Brag about Takumi

[dpful]

I've been trying to collect Takumi shmups for the arcade, and I think I've finally completed my collection!! Did I miss any?

Kyukyoku Tiger 2
Night Raid
Giga Wing
Mars Matrix
...and finally, Giga Wing 2

[Kiken]

I've been trying to collect Takumi shmups for the arcade, and I think I've finally completed my collection!! Did I miss any?

Kyukyoku Tiger 2
Night Raid
Giga Wing
Mars Matrix
...and finally, Giga Wing 2

Hokushin Giga Wing Generations.

[Rob]

So what do you think of them?

[Neon]

That's nothing to brag about, Kyukyoku and nightraid suck

[grd]

http://www.takumi-net.co.jp/products.html

Edit: Oops, didn't read the part where you said shmups. But that'll show you all the games.

[alpha5099]

That's nothing to brag about, Kyukyoku and nightraid suck

YOU LIE! Well, about Kyuukyoku Tiger II Plus. That game is sorely underappreciated. My favorite Takumi game. Fuckin' bullet hells, they are surely the work of beings from their namesake.

[dpful]

So what do you think of them?

Well, in defense of my brag (and in modesty) I forgot about Giga Wing Generations. And I don't think I'll be buying a Taito Type-X for a few years (till they cost 300$), after which perhaps all the hard drives will have failed. So shit.

As far as what I think of them: I am just crazy about Takumi shmups. I love them.

Kyukyodu tiger II= nothing special, I can't even stand playing it without my rapid fire circuit (these are all arcade versions), but I still like it- it's got a lot of charm, a rock ballad, and some sweet vocals, and some great set pieces. Better art, yet worse to play, than Air Gallet : worse art, but better to play than Macross Plus.

Night Raid= I can't help but say I love it. Supposedly, there are controll issues on the PS version. Not on the G-net version. I love the art direction and the music. The "Powah!" and "Bomber!" and I love the lighting and color usage. And I find it quite exhilarating to hit the wall on your score, where you are trying to survive as well as trying your hardest to keep the score from going DOWN! (I know, it sounds stupid for high score enthusiasts, but I love it. The experience is sort of a desperate survival, and I always feel very satisfied when I get further than before and look up and my score has not decreased). Then again, I also like Ray Crisis (I'm into 'pressure' shmups- also like mars matrix and dodonpachi).

Giga Wing= I hadn't played this one for awhile, I remembered hitting a wall on it and feeling like it was an endurance contest to get to the later levels. Perhaps if I focused on it, it would get like that again, but this evening I played it and thought it was just fantastic. Intense and dramatic.

Mars Matrix= According to my tastes, a 10. This game kicks my ass EVERY time I play it. I love it. The only game I have that I occasionally compulsively credit feed. When I die and see the batch of cubes fall off the screen, I grope for the credit and start buttons and try to catch them. Often, after I've failed at a high score, I say to myself, "I'm playing to the end! I'm going to get armament level 8!" (which I've only done 1 time).

Giga Wing 2= Somewhere between GW and MM. I just find it very satisfying. I don't like all the cut scenes/boss battles at the end (should have just made more levels) but I think playing for score is very fun. I've heard that GW Generations got a bad rap; is it better or worse than this one?

In order of goodess, I'd list them as
1. Mars Matrix
2.GW 2
3.GW
4.NR
but all four of these really unique and cool (even Night Raid)
5.Kyukyoku Tiger 2

[dpful]

That's nothing to brag about, Kyukyoku and nightraid suck

YOU LIE! Well, about Kyuukyoku Tiger II Plus. That game is sorely underappreciated. My favorite Takumi game. Fuckin' bullet hells, they are surely the work of beings from their namesake.

What's Kyukyoku Tiger II Plus? Is it for the arcade?
(I'll admit that I was previously rating KT2 from memory- I just went back and played it..... and loved it)

[alpha5099]

That's nothing to brag about, Kyukyoku and nightraid suck

YOU LIE! Well, about Kyuukyoku Tiger II Plus. That game is sorely underappreciated. My favorite Takumi game. Fuckin' bullet hells, they are surely the work of beings from their namesake.

What's Kyukyoku Tiger II Plus? Is it for the arcade?
(I'll admit that I was previously rating KT2 from memory- I just went back and played it..... and loved it)

It's the name of the Saturn port. I'm not sure what's so Plus about it. I've tried the Saturn mode, and it's just an obnoxious wobble mode made up to look like a 16-bit tate port, like Truxton or Fire Shark with the big black box on the right side.

My question to you is: have you played as the second player helicopter? Its green weapon is the best in the game, one of my favorite weapons in any shmup. It's a railgun, and it gives off electromagnetic lightning bolts to any enemies it passes by.

[Skyline]

Night Raid= I can't help but say I love it. Supposedly, there are controll issues on the PS version. Not on the G-net version. I love the art direction and the music. The "Powah!" and "Bomber!" and I love the lighting and color usage. And I find it quite exhilarating to hit the wall on your score, where you are trying to survive as well as trying your hardest to keep the score from going DOWN! (I know, it sounds stupid for high score enthusiasts, but I love it. The experience is sort of a desperate survival, and I always feel very satisfied when I get further than before and look up and my score has not decreased). Then again, I also like Ray Crisis (I'm into 'pressure' shmups- also like mars matrix and dodonpachi).

Yeah, the overall design of this game is VERY interesting. The scoring system is pretty nifty when you learn how to abuse it (STILL dunno what the fuck dictates how much of a combo you get whenever you use the Hug-Launcher). Being able to play for a negative score or near-zero score has it's own rewards, although the final boss is damn annoying when it shoots multiplier icons at you. The visuals do their job, and don't really get in the way, and the music is just awesome. DIGI-RAWK!!

I envy you a bit for being able to play the game without the bugs found in the PlayStation port.

...Seriously, Takumi...what the fuck?

[dpful]

[My question to you is: have you played as the second player helicopter? Its green weapon is the best in the game, one of my favorite weapons in any shmup. It's a railgun, and it gives off electromagnetic lightning bolts to any enemies it passes by.

Yeah, I like the 2 player green weapon.
What do you think of that blue weapon? Ouch! Get stuck fighting a boss with that!

[Thunder Force]

What's Kyukyoku Tiger II Plus? Is it for the arcade?
(I'll admit that I was previously rating KT2 from memory- I just went back and played it..... and loved it)

It's the name of the Saturn port. I'm not sure what's so Plus about it. I've tried the Saturn mode, and it's just an obnoxious wobble mode made up to look like a 16-bit tate port, like Truxton or Fire Shark with the big black box on the right side.

The Saturn "Plus" mode is also slightly remixed visually. The submarine is a different color, etc. And they have added mission briefings. All for the benefit of wobble-mode players (there is no tate or scaled yoko option for the "Plus" mode). Thankfully the Kyukyoku Tiger II arcade original mode is included in lush Tate. Despite nice artwork and a standout soundtrack though, overall it doesn't hold a candle gameplay-wise to its timeless predecessor Twin Cobra. Takumi improved their gameplay tuning later on with Gigawing and Mars Matrix though.

[highlandcattle]

Here is hoping will get a decent port Night Raid in the future for the GC or PS2.Maybe on some budget series.And lets also hope that this takumi game will get a port::
http://www.takumi-net.co.jp/products_ar ... wether.htm

[system11]

That's nothing to brag about, Kyukyoku and nightraid suck

YOU LIE! Well, about Kyuukyoku Tiger II Plus. That game is sorely underappreciated. My favorite Takumi game. Fuckin' bullet hells, they are surely the work of beings from their namesake.

Agreed - solid blaster that doesn't get enough respect.

[Randorama]

Here is hoping will get a decent port Night Raid in the future for the GC or PS2.Maybe on some budget series.And lets also hope that this takumi game will get a port::
http://www.takumi-net.co.jp/products_ar ... wether.htm

It has been ported to PS1, and it's a nice puzzler with an interesting mechanic: you basically have the usual pit with pieces and need to put together 4 pieces of the same kind, which will disappear and thus other pieces will fall at the bottom and there can be chain reactions etc etc. To do this, you have a cursor that can go up and down (with the joystick) the pit, and you can move all pieces in a row, left or right. So, what you basically do is move pieces left or right in a specific row to have four of a kind in vertical or horizontal line. Pretty hectic, and though to find, you need to hit yahoo japan.

About Kyukyoku Tiger II: it's a solid game in Raiden style, with a very solid gameplay (but only the green weapon makes sense) and detailed, albeit non-outstanding, graphics and a cheesy but good soundtrack. It can get very though if played for score (nasty rank!) but it's also excellent for pure blast fests.

[Kiken]

It has been ported to PS1, and it's a nice puzzler with an interesting mechanic: you basically have the usual pit with pieces and need to put together 4 pieces of the same kind, which will disappear and thus other pieces will fall at the bottom and there can be chain reactions etc etc. To do this, you have a cursor that can go up and down (with the joystick) the pit, and you can move all pieces in a row, left or right. So, what you basically do is move pieces left or right in a specific row to have four of a kind in vertical or horizontal line. Pretty hectic, and though to find, you need to hit yahoo japan.

There are other ways...

[llabnip]

That's nothing to brag about, Kyukyoku and nightraid suck

YOU LIE! Well, about Kyuukyoku Tiger II Plus. That game is sorely underappreciated. My favorite Takumi game. Fuckin' bullet hells, they are surely the work of beings from their namesake.

Agreed! KT2 is a great game - love the 80's cheesy music and all. I love GigaWing2 (my fav Takumi game) and a close 2nd is Kyuukyoku Tiker II Plus (the Saturn rev). One of the few (only?) Takumi games with true veritical orientation. This great game is defintely underappreciated.

Then again, I really don't care for Mars Matrix so take my comments with as many grains of salt as you need.

[Rob]

I've heard that GW Generations got a bad rap; is it better or worse than this one?

Better in some ways (a few more interesting elements for score, faster, more reflecting). It has a lot in common with MM, so you should like it, though obviously it is not as hard just to survive.

[BulletMagnet]

Night Raid= I can't help but say I love it. Supposedly, there are controll issues on the PS version. Not on the G-net version.

So it IS the port and not the original game that has the control problem...arrgh, Takumi's ports really haven't been up to snuff lately, have they...

[Rob]

BM, don't even compare GWG's port to Night Raid's. That's just wrong. GWG is only unplayable to crybabies while Night Raid has serious control problems.

[BulletMagnet]

Heh, don't get too hot under the collar, I've actually broken down and ordered GWG for myself recently...in any event, I just meant that (based on what I'd heard, at least) both ports apparently could have been a lot better than they turned out. Perhaps NR's faults are more vital than GWG's, but I guess I'll hafta wait for it to arrive to determine that firsthand.

[Rob]

could have been a lot better than they turned out

Marginally better in GWG's case.

[BulletMagnet]

Guess that'd depend on who you ask...a lack of tate (very unusual for Japanese vert shmup ports) and a lower FPS rate seem like rather silly omissions, at least to me...again, though, I'll hafta see how the thing looks and plays once I get it.

[Rob]

ORIGINAL > TATE
frames - Eyes can fill in missing frames like you wouldn't believe.

[Neon]

*support for KT2 from a lot of people*

The rapidfire mechanic (you have to tap the shot button very fast to have maximum power) is just such piss poor design...makes my thumb sore.

And the gameplay past that is just blargh. I'd rather play Garegga or something else quality.

I do like the soundtrack as well, I'll admit.

[jp]

I love Kyukyoku Tiger II Plus just for the cheesy ass rock vocals in it. Lord thats great.



Other than that, yeah, it sucks.

[undamned]

Night Raid= I can't help but say I love it. Supposedly, there are controll issues on the PS version. Not on the G-net version. I love the art direction and the music. The "Powah!" and "Bomber!" and I love the lighting and color usage. And I find it quite exhilarating to hit the wall on your score, where you are trying to survive as well as trying your hardest to keep the score from going DOWN! (I know, it sounds stupid for high score enthusiasts, but I love it. The experience is sort of a desperate survival, and I always feel very satisfied when I get further than before and look up and my score has not decreased). Then again, I also like Ray Crisis (I'm into 'pressure' shmups- also like mars matrix and dodonpachi).

Nice to hear somebody that actually has the arcade game to validate it's goodness! May have to track that pig down, now
-ud

[dave4shmups]

YOU LIE! Well, about Kyuukyoku Tiger II Plus. That game is sorely underappreciated. My favorite Takumi game. Fuckin' bullet hells, they are surely the work of beings from their namesake.

What's Kyukyoku Tiger II Plus? Is it for the arcade?
(I'll admit that I was previously rating KT2 from memory- I just went back and played it..... and loved it)

It's the name of the Saturn port. I'm not sure what's so Plus about it. I've tried the Saturn mode, and it's just an obnoxious wobble mode made up to look like a 16-bit tate port, like Truxton or Fire Shark with the big black box on the right side.

My question to you is: have you played as the second player helicopter? Its green weapon is the best in the game, one of my favorite weapons in any shmup. It's a railgun, and it gives off electromagnetic lightning bolts to any enemies it passes by.

YES the green laser weapon rocks!! I played this game when I was younger, in a nearby arcade, as Twin Cobra II, and I was thrilled when I found out it got a Saturn port! Definately a very underappreciated shmup; love it.

I don't care much for bullet-hell either, but, IMO, NOBODY does it as well as Takumi!

[Ceph]

What "control issues" do you mean? I have Night Raid for PSX, and while it's a pretty tough game I didn't notice any control problems. I think it plays nicely with myDual Shock II's analog stick. Am I missing something?

BTW, using the PS2's smooth graphics-option makes the game look much better.

[Rob]

Am I missing something?

If you don't notice anything, count your blessings.