Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire

[CIT]

I feel this game needs a thread about the actual game, and not it's rarity, price, bootlegs, etc.

Been playing it the last couple of days, and here's what I like:

+ pretty challenging gameplay, especially for a Hudson shooter
+ tons of boss fights with fun patterns (some bosses feel very Raizing-eque)
+ four selectable characters
+ best graphics on the system
+ nice music

Here's what I don't like so much:

- some of the sound FX are really annoying
- the eclectic mix of stage themes keeps the game from creating a coherent atmosphere
- large status bar makes the screen even more squished
- scoring with the option charge shot a wasted opportunity

Overall though, I'd say it's a very good PCE game. Not as good as Gate of Thunder or Nexzr, but definitely in the upper 25% of shooters on the system.

In the end, it really makes me wonder what Hudson could've done, had they ever made a shooter for the arcades. A type of Gunhed/Soldier Blade/Sapphire with tougher challenge, a scoring system and on mid-90s arcade hardware would have been awesome.

Any thoughts on Sapphire?

[CulDad78]

I'd give the music a bump from nice to SUPERB. Love the music in that game, its what stands out to me, the background music in contrast w/the sound effects of the gameplay. It feels like a different experience than a lot of other shmups in that regard, and that is why I enjoy it.

[Estebang]

I should mention to the uninformed that the game was re-released in far greater quantities as part of the Ginga Ojousama Densetsu Collection on PSP.

[antares]

- some of the sound FX are really annoying

That's the main reason why I stopped playing the game, the sound fx were hurting my ears!

Other than that I really liked it.

[Udderdude]

Cool music, bad sound effects. Too many enemies seem to have 'shoot right in your face' syndrome.

Also the pre-rendered stuff looks awful. D:

[xbl0x180]

I should mention to the uninformed that the game was re-released in far greater quantities as part of the Ginga Ojousama Densetsu Collection on PSP.

I was gonna say...

I got it from yesasia for about 35 bucks. The other two games are "Galaxy Fraulein Yuna" visual novels

[ELabit]

I don't know why but It seems like a lot of PCE games have bad sound mixing. The sound effects overpower the music in a lot of game to the point where it's just annoying and most don't have sound level options.

Sapphire is really cool though, a totally badass package over all. The Soundtrack is incredle by itself and I listen to my boot copy in the car a lot.
The game is pretty tough though due to the screen and control limitations. But overall a must play for all fans of classic shooties

[Sumez]

The PCE sound chip was always terrible, and tends to stand out even worse when played back to back to a CD audio soundtrack.

Some games pull it off nicely though - I love the music in Parasol Stars.

[GrantWindsor]

I also think the soundtrack is outstanding...another great job by T's Music. However, I've always thought the game itself was sub-par, despite all of the simulated graphical tricks. My favorite Computer Artist Production game has always been Hagane for SFC, though the 3D shooter Bulk Slash on Saturn is a guilty pleasure. I think the worst offender, though, for crappy PCE sound chip effects set against CD music would be Super Darius 2. It is obvious that there was no effort made to even program decent sound effects.