Rob's 91-95 arcade countdown: hidden gem search.
.#51 Aero Fighters 2 (Video System Co., 1994)
Like a lost early Psikyo game I never wanted to play. Has ALL of the problems plaguing early Psikyo games (pitiful scoring, automatic power downs, overly simplistic patterns, poor ship selection, etc.) + horizontal layout! It is like an Original 2 mode for Sengoku Ace without the semi-appealing style and set to monkey.
#50 Aero Fighters 3 (Video System Co., 1995)
VSC continue their tradition of stages consisting entirely of collecting power up items. All of the primary flaws remain, which leaves this at sub-Strikers 1945 I. They don't even have charge shots. As poor and useless as they were in early Psikyo games, the AF series wasn't even there yet. What this game does have over Aero Fighters 2 is some challenge. Challenge I don't want, but still... technically.
Like a lost early Psikyo game I never wanted to play. Has ALL of the problems plaguing early Psikyo games (pitiful scoring, automatic power downs, overly simplistic patterns, poor ship selection, etc.) + horizontal layout! It is like an Original 2 mode for Sengoku Ace without the semi-appealing style and set to monkey.
#50 Aero Fighters 3 (Video System Co., 1995)
VSC continue their tradition of stages consisting entirely of collecting power up items. All of the primary flaws remain, which leaves this at sub-Strikers 1945 I. They don't even have charge shots. As poor and useless as they were in early Psikyo games, the AF series wasn't even there yet. What this game does have over Aero Fighters 2 is some challenge. Challenge I don't want, but still... technically.
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professor ganson
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Neo cabs are more widespread, I guess? Obviously didn't do them much good.
#49 Pollox (Dooyong, 1991)
The action is smooth (rare compliment for this portion of the list) and a bonus point for the strange bullet-sucking vortexes that appear every now and then. Kind of reminds me of some other game. That is an interesting idea, but it is lost in a generic space shooter with a difficulty level at PC Engine. Sound effects: emulation problem, I hope.
#49 Pollox (Dooyong, 1991)
The action is smooth (rare compliment for this portion of the list) and a bonus point for the strange bullet-sucking vortexes that appear every now and then. Kind of reminds me of some other game. That is an interesting idea, but it is lost in a generic space shooter with a difficulty level at PC Engine. Sound effects: emulation problem, I hope.
yojo!'s next favorite:
#48 Thunder Blaster (Irem, 1991)
Carpal tunnel challenge or a game broken by autofire technology. Firepower varies by six levels. Watch the level increase from one to six in a few seconds and stay there for the entire level. You'll be blazing lasers to an easy finish and a huge score (oh yeah, it has a scoring system which gives you extra points for using autofire).
#48 Thunder Blaster (Irem, 1991)
Carpal tunnel challenge or a game broken by autofire technology. Firepower varies by six levels. Watch the level increase from one to six in a few seconds and stay there for the entire level. You'll be blazing lasers to an easy finish and a huge score (oh yeah, it has a scoring system which gives you extra points for using autofire).
NMK was a seperate development company founded in mid 80's. They often had their games published/manufactured by Jaleco but also worked with several other companies. Their final games released in 1995 both had Jaleco's name on them.undamned wrote:Do you know at what point Jaleco was fully detached from NMK (or is Jaleco ex NMK employees?).Macaw wrote:Thats 4 NMK games.
I bet all you people think Jaleco actually developed Desert War, pfft!!
-ud
My theory is that eventually NMK got bought out by Jaleco or something and got absorbed into the company. If this is true then the 1996 Jaleco shooter Gratia: Second Earth is likely the work of ex-NMK employees.
#47 Eight Forces (Tecmo, 1994)
Not as bad as this topic would have me believe. It is like a less polished early Psikyo or... just an Aero Fighters game with some Raizing medal drops. Playable, but not for that long.
Not as bad as this topic would have me believe. It is like a less polished early Psikyo or... just an Aero Fighters game with some Raizing medal drops. Playable, but not for that long.
#46 Daioh (Athena, 1993)
I think this is the game that came before Shienryu. It plays a lot like it (:?) and some of the scenes are reused like the giant red robot smashing through walls in the background of stage two. The same sub-Raiden/Toaplan style of everything - fast aimed shots and simple patterns. Die and get sent back to the beginning of the stage or a section that isn't interesting to replay (all of them). One thing it has over Raiden is being able to switch between weapons by switching buttons.
I think this is the game that came before Shienryu. It plays a lot like it (:?) and some of the scenes are reused like the giant red robot smashing through walls in the background of stage two. The same sub-Raiden/Toaplan style of everything - fast aimed shots and simple patterns. Die and get sent back to the beginning of the stage or a section that isn't interesting to replay (all of them). One thing it has over Raiden is being able to switch between weapons by switching buttons.
Not true, some ships in Aero Fighters 3 definitely do have special charge shots. I know Spanky does at least. They're limited in usefulness and not every ship has one, but... they're there, sort of.Rob wrote:VSC continue their tradition of stages consisting entirely of collecting power up items. All of the primary flaws remain, which leaves this at sub-Strikers 1945 I. They don't even have charge shots. As poor and useless as they were in early Psikyo games, the AF series wasn't even there yet.
Er... what? It's much, much easier to complete the first loop of Aero Fighters 3. Besides, Aero Fighters 3 only has 8 stages, Aero Fighters 2 has 10. 3 has branching level paths, although it's not immediately obvious (the path you take depends on which half of that ship you destroy that shows up after certain bosses)What this game does have over Aero Fighters 2 is some challenge. Challenge I don't want, but still... technically.
Even if the Aero Fighters games are a poor man's Psikyo, I've always found them to be an amusing diversion. Grab a friend and play through in two-player mode to enjoy all the ridiculous dialogue that shows up between levels (yeah I know, who the fuck plays shmups at the same time with another person, right?!). There's just this goofy sort of charm to them that makes it fun. I'd never rank any Dooyong game above them.
BBH:
Charge shots- I didn't know that. I blame the 3-4 ship sampling. Would usually try out most or all ships but Aero Fighters simply have the worst ship selections around. The "how to play" (A4 SHOT B FOR BOMB) made no mention of any charge shot. Obviously it is all Video Systems' fault. And by the sound of it it doesn't seem like they are any good (no surprise).
Difficulty- What can I say, I made more progress in AF2. AF3 seemed to have more, faster bullets. More levels: less to the point, less difficulty (at least in the initial stages). Would anyone say Strikers 1945 I is the hardest Psikyo game? It isn't the easiest, but...
There is something very very hollow about AF games where I would rather play something by Dooyong.
#45 UN Defense Force: Earth Joker (Visco, 1993)
I can't believe I almost made 30 games without invoking whack a mole. See defenseless missiles in screen two. The bullet eliminating charge shot makes most of the game Mazinger Z boring and there probably isn't even a scoring system I wouldn't even consider wasting my time on. Some bosses have really easy routines to abuse with the charge shot. The final stage is nice since finally there is enough action to where you can't be charging half of the time. The final boss is a nasty mess of slowdown like the boss explosions are the worst explosions in all of shooting games.
Charge shots- I didn't know that. I blame the 3-4 ship sampling. Would usually try out most or all ships but Aero Fighters simply have the worst ship selections around. The "how to play" (A4 SHOT B FOR BOMB) made no mention of any charge shot. Obviously it is all Video Systems' fault. And by the sound of it it doesn't seem like they are any good (no surprise).
Difficulty- What can I say, I made more progress in AF2. AF3 seemed to have more, faster bullets. More levels: less to the point, less difficulty (at least in the initial stages). Would anyone say Strikers 1945 I is the hardest Psikyo game? It isn't the easiest, but...
There is something very very hollow about AF games where I would rather play something by Dooyong.
#45 UN Defense Force: Earth Joker (Visco, 1993)
I can't believe I almost made 30 games without invoking whack a mole. See defenseless missiles in screen two. The bullet eliminating charge shot makes most of the game Mazinger Z boring and there probably isn't even a scoring system I wouldn't even consider wasting my time on. Some bosses have really easy routines to abuse with the charge shot. The final stage is nice since finally there is enough action to where you can't be charging half of the time. The final boss is a nasty mess of slowdown like the boss explosions are the worst explosions in all of shooting games.
Last edited by Rob on Wed Sep 19, 2007 12:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
Oh, I just realized something. Since you're playing these on MAME, if you're using the default bios then the Aero Fighters games are defaulting to the European bios. For some reason, the first couple stages of Aero Fighters 3 (Sonic Wings 3) are way more difficult on a European bios compared to US or Japan. I'm not sure why this is so, but... it just is. Play the first couple stages on the default bios, then play them again on either US or Japan, there's a very noticeable difference. This would explain why you found part 3 to be harder. I still say part 2 is harder, just on the grounds that I've never cleared the first loop of that on one credit, but have done so many times on part 3 (which I've probably spent more time playing, but still).Rob wrote:Difficulty- What can I say, I made more progress in AF2. AF3 seemed to have more, faster bullets. More levels: less to the point, less difficulty (at least in the initial stages). Would anyone say Strikers 1945 I is the hardest Psikyo game? It isn't the easiest, but...
You're weird.There is something very very hollow about AF games where I would rather play something by Dooyong.
#44 R-Shark (Dooyong, 1995)
Look at a Dooyong shooter and you'll typically see some abhorrent graphics. By 1995 they have nearly caught up to what Toaplan was doing 2-3 years prior. Right off the graphics seem really nice, but level after level is practically all the same. Meanwhile they are falling way behind in gameplay - bullet patterns, scoring system, etc. The game offers little more than adequate generic 16-bit console style shooting. There is also bullet wobbling and sketchy ship hit detection for non-bullet obstacles like lasers.
Look at a Dooyong shooter and you'll typically see some abhorrent graphics. By 1995 they have nearly caught up to what Toaplan was doing 2-3 years prior. Right off the graphics seem really nice, but level after level is practically all the same. Meanwhile they are falling way behind in gameplay - bullet patterns, scoring system, etc. The game offers little more than adequate generic 16-bit console style shooting. There is also bullet wobbling and sketchy ship hit detection for non-bullet obstacles like lasers.
#43 Strike Gunner STG (Athena/Tecmo, 1991)
Much better than the SNES port in that it doesn't take 5 to 10 minutes to change scenery or enemy attack routines. The problem of selecting one of 8 or 10 potentially useless weapons remains. If you pick a crappy sub weapon it is going to be a boring stage and you will have to pick those to save the good stuff for later. A major annoyance are the fluctuating speeds of the boss patterns. Video System Co./Psikyo producer Shin Nakamura is listed here and I guess I could see a little of Aero Fighters, but I could say the same for many games in this time period.
Much better than the SNES port in that it doesn't take 5 to 10 minutes to change scenery or enemy attack routines. The problem of selecting one of 8 or 10 potentially useless weapons remains. If you pick a crappy sub weapon it is going to be a boring stage and you will have to pick those to save the good stuff for later. A major annoyance are the fluctuating speeds of the boss patterns. Video System Co./Psikyo producer Shin Nakamura is listed here and I guess I could see a little of Aero Fighters, but I could say the same for many games in this time period.
