I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

[BIL]

GTFO Mr. Whale! Shit be wildin! BATTLE HAS BEGUN!

Ngl... I tried to rescue that whale hovering on top. That or at least getting some points. No luck... XD

I thought he was a submarine at first and went in swinging tbh

[copy-paster]

Might leave this here, current score PB/community record as well I should beat it someday: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1171846770

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[DenimDemon]

Was looking up some Thunder Dragon 2 art and found this design very similar or maybe not with a Neo favourite (to me!) Alpha Mission 2. Lol

Anyway looking forward for my day off tomorrow to jump into this. Just in time for my 43 b day ah.

[Lord British]

I've wanted to know this for a while, what does the voice say when you die in TD2?

[trap15]

Depends on whether you're P1 or P2 side, and it's split into separate dying and respawning voices.

P1: "God damn you!" "I can still fight you!"
P2: "Oh my god!" "I'm gonna beat the hell out of you this time!"

[BIL]

Best is when you kill a midboss at respawn, for a "GOD DAMN YOU! I CAN STILL EE-HURRR!"

HEY, THIS IS MY PRESENT FOR YOU (｀w´メ)

Spoiler

Might leave this here, current score PB/community record as well I should beat it someday: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1171846770

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Rugged.

I'm just making it to st7 now (P1 ship), absolutely splendid game. I love the screaming neon pink bullets on the sixth boss, like they read my mind while I was learning Mustang's first loop recently. "Just make the bullets the most obnoxious colour possible! IDGAF!" Got that DDP/Dragon Blaze fizz, where you can feel 'em in your peripheral vision while micro-tapping.

Also digging those chubby middleweights that attack as you reach st6's town, the ones that pop up from below, then unleash a hybrid big orange / little blue barrage. Letting them lock on, then slipping the targeted onslaught with a deft microtap feels like some Buster Keaton near-miss daredevilry.



This is low-key one of the most aesthetically distinctive military STGs around... most craft and vehicles have a subtly chibi "puppy fat" aspect, as if designed for handheld screen dimensions - yet the detailing of canopies, engines, armour etc is IREM/Seibu-meticulous. My favourite are those little A10 Warthogs unleashed by stage 6's carriers. So cute!



Simultaneously lovable yet stone-facedly hardcore, in a curious way I've not seen before. Actually, the sprite dimensions remind me a little of Recca's, if anything. And prticularly with the locked horizontal scroll, it's also a supremely efficient look. <3 Task Force Harrier / Same2P / Psikyo locked pan, now those bastards are scrolling into my line of fire!

[Lord British]

Depends on whether you're P1 or P2 side, and it's split into separate dying and respawning voices.

P1: "God damn you!" "I can still fight you!"
P2: "Oh my god!" "I'm gonna beat the hell out of you this time!"

Ha! Awesome thx

[BIL]

Holy shit :O

Speaking of Psikyo, in all this goodness, I forgot we've still got Rabio Lepus inbound. Looking forward to that one, horizontal melee STG as hard as a goddamn boner.

[copy-paster]

Stage 7 probably hardest stage in the game even for survival, so much shit going on and if you're going to score you gotta find all the hidden blue medals (for bomb refill and score as well) whlist quick kill mofos from above and behind.

Delaying big enemies coming from the sides in said stage also delay upcoming enemies, good for safer survival (I did it on my first clear replay on youtube) but real men knows no bounds, destroy them all!

[BIL]

Yeah I can tell this is gonna take some practice

Man, that br00tal pincer formation, with raining zako strikers from the top, bulldozing bombers from the bottom... genius wave design, though. At first I was "Is this where they steal all my bombs?" But when that medal-marked dosie-do pathway started to materialise, omfg





Nothing satisfies me like when a game rewards my trust.

Speaking of the pixel art and machine designs, love these mad bastards.

Spoiler

YEEE-HAWWW

[Sima Tuna]

I love this game. I kinda loved Thunder Dragon 1 as well. They're like Raiden or a Toaplan shmup, but without a lot of the annoying shit Toaplan do. Your bomb comes out instantly and your ship feels super powerful. Yeah, there's still snipers and fast bullets, but the game feels so amazing to play. I noticed while credit feeding that this one gives you an ass load of bombs. Not talking about respawning either. I mean, they load you down with bombs normally playing the game. I found that if I could survive that little bit longer, the game would usually give me a bomb. I love shit like that, where the devs know how hard the game is and they want to push you. Streets of Rage and Final Fight do the same thing with hp recovery items.

The hamster version lets you freely select your ship by going into preferences and checking "control player 2 ship." The description is weird but all it does is set you to player 2's ship. So I was able to try both ships. I prefer player 1. You might notice that the two ships are using weapon sets from Thunder Dragon 1, or weapons that are very fucking similar. P1 ship uses the spread and delay missiles. P2 ship uses homing missiles and the machine gun from TD1. So they're the same weapons (mostly,) but the game doesn't spam you with a lot of rotating weapon power ups you have to dodge, like you did in TD1. I would always get auto-switched in TD1 to the machine gun because it was so common.

Thunder Dragon 2 is hard, but the curve is less harsh than Gunnail, imo. I still am struggling to like Gunnail. But I digress. I'm not sure if I like Thunder Dragon 2 more or less than Thunder Dragon 1. But I will say that TD2 is a lot prettier. So it's easier to explain to non-shmuppers what I like about it, since it's more instantly appealing. Thunder Dragon 1 has a very drab look that belies its amazingly fluid, fast and fun gameplay.

Something about the chonky pixel graphics mixed with fast 'n' furious gameplay draws a connection in my mind between Thunder Dragon 2 and one of my other favorite shmups: Gekirindan.

[Rastan78]

Thunder Dragon 2 is hard, but the curve is less harsh than Gunnail, imo. I still am struggling to like Gunnail.

I was playing around in the Gunnail ACA menus and turned on the match original game speed option. I don't know if it's just placebo effect, but the game felt like it played noticabley slower and was more manageable. Is there a chance the PCB ran a good 4 or 5 frames slower than 60hz?

Even if it's only a small difference why play a game with such fast bullets at a faster speed than it was balanced for? Glad Hamster included this option, but IIRC it wasn't turned on at default?

[copy-paster]

TD2 might give you tons of bombs, but then you realized after reaching stage 8 you have nothing on your disposal.

Also either this was pure coincidence or intentional idk, but Upa's powerup from Jikkyou Oshaberi Parodius resembles P2 ship (30hz laser and even the homing missiles move the same way). Although this could be reference to Raiden's arsenal since the other shot is classic wide shot.

Spoiler

[trap15]

Letting them lock on, then slipping the targeted onslaught with a deft microtap feels like some Buster Keaton near-miss daredevilry.

You think that's the shit, try getting all up-close in they face and dodge with a down motion absolutely most fun shit I've ever seen in a video game

[BIL]

First-rate intel, cheers. There's so much of that fine-brush STG artistry here, the kind that goes beyond mere rote, making grappling with rugged stages and bosses feel as much of an unfolding mystery as any narrative-driven game.

Speaking of, MFW realising st7's Backshot Bomber Bois don't get hitboxes until they're well upscreen. That sure simplifies things! I was dodging the bastards like rush hour traffic, and getting promptly flanked by their zako pals for the tiniest hesitance.



I'd noticed this with the early st2 midboss, that heavy bomber that arrives at 6'oclock, never would've expected such amenity later on. I suppose they compensate with those st5 middleweights that clothesline in from 9/3'oclock.

Manabu Namiki tweeted some reminiscences of working on TD2 - I notice he seems to mention having worked in sprite art, something I was unaware of. Out of curiosity, do you know if he (or other TD2 staff) had any input on Garegga? Suddenly a lot of the imagery it seems to share with TD2 (Plateau's tight-packed urban sprawl, Cloud's arcing stratosphere, Base/Airport's high-altitude flyovers of glittering lights) seem much less coincidental. I'm pretty clueless about NMK personnel beyond Okamura, Hide-Kaz and Namiki's audio works.

Although then again, that goes for me and most STG devs, outside of the rockstar dudes like Yuge/Uemura/IKD/YGW/Iuchi. >_>

[Skyknight]

And I found out that Namiki also did the voice-acting. https://glitchwave.com/game/thunder-dragon-2/

[BIL]

Not surprised tbh, knowing he did Garegga's too.

EDIT: oh hey, TD2 has a Turret Wall, too. EDIT2: Uh... Walls, rather.

Man this place's landscaping is bussin, classy joint makin' me want a spot of bocce after the warring is done.

[trap15]

What he's talking about for pixel art was actually his part-time job before he worked at NMK, where he did some of the artwork for Allumer's games, most notably some of Rezon's backgrounds. He also dabbled a bit in music there as well, as he's credited for sounds in Blandia.

I'm not sure where the rumor of Namiki doing the TD2 voice started, but it's actually Shinji Nagamine, brother of artist Naoko Nagamine (thusly credited as Aniki Nagamine in the special thanks). They asked him to do the lines because he lived in the United States for a time and so he knew some English. I luckily was able to meet him and although he barely remembers the recording, the circumstance sounded quite amusing. Also his English is no longer so goofy sounding

As far as influence on Raizing games, I'm also kind of curious about whether Namiki had any input or if YGW just liked NMK's games. You can also notice that the lead-up to Discharge in Batrider is very very similar to the lead-up to the last boss in Gunnail

[drauch]

Incredible. What is "ee-HURH"? Is that actually something being said or just a groan of sorts? I've listened to some of these so many times and still can't decipher. This would be a valuable guide in the Strategy section.

[trap15]

It's supposed to be "yeehaw" lol

[drauch]

LOL thank you so much. This game is such a delight.

[Steven]

This game definitely looks like a proto-Garegga thing, at least visually. I just played it for a bit and the announcer is just great. I think I'm going to play it some more, which means it's TIME TO PUT IN MORE COINS, MAN.

[BrianC]

I like how the game lets you shoot the letters in the stage intros.

[Steven]

Credit-fed to the end. Fun game. I think I'll have to play it some more and not be terrible at it eventually. What the heck is he saying when you use a bomb? I can't unhear "This is my living quarters!"...

[UD2]

Picked up Thunder Dragon 2 after seeing some of the glowing praise in this thread and wow, I'm impressed! I've never been able to really get into NMK's other stuff, but this game feels amazing! I just wish there was a little more variety in the BGM. Any things I should be aware of as a new player (weird rank quirks to avoid, general tips, etc.)?

[copy-paster]

Credit-fed to the end. Fun game. I think I'll have to play it some more and not be terrible at it eventually. What the heck is he saying when you use a bomb? I can't unhear "This is my living quarters!"...

I assume that's for red ship right? He says "Hey/Here this is my presents for you!"

Another trivia: The export version named "BIG BANG: Power Shooting" was the original title before it changed to TD2 because NMK worried it might not making pennies with such title. Aesthetics for both TDs barely resemble each other at all.

[Steven]

Credit-fed to the end. Fun game. I think I'll have to play it some more and not be terrible at it eventually. What the heck is he saying when you use a bomb? I can't unhear "This is my living quarters!"...

I assume that's for red ship right? He says "Hey/Here this is my presents for you!"

Is that what it is? I really thought was talking about his living quarters for that entire playthrough I did.

[trap15]

P1: "Hey this is my presents for you"
P2: "Woahhhh it's beautiful"

Any things I should be aware of as a new player (weird rank quirks to avoid, general tips, etc.)?

Biggest thing is you should try to learn where a lot of the secret light blue medals are, since every 3 you collect creates a bomb, and you should be bombing liberally. Other than that, just learn the stages so you can point-blank stuff as much as possible.

[BIL]

Any things I should be aware of as a new player (weird rank quirks to avoid, general tips, etc.)?

Biggest thing is you should try to learn where a lot of the secret light blue medals are, since every 3 you collect creates a bomb, and you should be bombing liberally. Other than that, just learn the stages so you can point-blank stuff as much as possible.

Awww sheeeit! Had no idea about the blue medals = bomba! Those TD1 callbacks express themselves subtly.

I'll add Nifty's post, found it a good quickstart guide (despite completely skimming past the 3 x blue medal thing, dohoho). Good to see more people playing TD2, it's a diamond gem of Very Orthodox Shooting!

I'm not sure where the rumor of Namiki doing the TD2 voice started, but it's actually Shinji Nagamine, brother of artist Naoko Nagamine (thusly credited as Aniki Nagamine in the special thanks). They asked him to do the lines because he lived in the United States for a time and so he knew some English. I luckily was able to meet him and although he barely remembers the recording, the circumstance sounded quite amusing. Also his English is no longer so goofy sounding

You've got so many cool stories surrounding NMK and their games, I always look forward to your posts ITT when they get a new ACA release

As far as influence on Raizing games, I'm also kind of curious about whether Namiki had any input or if YGW just liked NMK's games. You can also notice that the lead-up to Discharge in Batrider is very very similar to the lead-up to the last boss in Gunnail

Haha, I did wonder about that! I was pondering if it was some famous common inspiration, ala Last Resort's Akira skyline - seems familiar somehow - but maybe NMK were the OG cool kids after all.

[UD2]

Biggest thing is you should try to learn where a lot of the secret light blue medals are, since every 3 you collect creates a bomb, and you should be bombing liberally. Other than that, just learn the stages so you can point-blank stuff as much as possible.

I'll add Nifty's post, found it a good quickstart guide (despite completely skimming past the 3 x blue medal thing, dohoho). Good to see more people playing TD2, it's a diamond gem of Very Orthodox Shooting!

Thanks for the tips, that post looks helpful! Between some enemy hitboxes being disabled low on the screen (but not all, lost a few lives to this ) and the scoring incentive to clear waves quickly, you can really feel the game encouraging you to point-blank. Great stage design.