This is Cave's best game. Period.
Sure, Dodonpachi was more influential, and their later titles may have more complex systems or more challenging patterns, but for my pcb-buying cash this is the best game to ever come out of the studio.
From the moment the character select screen comes up you know this one is something special. There are no spaceships, and no cute little anime goofballs. No, instead you must pick between three insanely cool children with telekenetic powers... each of them looking like hardened refugees of a post-apocolyptic Tokyo of the future, their eyes all looking slightly away (or slightly sad) as if this coming battle were really nothing new, nothing more horrible than they had seen before. Flashes of Tetsuo mashing guards into the walls and roof in Akira flit by as you watch your character start up in their opening animation sequence--JB smashing the alter, Iori protecting that person--and it's all just too cool to keep your eyes on.
And then there's the gameplay. No other game defines "risk and reward" so intuitively as this game. Flying up in the face of a monsterous tank, painting their armor with your secondary fire and swallowing up X16's and gold bricks is a feeling of empowerment that really only a few games like Tetris Attack have ever given me. It's a feeling that this system is flexible enough that I can choose how I play it based on my belief in myself at that very second and it's in that brief pause of understanding that it becomes something more than a game.
I say this, because this feeling is WHY I play games. I can be going up against a tough opponent in Tetris Attack, have them drop a huge garbage block on me and all I can do is smile as I see a row of blue triangles line up... and I know I've got him. Esprade has this too, only it throws it at you in a much more visceral way. The perfect example is the huge statue head that Lady Garra starts her attack on. I've gone into this battle with a whole energy gauge, used it all and died. I've also gone into it with no shield power left at all and skated through the patterns like I was making toast. But these two realities are both still tied to fear. When I die with all that energy, it's because I'm afraid and let my nerves kill me. When I live it's because I don't actually think I have a chance without the shield and so I try things that I would normally consider insane just because there's no other alternative.
The transendence of all this is to go into the fight and KNOW that I have her and not only make my way through the patterns, but play carefully with an eye on her lifebar so that I can time my secondary fire just right so as to take her out with a X16 just as she's firing off a huge attack and milk the maximum gold bricks possible. This means knowing the cycle of her patterns, knowing the amount of life I will take off with that final shot so I don't go over or under, and most importantly knowing that I know all of this.
I guess you could call it "the zone," but for me it's not like that when I'm playing well. When I'm truly on I'm totally aware of what I'm doing and how I'm doing it. The D-Pad of my supergun's Saturn pad is worn and smooth and I can feel it drop into each direction. I'm aware of the limited movement that my character can make, and adjust my position with careful diagonal movements... all the while watching the bullets come at me like road signs that are telegraphing the next exit I need to take. The TV's brightness is a little too high, the room is warm, my left foot is slowly going to sleep as I'm sitting there, and this old bitch riding on the head of a statue is going to die. It's that simple.
I can only hope my PCB holds up long enough that I can show it to my grandkids someday.
Esprade is the game/ "The zone"
Esprade is the game/ "The zone"
Last edited by 8 1/2 on Fri Apr 08, 2005 1:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
FULL LOCK is BOMB
Re: Esprade is the game
This could be the start of an interesting new topic on getting into the "zone" or the "zen of shmupping".8 1/2 wrote: I guess you could call it "the zone," but for me it's not like that when I'm playing well. When I'm truly on I'm totally aware of what I'm doing and how I'm doing it. The D-Pad of my supergun's Saturn pad is worn and smooth and I can feel it drop into each direction. I'm aware of the limited movement that my character can make, and adjust my position with careful diagonal movements... all the while watching the bullets come at me like road signs that are telegraphing the next exit I need to take. The TV's brightness is a little too high, the room is warm, my left foot is slowly going to sleep as I'm sitting there, and this old bitch riding on the head of a statue is going to die. It's that simple.
There's always MAME to show your grandkids. MAME is for archiving these classics which may not survive 20-40 years from now.8 1/2 wrote: I can only hope my PCB holds up long enough that I can show it to my grandkids someday.
Re: Esprade is the game/ "The zone"
Buzz.8 1/2 wrote:No other game defines "risk and reward" so intuitively as this game.
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MovingTarget
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Ive never heard of it, couldnt find it in playasia videogameimports or gamefaqs...-
MovingTarget
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BulletMagnet
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MovingTarget
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BulletMagnet
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On the whole Galuda doesn't play much like Ra.de. did...its scoring system is closer to Progear's (involving lots of [automatic] item collection and "resource management"), and the "hold the button for the laser" mechanic makes it feel like the DonPachis. It's not a bad game, of course, but it's almost a completely different game from Ra.de...the only hard-and-fast similarity I can think of offhand is the barrier/bomb.
However, there is also the extra mode on the PS2 port, in which you play as slightly retooled versions of 2 of the Ra.de characters; the stages and such are largely the same, but the enemies are nastier, AND the "piercing gun" from Ra.de is usable, and you can use that, as well as the usual item collection system, to increase your score even further. It's tricky to get used to managing both at the same time, though...in Ra.de that was about all you had to worry about, and could focus in on it...I'd definitely recommend playing Ra.de and at least getting used to how it works before attempting to master the extra mode in Galuda.
However, there is also the extra mode on the PS2 port, in which you play as slightly retooled versions of 2 of the Ra.de characters; the stages and such are largely the same, but the enemies are nastier, AND the "piercing gun" from Ra.de is usable, and you can use that, as well as the usual item collection system, to increase your score even further. It's tricky to get used to managing both at the same time, though...in Ra.de that was about all you had to worry about, and could focus in on it...I'd definitely recommend playing Ra.de and at least getting used to how it works before attempting to master the extra mode in Galuda.
Esprade is a faster-paced, more aggressive game. Espgaluda is more tactical, and geared to creating your own massive chains. Both games become much harder the more you push for score. Which game is better depends on how you like your shmupping.Nei First wrote:Different, I didn't expect that. Thanks for the info man, in your honest opnion which of the two did you find to be a better and more fun game?
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BulletMagnet
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Personally I prefer Ra.de, but that's mainly because it's simply more unique: there aren't many games which have a gameplay or scoring system similar to it, and to me it just strikes me as a more compelling "stand alone" work, for lack of a better term. Galuda, as I said, is very nice too, but as is the case with several later Cave titles it feels a lot like previous efforts. That in itself isn't necessarily a bad thing since Cave's previous stuff was great too, but it simply doesn't keep your attention as long, since you feel as if you've seen a good portion of it before. That said, I paid about 40 bucks for Galuda and can safely say that I'm glad I have it...I had to wait awhile to get that deal, but I'm glad I did. As for "colorful visuals," in terms of judging a game "for its day" Ra.de is (imo) more impressive, but both look good. In short, play both if you get the chance and see what you think.
They're both masterpieces. Obviously I tend toward Rade, but as a console package you can't deny Galuda. You essentially get two whole games on the disc and both are more than worth your time. Galuda is also certainly more accessible than most Cave games. If you're new to manic shmups it can be a really great introduction as you have so much control over enemy attacks that you can get quite far even if you don't really understand the fundementals of it all. If you can play import PS2 games and like shmups I don't think you can be without it.
FULL LOCK is BOMB
ketsui.No other game defines "risk and reward" so intuitively as this game.
technically distance has nothing to do with the multiplier in esprade, it just makes it easier if youre close. to trigger the higher numbered boxes in ketsui, its entirely distance related. arguably its not too hard in some cases because the amount of enemies ketsui throws at you (they come to you as much as you go to them), but ive felt ketsui is the more intense of the two. out of the older cave games, ive been the most comfortable with esprade, so that may have something to do with it.I haven't played it yet, but I have a suspicion that Ketsui will remind me of Esprade in that to get higher scores you need to kill from up close to get a better multiplier.
Is this true?
expanding on the risk reward thing, i think ketsui has much more, entirely based on life/bomb stage bonuses. ive lost many lives trying to maximize points because of it. otherwise theres the stage 1ups, which dont show up if you bomb, and theyre not exactly at easy points of the game (course if you die and pull it off, you pretty much come out even, less bombs/points though).