New G.rev shmup for 3DS

[HydrogLox]

What, would it cost too much money to add an extraneous "u" to a handful of wourds?

G.Rev was unable to give any information as to the reason Kokuga does not meet the requirements to be sold in Canada.

G.Rev is probably too busy getting the European build ready for July 11 to figure out what it all means. Here is my guess: While retail games being sold in Canada don't need to be localized in French they are required to have a French language manual in addition to the English manual. For a physical release throwing in a second booklet in French is usually good enough. But for digital content (served through a "Canadian" subsidiary) that French manual better be included right in the downloaded content. Presumably nobody at Nintendo made G.Rev aware of this little fact. If they would have known this beforehand the "North American" release may have been delayed a week but they could have just included the French instructions compiled for the European version. However now that the horse has left the barn they would have to revisit the "North American" build to make the change - something they didn't schedule for (G.Rev is generally known for doing contract work to finance their STG development habit). I don't know how much ceremony (and cash) Nintendo demands to update an eShop entry but considering the miniscule additional sales that could be generated it may not make commercial sense to provide the update unless:

• Nintendo makes them do it
• Nintendo is extremely accommodating allowing a no fuss update

[originalz]

So is this game any good?

[zendor118]

So is this game any good?

Review:
http://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/3ds-eshop/kokuga

Gameplay:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RD0Uu1gpgv4

[Skykid]

Complete pisser.

I'm sitting here looking at the clock with my PAL DS in sweaty palm. It's 22:15. All anticipating getting Kokuga in less than two sweet hours, until I remember I'm in China and eight hours ahead! Gah!!

[Cormano]

Hey guys!

While we're feverishly waiting for Kokuga to come out, here's a bit of reading for you - G.rev CEO Hiroyuki Maruyama was contacted by shmup.com and kindly accepted to answer a few questions on G.rev and shmups at large. You can find the interview in English here.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Fascinating little interview with G.rev CEO Hiroyuki Maruyama. It'd be something to see if they could make a danmaku STG, but it seems a bonafide arcade PCB release isn't the route to go with profit margins being slim these days. It's all about trying to recoup your initial investment from a business standpoint, of course.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Phellan Wolf]

Believe it or not, in my country people prefere to buy the stupid minigames for the Mii Plaza than Kokuga. "It is just too expensive", sighs make me want to kick their asses. I still believe that some day they will release a Border Down HD or a sequel.

[BrianC]

Believe it or not, in my country people prefere to buy the stupid minigames for the Mii Plaza than Kokuga. "It is just too expensive", sighs make me want to kick their asses. I still believe that some day they will release a Border Down HD or a sequel.

I'm actually not surprised considering the replies to Nintendo Life's review about waiting for the game to go down to 10 dollars, even after someone mentions it was a full retail game in Japan.

[EmperorIng]

The possibility of a new arcade STG in PCB format is probably very low, likely zero.

Networked systems, however, do provide a viable platform for shooters. Though income from those games is minimal, there is meaning and value in putting out new releases.

This right here is the big reason for G.REV to "go console." I keep on thinking to myself that network-arcade games are the way of the future for small-time developers like G.REV.

[Skykid]

Where the fuck is it then? I'm searching Kokuga on the e-shop and can't find it. It's 1pm here, which means it's most certainly the 11th of July in Europe already.

Has it been renamed or something?

[dcharlieJP]

e-shop is the biggest turd of a system i've ever had this displeasure of using. Finding anything is a frigging chore. Unless it's a mario game, then it appears in 5 frigging categories :/

[Skykid]

Sooo... where the fuck is it? Anyone in Europe got it yet? I search Kokuga and get nadda.

EDIT: It's there now. Jeebus, they say the 11th, but what they mean is 6pm on the 11th. What a bunch of cock gobblers.

Also:

$15

$15 in the US, and £13.49 in the UK...

Who the fuck comes up with these prices?! Why do you get it for $15, we get it for $20?!

I'm going to send a stern message of complaint to someone.

[Skykid]

So is this game any good?

Yes, buy it! Just spent an hour with it and it's pure G.rev quality. Beautiful update of the ancient Tank Attack concept from the Atari days, now with detailed environments, tons of unique enemies and attacks, and shmup style patterns.

Haven't fully worked out map progression yet, but the game has literally bags on offer. Every stage has multiple difficulties that totally change the way they play. I tried out ultimate (hardest) on stage one and had a blast with it, so definitely test out the tougher settings if you find normal a bit pedestrian.

Bosses are amazingly creative, and you soon adjust to the relative (but intentional) sluggish fire rate and tank movement. It seems like you need to complete a few VR style missions to unlock a big proper mission, which takes place in a real environment and is very long. The boss absolutely destroyed me on there, and the difficulty is fixed on these ones.

The graphics are lovely, the 3D works well, and the music is just gorgeous. This is the good stuff people, the reason we still give current gen the time of day.

[Phellan Wolf]

After their last worldwide fails with Extrania and Under Defeat HD (Kokuga will follow the same fate due to the Nintendo gamer's mind) I really hope they keep focusing on the japanese market and stop worldwide launchs. Western market doesn't deserve their games anymore.

[NeoStrayCat]

After their last worldwide fails with Extrania and Under Defeat HD (Kokuga will follow the same fate due to the Nintendo gamer's mind) I really hope they keep focusing on the japanese market and stop worldwide launchs. Western market doesn't deserve their games anymore.

Um...No...>_>

[Pretas]

Strania should have been released as a retail disc with Side Vower included.

I think their only hope for success at this point is to put out another Senko no Ronde. Supposedly they're developing one for Vita, but we haven't heard anything about it since the initial announcement.

[mumu]

Stage A/B/C direct-feed play-through.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aj45GuY_nKo

[Skykid]

Lol, it's like everyone was waiting for this, and then no-one bought it.

Weird.

[mrsmiley381]

You know, aside from the randomized card stuff, I've been liking Kokuga. It's a lot slower than a typical shooter, which helps a little bit with having to tap the cards to activate them. If I take some time to practice looking at the bottom screen and recognizing the weapon icons, I could see myself getting a bit better. I might get through the stages faster if I don't rely on the regular pea shooter as much.

I was also glad the included manual was so straight-forward.

"You have 20 cards, the numbers are fixed, here's all of the relevant data about how they work, now go out and blow shit up." Not an exact quote, but the key mechanics are simple enough that you could make arcade bezel instructions out of them. Too bad Kokuga doesn't really output to a TV without some 3DS hackery.

I've managed to play levels A, B, and Final 3 a bit. I love how much the ending was just a bunch of text and a congratulatory message

[Skykid]

So the cards are randomised? I haven't even noticed. I thought they were fixed for each stage. The thing is, I never use any cards until I reach the bosses, some of whom are absolute bastards. The homing bullets in this are really horrible - it's difficult to tell whether you should start moving early or at the last instant, and if there are a bunch of other bullets flying around it gets really hairy.

[BrianC]

I plan to pick this up after I get SMTIV and the 30 dollar eshop credit. It sounds interesting and the 3DS needs more shmup-ish games.

[mrsmiley381]

So the cards are randomised? I haven't even noticed. I thought they were fixed for each stage. The thing is, I never use any cards until I reach the bosses, some of whom are absolute bastards. The homing bullets in this are really horrible - it's difficult to tell whether you should start moving early or at the last instant, and if there are a bunch of other bullets flying around it gets really hairy.

The manual said it's random, but maybe it's actually just a different order for each stage. I'll have to double check when I try some of the stages again. It's weird though; the cards are randomized but the points multiplier is tied to the weapon used, so shouldn't there be an ideal card for every situation? The murder laser ring is the only weapon to give a 4X multiplier, hence why you get one (I think) per stage. But the random factor could cause a lot of headaches for people. I guess we'll just have to hammer on this game until we sort it all out.

[WarpZone]

The card deck is fixed, but the order they're dealt is completely randomized.

There are four x2 weapons and four x3 weapons, so you can usually burn through support cards to get a multiplier you want, but you'll have to adapt to its differences and of course you can only use the x4 weapon once per stage. Although the game seems balanced enough that I've gotten pretty similar scores using weapons in different spots so far, I imagine luck becomes a factor if you're really trying to optimize. Also, half the stages have branching paths that require backtracking if you want to get all the Platoon bonuses.

All of which made me realize the game really seems designed for multiplayer on a fundamental level; you'd be able to play off your friend's cards and make up for deficiencies in their current hand, there would be more weapons to go around thus more cash-in spots to take care of every enemy in a stage, and you'd be able to split up for branching paths.

Despite this caveat the game is still worthwhile playing solo. It's fun to work out the logistics of the cards, and there's actually a lot of depth in deciding when and how to expend them. Support and weapon cards can be combined, such as using Stealth to make the Spread Bomb's tricky timing easier to manage, and even the 'Final Weapon' bomb is dangerously nuanced -- a nice boss killer when you start out, but when you play for score it only becomes a problem that can be dealt with in various ways depending on your other cards and health status.

Your score also never counts unless you complete the whole stage, so I often find myself making hard decisions on how many/which cards to save for the boss in order to survive. And those bosses are certainly the highlight of the game and probably the tightest design G.Rev's ever done, in how they explore the mechanics and are balanced against the cards. The homing bullets they retaliate with when damaged are devious indeed.

I do think it's too easy to pick off enemies from a safe distance; more enemies should have been dynamic and aggressive with less reliance on stationary turrets. Without pressure created through a timer -- whether that timer is an overall time limit/bonus, the timer on weapon cards, or simply the time it takes before enemies overwhelm you, the limitations of your craft become a lot less relevant. And this is going to be an issue to some extent unless you're playing for score with at least one other person.

[ZacharyB]

The homing bullets they retaliate with when damaged are devious indeed.

Did anyone else noticed that these follow the classic Taito homing laser algorithm? The homing bullet/lasers in the earlier Darius series follow the exact same behavior. It made me smile to see a little of G.Rev's distant roots shining through.

[WarpZone]

I tossed together an image showing the contents of the card deck, if anyone is interested:

http://i.imgur.com/zk0KAQp.png

[mumu]

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2013/0 ... ter_market

Nintendo Life: What games inspired Kokuga?
Hiroyuki Maruyama: I think the game that was the biggest inspiration was Namco’s classic Tank Battalion (later ported to the Famicom under the title Battle City).

Nintendo Life: Some would argue that since the popularity of arcades has diminished, the hardcore shooter genre is going out of fashion, especially in the west. Do you think this perspective has any truth in it?
Hiroyuki Maruyama: [...] You might say that the decline of the shooter is largely related to the diminishing demand for traditional game-like games. In this environment, we feel, as a game developer, it is our responsibility to deliver game-like games to consumers that still demand them.

[lettuce]

Stage A/B/C direct-feed play-through.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aj45GuY_nKo

What cable u using to capture your 3ds gameplay?

[BrianC]

Cool that Tank Battlion/Battle City was cited as an influence. I don't have the NES version, but I have a GB port in Namco Gallery v. 1 and I like it quite a bit.

[BrianC]

Cool that Tank Battlion/Battle City was cited as an influence. I don't have the NES version, but I have a GB port in Namco Gallery v. 1 and I like it quite a bit.

Not too surprising, I totally got that vibe myself. Loved that game as a kid on the old pirated multicarts. I'm still looking for a copy that isn't way too expensive...

Last I checked, Japangamestock has it at a reasonable price. The ebay prices are frustrating since the game doesn't seem to be that rare and sells for cheap on Yahoo Japan.

[mumu]

What cable u using to capture your 3ds gameplay?

It's not my video, but you can purchase devices here.

http://3dscapture.com/
http://www.3dsvideocapture.com/

There is a huge forum thread here which has both shop owners posting in it.

https://forum.speeddemosarchive.com/pos ... _link.html