Re: Arcade Archives STG List [15/05/25: NebulasRay]

[BIL]

Boof! It's Super Xevious, the balls-hard For Maniacs revision of Masanobu Endo's genre-making signature. Not to be confused with GAMP No Nazo!



Also of interest is the confirmation of a vert from the other side of Namco canon: the immense and elusive NebulasRay. (ta Marc)

[copy-paster]

NebulasRay, along with Salamander is one of those janky games that I unironically liked because of the sheer "fun" these game delivers. I also noticed that my submitted replay on Replay Burners starts getting attention as well.

I look forward to you guys playing the game for the first time, it can be merciless at times and the wobbly scrolling will take time to get used to.

[BIL]

NebulasRay, along with Salamander is one of those janky games that I unironically liked because of the sheer "fun" these game delivers. I also noticed that my submitted replay on Replay Burners starts getting attention as well.

I look forward to you guys playing the game for the first time, it can be merciless at times and the wobbly scrolling will take time to get used to.

I still remember trying it out forever ago in MAME and going "whoaaa WTF!" at the first stage's scrolling Indeed, it'll be great to see it again. Great replay btw! I didn't watch the whole thing (love me STG stories ;3), but Stages 1-3 were exactly the authoritative Space Acin' this JUSTICE v SWORD epic demands.

[m.sniffles.esq]

On one hand, being without power/intranet I miss Super Xevious

On the other, with all the foilbles life is throwing my way, perhaps now is not the time to have Super Xevious beat my ass

[BEAMLORD]

This kind of space armada concept art is the coolest shit. They don't make 'em like that anymore!

I'll be going into NebulasRay blind as fuck, can't wait. In my mind's eye, I'm envisioning something akin to G-Darius or RayStorm. Guess I'll wait and see.

[BIL]

It's all so lovably hot-blooded and JASTICE. ^w^

Interested to see the return of Assault's "My Tank" phrasing, in FIGHTING RAY aka My Ship. Seems to go back a ways; recently played New Rally-X, via its bonus cameo in Ridge Racers 2 (PS5), where it's My Car vs Enemy Cars. Such an adorable quirk <3

Second Flyer Page w/Screenshots & Player/Enemy Craft

EDIT: A year flew by from the excitement! Or rather a fortnight. Incidentally, this marks ACA's 11th anniversary, one year on from F/A's similarly historic 10th anniversary debut.

Third N entry for the list - I'm surprised Navarone's two equally ancient monochrome buddies haven't arrived yet, haha. BUT THEY WILL ;3

[Creamy Goodness]

Happy for this one. I have had trouble getting Nebulas Ray to work on emulation.

[dmk1198]

£13.49!

Guess ridge racer be same...

[StrzxgvNuvWvfld]

Has anything changed for this additional price? Better scaling options? Better savestates? etc

AA was always very bare-bones, but they were also cheap. I've had quite a lot of play out of them, so I don't necessarily mind paying more, though it would be nice if they upgraded the UI to reflect the higher price tag.

[BIL]

Nah, just dev costs for a particularly demanding game, AFAIK. They mentioned it in passing on a recent Arcade Archiver episode.

[Sengoku Strider]

It's kind of a shame Namco was so wrapped up with Sony during the 32-bit era, Nebulasray looks like it was crying out for a classic Saturn port. I've never seen the game before, yet another name I only know from Ridge Racer cars.



But I like the look of it, I think Sōkyūgurentai and Blazing Star seem to have given me an affection for slightly jank prerendered animation.

[BIL]

The entire RR series is such a trip to revisit after lots of STG/ARC time. Entire cityscapes and fictional industries dedicated to Namco lore, with so much STG love. Never used to look twice at F/A Racing and their RAVE WAR car. (a Tekken twofer!) Recently lit up at Racers 2 (PS5), when "Synthetic Life" bloomed from a cute Xevious nod into a Dragon Spirit Jungle AST.

I wonder if NebulasRay had some English-unheralded impact on Japanese STG devs/players. There's so much that Souky and Blazing Star, in particular, seem to reference. Stage 2's cloud dive even has similar BGM to Sakimoto's Descent Into The Sea Of Clouds, haha. And the second boss, a ravenously forest-mulching monster tank straight outta Grand Shell. The fleet demolitions inevitably recall Viper Phase 1, too. Frigates don't just *woop* out; rather exploding and listing in punishing demolitions, evoking frustrated Hishouzame vets who yearned to do more than ding the turrets.

OFC this spacewar seam was well-mined by the mid-90s; but it's a game that'll fire up those memories, regardless. I only wish the wobble wasn't quite so dominating, it's quite the necessary caveat. I think it's worth it though. Another caveat, this dude likes Master Of Weapon.

[jehu]

A few really sick renders from Namco Game Sound Express VOL. 13.

A battleship baddie. Look at that spread


Enemy Names and Renders Catalogue:

Spoiler

[BIL]

edit: Mars der what now (╭ರ﹏•́)

Dick Stock agents on standby (■｀w´■)

[Sengoku Strider]

Nebulasray reminds me so much of Nexzr. The homing laser is all but identical, and the opening stage against the space fleet is also very similar in tone and concept. I'd be surprised if there were no staff shared between the two.