Which Saturn Shooter should I get next?

CIT · Post by **CIT** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 11:47 am

I want to get another Saturn shooter this month, I'm only missing about 4 that I'm still interested in. Those in the poll are the ones in the price range I'm looking at. I've played all of them before and think they're about equal in quality, I just can't decide, so I leave the decision up to you.

P_HAT · Post by **P_HAT** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 12:16 pm

They all suck.

Gekirindan too short, and bad ported.

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 12:25 pm

KT II is a decent sequel to a great game. I would get that.

Post by **Icarus** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 12:34 pm

I don't own Gekirindan, so can't comment on the port. Don't really like the game anyway.

Have KTII+, it's nice. The lack of autofire means you'll be getting RSI quite quickly after playing this game, however.

Have Shippu Mahou, I like it. It has shooting mode for those who don't want to race.

ROBOTRON · Post by **ROBOTRON** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 12:44 pm

P_HAT wrote:They all suck.

Gekirindan too short, and bad ported.

What he said. Co-Signed.

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 2:17 pm

Another thing to note about KT2+ is that you're pretty much required to play it in tate, as all the yoko options render the game near-unplayable. If you have a PS2, you might want to consider getting Gekirindan on one of the Taito Memories collections (no tate, but none of the Saturn port's problems either).

I'm not a huge fan of any of these games, but if I had to pick one it'd probably be Kingdom Grand Prix, it's at least fun to mess around with.

dial911 · Post by **dial911** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 3:17 pm

I purchased Kingdom Grandprix around 2 months ago...

I promised not to pay a penny over $30 and one popped up on Ebay for a BIN of $29.xx shipped.

I played it until I cleared the first loop and got half way through the second and then shelved it. The racing mode is extremely challenging and is insanely satisfying upon 1st place completetion. A simple code must be input in the option menu to play the game as a standard shooter. Overall, the game is definitely quality. Lots of characters (some not so great

) to mess around with, above average old-school soundtrack, tons of stages... tis' a keeper me thinks

thechop · Post by **thechop** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 7:14 pm

dial911 wrote:I purchased Kingdom Grandprix around 2 months ago...

I promised not to pay a penny over $30 and one popped up on Ebay for a BIN of $29.xx shipped.

I played it until I cleared the first loop and got half way through the second and then shelved it. The racing mode is extremely challenging and is insanely satisfying upon 1st place completetion. A simple code must be input in the option menu to play the game as a standard shooter. Overall, the game is definitely quality. Lots of characters (some not so great ) to mess around with, above average old-school soundtrack, tons of stages... tis' a keeper me thinks

Couldn't agree more, it gets my vote

Oh, and you got it for a great price too!

Damocles · Post by **Damocles** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 7:26 pm

Kingdom Grandprix/Shippu Mahou all the way. It's fun, it's pretty, and it's the only one on your list that poses a challenge. Also, you'll never beat the aesthetics.

CIT · Post by **CIT** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 9:19 pm

Well looks like Kingdom Grandprix it is! Thanks for the input.

I actually used to own that game before, but I couldn't get into it and hardly played it. Sold it when I left Japan along with a huge chunk of other games. I've since come to appreciate Raizing much more though. ^^

I've heard that Gekirindan sucks on Saturn before (I only played it in MAME). What exactly is wrong with it?

Icarus wrote:Have KTII+, it's nice. The lack of autofire means you'll be getting RSI quite quickly after playing this game, however.

Luckily my stick has adjustable autofire.

BulletMagnet wrote:Another thing to note about KT2+ is that you're pretty much required to play it in tate, as all the yoko options render the game near-unplayable. If you have a PS2, you might want to consider getting Gekirindan on one of the Taito Memories collections (no tate, but none of the Saturn port's problems either).

I have a really good dedicated tate-setup, so that shouldn't be a problem.

Damocles wrote:Kingdom Grandprix/Shippu Mahou all the way. It's fun, it's pretty, and it's the only one on your list that poses a challenge. Also, you'll never beat the aesthetics.

Actually I think Gekirindan and and KKTiger II have much better graphics (especially the latter), but Shippuu definitely has some cool characters.

Damocles · Post by **Damocles** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 10:02 pm

CIT wrote:I've heard that Gekirindan sucks on Saturn before (I only played it in MAME). What exactly is wrong with it?

It's short, it's easy, and it's stupid. Actually, it's just really generic.

CIT wrote:
Damocles wrote:Kingdom Grandprix/Shippu Mahou all the way. It's fun, it's pretty, and it's the only one on your list that poses a challenge. Also, you'll never beat the aesthetics.
Actually I think Gekirindan and and KKTiger II have much better graphics (especially the latter), but Shippuu definitely has some cool characters.

Heresy!

CIT · Post by **CIT** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 10:14 pm

Damocles wrote:
CIT wrote:I've heard that Gekirindan sucks on Saturn before (I only played it in MAME). What exactly is wrong with it?
It's short, it's easy, and it's stupid. Actually, it's just really generic.

No, I meant what is wrong with the Saturn port specifically?

EOJ · Post by **EOJ** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 12:49 am

All those games suck big time. Surely you can find something better to play?

The Gekirindan Saturn port suffers from a horrific frame rate, and is generally ugly as ass.

Fighter17 · Post by **Fighter17** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 12:56 am

I liked Twin Cobra II.

Better than the other two games.

Twiddle · Post by **Twiddle** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 12:58 am

Tossup between KGP (for shooting mode) and Ultimate Tiger II.

CIT · Post by **CIT** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 11:04 am

TWE wrote:All those games suck big time. Surely you can find something better to play?

I already have my 10 (or so) favorte shooters that I actually play seriously.

I'd just be getting one of these Saturn shooters to mess around with, collect, enjoy nice 2D graphics and relax with.

Also, I don't think they suck big time. Planet Joker and Skull Fang - now there's two Saturn shooters that really are bad.

Andi · Post by **Andi** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 11:46 pm

Kingdom Grandprix is great. Also, you can then participate in the KGP high score thread! Double-fun!

CIT · Post by **CIT** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 6:39 pm

Well, as promised, today I got:

cadpipe · Post by **cadpipe** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 7:54 pm

Good choice on imho its a good game that seems a little strange at first.Gekirindan on the other hand i hate that game + one of the worst ports on the saturn, its just poo!

MikeB · Post by **MikeB** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 8:11 pm

Dude assuming you already also have Souky, DDP and Garegga, if you don't already have it I've always been a strong proponent of Guardian Force, it's very original, has a lovely little range of neat weaponry including an odd but rather brilliant 'ball-on-a-string gun' and is particularly good fun in 2-player mode. Very nice sprite-scaling and rotation effects as well. An STV-arcade title originally I believe. And as Saturn shmups go it's usually pretty cheap. Start saving up your cash

PS Glad you are enjoying KGP!

CIT · Post by **CIT** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 8:14 pm

Yeah, I already have Guardian Force. Don't like it too much, but it's okay.

The ones in the poll are really the only ones among the decent Saturn Shooters I'm still missing. Will probably get the other two at some point, but I'm not in a hurry.

zinger · Post by **zinger** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 8:45 pm

I had about equal amounts of fun with SMD and KTII, both good for a week or so, until you beat them. I'm playing Gekirindan at the moment, and I'm pretty disappointed. I don't think it's a good game, no where near the other two. The presentation is nice (cliché anime characters aside), but the boss and level design reaks! I'd advice you to get the F3 cart though, as it's probably cheaper than the saturn version (I paid 3000yen at G-Front), and apparently better.

Post by **Shatterhand** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 8:50 pm

You finished SMD in one week?

I find that game very hard. All with the racing element and stuff, the game kick my ass very bad.

CIT · Post by **CIT** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 8:57 pm

I'm more freaked out that he finished KK Tiger II in one week. That game is hard-as-hell!!!

@zinger

Yeah, F3 carts are dirt cheap in Japan. Doubt I'll get one though, as I don't have the mobo either and I only want to buy PCBs of really great games that don't have a port and that I'll play for a long time.

Damocles · Post by **Damocles** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 9:09 pm

CIT wrote:I'm more freaked out that he finished KK Tiger II in one week. That game is hard-as-hell!!!

Green weapon all the way. Enemies never had a chance.

Concerning the difficulty of Shippu...it's just a matter of choosing the stages for either a 1-loop or 2-loop clear. With a few well-placed bombs on levels that isolate you from the pack you can accumulate enough points to win rather easily. However, to make the second loop easier you'll want to save the easy stages...unless you don't plan on the loop, in which case you can choose the easy levels and not race. But then there's no point.

zinger · Post by **zinger** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 9:26 pm

Shatterhand wrote:You finished SMD in one week?

I find that game very hard. All with the racing element and stuff, the game kick my ass very bad.

Well, the first loop took me two or three days. 2-5 after five or six days. Try using Miyamoto!

KTII is definetly harder than SMD's first loop, but using the green weapon as Damocles pointed out + a little mermorization + bombing the hell out of stage 3 boss will do the trick!

MikeB · Post by **MikeB** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 9:40 pm

woops, sorry completely failed to register your poll there.

I actually had the F3 carts of the remaining two games for a bit, didn't really notice much diff between them and the Saturn versions to be honest though I'm told that the F3 versions have extra scroll layers & background zooming which the Saturn coudn't quite get its head around.

Of the two I'd say Tiger II was the better game although it's resolutely old school and pretty much a graphical update of Kyukyoku Tiger.

Gekirindan is basically a rip-off of Truxton 2 except somehow not nearly as good. It does have a particularly groovy Zuntata soundtrack tho

Damocles · Post by **Damocles** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 2:23 am

MikeB wrote:Gekirindan is basically a rip-off of Truxton 2 except somehow not nearly as good. It does have a particularly groovy Zuntata soundtrack tho

You mean the one song that they remixed five times, once for each level?

JoshF · Post by **JoshF** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 4:17 am

MikeB wrote:woops, sorry completely failed to register your poll there.

I actually had the F3 carts of the remaining two games for a bit, didn't really notice much diff between them and the Saturn versions to be honest though I'm told that the F3 versions have extra scroll layers & background zooming which the developer coudn't quite get its head around.

The company that ported Gekirindan wasn't very talented. Too bad it wasn't made by Aisystem Tokyo or Ving who were responsible for most of the Taito games on Saturn.

Fighter17 · Post by **Fighter17** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 4:46 am

JoshF wrote:
MikeB wrote:woops, sorry completely failed to register your poll there.

I actually had the F3 carts of the remaining two games for a bit, didn't really notice much diff between them and the Saturn versions to be honest though I'm told that the F3 versions have extra scroll layers & background zooming which the developer coudn't quite get its head around.
The company that ported Gekirindan wasn't very talented. Too bad it wasn't made by Aisystem Tokyo or Ving who were responsible for most of the Taito games on Saturn.

Virgin didn't port it, Taito did the porting themselfs. It's just Virgin publishing it.