Best PSX/PS2 NTSC-U Shmup Arcade Port

[shmuppyLove]

I hope the title makes sense?

Want to know what people think was the best US arcade port for either the PSX or PS2.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Namco Museum Volume 5 - because Baraduke is on it - provided you've got an arcade stick. Because the fire button can't be remapped onto a joypad's trigger, which makes all the button mashing to do more pain than it should be.

[shmuppyLove]

Namco Museum Volume 5 - because Baraduke is on it - provided you've got an arcade stick. Because the fire button can't be remapped onto a joypad's trigger, which makes all the button mashing to do more pain than it should be.

It's funny you say that, the reason I'm looking for a good game is to use my arcade stick

[moh]

wasnt there a taito collection that had darius gaiden on it?

great game

although that version is 480i i believe =[ im guessing your console isnt chipped? there are so many great ntsc-j games to explore!!

[Obiwanshinobi]

Well, if you look for games good enough to put your telly on its side as well, there's always the Raiden Project (and Raiden DX if you're into importing). Personally I'd also recommend Sonic Wings Special (also on the Saturn) - while it wasn't exacty a coin-op game at any point known to me, it takes a "tated" TV to make much sense. Also, play Sonic Wings Special on Hard. Makes that much difference. Works jolly well with a regular PlayStation joypad I might add.

[Despatche]

sonic wings special is a port of sonic wings limited, also the raiden project is too weird and raiden dx is not ntsc-u

xevious 3d/g+, g-darius, raystorm and raycrisis, also although not ports you should still check out stuff like r-type delta and einhänder

[Obiwanshinobi]

sonic wings special is a port of sonic wings limited

Last time I checked Wikipedia it wasn't; now it's an "enhanced port", which isn't saying an awful lot about either.

[shmuppyLove]

im guessing your console isnt chipped? there are so many great ntsc-j games to explore!!

I do have a chipped PSX and PS2, but I'm currently playing on a PS2 slim that is not chipped, and I'm slowly moving away from pirating stuff. About a month ago I threw out nearly my entire collection of PS2 backups, most of which I never played nor have the time or interest to anymore, so no loss.

Well, if you look for games good enough to put your telly on its side as well, there's always the Raiden Project (and Raiden DX if you're into importing). Personally I'd also recommend Sonic Wings Special (also on the Saturn)

Hmm Sonic Wings is not a bad suggestion, but I already have Sonic Wings 2 MVS. Raiden Project I'll have to look into.

That reminds me though, wasn't there a Strikers collection for PS2? Not sure if it was NTSC-U though.

xevious 3d/g+, g-darius, raystorm and raycrisis, also although not ports you should still check out stuff like r-type delta and einhänder

Xevious I might have to check out. Was G-Darius the one with the crazy huge cancelling lasers? The Ray* games are probably stupid expensive ...

Einhander I would love to have, but it's also too expensive.

I did discover there was a port of Shienryu that looks good.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Shienryu does look good and plays well as a part of Shienryu Explosion.
In The Hunt reportedly runs faster than the Saturn port and the original PCB alike (and looks impressive at that), but I woldn't call it "essential" (unless you suck for pixel art BADLY). Might be cheap, though.

[Kiken]

In The Hunt reportedly runs faster than the Saturn port and the original PCB alike (and looks impressive at that), but I woldn't call it "essential" (unless you suck for pixel art BADLY). Might be cheap, though.

The one thing that always annoyed me about the PS1 port of In The Hunt was the terrible audio balancing (sound effects are obnoxiously loud in comparison to the music). Also, the redbook audio encoding is really poor (there's loads of pops, scratches and other distortions in both versions of the soundtrack).

[EmperorIng]

G-Darius is indeed excellent. Lots of variety, strategy, challenge, and yes, huge kamehameha lasers.

It runs about 20-30 bucks. But the Ps2 Taito Legends 2 game has it, along with Metal Black, Darius Gaiden, RayForce, RayStorm, and other Taito goodies. I'm a bit biased but I think they are some of the best shmups ever. : D

The Ray games themselves look pretty well on the PSX (RayCrisis looks superb - one of the best-looking PS1 games in my opinion), and they are pretty cheap - RayStorm is usually around $20-30, and RayCrisis is the same.

[MathU]

The PS2 version of Taito Legends 2 doesn't have Rayforce actually.

[xbl0x180]

The PS2 version of Taito Legends 2 doesn't have Rayforce actually.

I've hated taito ever since they excluded PuLiRuLa from the North American release.

[Zaarock]

Darius Gaiden also has some big slowdown on Taito Legends 2 I think. Metal Black might also have had some errors.. would be fun to switch between Gaiden and others but some of the emulation isn't as good as you'd get on a PC so I mainly just used the collection to play G-Darius :p

[shmuppyLove]

Cool picked up Taito Legends 2 for $18 shipped complete from eBay.

It has a shit-ton of games!

Featured titles on the Taito Legends 2 disc include Alpine Ski, Arabian Magic, Balloon Bomber, Bonze Adventure, Bust-A-Move Again (Puzzle Bobble 2), Cameltry, Chack’n Pop, Cleopatra Fortune, Crazy Balloon, Darius Gaiden, Don Doko Don, Dungeon Magic, Elevator Action Returns (Elevator Action II), Front Line, G Darius, Gekirindan, Grid Seeker: Project Storm Hammer, Growl, Gun Frontier, Hat Trick Hero (Football Champ), Insector X, KiKi KaiKai, Kuri Kinton, Liquid Kids, Lunar Rescue, Majestic Twelve (Super Space Invaders '91), Metal Black, Nastar Warrior (Rastan 2), Puchi Carat, Qix, Raimais, Ray Storm, Space Invaders '95, Space Invaders DX, Syvalion, The Fairyland Story, The Legend Of Kage, Violence Fight and Wild Western.

Gekirindan!! An unexpected shmup bonus! And I haven't played any of the Space Invaders remakes that I've heard very good things about. Also, Legend of Kage is awesome.

[moh]

i dont think i have ever once pronounced gekirindan correctly..

still a fun game =]

[Despatche]

geh-kih-rihn-dahn i guess

oh right taito legends 2 g-darius is supposed to own because it's a better port

also i forgot ps2 anything but i can't think of much, even double shienryu was only released in jp/eu. raiden iii, gradius iii and iv, gradius v (not a port), and hey let's rep thunder force vi even if it's an import. i'm not even going to bother with the crappy shikigami localizations

[shmuppyLove]

i dont think i have ever once pronounced gekirindan correctly..

still a fun game =]

I'm seriously looking forward to the hot Zuntata beats. I got the digital audio on the PS2, should be banging.

[Obiwanshinobi]

All Shikigami no Shiro shmups for the PC are more or less perfectly ported (II&III output high resolutions too). No such luck with Mobile Light Force 2 (the less said of it the better), but Castle Shikigami 2 (the US version, NOT the PAL one) is ace because of its delightfully ham-fisted localisation. I'm talking Symphony of the Night good/bad here.

[shmuppyLove]

All Shikigami no Shiro shmups for the PC are more or less perfectly ported (II&III output high resolutions too). No such luck with Mobile Light Force 2 (the less said of it the better), but Castle Shikigami 2 (the US version, NOT the PAL one) is ace because of its delightfully ham-fisted localisation. I'm talking Symphony of the Night good/bad here.

Ok found a complete one on eBay for $10 shipped. Good call.

[Ed Oscuro]

In The Hunt reportedly runs faster than the Saturn port and the original PCB alike (and looks impressive at that), but I woldn't call it "essential" (unless you suck for pixel art BADLY). Might be cheap, though.

The one thing that always annoyed me about the PS1 port of In The Hunt was the terrible audio balancing (sound effects are obnoxiously loud in comparison to the music). Also, the redbook audio encoding is really poor (there's loads of pops, scratches and other distortions in both versions of the soundtrack).

I recently read a review of one of the ports of In The Hunt and the author commented that the undersea volcano section seemed empty without the rocks spewing (pain in the butt to deal with really), so there is something missing from one of the ports of this game. Dunno about other stage tweaks.

[HydrogLox]

That reminds me though, wasn't there a Strikers collection for PS2? Not sure if it was NTSC-U though.

Refer to
http://www.racketboy.com/retro/sony/ps2 ... ps-library
http://www.racketboy.com/retro/phenomin ... ps-library

• PS2 Strikers 1945 I & II Collection is only available in NTSC-J and PAL - not NTSC-U/C
• Quote above: "porting job is less than optimal: load times are lengthy, high scores aren’t saved, and neither the graphics nor the sound (especially on II) are arcade-accurate."

Now both games are available on PSX. However only "Strikers 1945 II" made it (ironically) as "Strikers 1945" to NTSC-U/C on the PS1 but I would avoid the NTSC-U/C version because it lacks arcade (tate) mode. Original 1 mode crops the vertical dimension really cramping you movement, while Original 2 mode dynamical scrolls the horizontal field of view so that you are constantly being shot at by invisible popcorn and bosses - which in turn you have to shoot blind. In my opinion the non-NTSC-J PS1 versions are broken.

I do have a chipped PSX

Well then you are in luck because you should be able to play the NTSC-J version of "Strikers 1945 II" on that console - it is supposed to have tate - there is a Superlite 1500 budget version that you may be able to find used for $15-$25. The PS1 "Strikers 1945" is considered to be inferior to the Saturn version so it is probably not worth getting unless you aren't bothered by "excessive slowdown".

Einhander I would love to have, but it's also too expensive.

This is true for the NTSC-U/C version. The NTSC-J version can be had for ~$25 over at playimport which you should be able to play on your chipped PS1.

[xris]

The Taito Legends 2 was a good score, the best collection you're going to get. Gekirindan is a very solid game. The Darius games are a ton of fun as well. You'll still have a ton of fun checking out all of the other games on the disk.
I'm a huge fan of the Shiki games on the ps2. The second is a good entry point, but it takes a little while to really choose a character and figure out how you want to play through the stages. The game has a ton of depth. I usually just turn off the story mode though. I think this was the second game I got a 1CC. I really prefer the first one though, better atmosphere, bosses, craziness, but it has no story at all, and lacks Tate. The 5-2 boss is my all time favorite.
There's a port of Raiden 3 on ps2, and it's pretty straightforward.
Edit - There is a Capcom collection that has Forgotten Worlds on it.

[Kiken]

Now both games are available on PSX. However only "Strikers 1945 II" made it (ironically) as "Strikers 1945" to NTSC-U/C on the PS1 but I would avoid the NTSC-U/C version because it lacks arcade (tate) mode. Original 1 mode crops the vertical dimension really cramping you movement, while Original 2 mode dynamical scrolls the horizontal field of view so that you are constantly being shot at by invisible popcorn and bosses - which in turn you have to shoot blind. In my opinion the non-NTSC-J PS1 versions are broken.

Original 1 Mode in Strikers 1945 Part II features rebalanced bullet patterns. Psikyo actually did take into consideration the decreased size of the play field. However, as a result, it ends up being a different game than Original 2 Mode or Arcade Mode (I believe a Gameshark code was discovered that would enable tate in the NTSC-U/C version).

[dunpeal2064]

Capcom Classics Vol 2 has a few cool shooters never before ported, Eco Fighters and Varth.

Great call on Shiki II. They messed up the translation so bad its good, but everything else about the port is top notch!

[KAI]

Shiki 2 translated version has one of my favorite phrases of all times: Is idiot power!!

NAMCO Museum 50th anniversary for PS2 has Dragon spirit, Xevious + Karate kid 1 song on it.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

The PSX NTSC-U/C version of G-Darius has a bit of slow down + the opening intro & all ending stories/ending staff credits is FMV based (and not real time rendered polys like with the arcade PCB version of the same name). Still impressive that Taito managed to cram the entire G-Darius game engine on a single disc though is no small feat in of itself.

The PSX port of Ray Crisis only has support for one player whereas on the Taito G-Net arcade version, up to two players capability from the get-go. Not to mention the cool d/l bonus of playing "Pocket Ray" on a Pocketstation is another plus with both the NTSC-J & NTSC-U/C ports of RC. If you mix & match such NTSC-J & NTSC-U/C RC game save files + Pocket Ray game files between the two country regions, it'll be rendered inoperable. Tried it once to see if such mixing up region PSX memory saves of RC would work and it doesn't period.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Tokyo-J]

Dodonpachi and Raycrisis on PSX
Dodonpachi Dai Ou Jou and Espgaluda 2 on PS2

[HydrogLox]

Dodonpachi

PS1 NTSC-J only (i.e. mod-chip PSX candidate) and extremely pricey ($100+), even more so than a NTSC-U/C copy of Einhänder - though admittedly the best console version.

Dodonpachi Dai Ou Jou

PS2 NTSC-J only (no go for the OP) and pricey ($90+)

Espgaluda

Again PS2 NTSC-J only (no go for the OP) and pricey ($70+)


It may be worth looking at the budget release: "Arcade Hits: Soukyu-Gurentai (Major Wave)" (PS1 NTSC-J)

Granted the PS1 version is far inferior to the Sega Saturn version (it was an ST-V game after all) but the budget version can be found for ~$30 (first print is $100+) and if there is no Sega Saturn in your future then this is the only way to experience it on your mod-chipped PS1 console.

[HydrogLox]

Original 1 Mode in Strikers 1945 Part II features rebalanced bullet patterns. Psikyo actually did take into consideration the decreased size of the play field. However, as a result, it ends up being a different game than Original 2 Mode or Arcade Mode (I believe a Gameshark code was discovered that would enable tate in the NTSC-U/C version).

I didn't notice a reduction in the speed of the enemies in Original 1 Mode though - effectively robbing you of potential reaction time. I enjoy playing the NTSC-J Sega Saturn Strikers 1945 but the NTSC-U/C PS1 Strikers 1945 irritates me to no end. In my opinion the translation of "Strikers 1945 II" from vertical to veri-zontal did not work. G.rev showed with "Under Defeat HD New Order" that with the right base and with some competent modifications/arrangement it can be made to work. Maybe "Strikers 1945 II" wasn't the right game to do this to.