivered with following content:

* White multipak for 2 CDs
* Adjusted spinecard with handwritten numeration
* Game CD with multicolor label print
* 12 page color manual (game)
* Soundtrack (OST) on Vinyl-CD
* 4 page color booklet (OST)

The Vinyl-CD will be playable on every current CD player and the Dreamcast and the upper side will have a complex vinyl structure as well as a label.

The Limited Edition is strictly limited to 500 pieces and there won't be a repress.

[dave4shmups]

Still you have to keep in consideration that this is a homebrew game. If there were lots of money and people backing it up then it would of turned out respectable. Of course I have not played this yet as I am waiting for the Dreamcast version. From the vids I have seen it just seems like a R-Type clone which I dont mind at all. I cant judge it though until its in my hands.

Where have you found most of the videos for this game? I found one on the game's official website, and one on YouTube.

[Kiken]

Still you have to keep in consideration that this is a homebrew game. If there were lots of money and people backing it up then it would of turned out respectable. Of course I have not played this yet as I am waiting for the Dreamcast version. From the vids I have seen it just seems like a R-Type clone which I dont mind at all. I cant judge it though until its in my hands.

Where have you found most of the videos for this game? I found one on the game's official website, and one on YouTube.

Fakk2 posted complete videos of stages 1 through 3 on a thread on Neo-Geo.com:

http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showpost. ... count=1375

[jp]

Is the DC version out? Is the DC LE whats sold out?


I have this pre-ordered at NCSX... but... no charges have hit me... so... I'm really fucking confused right now.

[dave4shmups]

Still you have to keep in consideration that this is a homebrew game. If there were lots of money and people backing it up then it would of turned out respectable. Of course I have not played this yet as I am waiting for the Dreamcast version. From the vids I have seen it just seems like a R-Type clone which I dont mind at all. I cant judge it though until its in my hands.

Where have you found most of the videos for this game? I found one on the game's official website, and one on YouTube.

Fakk2 posted complete videos of stages 1 through 3 on a thread on Neo-Geo.com:

http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showpost. ... count=1375

Thanks Kiken! Found 'em!

Speaking of homebrew DC games, what the heck ever happened to "Drill", done by that French team?? That looked pretty sweet.

[icepick]

I played it at one of Droid's get-together. This one dude actually bit the bullet and bought the AES release (he goes by the name of 'FAKK2' over at neo-geo.com).

Thank you. That's at least something to go on, especially as far as credibility is concerned.

About 3/5 expletives flew through my head when I read that the LE is completely sold out. I know it's the game that matters, but I like soundtracks! Especially game LEs with soundtracks.

So, now that they have at least 500 orders, I hope that we get a shipping notice soon.

Dave: Drill's still in production as far as I'm aware; I was wondering the same thing. Apparently a demo was released on the "Sandman" demo disc recently; Have you seen it? The game's official site still seems not to have been updated in almost a year, though.

(Thanks also Kiken! I hadn't seen those. This game looks hot.)

[professor ganson]

Play-Asia writes about Last Hope:

"This software is not officially licensed, designed, manufactured, distributed or endorsed by Sega."

Are there other games released for DC that have this qualification? I wonder whether the game will come in standard DC packaging?

[dave4shmups]

I played it at one of Droid's get-together. This one dude actually bit the bullet and bought the AES release (he goes by the name of 'FAKK2' over at neo-geo.com).

Thank you. That's at least something to go on, especially as far as credibility is concerned.

About 3/5 expletives flew through my head when I read that the LE is completely sold out. I know it's the game that matters, but I like soundtracks! Especially game LEs with soundtracks.

So, now that they have at least 500 orders, I hope that we get a shipping notice soon.

Dave: Drill's still in production as far as I'm aware; I was wondering the same thing. Apparently a demo was released on the "Sandman" demo disc recently; Have you seen it? The game's official site still seems not to have been updated in almost a year, though.

(Thanks also Kiken! I hadn't seen those. This game looks hot.)

Ok, thanks for that info! The game looks outstanding to me as well, although IREM could have good lawsuit over some of the enemy and level designs!

For being only six stages there's a lot of zero's to be filled in, in terms of scoring!

I really love how you can rotate your "force", instead of having to detach it, and re-attach it on the back side of your craft.

[the2bears]

Dave: Drill's still in production as far as I'm aware; I was wondering the same thing. Apparently a demo was released on the "Sandman" demo disc recently; Have you seen it? The game's official site still seems not to have been updated in almost a year, though.

I wonder, probably the same demo on the Drill site? I burned it to a disk a long time ago, played it, it's not too bad. I'd like to see more progress on it.

Bill

[Michaelm]

"This software is not officially licensed, designed, manufactured, distributed or endorsed by Sega."

Are there other games released for DC that have this qualification? I wonder whether the game will come in standard DC packaging?

Feet of Fury and those other homebrew games I guess.
I've read somewhere the game will be released January 31 but I forgot where.
On Play-Asia my cart shows an estimated shipping date of January 30.

[Nate]

I'll throw out a couple of opinions from the vid of the first stage:

It seems like it's sequences and backdrops are influenced by Pulstar, not so much R-Type. What with the charging-up of the weapon and the mowing-down gun turrets all in a row and what-not. On one of the thumbs I saw recently, you could see this big red menacing eyeball fixed in this fantastically drawn enemy - looked like a big wrap-around style boss. Very Pulstar. In fact I would probably guess that this game is to Pulstar what Chaos Field is to, I don't know, Radiant Silvergun and whatever else it's trying to resemble.

The b/w intro, cut scenes are cool as heck. I love the way the ship looks up close, kind of looks like one of the "higher-end" ships in R-Type Final. Their (vids) shortness is understandable and thusly forgiveable.

The pace of the game remids me of Sinistron - kind of murky and mechanical. I can imagine the difficulty and learning curve might hover around there as well. It kind of looked like the player got lucky a couple of times. I can see some enemy shot patterning there.

I personally can cozy-up to any strategic hori like this. I would be happy to take the challenge with hopes to master it. Nothing to roll down the window and howl about, but certainly nothing to drag through the mud! And a damn fine looking for something that's not developed by a team of Japanese scientists!

Oh, and about the music...I like it. I don't care what anyone says. I think music in shmups is like having a stinky baby with a hairlip and a bad attitude. No matter how good or bad it is, you're stuck with it. So, you have to love it.

[Damocles]

Anyone else notice how damn hard it is to distinguish bullets from shrapnel?

[Nate]

Yeah, I saw that too. I think getting used to that little idiosyncracy will be key to success. Did I spell that correctly?

[iatneH]

I finally got around to watching the trailer, even though I've had the DC Regular version ordered for a while (couldn't be arsed to upgrade to LE, whatever)

The shrapnel looks like it could be confusing, but I've been playing a lot of Zero Wing lately and I am liking what I see with the corridor levels here, it might be right up my alley. Looking forward to playing this.

[elvis]

Anyone else notice how damn hard it is to distinguish bullets from shrapnel?

IIRC you can turn off the shrapnel graphics in the DC version as an option.

Obviously the complaint was heard and the improvements made.

[Ceph]

According to the official Last Hope Dreamcast website
http://www.lasthope-dc.com/

The Dreamcast version will feature the following

Exclusive Dreamcast™ Game Modes:

* Adjusted difficulty (Reduction of shoot frequency and flight velocity of enemy bullets / no ranking)
* Explosions / particle effects reduced for more clarity on screen
* Better hitting response for hit enemies
* Improved visualization of boss hit zones

[dave4shmups]

So, does anyone have the Neo Geo CD release of this? I'm wondering what the loading times are like.

Just watched the Stage 3 video; definately looks like a great game, but it seems as though you only have one weapon to work with-as opposed multiple weapons in Pulstar.

[Ceph]

So, does anyone have the Neo Geo CD release of this?

Hasn't been released yet.

[Strider77]

I'm wondering what the loading times are like.

play it in a modded xbox and it will be nothing

[professor ganson]

I ask again: Is this going to have standard DC packaging? I want to keep my DC shmup collection up-to-date; at the same time I don't want to mar its blessedness with an ugly, cheap-looking game.

play it in a modded xbox and it will be nothing

Good point.

[iatneH]

It's not an official game, you're not forced to stick it in the middle of your collection of licensed games. I doubt it's even pressed on a GD-ROM, if "game CD" is any indication. File it off to the side or something.