Need Opinions Please

[Oddysee]

I'm thinking of expanding my shmup collection and as such, I would like your opinions on the following:

Tengai
Samurai Aces
Steel Dragon EX
Silpheed: The Lost Planet
Contra: Shattered Soldier
Neo Contra
Mobile Light Force 2
1945 Arcade Versions
R-Type Delta

Thanks in advance.

[DJ Incompetent]

Tengai - ?
Samurai Aces - ?
Steel Dragon EX - ?
Silpheed: The Lost Planet - Are you intrigued by story elements? If so, yes. Otherwise, skip. One of the most average/dull shooters ever.
Contra: Shattered Soldier - yes!
Neo Contra - Pay no more than $15
Mobile Light Force 2 - Yes.
1945 Arcade Versions - Sure.

[poieo]

Tengai - Shit.

Samurai Aces - Shit predecessor to above shit game.

Steel Dragon EX - Never heard of it. Trips my "shit homebrew" sensor.

Silpheed: The Lost Planet - This is a remake of a game that i don't remember, despite having owned it.

Contra: Shattered Soldier - It's Contra. So that pretty much means it looks a lot cooler in superplays than it does when you're banging your head against the wall trying to play it.

Mobile Light Force 2 - This was Shiki 2, right? I remember thinking this was pretty mediocre until i saw two superplays. Then i realized that each ship plays completely differently from one another, and it became cool.

1945 Arcade Versions - Strikers 1 sucks. Strikers 1999 sucks. Strikers 2 and Plus are excellent. And i HATE Psikyo games.

R-Type Delta - I wasn't that impressed, because it's R-Type. The only saving grace is that it's slightly less R-Type.

[BulletMagnet]

Mobile Light Force 2 - This was Shiki 2, right?

Shiki 1, actually. Supposedly didn't get that great of a localization job, though its sequel, Castle Shikigami 2, did better, though it still apparently had awful voice acting.

As for some of the other stuff you mentioned, I like Double Shienryu/Steel Dragon EX (it's not superb, but good enough for the cheap price tag), but supposedly the PAL version wasn't that good. As for the Samurai and Strikers games, depends on how much you like Psikyo's style...same goes for R-Type Delta and whether you like old-school memory-based shooters.

[Oddysee]

I do like Psikyo shmups, I have Gunbird Special Edition and Dragon Blaze and really like them, although I do find Dragon Blaze quite difficult. I also have R-type Final and really like that too. So if Delta is as good as Final, then getting Delta is pretty much definate.

Thanks for the opinions so far, very helpful.

[poieo]

As for the Samurai and Strikers games, depends on how much you like Psikyo's style...same goes for R-Type Delta and whether you like old-school memory-based shooters.

Even if you like Psikyo, Samurai Aces is bottom of the barrel. Samurai Aces has Psikyo's trademark cheapness in its ugliest, most unrefined form.

Tengai suffers from the same problems as Progear (it's a hori with vert sensibilities), but with the added bonus of the humanoid player sprite (can't tell where the hitbox is intuitively); you expect it to be the head, but there's also some unknowable fudging area around it that also counts. It's pretty much like trying to play GunBird with full tate, but without actually rotating the monitor.

R-Type Delta is good if you want to play an R-Type game that doesn't rely on quite as much memorization as the first 3 games, but don't want to play R-Type Leo. Like Konami and Gradius Gaiden, it's like Irem realized they didn't have to be such unrelenting bastards with console-specific entries in the franchise.

[Pirate1019]

though it still apparently had awful voice acting.

The understatement ever. I invited a friend over just so we could play the game two player and laugh at the characters trying to communicate with each other.

EDIT: Great game though.

[futurebiblehero]

though it still apparently had awful voice acting.

The understatement ever. I invited a friend over just so we could play the game two player and laugh at the characters trying to communicate with each other.

EDIT: Great game though.

"It's idiot power!"
"I hate activities"
"Why must I continue? MIGHT!".

I have never understood why everyone went crazy over Zero Wing and yet I've never read anything about the two Shikigami ports. They're art.

[jpj]

steel dragon is an odd one. i played it the other day, and basically you have steel dragon (a terribly generic late 80's japanese 2d vertical shooter - big borders); or steel dragon ex, which is vertically 2d but full-screen display on a regular tv - like giga wing 2 or radiant silvergun; ps1 standard 3d polygon boss stuff going on. it's actually a lot better than the japanese original game, with which it bears no resemblance . you have three buttons mapped to your shot, the heavier the shot, the slower you are. the final boss is a rip from xiga in radiant silvergun. trouble is, i beat it on 1 life on my first play. it's painfully easy.

contra shattered soldier is the best game in the list

[Jon]

Everyone has their own opinion but I think Delta should be priority number one on your list. Both Contra games (yes even Neo) and the strikers series are also aces.

[Oddysee]

Thanks again for your opinions, I'm very grateful.

Quite a major coincidence happend for me today. When I was out, I decided to take a look in HMV. While I was brousing the PS2 shelves, I happened to see 1945 Arcade Versions right there on the shelf. I was quite suprised considering just yesterday I was considering buying it, and now, its right there infront of me.

So I pick up the case, see that its priced at a mere £6.99, and I go ahead and buy it.

Perhaps it was fate.

I'm very much enjoying playing it too.

[Pirate1019]

Thanks again for your opinions, I'm very grateful.

Quite a major coincidence happend for me today. When I was out, I decided to take a look in HMV. While I was brousing the PS2 shelves, I happened to see 1945 Arcade Versions right there on the shelf. I was quite suprised considering just yesterday I was considering buying it, and now, its right there infront of me.

So I pick up the case, see that its priced at a mere £6.99, and I go ahead and buy it.

Perhaps it was fate.

I'm very much enjoying playing it too.

Wait, you mean the strikers 1945 1&2 Psikyo collection? Wow, I wish I lived where you do.

[The Coop]

Silpheed: The Lost Planet- The gameplay hasn't evolved much from the Sega CD remake of the original in terms of weapons and such, but it has the graphical eye candy and the interesting story to help make up for that. It has plenty to keep you shooting and dodging on the stages and bosses, but it doesn't rely on the bullet-hell style to do it (think 16-bit in terms of the enemy formation->bullets ratio). It's a much better game than the Sega CD prequel, but if you're looking for innovative gameplay and ridiculous amounts of chaining/bullets/combos/whatever, you won't find it here. S:TLP keeps things simple. It's also very cheap these days, so there's no reason to ignore it.

R-Type Delta- Ah, the first 3D R-Type. Graphically, it can hold it's own against the likes of Einhander and G-Darius, with lots of little effects, and a nice variety in levels. The music is good, and the weapons are interesting. Plus, it has a good level of challenge to it, thanks to stages filled with hazards and to keep you on your toes, and some cool bosses waiting at their end (though in truth, the stages are the hardest part of the game). Worth getting to be sure.

[Herr Schatten]

steel dragon is an odd one. i played it the other day, and basically you have steel dragon (a terribly generic late 80's japanese 2d vertical shooter - big borders); or steel dragon ex, which is vertically 2d but full-screen display on a regular tv - like giga wing 2 or radiant silvergun; ps1 standard 3d polygon boss stuff going on. it's actually a lot better than the japanese original game, with which it bears no resemblance . you have three buttons mapped to your shot, the heavier the shot, the slower you are. the final boss is a rip from xiga in radiant silvergun. trouble is, i beat it on 1 life on my first play. it's painfully easy.

You're playing it the wrong way then. This is not a game where your main objective is reaching the end. If you play Shienryu Explosion / Steel Dragon Ex for score, it's not that easy at all. Nice game and quite addictive once you get into it.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

For a really cool Japanese asethetics look and feel, grab the original Japanese PSX version of R-Type Delta. Sure, Agetech did release such a USA PSX version of the same name... ^_~

What nobody has mentioned until now, is that R-Type Delta really does make use of the subtle vibrations of the PSX/PSone's Dual Shock functionality. Gives this shmup a very different vibe...you'll be surprised at what vibration effects that Irem can churn out that meshes so well with the classic R-Type gameplay...it really is THAT good! ^_~

(The only other PSX Japanese import game title to take advantage of Dual Shock vibration capabilities {besides R-Type Delta} was none other than Squaresoft's "iS: internal section" -- a graphic designer's revisionist take on the classic Tempest arcade shooter...do not miss Internal Section for your modded PSX or PS2!) ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~