Best homing laser?

[Ed Oscuro]

I actually rather like the homing (Vulcan, but they're really just blue lasers) option from Sengeki Striker, even though those worthless pods manage to get themselves blown up regularly.

Uhh, agreed with Ruldra & Fudoh, Fire Shark's flamethrower is the best there is, and Compile is...well, compile, but the homers are cool (though they add to the slowdown in many games). The homing laser from Truxton 2 is kind of spiffy - up until you meet non-popcorn enemies, that is.

Nothing beats a fast ship like Uo-Poko or one of the Slaves from a Raiden Fighters game, though.

[stryc9]

Does Hunter from Thunderforce count? Its not a laser exactly, but it does home in, and is pretty iconic.

[Ixmucane2]

There's a homing ball stream in Dezaemon for the Super Famicom; power ups increase the number of streams. it's similar to the homing laser of Gunhed, but wilder because it turns freely.

The multiple-stream pink lightning from Daioh lacks the majestic curves of the Raiden toothpaste laser, but the piling up of plasma death makes up for the loss.

[D]

Not homing, but this one is my favorite:

yeah, it´s like a smart bomb weapon. it practically vaporizes the whole screen.
but when you die, it´s a bitch to win it back....

[Vexorg]

I've always liked the Beast Arrow's charged-up homing missile attacks in Raiden Fighters. The Chaser 2000's laser and Death Header's missiles in RF2 are fun to watch too.

[esreveR]

Homing...lasers?

That defies the whole point of lasers god damn it

I want simple straight lasers...

As for homing lasers though, my favorite is actually Aegis II-C's from RF2. There's something nice about shooting swarms of lasers that track enemies Rayforce-style without needing to lock onto them. Shame we don't get more of that.

Oh, and the best missiles? RFJ Flying Ray. Seibu is apparently king of Itano Circus scenes.

[RNGmaster]

Crimzon Cloverrrrrrrr

Blue laser spam is the best thing ever. Stand on top of the Stage 1 boss, mash X and watch the fireworks.

[dpful]

Slow to fast rainbow laser worms from.... G Darius?

[Crayfish]

My list: Red curvy beam in Bio-Hazard Battle, purple toothpaste laser from Raiden II, Zig-Zagging red lasers from Dogyuun, and the green beams that turn on a dime from R-Type Leo.

Lol that is my EXACT list!! Also agree on the various Raiden fighters homing lasers, they are all really cool. But I would also like to add these honourable mentions:

The backward firing auto targeting laser from Pulstar is really cool, but u only get to use that in one small section of the game afaik. Its kind of like the Ray Force ones, it even has onscreen targets, but it auto targets enemies itself!

The homing laser from XEXEX, that has an up & down bending laser + straight laser, very unique weapon and very useful to have in certain sections of the game.
The 'search' laser is also worth a mention*

Fix Eight (sequel to Outzone), the crystal blue dhalsim character also has a Bio-Hazard style curvy laser as his 'special' weapon, tho its not nearly as good as his normal shots, I still use it anyway bc it rocks.
Fix Eight has a ton of really interesting weapons*

The homing laser combinations you could create in Gunstar Heroes were cool, from what I remeber the stock version was like the search laser from Xexex. I like combining it with a flamethrower. Actualy while I think of it, isn't the flame from Battle Bakraid people mentioned more a tracking - targeting turrett than a homing shot? I still consider the Rayforce ones homing lasers, even if u have to lock onto your target beforehand. Kingdom Grand Prix also has true homing flame.
*dont shoot me for mentioning a run & gun game btw..

Mahou Daisakusen & Kingdom Grand Prix have a whole host of great homing lasers including the Bio Hazard Curly style, to the right angle R-Type Leo style.

Can we mention enemy - Boss homing lasers also? Bet people here can list some pretty cool ones..

[esreveR]

Oh that reminds me. Dogyuun Psycho Beams. Those things are a wonder.

I still use Mega Shot most of the time though, because there's little better than a giant fat laser that blasts through just about anything.

Also, it didn't really qualify as a laser, but for sake of the name, the Shotgun Laser from R-Type II was one of my favorite weapons from the series simply for the GIANT CANNON THAT SHOOTS NAPALM AIR-BURST ROUNDS (complete with spent cases) effect. Shame it was so damn rare. That, and it never appeared again until Final. ;_;

Not a typical shmup, but Metal Slug 7 had Thunder Shot, which almost instantly became one of my favorite weapons in the series. Basically, think "Pulse-based (Rather than continuous) Raiden lock-on plasma laser in a run-n-gun". Or, better yet, "Shoot Emperor Palpatine Sith Lightning out of your gun". It's awesome and actually decent for scoring, too.

Speaking of Sith Lightning, those blue beams in Shienryu (Or however you spell it) were a pretty good example of such a thing as well. You basically shot several pulse-based spreads or lightning lasers, instead of just the Raiden-style single beam. Looked rather cool, but much like Dogyuun's Psycho Beams, I don't use it often anymore.

Also, Flame Viper's Hell Fire isn't really a laser (If you count a laser as hitscan-based, not projectile-based), but those things Steel Bat shoots as a side-shot actually are. They're just not sprited to look that way...

[dunpeal2064]

Not really a laser, but I love the homing when using Ko in Shikigami no Shiro II. Not as much for looks, more for the fact that it allows me to get all snug and close to the bullets. Also makes stage 3-1 boss much more manageable

[Drum]

Oh that reminds me. Dogyuun Psycho Beams. Those things are a wonder.

I still use Mega Shot most of the time though, because there's little better than a giant fat laser that blasts through just about anything.

Also, it didn't really qualify as a laser, but for sake of the name, the Shotgun Laser from R-Type II was one of my favorite weapons from the series simply for the GIANT CANNON THAT SHOOTS NAPALM AIR-BURST ROUNDS (complete with spent cases) effect. Shame it was so damn rare. That, and it never appeared again until Final. ;_;

Not a typical shmup, but Metal Slug 7 had Thunder Shot, which almost instantly became one of my favorite weapons in the series. Basically, think "Pulse-based (Rather than continuous) Raiden lock-on plasma laser in a run-n-gun". Or, better yet, "Shoot Emperor Palpatine Sith Lightning out of your gun". It's awesome and actually decent for scoring, too.

Speaking of Sith Lightning, those blue beams in Shienryu (Or however you spell it) were a pretty good example of such a thing as well. You basically shot several pulse-based spreads or lightning lasers, instead of just the Raiden-style single beam. Looked rather cool, but much like Dogyuun's Psycho Beams, I don't use it often anymore.

Also, Flame Viper's Hell Fire isn't really a laser (If you count a laser as hitscan-based, not projectile-based), but those things Steel Bat shoots as a side-shot actually are. They're just not sprited to look that way...

So this post got me interested in Metal Slug 7. By chance I saw the DS version on sale so I decided to pick it up. Do not pick up the DS version of Metal Slug 7. Will return it and get it for PSP or XBLA.

[esreveR]

Oh that reminds me. Dogyuun Psycho Beams. Those things are a wonder.

I still use Mega Shot most of the time though, because there's little better than a giant fat laser that blasts through just about anything.

Also, it didn't really qualify as a laser, but for sake of the name, the Shotgun Laser from R-Type II was one of my favorite weapons from the series simply for the GIANT CANNON THAT SHOOTS NAPALM AIR-BURST ROUNDS (complete with spent cases) effect. Shame it was so damn rare. That, and it never appeared again until Final. ;_;

Not a typical shmup, but Metal Slug 7 had Thunder Shot, which almost instantly became one of my favorite weapons in the series. Basically, think "Pulse-based (Rather than continuous) Raiden lock-on plasma laser in a run-n-gun". Or, better yet, "Shoot Emperor Palpatine Sith Lightning out of your gun". It's awesome and actually decent for scoring, too.

Speaking of Sith Lightning, those blue beams in Shienryu (Or however you spell it) were a pretty good example of such a thing as well. You basically shot several pulse-based spreads or lightning lasers, instead of just the Raiden-style single beam. Looked rather cool, but much like Dogyuun's Psycho Beams, I don't use it often anymore.

Also, Flame Viper's Hell Fire isn't really a laser (If you count a laser as hitscan-based, not projectile-based), but those things Steel Bat shoots as a side-shot actually are. They're just not sprited to look that way...

So this post got me interested in Metal Slug 7. By chance I saw the DS version on sale so I decided to pick it up. Do not pick up the DS version of Metal Slug 7. Will return it and get it for PSP or XBLA.

Oh, I forgot to mention that. Get MSXX if you want MS7.

I would if I could but my PSP is borked. ;_;

[MathU]

Do not pick up the DS version of Metal Slug 7.

It's the best damn game on the DS. What's your problem?

[Drum]

Do not pick up the DS version of Metal Slug 7.

It's the best damn game on the DS. What's your problem?

It's the worst version of Metal Slug 7.

[esreveR]

Do not pick up the DS version of Metal Slug 7.

It's the best damn game on the DS. What's your problem?

It's the worst version of Metal Slug 7.

I lol'd when I realized both of these are completely true

[TVG]

I have a soft spot for thunderforce hunter weapon and always feel sad when I die and lose it.

[TVG]

It's the worst version of Metal Slug 7.

It's the only acceptable version, the others are lazy ass cash ins. Especially the xbox version which is ridiculous, fuck you SNK.

I only liked it before I saw the last stages anyway, all just palette swaps of previous ennemies. Again, acceptable for the DS, not so much for anything else.

You may embed only 3 quotes within each other.

Haha oh shit

[esreveR]

It's the worst version of Metal Slug 7.

It's the only acceptable version, the others are lazy ass cash ins. Especially the xbox version which is ridiculous, fuck you SNK.

My opinions on MSXX are going to hinge on what comes out next. The original MSX was mostly a primer for MS3 to come out since MS3 required so much work to be done and the developers decided to throw out MSX to hold over the rabid fans awaiting MS3. If MSXX turns out to be a primer for something worthwhile--an HD Metal Slug, for example--I'll accept it. If SNK's dumb Pachinko game is all they were doing (Which doesn't even use new sprites, despite the fact the first Pachinko game did)...well, some heads are going to roll (Although it's nice knowing Tani-Oh's commander from the first game was a woman).

I say that the Metal Slug developers should just ditch SNK and work for MOSS or something. There's way more opportunity for them there.

I only liked it before I saw the last stages anyway, all just palette swaps of previous ennemies. Again, acceptable for the DS, not so much for anything else.

I agree with this. The DS is an enormous step down from the Atomiswave that ran MS6, but the PSP could not only run MS6, it could run all six previous games in Metal Slug Anthology! Of course, it looks quite a bit better than the DS, but the sprites in MS7 are still the exact same size, so if you extract the data it looks just as nice.

You may embed only 3 quotes within each other.

Haha oh shit

Yeah, one thing I don't like about this and MSDB's board system. At least it informs you if someone posted while you were writing (Or at least MSDB does).

[borislaw]

Ikaruga "release", mainly because I've always been intrigued by the rules and or circumstances that govern its behavior. Some say that it just targets the nearest enemy/enemies...I am not so sure. Polarity, situation and proximity may all be factors.