Outzone - Outstanding or Outdated?

[Halloween Jack]

Well, after a lot of searching I finally managed to pick up an Outzone PCB

BUT I'm feeling slightly underwhelmed, though I don't know why
The graphics are colourful and chunky, the scrolling smooth and the sound crystal clear - and yet the game hasn't excited me yet (very early days though admittedly).

So I guess I'm keen to understand what some of you guys value most about this game - I'm a big Toaplan fan myself, but compared with Tatsujin and Batsugun, this seems comparitively pedestrian - or should I reserve judgement until a 2-player session has been organised?

Cheers,

Halloween Jack

[yojo!]

The game is really easy on normal; try to crank the difficulty up to very hard; it becomes much more enjoyable

[it290]

I love the game. The gameplay mechanics are interesting as you have to be strategic with weapon selection yet still keep up the pace to keep your energy up. The music is badass too; some of the best Toaplan music IMO.

[Ed Oscuro]

Well, after a lot of searching I finally managed to pick up an Outzone PCB :D :D

Are you the bastard who helped inflate prices on eBay? ;)

(Alright, I'm just kidding, it's been half a year since I saw one and the popularity is well placed.)

Anyway, my stance on the game is that the lack of strafe harms it, but it is still pretty good. I just wish that the bomb had been replaced by a button to lock your position. This is also a problem (in my view) with Super Contra (certainly there are people out there who don't have to do a lot of up-and-down motion to dodge bullets and get a lock on their enemies).

The plus side is that the bomb is cool AND it will work with regular JAMMA setups, something that is difficult for a Robotron or Smash TV style game.

[Halloween Jack]

Are you the bastard who helped inflate prices on eBay?

Hmm a trite strong dear heart - but yeah thats me

Needed to complete the Toaplan collection (Fixeight, Slap-Fight, Vimana & Daisenpu not withstanding), so I was willing to pay a reasonable price - but I wasn't banking on 88 quid

Still we've got the board now, so lets crank up the diffciulty and learn to enjoy it

Cheers

Halloween Jack

[iatneH]

I suck at OutZone, playing on defaults, but it's one of my favourite games of all time. It was the first PCB I owned, and I sold it before I developed a taste for Toaplan... and then managed to buy it again at a good price.

The level design is one of my favourite parts of the game. Anything with moving platforms and skinny catwalks = win. It gets even better in 2 player with the strategic cover fire, and you don't have checkpoint restart.

[mulletgeezer]

I think it's a great game, with awesome level design and great gameplay and tunage. The one big problem with the game is the Super Ball: with this weapon the game becomes incredibly easily (also not very shmuplike) so I'd recommend avoiding it. Real men prefer Super Burner

[Dandy J]

Game is awesome then 4TH STAGE BOSS OH GOD