Play Magazine gives Red Star a 9.0!...

postman · Post by **postman** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 6:20 pm

How are people doing on the whole upgrade department. I restarted my game and am resetting if I get lower than an A on a level since this seems pretty critical to actually surviving the game.

Also, is anyone having luck with the big guy--who I like but honestly he seems way too clumsy to use effectively.

Upgrades help, but even C ranks can get you enough for the essentials.....I grabbed melee upgrade and damage reduction......the guns aren't a big deal. Seems like the prices are a bit high once you reach second level upgrades. Wonder if S ranks unlock anything special?

I'm using the big guy first game through, he can be slow, but his spear can pick up enemies which helps. I do find myself getting hit as he goes through some attack animations though....

theevilfunkster · Post by **theevilfunkster** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 7:08 pm

P_HAT wrote:
theevilfunkster wrote:Does it force you to use the analog sticks? On the Xbox demo I couldn't re-map the controls and had to use the stick for movement. That wasn't too much of a problem as I like the Xbox sticks but If I have to use the shitty PS2 analog sticks, the game's going in the fucking bin
T_T
Only analog, btw, controls are cool - even that lame as me can dodge all bullet )

Well fucksticks!

I guess I can always hunt down an Xbox to PS2 pad adapter

:Edit: Crisis averted, bought an Xbox>PS2 adapter off play-asia.

P_HAT · Post by **P_HAT** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 10:19 am

Holy God!!!
Game constance S rating - 190pts... but you need NO MISS end the level...

i restart the the game btw, and obtain S on level 2

theevilfunkster · Post by **theevilfunkster** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 2:34 pm

Blue Steel? Magnum? I take it the developers are Zoolander fans

postman · Post by **postman** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 4:49 pm

How the HELL do you beat the final boss (level 19?) He's impossible.......the bullet patterns leave little room to dodge, and being on a small platform to begin with doesn't help much......

P_HAT · Post by **P_HAT** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 6:31 pm

postman wrote:How the HELL do you beat the final boss (level 19?) He's impossible.......the bullet patterns leave little room to dodge, and being on a small platform to begin with doesn't help much......

Troika himself?!

Btw i cant beat lv18 first (???) mid boss... even with full life

CMoon · Post by **CMoon** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 8:43 pm

P_HAT wrote:
Btw i cant beat lv18 first (???) mid boss... even with full life

OK, I feel better hearing another shmupper say that.

Who knows when I'm beating level 18. I'll probably start a 3rd game before then and try to go crazy leveling up (are the level 3 guns worth it? I got the level 3 melee (for the girl) and felt it wasn't worth the cash.

Better instead to have all the recharge/coolant, one level of life drain and an extra protocol attack.

P_HAT · Post by **P_HAT** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 9:16 pm

CMoon wrote:
P_HAT wrote:
Btw i cant beat lv18 first (???) mid boss... even with full life
OK, I feel better hearing another shmupper say that.

Who knows when I'm beating level 18. I'll probably start a 3rd game before then and try to go crazy leveling up (are the level 3 guns worth it? I got the level 3 melee (for the girl) and felt it wasn't worth the cash.

Better instead to have all the recharge/coolant, one level of life drain and an extra protocol attack.

T_T
melee lv3 suck =(
But Guns lv3 cost 600+ pts, its to many =\
I think there no need to upgrade Protocol for the Makita. Also i think drain is suck - only 1 hp for 3-5 strikes =\

no, not again... dont say what i need again beat 17 lv and make A rank

CMoon · Post by **CMoon** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 10:22 pm

Yes, but the girl has a 16 hit combo. I think when I play again I will get drain very eary since it probably makes a difference in your rating.

I found with her I was regularly after a couple hits getting most of those points back because of her huge combos.

P_HAT · Post by **P_HAT** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 10:35 pm

But drain don't work on bosses

Regular enemy is not big problem.

JusteZero · Post by **JusteZero** » Tue May 01, 2007 2:39 am

Just beat it this afternoon... whew the last boss was a BITCH!!

I used Makita and as far as upgrades, I brought her normal gun to lvl3 and upgraded the guns recharge and cooling thingys a few times. Pretty sure I only upgraded melee once. Also upgraded defence once.

For a game that wasn't even on my radar, I sure am glad I picked this up.. It's like peanut butter and jam... Beat'm'ups and Shoot'm'ups taste good together. Who knew?

P_HAT · Post by **P_HAT** » Wed May 02, 2007 12:13 am

ß ÍÅÍÀÂÈÆÓ 18-é ÓÐÎÂÅÍÜ!!!

P_HAT · Post by **P_HAT** » Wed May 02, 2007 11:35 am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbMjr1A40EI

I still cant beat level 18 =\

Kiken · Post by **Kiken** » Wed May 02, 2007 4:38 pm

P_HAT wrote:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbMjr1A40EI

former Acclaim employ wrote:
Here's the scoop on the CG sequences:

There were a number of actual CG sequences, parts of which are shown in those old trailers. The CG was outsourced by Acclaim to a graphics house that created them. As Acclaim was getting near bankruptcy and hoping to get this game out as soon as possible to "save the day", they hadn't yet paid the several hundred thousand dollars to the graphics house for the CG sequences. Their plan was to take the CG, use it without paying for it, get sued, their legal insurance would cover the lawsuit costs, and the insurance deductible that Acclaim would have to pay would be significantly less than the actual cost of the CG sequences. Thus, it was a much cheaper way for them to get the CG into the game.

Anyway, they went bankrupt before they could ever pull off this maniacal scheme and the CG never made it into the game.

P_HAT · Post by **P_HAT** » Wed May 02, 2007 5:09 pm

Kiken wrote:
P_HAT wrote:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbMjr1A40EI

former Acclaim employ wrote:
Here's the scoop on the CG sequences:

There were a number of actual CG sequences, parts of which are shown in those old trailers. The CG was outsourced by Acclaim to a graphics house that created them. As Acclaim was getting near bankruptcy and hoping to get this game out as soon as possible to "save the day", they hadn't yet paid the several hundred thousand dollars to the graphics house for the CG sequences. Their plan was to take the CG, use it without paying for it, get sued, their legal insurance would cover the lawsuit costs, and the insurance deductible that Acclaim would have to pay would be significantly less than the actual cost of the CG sequences. Thus, it was a much cheaper way for them to get the CG into the game.

Anyway, they went bankrupt before they could ever pull off this maniacal scheme and the CG never made it into the game.

it make me sad...

GREAT game with tons of problems =(

Kiken · Post by **Kiken** » Thu May 03, 2007 1:04 pm

P_HAT wrote:Holy God!!!
Game constance S rating - 190pts... but you need NO MISS end the level...

i restart the the game btw, and obtain S on level 2

No you don't. I got tagged once in stage 2 and still got S Rank. It seems you can take the odd hit or two, but for the most part, you should be no missing.

And yeah, I finally got my copy last night... spent about 4 hours playing and got up to level 18. Level 13 (Al Ishtar) is where the game really started challenging me (the third sequence of those tentacles was pissing me off until I really started to abuse Makita's dash-strike).

It seems that with Makita, weapons 2 and 3 aren't really worth it. Leveling up the main gun, melee, weapon cooling, weapon recharge and damage reduction appears to be the most effective options to increase.

Overall, I'm very impressed with the game, save for a few little things:
1. It'd be nice if there was a Cave-style hit-box indicator during the overhead boss fights (the later ones delve straight into bullet-hell and it can be somewhat difficult to discern exactly where you can nudge through).
2. A digital control option. Using the analog isn't too bad, but it would have been easy to switch player control to the digital and use R2 or L2 for weapon-cycle.
3. Maybe it's just my copy.. or possibly my aging PS2, but some of the later bosses (levels 14 and 15, IIRC) actually caused the system to drop frames (not as in slow-down, but as in flickered the entire image on and off... resulting in several frames of black that cause a really nasty strobe effect).

DJ Incompetent · Post by **DJ Incompetent** » Thu May 03, 2007 5:49 pm

heh heh heh Ikarius.

I like how some of the later fights make me think I'm fighting a box of Lucky Charms

Kiken wrote:3. Maybe it's just my copy.. or possibly my aging PS2, but some of the later bosses (levels 14 and 15, IIRC) actually caused the system to drop frames (not as in slow-down, but as in flickered the entire image on and off... resulting in several frames of black that cause a really nasty strobe effect).

I get that too. I <3 XS

P_HAT · Post by **P_HAT** » Thu May 03, 2007 6:43 pm

Kiken wrote:
No you don't. I got tagged once in stage 2 and still got S Rank. It seems you can take the odd hit or two, but for the most part, you should be no missing.

Yeah, i restart the game... again... and got S in 1-5 stage, i stop play, but i think i can obtain S in 6 and some later stages... tomorrow %)

3. Maybe it's just my copy.. or possibly my aging PS2, but some of the later bosses (levels 14 and 15, IIRC) actually caused the system to drop frames (not as in slow-down, but as in flickered the entire image on and off... resulting in several frames of black that cause a really nasty strobe effect).

i see it in PAL version too =(

CMoon · Post by **CMoon** » Thu May 03, 2007 8:29 pm

Buy a new ps2...I did. I figure mine's had a good 5 year heavy duty work out and it was time to give it more time off.

Atamosk · Post by **Atamosk** » Fri May 04, 2007 11:08 pm

So the final verdict?
Musthave? Masterpiece? Fulfilling? Get what you payed for(budget)?

What i missed is the replay value of this game, is the combat system and dificulty settings good enough to warant multiple playthroughs just for perfecting your game?

P_HAT · Post by **P_HAT** » Fri May 04, 2007 11:17 pm

Atamosk wrote:So the final verdict?
Musthave? Masterpiece? Fulfilling? Get what you payed for(budget)?

What i missed is the replay value of this game, is the combat system and dificulty settings good enough to warant multiple playthroughs just for perfecting your game?

MUST!

Btw, US version = prog scan!!! X_X

P.S. EX difficult... for the madman's )))

P_HAT · Post by **P_HAT** » Sat May 05, 2007 3:59 pm

WOOOOOOOOW!

i made it!

Wow, and i start again, with EX difficult...

Damn i love this game...

fixjuxa · Post by **fixjuxa** » Mon May 07, 2007 5:41 pm

I'd say this game is a must buy. It's an amazingly fun game and it only cost $20. Plus, it's probably going to be hard to find further down the road. They don't make'em like this anymore fellas so snap this game up in hurry if you haven't already.

I have yet to beat the game, my buddy and I are stuck on the level 15 boss battle, but I'm wondering if beating unlocks additional difficulties. Anybody have this information?

P_HAT · Post by **P_HAT** » Mon May 07, 2007 6:50 pm

fixjuxa wrote:I'd say this game is a must buy. It's an amazingly fun game and it only cost $20. Plus, it's probably going to be hard to find further down the road. They don't make'em like this anymore fellas so snap this game up in hurry if you haven't already.

I have yet to beat the game, my buddy and I are stuck on the level 15 boss battle, but I'm wondering if beating unlocks additional difficulties. Anybody have this information?

yep, when you complete the game, this unlock EX dif, 8 war arenas and some other cheats.

btw, EX dif its simply +20 game speed... Red Star Turbo!

Kiken · Post by **Kiken** » Mon May 07, 2007 9:07 pm

P_HAT wrote:yep, when you complete the game, this unlock EX dif, 8 war arenas and some other cheats.

Not quite.

Completing the game unlocks Arena Mode. Getting an A or S Rank in each arena unlocks a corresponding Dip Switch on the Classified menu. The Classified menu becomes unlocked after all 8 arenas have been completed (regardless of ranking). The first arena corresponds to the EX Mode dipswitch.

P_HAT · Post by **P_HAT** » Mon May 07, 2007 9:16 pm

Kiken wrote:
P_HAT wrote:yep, when you complete the game, this unlock EX dif, 8 war arenas and some other cheats.
Not quite.

Completing the game unlocks Arena Mode. Getting an A or S Rank in each arena unlocks a corresponding Dip Switch on the Classified menu. The Classified menu becomes unlocked after all 8 arenas have been completed (regardless of ranking). The first arena corresponds to the EX Mode dipswitch.

oh yeah

btw, i can beat only arena 1... wdf!!! X_X

Kiken · Post by **Kiken** » Tue May 08, 2007 3:05 am

P_HAT wrote: btw, i can beat only arena 1... wdf!!! X_X

Arena 1: EX Mode
Arena 2: Super Cool Guns
Arena 3: Super Shields
Arena 4: All Weapons
Arena 5: Protocol Renew
Arena 6: Health Renew
Arena 7: Wireframe mode
Arena 8: Clean Mode

I'd say that arenas 6 and 7 are the most difficult to get an A or S rank in.

DBH87 · Post by **DBH87** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 7:41 pm

this game really is very fun indeed, im having fun finding more of makitas combos im pretty sure im close to the 20 hit mark for her. So far im stuck on chapter 17 with ikarius (using the bloke). started another game with makita so should do better.

junkeR · Post by **junkeR** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 9:41 pm

I just received my copy and started into it this morning. Seems very good indeed. I died on Chapter 3 but will take it more seriously when I have time.

DBH87 · Post by **DBH87** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 10:53 am

just completed it today what a game i love the last boss. I think the game offers decent replay value for only £15 brand new. Makita is easily the best character, i got stuck with that slow guy on chapter 18 and blitz through it with makita