What's with all the Toaplan love lately?

maxlords · Post by **maxlords** » Fri Aug 22, 2008 4:37 am

I've noticed lately that demand for Toaplan PCBs is absolutely skyrocketing. I've been slowly buying em for about 3 years now myself, and almost no one was looking for them when I started. PCB that were $20 then are now $100+. Why the sudden surge in interest in the Toaplan style of slower paced shmup? I'd always thought I was in the minority of shmup fans by focusing on this style....

sven666 · Post by **sven666** » Fri Aug 22, 2008 6:08 am

CAVE roots... (also some of em are bloody great games!)

Ed Oscuro · Post by **Ed Oscuro** » Fri Aug 22, 2008 7:51 am

I think I waited a bit long on some of these...

Out Zone has been spendy ever since I knew about it, though.

DEL · Post by **DEL** » Fri Aug 22, 2008 8:44 am

Yeah CAVE roots is probably it.

They were of course my favourite games in the arcades from 1985 to 1992

maxlords wrote;

Why the sudden surge in interest in the Toaplan style of slower paced shmup?

The bullets were fast as hell! At least on 2nd, 3rd loops onwards.

neorichieb1971 · Post by **neorichieb1971** » Fri Aug 22, 2008 8:53 am

The PCB's are being sold in circles. Until new one's enter the demand chain expect $200 and $300 prices sooner rather than later.

maxlords · Post by **maxlords** » Fri Aug 22, 2008 9:05 am

DEL wrote:maxlords wrote;
Why the sudden surge in interest in the Toaplan style of slower paced shmup?
The bullets were fast as hell! At least on 2nd, 3rd loops onwards.

Good lord. I have trouble finishing most shmups with multiple credits...I'm just not hardcore enough. 2nd and 3rd loops....had no idea! O_O

@ neoritchie: So you're expecting prices to continue to rise on stuff like these and old Irem shmups and such? All Toaplan ya think? I'm down to only needing Batsagun and Vimana to have em all at this point....they're gonna cost me, aren't they

emphatic · Post by **emphatic** » Fri Aug 22, 2008 1:30 pm

Hmmm. Maybe this is a good time to sell my Vimana PCB.

Emph

moozooh · Post by **moozooh** » Fri Aug 22, 2008 2:40 pm

Sounds like a boycott/nostalgia issues in light of Cave's current cutesy output. Toaplan shmups are dripping with masculinity after all, with some generic alien scum being pound with hot metal by brave men piloting their trusty war machines. ;)

lgb · Post by **lgb** » Fri Aug 22, 2008 6:06 pm

maxlords wrote:Good lord. I have trouble finishing most shmups with multiple credits...I'm just not hardcore enough. 2nd and 3rd loops....had no idea! O_O

Most Toaplan games loop forever, but difficulty usually has a cap. Truxton/Tatsujin for example, maxes difficulty on the third loop (that was what you said, right del?).

Post by **undamned** » Fri Aug 22, 2008 6:23 pm

sven666 wrote:CAVE roots... (also some of em are bloody great games!)

Joker Jun, in an interview, said that they still use parts of Outzone code.
-ud

yojo! · Post by **yojo!** » Fri Aug 22, 2008 7:23 pm

I still find Toaplan games more fun than Cave's ones except for muchi muchi pork.

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Fri Aug 22, 2008 7:47 pm

undamned wrote:
sven666 wrote:CAVE roots... (also some of em are bloody great games!)
Joker Jun, in an interview, said that they still use parts of Outzone code.
-ud

So this code is used in the current gen Cave PCBs like DDP-DFK PCB then?

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

sven666 · Post by **sven666** » Fri Aug 22, 2008 8:05 pm

undamned wrote: they still use parts of Outzone code.
-ud

why wouldnt they, Outzone is one of the best games ever.

Zeether · Post by **Zeether** » Fri Aug 22, 2008 8:59 pm

Especially when you abuse the superball.

dmzach · Post by **dmzach** » Fri Aug 22, 2008 9:07 pm

I think truxton gets really fast paced

JoshF · Post by **JoshF** » Fri Aug 22, 2008 9:36 pm

FixEight doesn't have a superball, so it's better.

maxlords · Post by **maxlords** » Fri Aug 22, 2008 10:22 pm

I still need to get FixEight. I do like Outzone too...but Dogyuun is my fave of what I have. I'd play Grind Stormer more...but mine scrambled the 3rd time it fired up *sniff*.

BTW does ANYONE at ALL have Ghox? I know it's not a shmup but it's Toaplan and I do like some of their non-shmup stuff (Snow Bros, etc). I can't find the damned game anywhere!

captpain · Post by **captpain** » Fri Aug 22, 2008 10:23 pm

I just wish that Batsugun worked in MAME. I'm sure this is cliche as all hell by now, but what's the deal with that?

Twiddle · Post by **Twiddle** » Fri Aug 22, 2008 11:25 pm

moozooh wrote:Sounds like a boycott/nostalgia issues in light of Cave's current cutesy output. Toaplan shmups are dripping with masculinity after all, with some generic alien scum being pound with hot metal by brave men piloting their trusty war machines.

hot

Mortificator · Post by **Mortificator** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 12:14 am

captpain wrote:I just wish that Batsugun worked in MAME. I'm sure this is cliche as all hell by now, but what's the deal with that?

It works. The encryption on the sound chip just hasn't been cracked yet, so you get no music. You could just blast your own tunes in the background, or even get mp3's of the game's tracks and play them.

I'm Alec · Post by **I'm Alec** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 12:38 am

Mortificator wrote:
captpain wrote:I just wish that Batsugun worked in MAME. I'm sure this is cliche as all hell by now, but what's the deal with that?
It works. The encryption on the sound chip just hasn't been cracked yet, so you get no music. You could just blast your own tunes in the background, or even get mp3's of the game's tracks and play them.

or get a sega saturn

320x240 · Post by **320x240** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 6:04 am

Mortificator wrote:
captpain wrote:I just wish that Batsugun worked in MAME. I'm sure this is cliche as all hell by now, but what's the deal with that?
It works. The encryption on the sound chip just hasn't been cracked yet, so you get no music. You could just blast your own tunes in the background, or even get mp3's of the game's tracks and play them.

But it's all in slow-motion.

Ed Oscuro · Post by **Ed Oscuro** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 6:35 am

maxlords wrote:I'd play Grind Stormer more...but mine scrambled the 3rd time it fired up *sniff*.

Why play Grind Stormer when you can play V-5?

DEL · Post by **DEL** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 11:17 am

LGB wrote;

Most Toaplan games loop forever, but difficulty usually has a cap. Truxton/Tatsujin for example, maxes difficulty on the third loop (that was what you said, right del?).

Yup, Truxton/Tatsujin maxes difficulty/bullet speed at the 3rd loop, plus there are no collectable 1ups and 2ups after the 1st loop, the only extends are then on score. So in order to go significantly beyond the 3rd loop, you've gotta be able to handle all recovery points at a silly enemy bullet speed (and I mean silly). Going 2 or 3 loops can take 2-3 weeks of play, but taking it to the Counter Stop or more (@7 loops+) can take a year of play.

As for there being a cap on difficulty through the loops on Toaplan shooters, it does vary. Some end at the end of the 2nd loop like Hellfire and V-5, but the Japanese Fire Shark board seems to increase bullet speed with every loop ad infinitum

. My friend ARC conducted an experiment with Fire Shark - he put it on invincible mode and let the game play overnight while he slept. When he came back to it in the morning, the bullets were teeming down the screen like you wouldn't believe

. At least that's what he told me.

JoshF · Post by **JoshF** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 12:02 pm

No point in playing infinite loop counter stop games for score.

maxlords · Post by **maxlords** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 2:11 pm

Ed Oscuro wrote:
maxlords wrote:I'd play Grind Stormer more...but mine scrambled the 3rd time it fired up *sniff*.
Why play Grind Stormer when you can play V-5?

Same game right? I have a V-5 PCB...just like the Grind Stormer title better. And it's sizzled anyway until I can get new ROMs for it.

Post by **Dave_K.** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 4:15 pm

maxlords wrote:BTW does ANYONE at ALL have Ghox?

I have Ghox, and if you think finding the PCB is hard, try finding the original/proprietary tilting spinners!

Post by **Dave_K.** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 4:21 pm

maxlords wrote:
Ed Oscuro wrote:
maxlords wrote:I'd play Grind Stormer more...but mine scrambled the 3rd time it fired up *sniff*.
Why play Grind Stormer when you can play V-5?
Same game right? I have a V-5 PCB...just like the Grind Stormer title better. And it's sizzled anyway until I can get new ROMs for it.

You can play the bomber mode (Grind Stormer) using an input code before starting your V-5 game. So you get the best of both worlds if you have V-5 version.

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 5:33 pm

JoshF wrote:No point in playing infinite loop counter stop games for score.

Even Dooyong's arcade shmup PCB title of R-Shark has infinite looping. I stopped after playing through the fourth loop...what is the point of playing any further if you already played through it the first three times?

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

lgb · Post by **lgb** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 6:02 pm

DEL wrote:As for there being a cap on difficulty through the loops on Toaplan shooters, it does vary. Some end at the end of the 2nd loop like Hellfire and V-5, but the Japanese Fire Shark board seems to increase bullet speed with every loop ad infinitum . My friend ARC conducted an experiment with Fire Shark - he put it on invincible mode and let the game play overnight while he slept. When he came back to it in the morning, the bullets were teeming down the screen like you wouldn't believe . At least that's what he told me.

Amazing. I wonder if it's anything similar to 1944.