Retro Core Dreamcast Shooting Special

Kiken · Post by **Kiken** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 11:10 pm

Yakumo just recently finished up this 83 minute video covering shmups, rail-shooters and light-gun games for the DC:
http://www.archive.org/details/RetroCor ... ng_Special

ArrogantBastard · Post by **ArrogantBastard** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 11:20 pm

Checking it out...

Edit: Archive.org seems to be down or sluggish at the moment.

KBZ · Post by **KBZ** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 4:05 am

one of Yakumo's best yet. really enjoyed it

superhitachi4 · Post by **superhitachi4** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 4:16 am

Wow, very nice. I have all of Yakumo's vids (including all Retro Core issues

) except this. Thanks.

snap monkey · Post by **snap monkey** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 6:20 am

I wish the guy reviewing these games would actually read something about them before playing them. I'm sorry, but you can't properly comment on Ikaruga without ever using the word "chain." Criticism is fine, but back it up with something. All he says is that the game is over-hyped and there are better shooters on the system. Why is it over-hyped? What makes it suck? Those are hard questions to answer if you don't even understand the basic play mechanics.

And it wasn't just Ikaruga, he knew very little about any of the games he was playing. He shows off Border Down but has no knowledge of rank or how it affects the gameplay. He plays Chaos Field and doesn't even realize that there is this whole combo element with the special attacks; HE DOESN"T EVEN KNOW THERE IS A MISSLE LOCK-ON OR A SHIELD ATTACK. What's that meter on the left? No fucking clue, let's just skip it!

Next to the quality of Kiken's NeoGeo Shooing Special, this video is trash. The only reason to download it is to see some of the games in action if you haven't already. But the annoying thing is there's this ignorant Scottish guy intermitently blabbering a bunch of bullshit over the games' audio.

neorichieb1971 · Post by **neorichieb1971** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 7:00 am

The above post is done by a complete idiot.

You should be happy that someone went to the time and effort to actually share something, instead you just share your negative attitude.

I have never heard a rant so one sided in all my life.

zinger · Post by **zinger** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 7:16 am

snap monkey wrote:Next to the quality of Kiken's NeoGeo Shooing Special, this video is trash. The only reason to download it is to see some of the games in action if you haven't already. But the annoying thing is there's this ignorant Scottish guy intermitently blabbering a bunch of bullshit over the games' audio.

I've only watched the Saturn video, and I'd have to say I agree to some extent. I did enjoy seeing some of those games in action, nonetheless, he knows very little about shooting. Quite odd since he's obviously interested.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 7:43 am

Retro Core is obviously geared for old school GAME fans -- not people that can learn the ins and outs of complex scoring systems.

Klatrymadon · Post by **Klatrymadon** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 8:11 am

I thought this was great, as per usual. I find it hard to criticize anybody who gets off their arse and tries to do something enthusiastic and informative for their fellow gamers, especially since forums are increasingly becoming hotbeds of doom and gloom. What he says about Ikaruga may not resonate with anybody here, but rather than trying to give an in-depth review of the game's mechanics [a system that the video suggests he hasn't spent an incredible amount of time with

], I feel his main aim here was simply to put forward the idea that not every shooter fan in the world is going to love Ikaruga. Not exactly an original thought, but forums are brimming with cliquey and hive-minded gamers, and I'm sure all he wanted to do with his little Ikaruga section was combat this mentality to some extent.

PS - Don't take everything Insert Credit say as gospel, folks. Despite what they posted some time ago, I'm pretty sure Yakumo is originally from Merseyside. As an Englishman and a language student well versed in the broad range of British accents, I can tell you that there isn't a hint of Scottish in his.

sethsez · Post by **sethsez** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 8:22 am

I tend to notice an obnoxious "western games are all the same generic crap HEY THIS ANIME CHARACTER HAS A FUNNY HAT HEHE SUCH GREAT ART" vibe to some of these shows (come on guy, anime can be generic too, really). Aside from this, his comments aren't particularly insightful but it's worth watching just to see some games I've never seen before in action.

Edit: I should also say it's clear he hasn't given many of these much time. He seems to have only the faintest idea of how Mars Matrix works, for example. I don't mean from a strategy point of view, I mean from a "watch the in-game demos or read the manual and you'd know this" point of view. Like, he seems to think the bullet reflection only works as a smart bomb.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 10:22 am

Yakumo is English. 100%. No Scottish... at all. He posts at Assembler...regularly. In fact, he's a moderator.

BenT · Post by **BenT** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 10:46 am

I was planning to dl and burn all the Retrocores to a few DVDs but I just had enough of it while watching it on a plane today. (Had an episode stowed on my laptop... the one with Trizeal.) The quality of the commentary and especially gameplay was just really poor and I got annoyed watching him bungle time after time while spouting a fair few inanities. It's cool that he makes these things for us but the show is not good enough for me to really enjoy at this time.

Skyline · Post by **Skyline** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 11:57 am

BenT wrote:...(Had an episode stowed on my laptop... the one with Trizeal.)...

That's quite possibly the most amusing episode out of all of them.

Dunno, I thought it was amusing seeing the guy constantly bite it on Stage 4 of Trizeal and be all like " Would you believe that I beat this game on Hard?"

sethsez · Post by **sethsez** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 12:22 pm

He seems like a likeable enough guy, and it's clear he enjoys these games. It's just... he doesn't really say anything useful about them, and he seems utterly incapable of tempering his personal biases to any real degree. Makes for a more entertaining show, but also a less informative one.

Ex_Mosquito · Post by **Ex_Mosquito** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 12:31 pm

What you've got to remeber is Yakumo is a collector not a player. With this in mind and it's an okay i guess if you havnt seen the games before. I didnt like it personally. This is the thing with collectors, its all about obtaining every shooter they can get their hands on for the complete set or whatever and hardware talk (OMG its on type X/naomi!) etc... but cant play them for shit. Personally I'd rather just have handful of shooters and get good at them rather than hoard 48764874 games and never get any decent results. Thats just me though.

Kiken · Post by **Kiken** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 12:37 pm

Yakumo has always struck me as a Type-1 Gamer: he plays strictly for fun. He isn't interested in delving deeply into scoring mechanisms and game design. He's also a collector, which is what his page is predominantly about... good game, bad game, he doesn't care so long as he can find a copy to scratch it off his list.

With that being said, you have to take everything in his shows cum grano salis. Just understand that we're not watching the most skilled player ever give us his thoughts.

Although, I do think the whole part about Psyvariar 2's stage 6 being an "urban legend" is just lack of research on his part.

I was a little annoyed though that you have to buy the DVD just to see TSS and Bangaiou.. and there isn't any commentary for either since they were last minute additions. :/

There was also a lot of audio fluctuation... and for being his 14th show, you'd figure he would have gotten down how to correctly configure his gear.

I may still make a DC Shooting Special... I'd just have to change the name a bit.

Klatrymadon · Post by **Klatrymadon** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 12:51 pm

What you've got to remeber is Yakumo is a collector not a player. With this in mind and it's an okay i guess if you havnt seen the games before. I didnt like it personally. This is the thing with collectors, its all about obtaining every shooter they can get their hands on for the complete set or whatever and hardware talk (OMG its on type X/naomi!) etc... but cant play them for shit. Personally I'd rather just have handful of shooters and get good at them rather than hoard 48764874 games and never get any decent results. Thats just me though.

I'd agree with that, but this idea of pigeon-holing people into categories has never really sat well with me (whether it be petty teenage social groups or gamers). I, for one, don't think Yakumo's apparent lack of interest in the underlying mechanics of shooters makes him any less of a shooter fan or gamer, and it doesn't necessarily make him "just another one of those hoarders" or soulless tech nerds, either. I'm aware that he does have a massive collection, though.

bhytre · Post by **bhytre** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 1:26 pm

Even though i think it's great what he does i think he just shouldn't talk about ikaruga like that,he doesn't even know how to play it or hasn't even tried to figure out the chaining system.

Just because you don't like a style of gameplay doesn't give you the right to tell people that the game is bad or overhyped imo.

snap monkey · Post by **snap monkey** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 4:50 pm

neorichieb1971 wrote:The above post is done by a complete idiot.

You should be happy that someone went to the time and effort to actually share something, instead you just share your negative attitude.

I have never heard a rant so one sided in all my life.

Why should I be happy he did a crummy job? He made a video with the purpose of reviewing a bunch of DC shooters and didn't even bother to get pertinent background information on any of them. I haven't played most of the games in the video and I knew more about all of them than he did. This is because I actually read about them, watched some replays, heard other people's comments on them, etc. I realize that not everyone cares enough to look into the finer points, but if you are going to make a review video, you should care enough to research a thing or two. He didn't do his homework. He didn't share anything. Whether you play shmups 24-7 or are a casual retro gamer, this video offered no valuable information. It would more likely give you a skewed perspective on a game due to a lack of basic knowledge. All he had to do was read an instruction booklet or an faq online to learn some of the simple things he didn't know. How can you meaningfully criticize something you don't understand?

GaijinPunch wrote:Yakumo is English. 100%. No Scottish... at all. He posts at Assembler...regularly. In fact, he's a moderator.

My mistake, apologies.

superhitachi4 · Post by **superhitachi4** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 5:40 pm

snap monkey wrote:Why should I be happy he did a crummy job?

Yakumo's a good guy. I've emailed him back and forth quite a bit just to shoot the breeze. He busts his ass to produce a FREE kick ass online video magazine, and yet someone finds a way to complain... Wow. Anyway, if he went in depth about the scoring systems of every single game, he'd spend way too much time, and the videos would be a lot longer.

Sabreman · Post by **Sabreman** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 5:47 pm

Kiken wrote:I may still make a DC Shooting Special... I'd just have to change the name a bit.

Do eeeeeet! Loved your NeoGeo one. It has the information and detail that RC lacks, while managing to be entertaining too.

Or better still, someone needs to do a Playstation Shooting Special. Mmmmmmmmm. Lovely.

That said, I do enjoy Retro Core, mainly to see some obscure stuff I probably never would otherwise see (I've even tracked down and bought a couple of things off the back of it). However, I do agree to some extent with the criticisms of the show and I do admit I have a personal bugbear with his facile dismissals of Silvergun and Ikaruga in particular - simply saying they're overhyped and nothing special isn't really enough, especially when you don't go into the reasons why they are at least perceived to be so great by others.

Tychom · Post by **Tychom** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 8:08 pm

snap monkey wrote: Why should I be happy he did a crummy job? He made a video with the purpose of reviewing a bunch of DC shooters and didn't even bother to get pertinent background information on any of them.

Um, no, he did not "review" them, he displayed them so that people who have never seen them outside of screenshots or some comments on forums can actually see how they're paced, some degree of their mechanics and design. They are not reviews, that there is your central mistake and hardly worth whinging about.

I haven't played most of the games in the video and I knew more about all of them than he did.

And now you've seen them in motion too, you should be at least somewhat thankful for that.

pixelcorps · Post by **pixelcorps** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 9:25 pm

consolevania is a better example of a free video mag done better.. at least it's not so bungled and nerdishly dull as retrocore.

Post by **Dave_K.** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 9:27 pm

I get an error trying to play this movie (fails trying to get the codec). I believe its YUY2, but can someone tell me what I need to download to be able to play it!?

[edit] superhitachi4 hooked me up. Thanks! [/edit]

kidneythief · Post by **kidneythief** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 9:52 pm

golly, he sure aint too good at some of them games... also, as I understand it, the retro core videos double as advertisements for their import store don't they? so it's just kind of weird for him to be so negative about some of them, kind of defeats the purpose of trying to sell them :X

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 10:10 pm

I may still make a DC Shooting Special... I'd just have to change the name a bit.

Always thought about doing something like this, but I don't have the greatest voice for commentary, and subtitled wouldn't be fantastic. Did you guys ever see Aaron Nanto's PCEngineFX TV?

snap monkey · Post by **snap monkey** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 4:55 am

Tychom wrote: Um, no, he did not "review" them, he displayed them so that people who have never seen them outside of screenshots or some comments on forums can actually see how they're paced, some degree of their mechanics and design. They are not reviews, that there is your central mistake and hardly worth whinging about.

He gave his opinions, his subject thoughts, on the games he played. Pros and cons. I call that a review, you can call it whatever you like. If you don't call it a review because the opinions weren't based on a reasonable knowledge of the subject at hand, then I'd agree.

I didn't mind that he had opinions. I mind that he publicized these opinions without really knowing much about what he was playing and omitting (either out of indifference or ignorance) important information about the games. If his purpose is to give people who know nothing about DC shooters a general idea of what they're like, and then neglects to mention many of the things that make the games unique, then he isn't really accomplishing much.

If you know nothing about cars, and I show off driving my Ferrari but don't mention that you can shift past first gear into second gear and so on, are you going to get much of an idea as to what driving a sportscar is like? Sure, you've seen what the car looks like and you've seen it in motion, but you wouldn't really know what makes that type of car different from others like it.

qatmix · Post by **qatmix** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 8:52 am

The guy is able to voice his opinions.. So what if he doesnt have a super-indepth knowledge on the mechanics for every dreamcast shooter? What games reviewers do?

This board is full of hardcore shooter nerds (myself included

), You have to realise that we are a small group of people.. Yakamos video is not aimed directly at us... But as we are shooter fans we rabidly downloaded it..

Lighten up, its not bad, I'd rather watch it than 99% of the rubbish on TV so I enjoyed it..

cigsthecat · Post by **cigsthecat** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 9:21 am

Things that are free can still suck, FYI. I haven't watched this video though.

sethsez · Post by **sethsez** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 9:39 am

qatmix wrote:The guy is able to voice his opinions.. So what if he doesnt have a super-indepth knowledge on the mechanics for every dreamcast shooter? What games reviewers do?

Well, if you don't really know much about shooters beyond "the main button fires" then it might not be the best idea to devote around 3 hours of video to covering all the shooters for the Saturn and the Dreamcast over the course of two shows, complete with comments.

It's not ridiculous to expect him to know some basics about the games. I don't expect him to go into strategies for Mars Matrix, but I do expect him to at least figure out how the mosquito works. It's like reviewing Super Mario Bros without knowing you can run in it, or Sonic 2 without ever finding the spin dash.