PSone

[M0nk3y]

Hello all,

Just wondering how good some of the PSone exclusive shmups are, as the Xenocide files is lacking the reviews.

AirGrave
Gatchaman
Gaia Seed
Philosoma

Cheers

[Elixir]

I just did you a big favor.

And you must buy/download/obtain Raiden DX somehow.

[ROBOTRON]

Einhander - OMG
R-Type Delta - The shizz-nitt
Soukugerentai - Saturn one is better
Asteroids - DESTROYS home theater subwoofers!!! (This shmup is underated)

[Ghegs]

Haven't played the first two but for the latter ones:

Gaia Seed is okay, but definately not worth the price it usually goes for. There's a nice set of screenshots and a review here, but his review is a bit too happy-go-lucky and doesn't address any of the real issues (that is, the game is way too easy even on the hardest difficulty setting).

Just few days ago I made a video (crappy quality) of the first stage, but I'm lacking webspace to host it. YouSendIt doesn't seem to like it, either. Offers for hosting are accepted.

Philosoma is..eh. Some like it, but personally I couldn't stand the changing camera angles, some of them just do not work. It's very cheap in price though, so you won't feel too bad if you end up buying and not liking it.

[visuatrox]

AirGrave - Have not played, but from what I have heard not a particularly good game.

Gatchaman - Pure crap

Gaia Seed - Great gameplay, ok music, ugly graphics. Overall I like the game, it is just that it usually sells for much more than it is worth.

Philosoma - Mediocre I really did not like the changing camera angles, and I dislike the art direction of the game.

[Ghegs]

Gaia Seed - Great gameplay, ok music, ugly graphics.

Heh, I've always thought Gaia Seed has great graphics - I like the 16-bit look, especially when they've spiced it up with effects that wouldn't have been possible on actual 16-bit systems. I enjoy the music as well, it's the gameplay that could've used a tweak. Remove the shield, shrink the hitbox, increase the difficulty and boom! Instant classic.

[visuatrox]

[Well I have nothing against 16bit look, but I tend to be picky about details (maybe since I myself used to pixel sprites for 2D games). Gaia Seed just looks unprofessional/unpolished to me, mainly because:

- Lack of colours on the backgrounds (or bad usage of the palette)
- Mixture of graphical styles, especially on backgrounds mixed scans and computer made.
- Proportions and aspect ratios are way off at some places (just take a look at the planets on the backgrounds.)
- Too many Zooming and 3D effects in this game, just looks out of place.

Oh and another thing about Gaia Seed, the English Intro voice overs are well erm.. lets just say that I was trying to figure out what language he was speaking, until I realized it was actually English .

[M0nk3y]

Cool. I have Einhander already , and R-Types/Delta & Gradius Gaiden are on their way from Play-Asia. I also got Time Bokan: Bokan to Ippatsu off Ebay last night too.

I'm not too bothered if Gaia Seed looks like it should be running on a MegaCD, as long as the game is good enough to warrant the cash. Zanac X Zanac also seems to fetch a good £80 - 90. Is that good?

I am definately getting Harmful Park, Bokan Desu Yo! and Kyuiin (sp?) as I have a thing for cute-'em-ups.

Anyone recommend any other exclusive shmups please (I have a well stocked Saturn collection of the non-exclusives)?

[dave4shmups]

Haven't played the first two but for the latter ones:

Gaia Seed is okay, but definately not worth the price it usually goes for. There's a nice set of screenshots and a review here, but his review is a bit too happy-go-lucky and doesn't address any of the real issues (that is, the game is way too easy even on the hardest difficulty setting).

Just few days ago I made a video (crappy quality) of the first stage, but I'm lacking webspace to host it. YouSendIt doesn't seem to like it, either. Offers for hosting are accepted.

Philosoma is..eh. Some like it, but personally I couldn't stand the changing camera angles, some of them just do not work. It's very cheap in price though, so you won't feel too bad if you end up buying and not liking it.

Yes, someone please put up some space for the Gaia Seed video!

I suggested yousendit.com, which has always worked, even with huge files, but woudn't for some reason with this video.

lol, Ghegs, I seriously doubt the video quailty is THAT bad. You need to go watch some PS1 videos on Gamespot-now THAT's some crappy footage! In any case, as long as it's good enough to show people even some of what the gameplay and graphics in this game are like then, IMO, it's worth watching.

And definately pay whatever you have to to get a hold of ZanacXZanac. Zanac Neo, the remake, is, IMO, the finest Compile shmup ever, and an excellent swansong to a company with an outstanding shump development history.

I personally LOVE Philosoma, it is one of the most underrated shmups that I have ever played. The multiple perspectives control fine, IMO, and don't result in a lot of cheap deaths. The graphics are kind of 16-bittish too, but definately at least check this game out, the US version, at least, is DIRT cheap.

Also get the Raiden Project, and Raiden DX. And check out Sanvein; it's better then any arena shooter or shmup that I have ever played; it's incredibly addicting. Same with Cotton Original, which you can get brand new from Play-Asia.com, and Cotton 100%, if you haven't already got the Super Famicom port.

[Metal Gear Okt]

Gekioh Shooting King is decent, albeit not great.

The Parodius games are a ton of fun.

[M0nk3y]

Cool. Thanks for all the recommendations. I have to say, the PSone is a nifty ikkle bit of kit. And it's great that loads of the Japanese games get rereleased on PSoneBooks/PStheBest/Simple1500 etc budget labels. Makes up for the few super expensive games.

I am intrigued by this Geppy X: 70s Robot Anime Shooter. Being a big anime fan, I'm sure I'd enjoy the anime cut-scenes, but how is the actual shooter game itself?

[CIT]

I haven't played Geppy X, but from what I've heard it's utter rubbish. That's kind of the nice thing about PSone shmups though, as opposed to Saturn or PCE a lot of the really expensive Shmups are actually trash that you can well avoid.

If you like cute 'em ups, by all means buy Harmful Park, it's probably the best cute 'em up ever made. You should also get Gunbird (better than Saturn version), Twinbee Deluxe Pack and Cotton Original or Cotton 100%.

[ROBOTRON]

Zanac x Zanac (Zanac Neo) iz the shizz.

One of the top PS1 shmups in my book.

[visuatrox]

I'm not too bothered if Gaia Seed looks like it should be running on a MegaCD, as long as the game is good enough to warrant the cash. Zanac X Zanac also seems to fetch a good £80 - 90. Is that good?

In my opinion Zanac X Zanac high price is well justified, one of the better shmups on any console.

[Metal Gear Okt]

Zanac X Zanac is amazing, but being that the dev is thoroughly out of business and in no position to benefit financially from its sale, I feel thoroughly justified in downloading a copy.

[CIT]

Yeah, Zanac X Zanac is a great game, one of the Top5 shmups on PS1. However, I still think Compiles older games are actually better. Some of the weapons in Zanac Neo are rather useless, which was a bit disappointing, cuz I was expecting the usual super firepower. Playing Zanac Neo for Score is incredibly addictive though. It's exactly what a good score system needs to be: easy to learn, tough to master.

The music is really great, too. I love shooters with Trance.