image fight questions

[Mortificator]

TOTALLY offtopic, but the name of this game makes me think of two school girls throwing printed JPEGs at each other while making high-pitched squeals of joy.

I always think of Charlie Sheen (or do I mean Martin?) punching a mirror in Apocalyse Now.

It makes me thing of overpaid comic artists bitch-slapping each other.

[Shatterhand]

I am playing this on the Saturn version since yesterday. I had never tried for more than 5 minutes, and now I am hooked.

I am playing on the "Extra" mode though, which makes it a horizontal game..... which is kinda funny, as the game feels perfectly at home in the horizontal display. Playing Cave games like that feels really weird, but Image Fight feels like it was made to be played like that, funnily enough.

I've been playing since yesterday, so I am still sucking at it a little yet. I've managed to get to stage 3 so far. I thought the game only had 5 levels? It shows just 5 levels when you finish a level.

One thing is that game doesn't fit the screen, I lose borders both in top and bottom section, in whatever mode I choose to play. Is like that to everyone, or is my TV screwing me up? (I never had this kind of problem with any game on any system before). It's really annoying... I have to keep pausing the game to adjust the screen on certain sections so I can see the most important area of the screen at that moment.

[Ganelon]

This is the stage flow for Image Fight:

5 simulation levels/stages
1 "optional" penalty area/stage for missing the enemies destroyed cutoff
3 real areas/stages
1 special game/loop

There are 8+1 stages each loop. Since there are 2 loops (with more difficult versions of the same stages in 2nd loop), there are 16+2 stages total, for a total of 18.

The first 5 levels of each loop are considered the simulation stages (sort of like Ender's Game). After those 5 levels, if you fail to meet the 90% border cutoff for enemies destroyed, you're thrown into the difficult penalty area. Otherwise, you skip it. Regardless if you meet the border or win through the penalty area, you move on to the 3 real areas/stages.

So in total, if you run through both penalty zones (P1 and P2) in both loops (with P2 being one of the most difficult stages of any shooter), you'll have gone through 18 stages.

[gamingjustin]

Well, I've got the PSX version but it sounds like it's the game itself causing the cropping issue. I experience the same problem on my TV. I just try to center it best I can, but it still chops off a significant amount of the game. It sucks, because it would otherwise be a perfect port. My only other option is to play in MAME on my laptop's tiny LCD screen, so I learn to live with the cut-off on the TV. (one of these days, though, I'm trackin' down the PCB!)

[professor ganson]

I don't remember this problem. Maybe I never got far enough in the game, which is very tough. Could be your tv, though.

[mesh control]

bump.
I'm having the same cropping issue with the saturn version, how exactly do i adjust the screen with the 'adjust' option under the pause menu?

[mesh control]

nevermind.
Hold down A+C and use the dpad to adjust.

[Klatrymadon]

Seems everybody's talking about this at the moment. Excellent! I'll have to see if there's a high score thread, 'cos I'm trying to single-credit it again and I figure it's high time I started using the resource properly.

[andsuchisdeath]

I know the Saturn/psx versions are clearly the better console ports of the game, but how is the PC Engine port? What are it's main issues outside of sound and lack of Tate?

[Klatrymadon]

I haven't played that version in a while, so I couldn't tell you if there are any dramatic differences in the stage designs, but everything's zoomed in quite a bit, which probably makes the game a lot more claustrophobic in certain sections (although it generally seemed easier on the "Leader Class" setting, which I think is intended to be the "Normal" mode). I'll fire it up tomorrow and give it a good go.

By the way, has anyone got a decent version of this flyer?

[Opethian]

Leader Class is pretty close to arcade but CP Staff is like nightmare.

[Klatrymadon]

I think that the Arcade Gears versions are actually tweakings of the arcade version, as I've noticed different enemy formations appear in the levels

I thought so! I've just busted out the PlayStation version and noticed that the enemy bullets and lasers seem to travel a fair bit faster than on the PCB, unless I'm going mad. They're both set to 'Normal', but the PS version seems to have the speed of the original's second loop, at times.

[Obiwanshinobi]

MAME says Image Fight's native screen refresh rate is 55 Hz. If it's true, the framerate is probably 55 fps for the most time. Console ports may be sped up to 60 fps (just like R-Types for the PSX). Also, there was at least one revision of the arcade original which I'm not even sure if got dumped.