Destroy All Monsters! Returns..

Dylan1CC · Post by **Dylan1CC** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 12:27 am

Great to see both you and the site have returned, Mike.

Fond memories of finding your site over 7 years ago.

gunbird18 · Post by **gunbird18** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 3:50 am

I loved your site, MikeB! I also spent a lot of time there, as I started collecting my Saturn Shmups!

Thanks for "rising from the grave!"

Awesome site!

MikeB · Post by **MikeB** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 10:58 am

Thanks guys!

I've just implemented a new forum at the site so feel free to pop over and chat or leave feedback.. bit lonely over there at the mo with just me

Cheers!

Mike B

CMoon · Post by **CMoon** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 2:55 pm

Site looks great, but...

...the review of DOJ should seriously be reconsidered. Who's going to take a site seriously that praises Raiden 3 over DOJ, or for that matter, misses a good chunk of the game-play mechanics (hypers and bees are both left out), and then trashes the game for not having time released credits (the score reseting to zero is not mentioned).

There's also a comment about gigawing being the pioneer of bullet-hell games. Ouch!

kengou · Post by **kengou** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 3:53 pm

The review of Ikaruga states that the homing special is powered up by getting chains rather than absorbing shots...

MikeB · Post by **MikeB** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 3:53 pm

Who's going to take a site seriously that praises Raiden 3 over DOJ, or for that matter

Interesting point, and I understand what your saying, but Stuart Campbell, who reviewed the game, is a pretty respected gaming writer in the UK though so I'm not gonna argue with him

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Cam ... rnalist%29

Personally I have more fun on Raiden 3 than DDP3 myself, and I prefer the original DDP to either of the sequels. In fact DDP3 deserves a half point docked for having worse graphics than the original game IMO

I'd rate the DDP games thus: DP 3/5 DDP 4.5-5/5 DDP2 2.5/5 DDP3 4-4.5/5

The review of Ikaruga states that the homing special is powered up by getting chains rather than absorbing shots...

Does it? That's my fault then as I wrote the review and I know that's patently wrong

Or is it? Doesnt the guage charge from a mixture of shooting chains AND absorbing bullets??

I'm confused

Mike

kengou · Post by **kengou** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 4:54 pm

Does it? That's my fault then as I wrote the review and I know that's patently wrong

Or is it? Doesnt the guage charge from a mixture of shooting chains AND absorbing bullets??

Feel free to go to youtube (or superplay.co.uk for that matter) and search out easy-mode ikaruga runs. no suicide bullets, and the first section, 1-1, has enemies that do not shoot at all. You can chain that section perfectly (22 chains if you're curious) and you will get zero homing shots charged.

The reason you may have been confused is that in normal mode, when you shoot something, it spits out suicide bullets. This means that if you're doing ok and chaining, you'll also be absorbing shots at the same time, and you may think that the homing special is charging from the chains rather than the absorbed bullets. However, anyone playing long enough (or who has read the game manual :p ) would figure it out.

MikeB · Post by **MikeB** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 5:01 pm

The review was written after a short session with the arcade version in Asia before anyone in the west had ever SEEN the game so
it was never meant to be a fully comprehensive description of every aspect of the game mechanics..

But OK I stand corrected

However, anyone playing long enough (or who has read the game manual :p ) would figure it out.

You cheeky whippersnapper.. I've got the JPN Dreamcast version and I'm sorry but my skills don't extend to transcribing kanji ;P

MikeB

CMoon · Post by **CMoon** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 5:16 pm

MikeB wrote: Personally I have more fun on Raiden 3 than DDP3 myself, and I prefer the original DDP to either of the sequels. In fact DDP3 deserves a half point docked for having worse graphics than the original game IMO

You might find a lot of contention on all of those points around here, but eh, that's what opinions are for. Personally DOJ has the best and deepest gameplay of the lot, but its all what one is going for. If your just playing for survival, Donpachi may be the most fun (in that more old-school/batsugun sort of way.)

MikeB · Post by **MikeB** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 11:24 pm

You are right about the review missing info on Hypers & Bee Bonuses of course.. if anyone cares to summarise the relevent info here I'll post it on the site.

Btw is it just me that thinks that the hypers in ddp3, though enormously satisfying, ever so slightly mess with the balance of the game?

CMoon · Post by **CMoon** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 4:10 am

MikeB wrote:
Btw is it just me that thinks that the hypers in ddp3, though enormously satisfying, ever so slightly mess with the balance of the game?

Actually the hypers start really betraying the Raizing influence. Hypers have a lot more to do with score/sustaining combos than doing damage, though if you amass several, you can use the to do both incredible damage AND get huge bonuses. But here's where the Raizing influence comes in. Everytime you use a hyper, your rank goes up. For a low-skill player like myself, this isn't much of a concern since I don't ever have more than one of them--but watch the superplay video when multiples are unleashed and the game becomes absurdly difficult. But this is required for the outlandish high scores (also note in the super-play that there may even be an intentional suicide on the second boss to control rank!)

So as far as hypers unbalancing the game, I think it is the other way around. Hypers have to be used intelligently--at the right time to get proper bonuses, and used poorly they grant little advantage other than a split second of invulnerability. If anything, it is advised that beginner players actually avoid them since they make the game harder!

This is probably why I (and so many others here) favor DOJ. While keeping the traditional cave gameplay, it is significantly deeper with some Raizing cross-over. A nice combination of reflex-gameplay, memorization and strategy. Can't imagine you giving it only 3.5 on your page!

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.ph ... dodonpachi

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 7:12 am

CMoon wrote: There's also a comment about gigawing being the pioneer of bullet-hell games.

I fully endorse this claim.

MikeB · Post by **MikeB** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 7:23 pm

So do I

Super Stardust HD review posted. Eat space dust people.

(Don't drink Cola at the same time tho)

Mike B

Soldato J · Post by **Soldato J** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 7:54 pm

BEVDAM returns! Good to have you back Mike, you sold me my Saturn Garegga way-back-when (starry-eyed memories!)

Gonna go check out one of my all-time fave shmup sites...

(Edit) Man, it is strange, but whenever I read the reviews on DAM, I start to really want to play the game in question.....Under Defeat and Raiden III need some love today, methinks

DazTM · Post by **DazTM** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 4:09 pm

great to see all the positive responses Mike's site has been getting

While I used to play plenty of shooters back in the day, it was Mike who opened my eyes to the Saturn, and ever since I've been hooked on shooters and try and sneak them into Retro Gamer and gamesTM whenever possible.

Keep up the great work mate, but I think you should be paying me for that Super Star Dust HD review seeing you used my PS3 to play it

MikeB · Post by **MikeB** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 11:58 pm

you sold me my Saturn Garegga way-back-when

I sold you my copy of Battle Garegga?? What was I thinking??!!

Hey Daz, maybe if you were to fork out the 30 quid for an extra PS3 Sixaxis I could actually get to review the two-player mode??