The Dragon Blaze discussion

[Limbrooke]

I searched and came up empty, sort of. I decided to start a topic for random Dragon Blaze discussion which can include strategy talk too.
If need be, it can be moved to the strategy section but again it's supposed to be wide ranging (despite being slightly dead).

Over the summer I got a new computer and it wasn't until recently that I decided to try DB in MAME and it was quite good. It led to a significant increase in score and overall I find I'm still satisfied with this late Psikyo entry.

What I found to be strange was when I switched back to the PS2 game where and felt like I was worse. Something due perhaps to visibility in non-tate mode. It was frustrating although I eventually managed a 500k score and returned to MAME. Anyone else find the PS2 game more difficult?

Also, I think it's a shame the game has no soundtrack available. For example, stage 5 is probably one the better tunes in the game.

So yeah, let the discussion begin.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Seeing that Dragon Blaze was Psikyo's last arcade shmup PCB to be released, it is a fine one indeed. If development didn't been done on it, Psikyo probably would've been hard at work on the third installment of it's Gunbird franchise, which would naturally be, Gunbird 3. But since this is just all speculation at the moment, just suppose if Gunbird 3 had came out instead of DB. That would've been interesting to see the further mis-adventures of witch Marion and her rabbit pal along with more new and returning zany characters in the ever-growing Gunbird universe. Not mention the crazy single character story plots and crossing paths with different characters during a two-player gaming session, do the storylines tend to get crazy (i.e. Gunbird 2's character storylines and multiple ending stories). ^_~

As usual, Psikyo was reknown for adding a new fangled gameplay mechanic or gimmick to said arcade PCB sequel release. Look at the natural progression of both gameplay and game mechanics of it's flagship shmup series: Strikers 1945 >> Strikers 1945 II >> Strikers 1999 (aka Strikers 1945 III in the USA). Even Gunbird and Gunbird 2 broke new ground with such new gameplay and game mechanics incorportated into them.

Too bad that Psikyo was absorbed by Aruze, thus no chance for a stellar Dragon Blaze 2 PCB sequel either. All the experience taken from developing the Sengoku, Striker series and Gunbird series lead to the end result masterpiece that is DB. Blessed with the usual signature Psikyo stylized bullet patterns/movements, it feels like a well fit and honed baseball glove, doesn't it? ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Rob]

But since this is just all speculation at the moment, just suppose if Gunbird 3 had came out instead of DB.

I can't wait for the moment this would not be speculation! But no cutsies, Sengoku was next in line for a sequel.

Blessed with the usual signature Psikyo stylized bullet patterns/movements, it feels like a well fit and honed baseball glove, doesn't it? ^_~

Yep.

[professor ganson]

One of my favorites. I've played it in MAME, the PS2 version, and the PCB. I ultimately sold the latter because I don't like playing Psikyo games without autofire. As I recall, with the PCB I could play w/autofire only by foregoing the special charge attack.

The PS2 port is about as good as ports on the PS2 get, and I can use my favorite controllers.

I'd love to get back to this game at some point, though I'm more likely to find time for Sengoku Ace because I'd like to get my first Psikyo 1st loop clear. I'm sure I'll never beat Dragon Blaze, but I expect I can still improve quite a bit.

[innerpattern]

As I recall, with the PCB I could play w/autofire only by foregoing the special charge attack..

yeah that really sucks, I'd really like to get the PCB. Probably the only bad thing about many Psikyo games is how difficult it is to set up a comfortable auto-fire.

Is it possible to wire 4 buttons with one being a dedicated auto-fire? I would mod up a cab for that.

[Rob]

The charge attack isn't that important in DB since the dragon shot is so powerful.

[Limbrooke]

The charge attack isn't that important in DB since the dragon shot is so powerful.

Definitely. I rarely ever use the charge attack unless if by accident. Dragon shot is the only way to go, especially for larger enemies.

Although, I really need to hit the underwater stage early for a good run.
One thing I notice in mame is everytime I start a new game it always starts me off in the sky above city (so the Dragon boss stage), which I'd say is the easiest stage of the 4 initial stages.

[Arvandor]

Occasionally I'll get one of the other 3 stages to start, but the sky-stage with the dragon boss is DEFINITELY the most common for me as well. I wonder why that is?

[innerpattern]

The plant/jungle stage is the hardest for me..the boss still kicks my ass even though I know all his patterns in my sleep.

Just like Strikers 45 II, the sky stage is the most common starting stage in my experience. When you get a shitty stage order and still manage to pull off a decent run though it's a great feeling, and for the sake of repetition randomized stages is much better.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

As I recall, with the PCB I could play w/autofire only by foregoing the special charge attack..

yeah that really sucks, I'd really like to get the PCB. Probably the only bad thing about many Psikyo games is how difficult it is to set up a comfortable auto-fire.

Is it possible to wire 4 buttons with one being a dedicated auto-fire? I would mod up a cab for that.

For innerpattern,

Yes, it's possible to wire up 4 buttons like you mention...just use a dedicated auto-fire PCB from the likes of Seimitsu or 3rd party manufacturer (place it between the Jamma harness and the said arcade shmup PCB) or wire up a button to a 555 timer chip and all will be good to go. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[FIL]

Good times with Dragonblaze, I haven't had a chance to put enough time in to become good at it, but I love playing it. Psikyo went out on a high note with that one. It has secured itself a permanent place in my game shelf.

[Limbrooke]

The plant/jungle stage is the hardest for me..the boss still kicks my ass even though I know all his patterns in my sleep.

Just like Strikers 45 II, the sky stage is the most common starting stage in my experience. When you get a shitty stage order and still manage to pull off a decent run though it's a great feeling, and for the sake of repetition randomized stages is much better.

Plant stage would be slightly harder than Desert stage, so I'd rank it just below Underwater in terms of difficulty.

My issue with plant stage is the pitcher plants(in groups of 3 on the very right then left sides of the screen) that appear after the two large mushrooms. They cough out a constant and faster stream of bullets than the sweeping plants and if not taken out immediately can cause lots of trouble. Especially when those mid-sized riders swoop in, if you haven't dealt with the pitcher plants, shit hits the fan, unless it's 1-1 and or perhaps 1-2.

Underwater it seems anything beyond 1-1 is trouble for me. Those walls where the squids appear along with those burst air bubbles seem to be a sore spot. I can barely ever manage 140k on that stage, even with the coin idol enabled.

One thing I'll note of DB is that it really forces the player to be aggressive and stay near the top of the screen at all times. It's actually a pretty strange approach and I find it works well. It's pretty much the opposite of the majority of other games out there. If you are aggresive, you should survive a bit longer and invariably score better whereas if you hang back, things get messy and scoring is drastically reduced.

[professor ganson]

The quality of Taito's port is all the more noteworthy when you think about what a crap job they did with Strikers I & II and Gigawing Generations. As I recall, Strikers doesn't allow for saves and the default button assignments are terrible, so I have to reset them every time. No high score saves. And then no tate for GWG. Blah.

Fortunately they took some time with Dragon Blaze. It's even better, visually speaking, than their Shiki 2 port, which pales next to the ports for the other systems.

If you think about it, we're pretty lucky to have gotten a port at all. And then to get such a good one. This is one game I'll never get rid of. I've sold my Strikers and GWG ports out of disgust, though I had to repurchase the Strikers port when I discovered that it is still better in various ways to the PCBs and MAME (given my set-ups).

[FIL]

I thought 505 games did the port, thats what it says on mine anyway.

[Limbrooke]

I thought 505 games did the port, thats what it says on mine anyway.

Originally, Taito (with Xnauts/Psikyo) did the PS2 NTSC-J release with Sol Divide. That is the conversion/porting to PS2 from arcade for DB and probably arcade for SD too.

I imagine 505 did some coding to remove SD and make DB standalone, however most of the work was already done before they got the distribution rights for EU/UK publishing.

[freddiebamboo]

The dragon blaze 2-All superplay is one of the most impressive gaming feats I've ever seen.

I've been meaning to get back into it and get the first loop out the way for ages, but I don't think I've played it since it was in the STGT. Maybe after this years tourney I'll fire it back up again.

[professor ganson]

The dragon blaze 2-All superplay is one of the most impressive gaming feats I've ever seen.

I've been meaning to get back into it and get the first loop out the way for ages, but I don't think I've played it since it was in the STGT. Maybe after this years tourney I'll fire it back up again.

Was this sold as a DVD or are you talking about something on youtube?

[Limbrooke]

The dragon blaze 2-All superplay is one of the most impressive gaming feats I've ever seen.

I've been meaning to get back into it and get the first loop out the way for ages, but I don't think I've played it since it was in the STGT. Maybe after this years tourney I'll fire it back up again.

Was this sold as a DVD or are you talking about something on youtube?

He could be referring to the SYO 2-ALL, which is on super-play. Is it the same as the Namiki DVD?
I must say, I agree with freddie, it's an awesome replay in the truest sense. SYO really did his homework and showed a challenging game who is boss.

[freddiebamboo]

Yup, it's the one on superplay I was talking about.

[Veracity]

What I found to be strange was when I switched back to the PS2 game where and felt like I was worse. Something due perhaps to visibility in non-tate mode. It was frustrating although I eventually managed a 500k score and returned to mame. Anyone else find the PS2 game more difficult?

Don't recall anything in particular about this one, but it's pretty common for theoretically identical ports to have tiny timing differences that confuse matters slightly, particularly if you're on a quite rigid route. I know I spent a while consistently better at Sengoku Ace on PS2 than MAME for no obvious reason (possibly back when MAME was lagging extra frames for a bit, which might explain it simply enough).

Also, I think it's a shame the game has no soundtrack available. For example, stage 5 is probably one the better tunes in the game.

Those PS2 ports aren't quite emulated - they use the seemingly not unusual resource saver of streaming audio from the disc, presumably because the PS2 basically sucks. Upside: you ought to be able to rip the music with PSound or MFAudio. Dragon Blaze audio seems to be at 22050Hz - if you can live with a mono rip, that might do you, but if you want to rip the stereo files you'll need to find the ADPCM interleave interval, which I don't know how to do. Seems to be somewhere around 0x14000-0x15000 from random guessing. Or you could just hope someone has already done it and look for it on p2p or usenet.

The quality of Taito's port is all the more noteworthy when you think about what a crap job they did with Strikers I & II and Gigawing Generations.

Don't know what their excuse is on Strikers (broken in all PS2 releases, right?), but GWG is presumably much more at the "proper" port end of the spectrum, whereas the Psikyo games are mostly emulated. Frame rate is bleh, but I don't personally mind the absence of 3:4. If they couldn't/wouldn't optimize it enough for 60fps in its existing modes, it might not have even been possible; and Giga Wing with a slide-abouty play area is just not right, regardless of what it looked like on Type X.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

For Veracity,

So it would be recommended to get the Taito Type X version of Gigawing Generations for it's proper tate and high res modes then?

Still is a pretty expensive arcade platform to invest in. Not to mention it is bulky as well with the Type X PC tower setup. Granted such a Type X GWG software setup comprises of the encrypted HDD itself along with the special USB dongle key to play it properly. Without that special key, you can't play it at all.

Back to the Dragon Blaze topic at hand.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[ArmoredCore]

this is one of the hrdest psikyo games ive ever played, i can never last longer than stage 4 on one continue. that superplay puts me to shame...

[stuminator]

The plant/jungle stage is the hardest for me..the boss still kicks my ass even though I know all his patterns in my sleep.

Just like Strikers 45 II, the sky stage is the most common starting stage in my experience. When you get a shitty stage order and still manage to pull off a decent run though it's a great feeling, and for the sake of repetition randomized stages is much better.

Plant stage would be slightly harder than Desert stage, so I'd rank it just below Underwater in terms of difficulty.

Unlike most other Psikyo games it seems everyone has differing opinions on the hardest & easiest random stages in this game. I find the plant stage is definitely the easiest, the desert to be moderate, and the sky & water are the toughest. In the ST several members mentioned the desert is the hardest level.

[professor ganson]

For Veracity,

So it would be recommended to get the Taito Type X version of Gigawing Generations for it's proper tate and high res modes then?

Still is a pretty expensive arcade platform to invest in. Not to mention it is bulky as well with the Type X PC tower setup. Granted such a Type X GWG software setup comprises of the encrypted HDD itself along with the special USB dongle key to play it properly. Without that special key, you can't play it at all.

Back to the Dragon Blaze topic at hand.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

Definitely pricey and elaborate. A special USB dongle key? Wow. I was thinking of buying the software for GWG in the coming year, and then waiting to see whether a type X system might fall into my lap sometime in the future, but now the whole thing is sounding a bit intimidating.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

For Veracity,

So it would be recommended to get the Taito Type X version of Gigawing Generations for it's proper tate and high res modes then?

Still is a pretty expensive arcade platform to invest in. Not to mention it is bulky as well with the Type X PC tower setup. Granted such a Type X GWG software setup comprises of the encrypted HDD itself along with the special USB dongle key to play it properly. Without that special key, you can't play it at all.

Back to the Dragon Blaze topic at hand.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

Definitely pricey and elaborate. A special USB dongle key? Wow. I was thinking of buying the software for GWG in the coming year, and then waiting to see whether a type X system might fall into my lap sometime in the future, but now the whole thing is sounding a bit intimidating.

You shouldn't feel the need to be intimidated by the likes of a Taito Type X setup...if fellow shmupper sven666 says it's great like with his, I'll take his word for it. ^_~

Granted such a Taito Type X can support both 15kHz and 31kHz modes but does indeed look better in high res mode anyways. So one would need to upgrade an arcade monitor chassis to a tri-sync one for that purpose alone.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Veracity]

So it would be recommended to get the Taito Type X version of Gigawing Generations for it's proper tate and high res modes then?

Really don't know - I don't do PCBs, at all (money, space, tendency to forget which end of a soldering iron it's ok to hold). Probably, if you're worried about playing it in original aspect ratio without wasting most of your screen. I assume it was 480x640, in which case the PS2 port is significantly downscaled, but original (or at least integer scaled) resolution doesn't seem to matter as much when everything's geometry, not pixels. I just like the fact the weird aspect ratio mode on PS2 puts the whole horizontal area on screen at once - not too keen on the near-edge scroll a majority of verts have.

I was thinking of buying the software for GWG in the coming year, and then waiting to see whether a type X system might fall into my lap sometime in the future, but now the whole thing is sounding a bit intimidating.

I would think you'd have to really like GWG to bother, unless there's other stuff on there I'm not thinking of, and from what accounts I recall the arcade version wasn't exactly polished, to begin with. Shiki III's being its usual promiscuous self, Raiden III has a PC port I've not heard is anything but accurate, and Homura has a reasonable, if somewhat bare, PS2 port. Any interesting non-shooters on it, too? I don't register other arcade genres. Oh, and it is you, so I should probably allow for the fact you'd likely be happiest with one of each version of Shiki III. Maybe two of your favorite, just to be sure.

On topic, I did see a few seconds of Dragon Blaze 1-5 once, but that was attributable to a lot of luck and bomb spam. I think I'm better off sticking with old Psikyo, as a rule.

[professor ganson]

I was thinking of buying the software for GWG in the coming year, and then waiting to see whether a type X system might fall into my lap sometime in the future, but now the whole thing is sounding a bit intimidating.

I would think you'd have to really like GWG to bother, unless there's other stuff on there I'm not thinking of, and from what accounts I recall the arcade version wasn't exactly polished, to begin with. Shiki III's being its usual promiscuous self, Raiden III has a PC port I've not heard is anything but accurate, and Homura has a reasonable, if somewhat bare, PS2 port. Any interesting non-shooters on it, too? I don't register other arcade genres. Oh, and it is you, so I should probably allow for the fact you'd likely be happiest with one of each version of Shiki III. Maybe two of your favorite, just to be sure.

I was just making a similar calculation in my head with the same conclusion.

The only games that I have a (bad) tendency to collect are Shiki and R-Type games, so you've got me pegged. But even with my Shiki obsession I have yet to go for the arcade versions and probably never will. They don't come with a cute plastic toy, afaik, or a soundtrack cd.

[freddiebamboo]

What's on the Namiki DVD?

[BIL]

I love this game and I love this thread too, but something's bugging me slightly: what does it mean when your character laughs? Is it anything important / score-related, or just a neat taunt? Seems to happen when I'm really demolishing enemies with the dragon shot. Was just wondering if there's any significance. Searched about, didn't see it mentioned anywhere.

[FIL]

I think it means you've collected a powerup when you're already at max power.