Advice on some ps2 ports

[DBHashman93]

Hey everybody, been looking at a number of ps2 games and I was wondering if i could get your opinions on them (which to buy first, which to not bother buying at all, recommended prices, etc.) A list of what I already have for reference:

Dragon Blaze
ESPgaluda
Dodonpachi DOJ
Mushihime
Homura
Shikigami 1 and 2
Raiden 3
Gradius V
Silpheed

The ones I'm eyeing:

Gunbird 1 & 2
Strikers 1945 1 & 2
Gigawing Generations
R-Type Final
XII Stag

and of course any others you guys would like to recommend. Thanks for the help! (so many games, so little money...)

[Strider77]

Gigawing Generations
XII Stag

these 2 were garbage to me, I bought both and sold them off within a week. I don't sell games if I like them.

also both were plain and pretty ugly.

[Sonic R]

I thought XII Stag was a very nice game but will agree that Giga Wing Generations is not well done -- it is an acquired taste.

As for more Sonic R opinions:

Dragon Blaze is nice game
ESP Galuda is nice score em up and is fine production
DoDonPachi Dai Oh Jou is challenging score em up with fine production as ESPGaluda
Mushihimesama is nice game and is my personal 2nd favorite Cave game but high brow are complain that it is not as good as arcade
Homura is a nice game
Shikigami 1 is suck game especially when compaired to,
Shikigami no Shiro 2 which is nicely done game
Raiden III is a nice game, has awesome "dual" mode where you are control both ships!
Gradius V is fine installment in the Gradius family of games
Silpheed Lost Planet is a below average game

Gunbird collection -- I don't know how this is as I am not play it on the PlayStation 2
Strikers 1945 Collection -- This PlayStation 2 collection is noted to be the worst version of these games. PlayStation and Saturn is offer better versions of these games. What I am know is that sound is mess up and there is no memory card support.
R-Type Final -- not the best R-Type game that is for sure but decent I guess. Should be able to get it cheap.

[Fighter17]

I thought XII Stag was a very nice game but will agree that Giga Wing Generations is not well done -- it is an acquired taste.

As for more Sonic R opinions:

Dragon Blaze is nice game
ESP Galuda is nice score em up and is fine production
DoDonPachi Dai Oh Jou is challenging score em up with fine production as ESPGaluda
Mushihimesama is nice game and is my personal 2nd favorite Cave game but high brow are complain that it is not as good as arcade
Homura is a nice game
Shikigami 1 is suck game especially when compaired to,
Shikigami no Shiro 2 which is nicely done game
Raiden III is a nice game, has awesome "dual" mode where you are control both ships!
Gradius V is fine installment in the Gradius family of games
Silpheed Lost Planet is a below average game

Gunbird collection -- I don't know how this is as I am not play it on the PlayStation 2
Strikers 1945 Collection -- This PlayStation 2 collection is noted to be the worst version of these games. PlayStation and Saturn is offer better versions of these games. What I am know is that sound is mess up and there is no memory card support.
R-Type Final -- not the best R-Type game that is for sure but decent I guess. Should be able to get it cheap.

Sum it up real nice.

Strikes 1945 collection has some terrible sound.

[Arvandor]

- Dragon Blaze - Favorite game from my second favorite developer. Highly recommend
- ESPgaluda - Favorite game from my favorite developer. More highly recommend ^_^
- Dodonpachi DOJ - Hard as nails, but also fun as all hell. If you like to get into scoring systems, and hate enemy chaining, I'd not get it. Otherwise, grab it by any means.
- Mushihime - I hate the scoring system (mostly the child-banking... I don't mind enemy chaining), but still like the game. Maniac mode is pretty fun, and the soundtrack rules.
- Homura - Fun game, not the best on the PS2, but worth owning.
- Shikigami 1 and 2 - SnS2 is my favorite "buzz" shooter. My one complaint is the horrible character balance =/
- Raiden 3 - Haven't played this one much, but first impression was "meh."
- Gradius V - I'm biased against horis, and even I like this one quite a bit.
- Silpheed - No clue

The ones I'm eyeing:

- Gunbird 1 & 2 - I don't know how the ports of these are, so I can't really recommend this version... But Gunbird 2 is an outstanding game, and GB1 is fun in its own right. If someone can vouch for the quality of the ports, jump on it.
- Strikers 1945 1 & 2 - Just buy it. Great ports (minus some sound issues, which don't usually bother me) of great games to be had at a great price.
- Gigawing Generations - Haven't played it enough to comment, but it sure is ugly and runs like shit.
- R-Type Final - No man, just... Your money would be better spent on a TV evangelist nutjob.
- XII Stag - Never played it, so no comment here.

[gavin19]

GWG may indeed not be very pretty but it plays well, and you should be able to pick it up cheap. XII Stag is just plain dull if competent.

I'd grab Gunbird 1/2 before Strikers but both are recommended if Psikyo is your bag.

[The Coop]

Raiden 3- A good port of the arcade game, but the PC version looks nicer thanks to better resolution. The dual mode's fun too.

Gradius V- Very good game. Some feel it differed too much from the established look of the Gradius series, but I feel it was a fresh take on the familiar, and growing stagnant, Gradius universe.

Silpheed: The Lost Planet- A simple shmup, much like it's Sega CD/PC prequel. Good early PS2 graphics, cool cinemas, and more gameplay/interactivity than the original Sega CD game. It's pretty cheap now, so it's worth a try considering it's only a bit more to buy than it is to rent. I personally enjoyed it.

R-Type Final- A good game with an unusual amount of slowdown. Many, many ships to unlock, three different endings, and the familiar slower-paced R-Type gameplay. It's got a number of ups and downs, but in the end, it's a worthy entry into the series... even if it's not the best one.

[Arvandor]

It's funny, I wasn't a big fan of Psikyo at all when I first really started getting back into shmups a few years ago, but Psikyo has grown on me a lot since then. I wish I could say the same for Raizing, but they're just not my thing.

[DBHashman93]

Yeah I've played Gunbird 2 and Strikers 1945 2 and I like them...I was just a little concerned about the port quality. I don't have a dreamcast though so that isn't an option.

[icycalm]

It's funny, I wasn't a big fan of Psikyo at all when I first really started getting back into shmups a few years ago, but Psikyo has grown on me a lot since then. I wish I could say the same for Raizing, but they're just not my thing.

It's all a matter of time, trust me. That's what an 'acquired taste' means.

Basically what will happen is that you'll get to a point where you've played all the games of your favorite companies a hundred times over, and then you'll get the desire for something new and different.

At that point you'll pick up a Raizing game and everything will suddenly become clear

[moozooh]

DoDonPachi DOJ — I've only played original DDP, but from what I hear, DOJ is just about as fun, but harder and more violently-paced.

Mushihime-sama — fine game, I enjoyed playing it. Not overly hard on normal difficulty, either.

Gradius V — my favorite hori shmup to date. Small hitbox, realtime option firing angle adjustment, clever design with different scrolling angles, and pretty bullet-hellish boss fights on higher loops. My only complaint about it is that it's really long: a normal playthrough will take about 70-80 minutes or so.

Silpheed — not really worth getting. I don't regret playing it for those 5-6 hours I have done so, but I don't want to play it any more, either. It has very nicely done FMV cutscenes fairly reminiscent of GAINAX's "Aim for the Top! Gunbuster" anime, though.

Haven't played anything else from that list.

[roker]

I'm one of the few that likes R-Type Final

the 100 or so unlockable ships (give or take) make the game interesting, even if some only have subtle differences

It's probably pretty cheap as well, worth it, IMO

[ROBOTRON]

R-Type Final.

Disappointing ending but the battle makes it worth all. Stage 5? 6? "Dimension Jump" most awesome stage in almost any game.

[Shatterhand]

Gradius V is the best GAME on the PS2 so far IMO. If you still don't own it you should not buy any other game up until you buy Gradius V. It's just THAT good.

And I personally find Gigawing Generations to be my 2nd favourite shmup in the system from what I've played so far (And yeah, I've played all the Cave offerings.). It really is a very lousy port job (I wonder, the arcade version gotta be just awesome), but after you get used with the squished graphics, you have one wonderful, awesome shmup at your hands. It's a shame people will give up the game because of the graphics in the port. If you can't stand games with small graphics, then don't even bother... but if you are the kind of guy who can pass by bad graphics to enjoy a fine gameplay, then I heartily recommend it.

And my 3rd fav shmup on the system is Dodonpachi Dai-Ou-Jou. My 2nd fav Cave shmup


Now, even though I find Gigawing Generations to be my 2nd fav shmup on the system, Strikers 1945 II and Gunbird II are, IMO, superior games (I don't own either on the PS2 though). So I would go for one of those packs first (I'd get the Strikers one, as you get 2 very good games, instead of an average and a good one with the Gunbird pack).

Never played XII Stag, so I can't comment.

R-Type Final kinda sucks. You could do worse, but you could do a LOT better. R-Type Delta is better

[Aquas]

Well, I've only played a few of these games seriously, but those that I have put some time into, I've thoroughly enjoyed. Those being Gradius V, Mushihimesama, and R-Type final.

Gradius V is pretty sweet, lacks a little in stage diversity (lots of metal corridor places,) but all in all, a very crisp game, and made by Treasure.

Mushihimesama is probably a good start into Cave hell's... well, it was for me. First cave game I tried and I was able to figure out the scoring system and stuff. I play it on maniac, it's fun in an addicting sort of way for me. Not sure if that's good or bad... but very pretty game.

I just picked up R-Type Final at the pawn shop a few days ago for $8 bucks. It's well worth $8, I'd probably pay $20 for it, if I had a little extra moola to spare. Lots of different ships, and because of that gameplay incentive is raised, slight differences, but it's fun to get BIGGER BEAMS, if you know what I mean. I also really enjoy the ambience this game achieves, comparable to Einhander's (better?), and the graphics are luscious, IMO. The bosses are fun. I haven't played many of the other R-Type games to make a comparison there, though.

Good luck!

[Twiddle]

(I wonder, the arcade version gotta be just awesome)

It's worse.

[Shatterhand]

how worse?

[Twiddle]

More choppy slowdown.

[Shatterhand]

goddamn, that was the fastest reply ever

[RedDeathRunning]

Shikigami 2 is a great game, as is Gradius 5

[stanski]

goddamn, that was the fastest reply ever

twiddle has no life. you haven't figured this out yet?

[Kaspal]

[quote="DBHashman93"]Hey everybody, been looking at a number of ps2 games and I was wondering if i could get your opinions on them (which to buy first, which to not bother buying at all, recommended prices, etc.) A list of what I already have for reference:

Dragon Blaze... outstanding game, recomended
ESPgaluda... read above
Dodonpachi DOJ... the same as b4... i LOVE this one... cant 1CC it yet
Mushihime... love it, go get it now man!
Homura... dont like it much, but its fun to paly.
Shikigami 1 and 2... i LOVE SnS2, its one of the best shmups for the PS2 IMO
Raiden 3... good game, i like it.
Gradius V... OUTSTANDING... just like that.
Silpheed... never played it...

The ones I'm eyeing:

Gunbird 1 & 2... i love GB2, tho i play it on the DC
Strikers 1945 1 & 2... if this pack had Strikers 1945+ would be a killer pack ... get it, you wont be dissapointed.
Gigawing Generations... never playd it
R-Type Final... never heard of it.
XII Stag... have to play it yet...

theres Trizeal and Psyvariar for you to try too... just in case.

[ROBOTRON]

... A list of what I already have for reference:


Gradius V


The ones I'm eyeing:

Gunbird 1 & 2
Strikers 1945 1 & 2
Gigawing Generations
R-Type Final
XII Stag

Hey everyone....he says he already has Gradius V...why is everyone recommending him that title?

(GV is awesome btw)

Someone got R-Type Final for Less than $10 bucks? What a steal! And yes...R-Type Delta is a better game I'm afraid.

[Zebra Airforce]

I, too grabbed a copy of R-Type Final for a measly 8 dollars. I came back to the same store a week later and saw another copy, so i grabbed it. I just couldn't stand seeing it all alone on that shelf

EDIT: $10 dollar keyboard

[Macaw]

I like R-Type Final. From an artistic standpoint I think its superb, just look at stage 1, the atmosphere it creates through the graphic design and dynamic music that is interspersed with moments of silence is just amazing, and many of the other stages have their moments too.

But yeah, the level designs suck serious ass.

[D]

as was already somewhat mentioned. Whatever 240p arcade shmup has been released on the ps, please consider the ps version!
ps1; 240p is better than ps2; 480i (240p upscaled)
Especialy when playing on a ps3! the ps3 upscales ps1 games nice and crispy.

[Zebra Airforce]

I like R-Type Final. From an artistic standpoint I think its superb, just look at stage 1, the atmosphere it creates through the graphic design and dynamic music that is interspersed with moments of silence is just amazing, and many of the other stages have their moments too.

But yeah, the level designs suck serious ass.

All of the stages have really great atmosphere. My favorite is stage three -- you keep rising higher and higher, and the whole time you can see that huge mutant waiting for you Then you die because level 3 is hard as fuck without the force.

[Rob]

Yeah I've played Gunbird 2 and Strikers 1945 2 and I like them...I was just a little concerned about the port quality. I don't have a dreamcast though so that isn't an option.

They're cheapo. You're better off w/ other ports on other systems, or MAME.

It really is a very lousy port job (I wonder, the arcade version gotta be just awesome),

This is like '06/'07's version of "Saturn ports are always better than PS ports." Original > Arcade.

The graphics are shit regardless. (GAMEPLAY COUNTS FIRST!)

[Shatterhand]

yeah, I can see the graphics are bad even on the arcade, but at least I believe the arcade version has decent-sized bullets and enemies

[P_HAT]

XII Stag - looks like shit, plays awesome