Destroy All Monsters! Returns..

MikeB · Post by **MikeB** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 2:24 pm

Greetings shootie peeps!

I don't know if any of you can remember the little site named above which I used to run, some of you older (like myself) members of the forum might just about do so seeing it first hit the WWW somewhere around the actual dawn of time. And space.

Anyway, after many years of neglect I was moved to actually re-visit it a few weeks back, and by jiminy if it isnt quite entertaining really (though I do say so myself)

So guess what. I've actually been doing some work on it. Yep that means actaully writing and posting stuff, and getting some new reviews and features up. Not many overall perhaps but there's some new goodies including historical lookbacks at the likes of R-Type Leo, Batsugun and Truxton 1&2 as well as some excellent reviews kindly donated by a certain Mr Stuart Cambell (god bless you sir). But the thing is is I've actually been having a great time doing all this, re-living all these old games over again.

So anyway, thought I'd drop in and let you know that DAM has had a reprieve from being 'dead' which some of you lot seemed to think was the case!

One more thing (actually two)

The site is now at http://www.stickycarpet.com/dam so any of you that are still linking to the old site server (www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~bevhome/DAM.htm) on your own sites are linking to a site that actually hasn't been updated since about 2000 so it might be an idea to update that

I'm after reviews and features again so if you fancy doing any, or even have old reviews, maybe of games that have already been covered on shmups, drop me a line. I'm also after people interested in covering certain games or game series from a historical perspective for the Rogues Gallery, like I've done with Truxton/Batsugun for instance, focusing on pioneering features, influences on future games, that kind of thing 'cos personally I find all this shmups history quite fascinating. Xexex would be a good one to do I reckon, or for instance the history of Zaxxon and its decendents (Viewpoint/The Reap) would make interesting reading. Again drop me a line if you can help

Anyway, nice to be back on here, and lastly I want to say Happy 10th B'Day and congrats to Malc and the team for their sterling work over the years keeping us highly entertained on Shmups.com it's been a great ride

Mike B

Post by **Shatterhand** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 2:35 pm

I remember your site allright

What reviews were done by Stuart Campbell?

MikeB · Post by **MikeB** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 2:44 pm

Hi Shatter!

The What's New page has all the info

Mike

DEL · Post by **DEL** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 3:40 pm

Hi Mike,

I've read your Truxton 1 & 2 overviews on the site and they are quite nicely done.

I could add some more to Truxton/Tatsujin if you like? Stuff most people wouldn't know...

* The arcade Truxton has a glitch that can be exploited (a bit). Switching from green bullet firepower to the blue laser spread will cause the instant death of a Boss (even the Last Boss), as long as the green firepower hits the Boss first. In reverse, this glitch is a nightmare -> If you switch from Blue Laser Spread to Green bullets having touched the Boss with Blue, the Boss cannot be harmed.....at all!! So you end up having to suicide.
Please note that this glitch will not guarantee or even assist multi-looping of Truxton. It can help with the quick despatch of the Last Boss though.

* The arcade Truxton increases in difficulty until it top-ends on the third loop. From then on it remains at third loop difficulty, with insanely fast bullets.

* The insane difficulty that you mention on Truxton isn't so bad. Its simply about learning how to recover from each re-start point. Plus mind-mapping the game. It is a game that must be learnt. Its not a pick up and blast game, at least not until you work it out

.

* There is a rare as Hell prototype Truxton board out there. It has RED Lasers. Much prettier! I really don't know why they dulled it down to Blue Lasers for the full release

. I used to play this version at London's Casino Arcade. The only other difference is that the death bullets coming out of destroyed ground targets on the 2nd loop onwards are 3 Way and not 1 Way as with the Blue Laser version.
----------------------------------
Tatsujin 2/Oh

One thing to mention is the HUGE difference between the Japanese and International versions of this game. The Japanese version is much much harder, cram packed with enemies. Whereas the International version is almost empty. I guess its the largest difference between JAP and Intl versions of a game I have ever seen.

Ps. The London Players were never keen on it. Not a patch on the original Truxton.

Regs, DEL

MikeB · Post by **MikeB** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 4:15 pm

Thanks for the info DEL, have now posted it on the corresponding page (how's that for interactivity eh?)

The problem I have with Truxton 1 I think is the way in which it always seems to persistantly take you out at point-blank range. There's no 'buffer' if your ship is next to an enemy boss or turret for example.

Raiden seems to have a bit of a capacity to let you off if you are right next to an enemy, although it can be merciless as well.. which is fine, but Truxton DOESN'T CARE wether you are half way across the screen or right on top of an adversary.. it'll still fire at you. And this to me is far more than I can cope with. It's like being in an actual war ffs

Mike

elbarto · Post by **elbarto** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 4:32 pm

Good to see you back at shmups, Mike! Its been a while..

(doesn't feel that long ago that I was sending you scans for the old site, how time flies.)

DEL · Post by **DEL** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 7:25 pm

MikeB wrote;

Thanks for the info DEL, have now posted it on the corresponding page (how's that for interactivity eh?)

Wow

, that was fast.

As for Truxton point blanking you with bullets without caring. I never had a problem with that, maybe due to the max speeds which you're supposed to take, and the fact that there are some safe spots on some mini-bosses and instant safety from the many bombs.

Twin Cobra is the one for point blank deaths, especially from the 2nd loop onwards. Those helicopters have a very nasty way of sidling up to you then moving sideways and shooting. This, coupled with a slower ship/helicopter, no spread firepower from a death and a delayed bomb, makes it much worse than Truxton. Hence no Counter Stop on Twin Cobra from me or mulletgeezer.

Anyway, thanks for the prompt action

.

mirkvid · Post by **mirkvid** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 7:44 pm

awesome! DAM is a great site, i was just rereading some reviews there the other day!

Imhotep · Post by **Imhotep** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 10:06 pm

I was browsing your page a lot back in the days when I was getting into Saturn shooters. I learnt about X-Multiply, Batsugun and Gun Frontier, among others. Great times.

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 10:13 pm

I remember the DAM! although not updated, I thought it was still online - great Zach Keene reviews over there

Kudos for mantaining the site without "upgrading" the graphic layout - I love it the way it is!

Asherdude · Post by **Asherdude** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 10:27 pm

Woot! I see some Contra reviews over there.

Well, I know where I'm going to be hanging out for the next few hours!

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 10:32 pm

Now we just need a proper resurrection of

The OPCFG
Toaplan.com
Starbase 299

and we're set!

MikeB · Post by **MikeB** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 11:41 pm

Thanks for all your kind words guys.. happy, happy feeling

Kudos for mantaining the site without "upgrading" the graphic layout - I love it the way it is!

Heh.. you seem to assume that I'm actually capable of changing it to something better

Seriously though, the whole look of the site with its dark backgrounds and primary colours was always supposed to bring a sort of 'arcade atmosphere' to the pages and I've always been pretty happy with it. So I'm not changing it!

I miss Toaplan.com too, if anyone wishes to revisit it for old times sake and doesnt know about it, try waybackmachine.org and tap in the URL.. voila! You might have to play about a bit until you find a complete archive as some of the dated archives are incomplete (no graphics) but I succesfully managed to find pretty much all of the old site on there the other day when researching the Truxton/Batsugun stuff.. and damn useful it was too

If I had my way I'd resurrect and re-host it all but as I'm using Malc's webspace myself I don't really have the option to do so seeing as DAM eats up enough of it as it is (>100MB!)

Another site I really miss is Sheeps World of Arcades..

Mike B

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 11:49 pm

MikeB wrote:I miss Toaplan.com too, if anyone wishes to revisit it for old times sake and doesnt know about it, try waybackmachine.org and tap in the URL .. voila! You might have to play about a bit until you find a complete archive as some of the dated archives are incomplete (no graphics) but I succesfully managed to find pretty much all of the old site on there the other day when researching the Truxton/Batsugun stuff.. and damn useful it was too

If I had my way I'd resurrect and re-host it all but as I'm using Malc's webspace myself I don't really have the option to do so seeing as DAM eats up enough of it as it is (>100MB!)

Quick guys - we need volunteers with the space and the know-how to resurrect this one!

MikeB wrote:Another site I really miss is Sheeps World of Arcades..

It has risen from its ashes like a phoenix!

http://world-of-arcades.net/

Thanks to our shmupo rtw ^_^

MikeB · Post by **MikeB** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 11:53 pm

Yaaaay!!!!!

Mike B (even happier now)

Carmen · Post by **Carmen** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 11:57 pm

Its finally back!

By the way, I must thank you for your review of Wild Guns! The game quickly has become one of my favourites, and its thanks to you I found and bought it... thanks again!

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 11:58 pm

Hey Mike,

I saw the DAM! doesn't have a forum... Why don't you add a button and link to us, I'm sure the majority here would agree. You should ask Malc about this.

MikeB · Post by **MikeB** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 12:07 am

I did have a forum but it got so badly spammed I took it down.. but that's a good idea.. will see what I can do about it.

By the way, I must thank you for your review of Wild Guns! The game quickly has become one of my favourites, and its thanks to you I found and bought it...

Ooo it's great innit? The best Cabal clone ever I reckon.. love the mad japanese western/mecha madness stylings! Gun Frontier also did the same sort of thing but in a vert shooter environment

Mike

Mortificator · Post by **Mortificator** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 1:36 am

Congrats on getting running again! I still had the site bookmarked from a while back.

In the spirit of "interactivity" I'll point our a few things about the R-Type Leo article:

* It's supposed to be parallel to the first game, not a prequel. Whether that means it just takes place somewhere else or is some kind of alternate universe deal is anyone's guess.

* The "pods" are called Psy Bits, or just bits for short.

* It's a a two-button game. The second button launches and recalls your bits.

But these are just the nitpicks of an obsessed R-Type fan. I'm glad to see one of the neglected games in the series get coverage. Great collection of screenshots too; I particularly liked the shot and caption to the stage 3 boss, who of course is yet another incarnation of the loveable Dobkeratops.

Zach Keene · Post by **Zach Keene** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 2:13 am

Mortificator wrote:* It's a a two-button game. The second button launches and recalls your bits.

Unless you're playing the Japanese version, which works as Mike described.

And welcome back Mike.

Mortificator · Post by **Mortificator** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 2:40 am

That's weird. The Japanese flyer has it as two buttons, so it must have been changed for the "revision D" that's the sole Japanese version MAME can emulate. I guess if the revision A and B boards were dumped we could see the changes. Two buttons works better playing nowadays with autofire, but the one-button scheme would probably feel more natural on an actual cab.

CIT · Post by **CIT** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 3:22 am

Awesome! Great to see DAM spring back into action! I always loved reading your reviews.

@MikeB

Just a note re: Truxton/Tatsujin article:

'Be the king rather than Expert!!' shouted
the arcade poster for Truxton 2.. I've
no idea what they meant either..

Tatsujin = Japanese for "expert"

Tatsujin-Oh = "expert-king"

That should explain it.

Also: Tsuneki Ikeda didn't work on either games! His first game with Toaplan was V-Five.

MikeB · Post by **MikeB** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 12:23 pm

Ack! V-Five's a terrible game!

D · Post by D » Wed Jun 27, 2007 2:38 pm

I got my shmups fetish (that had been supressed for years) from DAM.
I learned about tate.
I was blown away
the rest is history...................
Thanks for that site. It is still awesome.

MikeB · Post by **MikeB** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 2:56 pm

Woo Thanks D

.. amazed to hear all the nice things people have been saying about DAM and how it got them shmupping.. along with this site of course I'm sure!

I'd like to say a big thankyou to Malc for doing the same for me and inspiring me to start up DAM

MikeB

Acid King · Post by **Acid King** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 3:27 pm

You need to get Jon Chang back writing reviews.

MikeB · Post by **MikeB** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 3:06 pm

I always thought Zach's reviews were some of the best myself. His Raystorm, Layer section & Raiden Project reviews are classics

Halloween Jack · Post by **Halloween Jack** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 4:42 pm

Excellent work MikeB, thanks for bring this to us

. Love the information on Tatsujin, particularly with expert insight from DEL. I do like the idea of the top players adding additional insider information to help enrich our playing experience

- how long would it have taken to discover the weapon change trick for toppling bosses - priceless!!!

Really good stuff

Cheers

HJ

PS - don't agree with VV observations

sideshow · Post by **sideshow** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 5:59 pm

Glad to see DAM is back. Even though it previously wasnt updated in like 6 or 7 years I still popped in there to check out the informative reviews. The layout and oodles of screenshots is outstanding. Welcome back!

MikeB · Post by **MikeB** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 4:33 pm

Thanks guys

Nice to know all the hard work is appreciated by somebody out there!

Btw a lot of the time the 'layout' what there is of it is a happy accident.. I just plonk everything on the page and sometimes i think .. 'oo tthat looks quite good how did that happen?!"

Mike B

shmups.system11.org

Destroy All Monsters! Returns..

Destroy All Monsters! Returns..

Truxton/Tatsujin

!

Re: Destroy All Monsters! Returns..