Salamander, Parodius, Twinbee Collections on PSP

[Aquas]

I own all of these collections and I have to say I really enjoy all of them. So much value and the saving in Gradius Collection is so nice. It's nice to have the the fixed scrolling MSX Gradius 2 too in Sala Portables, it is quite cool. Twinbee is a happy sushi roll of japanese culture, and the colorful art I can really appreciaite from these games (even if those damn cats always kill me in the 4th stage of De tana) and the music is quite cool, too! Can I say 'quite cool' anymore? Nope. These games totally make a PSP worth it IMO. The DS just doesn't offer this kind of smup homage.

[Turrican]

(even if those damn cats always kill me in the 4th stage of De tana)

I suspect the much dreaded cats are from Yahho-!

Anyway, great compilations, great games!

[henry dark]

IMO this is a dealbreaker, so get a 2000 while you still can.

Cheers. I'll probably get one second hand

[Turrican]

So, I've been tinkering with options in the Parodius pack, specifically Jikkyo Oshaberi FWM, and it doesn't seem to accept any of the original cheatcodes for the PS1 release. Some of these codes require L2 and R2 buttons, but even the ones who don't aren't working. I wanted to add Kid-D to the roster without the hassle of looking for 140 faeries again, and the muteki option...
And of course I'd like the vocal version of Borodin's Polovesian dances.

Has anyone tried this / found of the Portable pack has specific codes?

edit: also, concerning the music, these seem to be the changes occurred in the PSP pack:

Da!
Stage 4 [Oh! Japanism!] "The Sabre Dance" by Aram Khachaturian (PSP) "Hungarian Dance No. 5" by Johannes Brahms

Gokujou
Stage 1 "In the Mood" by Joe Garland (PSP) "Turkey in the Straw" / American Folk song
Stage 3 Boss [Cooking Mambo] "Mambo No. 5" by Damaso Perez Prado (PSP) "The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers" by Leon Jessel

Jikkyo
Stage 1 [I Remember That!] "That's the Way (I Like It)" K.C. and the Sunshine Band (PSP) "Brilliant2U" from Dance Dance Revolution by Naoki Maeda

Sexy
Stage 3A Boss (Otohime) Lovely Otohime Mayim Mayim / Israeli Folksong (PSP) Russian folk song "Korobushka"

[Sinful]

No, but I have em all and I noticed that for the Gradius & think Parodius Packs, that in the option menu there's an "Original" mode and another forget what's it's called mode (remixed/tweeked/normal?). That basically tinkers a bit with the difficulty all across. Basically harder overall, as if to make up for the smaller hitbox option. Since by default it's set to smaller hitbox option and this other mode. One of the biggest changes I recall was in Gradius II Boss Rush, Golem has something altered in hiz programing. Not both hands fully follow you, only one, other is bent at halway joint so that when you get around him the other hand is pretty back enough to give you less room.

For Gradius III I noticed there a glitch/error cause the remixed mode is actually how it is in the original Arcade mode, so this setting is swapped backwards (checked for both Japan & US releases). But the only thing I noticed for Gradius III is increase rank bewteen the two modes, don't know if it's deeper then that since I was already pretty familiar with what increase difficulty/rank in Gradius III AC is like (more of them Dragons + they spit/poop these this ball out that splits into a all direction multi shot). So need to investigate more next time I play these games. But anybody already know?

For Salamander & Twinbee, the porting has been outsourced and not handled by Konami themselves. Hence the worst qulaity (ei. sound or sound effects in Salamander), and sadly lacks this extra mode, if it is indeed not just an overall rank increase. (You can also tell that these two games are linked by the menu/interface setup.



... Oh!!! I'm also pretty sure that the Salamader & Twinbee packs are basically emulations or based off the Arcade versions, while the Gradius & Parodius ones are based off the PS1 & PS2 ports. So the codes and features for the home ports shouls all work for Gradius/Parodius (only thing I need to varify is the hit detection visibily thingy is unlockable like in PS2 Gradius III?). So for the Salamander & Twinbee only Arcade codes should work (er. are there any?).

[Turrican]

No, but I have em all and I noticed that for the Gradius & think Parodius Packs, that in the option menu there's an "Original" mode and another forget what's it's called mode (remixed/tweeked/normal?)

Yeah, I guess in Gradius/Parodius Portable [default] settings stands for "arcade" or "original" settings, while [tuned] is the settings for the PSP versions (easier, smaller hitbox etc.)

For Salamander & Twinbee, the porting has been outsourced and not handled by Konami themselves. Hence the worst qulaity (ei. sound or sound effects in Salamander), and sadly lacks this extra mode, if it is indeed not just an overall rank increase. (You can also tell that these two games are linked by the menu/interface setup.

I disagree, I think M2 handled things a lot better than Konami. Emulation is more accurate and the worst problems which have been reported, including yours, concern the Gradius titles.

Sigh, I guess I need to take the long route to Kid Dracula... That means 1LC up to stage 4 to unlock Muteki mode, then use that mode to suffer all the way through the tedious faerie hunt. Unfortunately it has been years since I did this on my PS1 FWM, so I forgot what are the basics... Can I alter settings? Like, turn off roulette and change button layouts? I seem to remember that the 1LC must be done at a certain difficulty level, but memory fails me.

Anyone here a Forever With Me regular / expert?

[Sinful]

Well yeah, M2 basically emulated the Arcade, while Konami emulated the imperfect PS1 & PS2 ports. But M2 screwed up still in a pretty big way. You just need to play the first Salamander/Life Force to see that the speech & sound effect samples freakin cause ears bleeds. So... I now play the PS1 Salamader Deluxe Pack in CSO format on my PSP instead for the Salamder 1 & 2 on the go instead.

And no, you misunderstood me a bit. There are two setting for Tuned and Original; 1) for the option to set what size hit box you want and, 2) if you want to play tuned or original. So you can still play tuned with a large hitbox if you want more challenge. All I'm just saying is that I think maybe Konami made the Tuned setting to adjust the difficulty to the smaller hitbox option? Since the game on all default settings starts with both Tuned setting & small hitbox setting on, and not how it was originally for the Arcade/PS1 games.

But I haven't fully done my homework on how different the tuned settings are? From playing Gradius III the most, it just seemed like the Tuned setting only just upped the rank more from comparing just the first stage? It seemed? Would like to varfy + hope that it's not just this and some new changes to enemy placements, patterns & timing? I know for Gradius II Golem acts in that very different from the normal Arcade mode. So next time I'm in the Gradius mood, I should get there on the hardest difficulty setting and see if Golem acts in that way as Tuned setting? If not, then Konami actually made some actual changes, and not just tinkering with rank?



EDIT - just noticed the PS1 codes have been copy & pasted to the PSP codes section at GameFAQs. Also noticed by the same guy too, ReyVGM. I remember him as a GameStone forum member (+ is behind that videogame ending website, no?), so since I'm a member there, I've sent a PM. If it don't help, I could next make a post asking at GameStone (Gradius & related site) if anybody knows anything about these codes working on PSP?

EDIT #2 - Well, nothing yet + I've started that topic. In the meantime if you really want Kid Dracula ASAP, just play the PS1 game on your PSP. If you can't find it in CSO format, then you can use Popstation to very simply & easy turn a PS1 game into PSP format. But If I find something for the PSP, I'll bump this topic.

[FRO]

I've had the Parodius collection for a couple years now, but haven't put down the cash for the Salamander or Twinbee packs yet - would everyone recommend those? I have a CFW PSP 2001 and my UMD drive is a touch flaky, so usually I copy the games to my Memory Stick, but I'd still like to own the boxed copy for my collection. It looks like they come in 2 flavors, the original box and the Konami "The Best" version, with shrunken box art and a big white background. Those are generally cheaper, by as much as $15 or $20 from what I'm seeing. Play Asia is long out of stock on these, and while they can still be had via Amazon for $35 or $40, one isn't always assured they know what they're getting. Does anyone else know a vendor that might carry those, even a Japanese vendor?

[Sinful]

Well, being the hardcore Gradius fan that I am, I had to have them all except the Twinbee one. So I found the Gradius one locally (since it was released overseas), and got Parodius & Salamander imported... almost was gonna go for Twinbee too, but bailed (money was an issue). But, just recently my local gamestore had the Japanese only mint PSP TwinBee game, so I for sure took it without even hesitating, since it was so much cheaper buying it locally. Thus everything worked for the best and now I feel very happy and relieved to have all four of them. Even though I'm not into Twinbee yet, I'm sure soon enough I will be? Right? Plus come one, so much Konami shooting goodness within just these four games. How can I say no? Having even just one missing out of the four would be make feel incomplete. Like I was...

I say download em & try them for yourself to see if you want them badly enough or not? Best way to handle this, FRO.

[ACSeraph]

I've had the Parodius collection for a couple years now, but haven't put down the cash for the Salamander or Twinbee packs yet - would everyone recommend those?

I don't have Twinbee but I have Salamander and love it. I actually bought the PSN version so I could play on my Vita TV. Sinful is right, the voices in Salamander/Life Force do sound a bit muffled, but it's not really a big deal. They mostly feel exactly the same as the MAME/Saturn versions to me. Plus, You get Xexex and Gradius II MSX (Totally unique game, not the same as Gradius II arcade) which makes the collection very much worth it imo.

[Turrican]

Arguably Twinbee is the best of the lot - when it comes to actual new content. With a full fledged remake of Twinbee Da! scored by Namiki, it's basically "Twinbee ReBirth" in disguise.

[GSK]

Did M2/Konami ever explain why the Salamander collection includes Gradius II MSX and not Salamander MSX?

[Sinful]

Did M2/Konami ever explain why the Salamander collection includes Gradius II MSX and not Salamander MSX?

Maybe due to pularity and/or sales? As it seems to be the most popular MSX Gradius game from browsing the web?

Since Nemesis has a smooth scroll patch for MSX rom, I now wish Salamander was indeed the game choosen for the makeover... or Nemesis III?

[To Far Away Times]

That was one hell of a bump towards the top of the page.

The Gradius and Salamander packs on PSP are ace. The Salamander pack also contains Xexex, which is the only home release of the game.

[Turrican]

Suddenly, out of the blue, Konami has released this June Gradius Collection (AKA Gradius Portable) on the European PSN Store. With their customary five-years-gap from the US release.

Better late than never I guess. Surely my 8gb stick has some place for 200mb of Gradius goodness.

btw, Dracula X Chronicles as well.

[Dylan1CC]

Sorry for the bump but this still seems to be the best thread for these. As long as the Hitbox is set to "normal" in options, does that basically set the hitbox to the same size as it was on the PCBs for Gradius 1-4? Or is the hitbox still more lenient on this collection on the "normal" setting? Same question for Gaiden I guess (even though that wasn't an arcade game/PCB obviously).

[Perikles]

At least compared to the PS1/2 ports of Gradius I-IV it seems to be identical. The same is true for Gradius Gaiden.

[Dylan1CC]

Cool, thanks. And if someone could also clarify how the hit boxes compare to the PCBs for 1-4 that would be great too.

[Sinful]

At least compared to the PS1/2 ports of Gradius I-IV it seems to be identical. The same is true for Gradius Gaiden.

Actually, I just remembered the PSP Gradius 3 has the exact same no miss last stage lazer bug that makes no miss runs practically impossible as it offsets the timing of the lazer to prevent a clear path (only way around it is abusing the hitboxes of the lazers which is very hard to time as it changes at every angle, and which I only figured out through stubborn determination + at first not knowing it was a glitch. :p I later seen a tviks post for the PS3 that revealed it to be a no miss glitch). In other words, yep. It's that close to the PS2 version as to replicate the same bug. On top of other bonuses the PS2 version has, like SNES weaponry to be unlocked.

And no, I haven't no missed past cube rush yet. You can replicate the no-miss glitch via the PSP checkpoint save feature. Which I abused once for a practice run & to right away unlock some of the PS2 exclusive features, of course.

I still need to do a real 1cc to unlock & confirm the hit-box viewer feature being on PSP too. ... Er, is that how you unlock it? Kollision, report on that PS3 1cc!