Toaplan games coming to PC (Steam, GOG)

[MJR]

I think Zero Wing is overall in the best shape right now (mostly because its extend DIPs are properly labeled, unlike the rest; the clipping through the HUD doesn't really hurt anything) and Out Zone is the worst.

How is the difficulty difference between Tatsujin and Truxton? I've only ever played Tatsujin, but I've heard it's harder than Truxton, but no real specific details.

BTW the broken boss music is exactly what happens on MiSTer, as well. Broken music is why I don't play it on MiSTer, so it's annoying to encounter it here as well.

In Tatsujin, all the bosses take considerably more punishment and shoot bit faster & bit more.

[reckon luck]

is Twin Cobra's default difficulty correct? Bullets seem to be coming heavy and fast even on the first level.

[Steven]

I think Zero Wing is overall in the best shape right now (mostly because its extend DIPs are properly labeled, unlike the rest; the clipping through the HUD doesn't really hurt anything) and Out Zone is the worst.

How is the difficulty difference between Tatsujin and Truxton? I've only ever played Tatsujin, but I've heard it's harder than Truxton, but no real specific details.

BTW the broken boss music is exactly what happens on MiSTer, as well. Broken music is why I don't play it on MiSTer, so it's annoying to encounter it here as well.

In Tatsujin, all the bosses take considerably more punishment and shoot bit faster & bit more.

Okay. I tried Out Zone D difficulty last night on my PCB and it seems to do something similar, although more in terms of boss HP getting a massive increase than more bullets in that case.

is Twin Cobra's default difficulty correct? Bullets seem to be coming heavy and fast even on the first level.

I think pretty much everything defaults to a difficulty higher than B when you first launch the games, so be sure to change it to B. That should have been the default. I have not played Twin Cobra on PC yet, though, just Kyuukyoku Tiger. I honestly think Kyuukyoku Tiger probably should have been the default as well, but that's a bit of a special case of me being extremely picky.

[MJR]

I think pretty much everything defaults to a difficulty higher than B when you first launch the games, so be sure to change it to B. That should have been the default. I have not played Twin Cobra on PC yet, though, just Kyuukyoku Tiger. I honestly think Kyuukyoku Tiger probably should have been the default as well, but that's a bit of a special case of me being extremely picky.

Maybe not. I only ever play KK Tiger for the first time in my life when it was released by M2, and I very quickly realized that I enjoy KK Tiger *considerably* more than Twin Cobra. Somehow removing the checkpoints destroys half the enjoyment of the game, which is realizing that you can actually learn to pick yourself up from scenarios you first thought were impossible.
KK Tiger is so playable that it's insane.

[Steven]

I think pretty much everything defaults to a difficulty higher than B when you first launch the games, so be sure to change it to B. That should have been the default. I have not played Twin Cobra on PC yet, though, just Kyuukyoku Tiger. I honestly think Kyuukyoku Tiger probably should have been the default as well, but that's a bit of a special case of me being extremely picky.

Maybe not. I only ever play KK Tiger for the first time in my life when it was released by M2, and I very quickly realized that I enjoy KK Tiger *considerably* more than Twin Cobra. Somehow removing the checkpoints destroys half the enjoyment of the game, which is realizing that you can actually learn to pick yourself up from scenarios you first thought were impossible.
KK Tiger is so playable that it's insane.

K Tiger is both a far better game and it's the version that the devs seem to want people to play anyway, judging by the interviews where they said that the Japanese 1P versions are the intended versions. If not for the poor weapon balance, I would easily consider K Tiger to be an S-tier Toaplan game along with Slap Fight, Hishouzame, and Out Zone. Twin Cobra not so much. Nice game, but K Tiger is way better.

[BrianC]

I think pretty much everything defaults to a difficulty higher than B when you first launch the games, so be sure to change it to B. That should have been the default. I have not played Twin Cobra on PC yet, though, just Kyuukyoku Tiger. I honestly think Kyuukyoku Tiger probably should have been the default as well, but that's a bit of a special case of me being extremely picky.

Maybe not. I only ever play KK Tiger for the first time in my life when it was released by M2, and I very quickly realized that I enjoy KK Tiger *considerably* more than Twin Cobra. Somehow removing the checkpoints destroys half the enjoyment of the game, which is realizing that you can actually learn to pick yourself up from scenarios you first thought were impossible.
KK Tiger is so playable that it's insane.

You just reminded me of this guy from Animal Crossing.

[DenimDemon]

Since the M2 port K Tiger is slowly becoming one of my favourite shooters ever and definitely one of Toaplans best. I’m really happy that M2 decided to start from there for their Toaplan ports.

[MJR]

I think pretty much everything defaults to a difficulty higher than B when you first launch the games, so be sure to change it to B. That should have been the default. I have not played Twin Cobra on PC yet, though, just Kyuukyoku Tiger. I honestly think Kyuukyoku Tiger probably should have been the default as well, but that's a bit of a special case of me being extremely picky.

Maybe not. I only ever play KK Tiger for the first time in my life when it was released by M2, and I very quickly realized that I enjoy KK Tiger *considerably* more than Twin Cobra. Somehow removing the checkpoints destroys half the enjoyment of the game, which is realizing that you can actually learn to pick yourself up from scenarios you first thought were impossible.
KK Tiger is so playable that it's insane.

You just reminded me of this guy from Animal Crossing.

I'm not going to watch through that video, and I don't play animal crossing, so I'll just have to assume that something about my post reminded you of dog playing a guitar.

[Steven]

I don't know why, but something about playing Kyuukyoku Tiger and Twin Cobra in widescreen makes it feel like the helicopters are way slower than they should be. I really don't like it at all, so I don't think I am going to play them that way ever again.

Still not sure what is going on with Tatsujin's widescreen. Do the powerup carriers near the end of stage 1 move oddly in widescreen or is it just me? It's like they are following the player, and they don't seem to do this in the normal aspect ratio. The regular enemies follow the player, but they are supposed to to some extent.

[Jeneki]

Kyukyoko Tiger widescreen is really evil with the zako helicopters. Now they can appear in out of the way corners that you can't reach. I guess it's an extra challenge for stage 1, trying to avoid getting rammed from the side all the time.

[BrianC]

I don't know why, but something about playing Kyuukyoku Tiger and Twin Cobra in widescreen makes it feel like the helicopters are way slower than they should be. I really don't like it at all, so I don't think I am going to play them that way ever again.

Still not sure what is going on with Tatsujin's widescreen. Do the powerup carriers near the end of stage 1 move oddly in widescreen or is it just me? It's like they are following the player, and they don't seem to do this in the normal aspect ratio. The regular enemies follow the player, but they are supposed to to some extent.

I haven't tried the widescreen modes yet, but I experienced similar weirdness with GG to SMS ports like the one of GG Aleste 2 where there are safe spots at bosses that weren't in the original.

[Steven]

Zero Wing has some oddness going on if you take the warp on stage 5 while using training mode...

I sent another massive list of stuff to Bitwave just now, including a few improvements for the training modes, as they are a bit funky in a few aspects and more awkward to use than I would like, and they are missing options to give the player speed up and energy extend items in Zero Wing, Out Zone, and Tatsujin.

Seems that opposite direction behaviour likely performs exactly like on PCB, so if you press left and right at the same time in Zero Wing, K Tiger, and Twin Cobra, you go up, and in Tatsujin you go down and to the left. Hopefully they can fix this so keyboard is a bit less awkward to play on.

Good news, though: GOG discount bundle seems to finally be up!

Kyukyoko Tiger widescreen is really evil with the zako helicopters. Now they can appear in out of the way corners that you can't reach. I guess it's an extra challenge for stage 1, trying to avoid getting rammed from the side all the time.

Yeah, it makes it really awkward to play the game like this. I don't think I am going to use it anymore. It's better in Tatsujin, I think, where it doesn't really seem to affect anything aside from maybe making the item carriers follow the player, which I am pretty sure they are not supposed to do.

I haven't tried the widescreen modes yet, but I experienced similar weirdness with GG to SMS ports like the one of GG Aleste 2 where there are safe spots at bosses that weren't in the original.

Widescreen does some weird things in Kyuukyoku Tiger and Twin Cobra. It's worth checking out just to see how it is, but at least in my case it makes me feel like my helicopter is super slow, and the enemy spawns and item movement are both affected by it as well.

[jtucci31]

is Twin Cobra's default difficulty correct? Bullets seem to be coming heavy and fast even on the first level.

I think pretty much everything defaults to a difficulty higher than B when you first launch the games, so be sure to change it to B. That should have been the default. I have not played Twin Cobra on PC yet, though, just Kyuukyoku Tiger. I honestly think Kyuukyoku Tiger probably should have been the default as well, but that's a bit of a special case of me being extremely picky.

Just wanted to ask here again and confirm, so for pretty much this entire collection, dipswitch B is normal? Because I've only been playing Tatsujin/Truxton so far and I've noticed that dipswitch C is a bit more difficult than what I'm used to playing at Galloping Ghost that does claim to have theirs set to normal. Is C just like normal+ or something, and D is hard?

Also another question: what's the difference between USA and USA 2 regions? And also Europe? I know Japan region is more difficult from what I've read.

[BrianC]

Widescreen does some weird things in Kyuukyoku Tiger and Twin Cobra. It's worth checking out just to see how it is, but at least in my case it makes me feel like my helicopter is super slow, and the enemy spawns and item movement are both affected by it as well.

I tried it out in K. Tiger and Tatsujin. Definitely similar to those GG to SMS hacks where the screen transitions weren't adjusted for the wider screen. Odd how K. Tiger has a slower ship, but Tatsujin doesn't.

[Steven]

Just wanted to ask here again and confirm, so for pretty much this entire collection, dipswitch B is normal? Because I've only been playing Tatsujin/Truxton so far and I've noticed that dipswitch C is a bit more difficult than what I'm used to playing at Galloping Ghost that does claim to have theirs set to normal. Is C just like normal+ or something, and D is hard?

As a general rule, Toaplan difficulty goes like this

B = normal
A = easy
C = hard
D = very hard

They are also listed in that exact order in the operator instruction manuals, too.

Also another question: what's the difference between USA and USA 2 regions? And also Europe? I know Japan region is more difficult from what I've read.

Usually if you have duplicate regions it's just a different distributor or something like that, I believe, and the DIPs allow you to display the appropriate one, not that anyone except the distributor really cares about that lol

Widescreen does some weird things in Kyuukyoku Tiger and Twin Cobra. It's worth checking out just to see how it is, but at least in my case it makes me feel like my helicopter is super slow, and the enemy spawns and item movement are both affected by it as well.

I tried it out in K. Tiger and Tatsujin. Definitely similar to those GG to SMS hacks where the screen transitions weren't adjusted for the wider screen. Odd how K. Tiger has a slower ship, but Tatsujin doesn't.

It does seems slower, right? It's really strange. I don't get it, but I do feel that it is in fact slower even though I'm pretty sure that it actually is the same speed it always has been.

[pulsemod]

if it's the same speed pixel-by-pixel wise, the wider play area without BG scrolling would mean you couldn't cover as much horizontal area in the same time

[Sumez]

For a lot of arcade games (especially older ones), the operator manual doesn't specify defaults for dipswitch settings, even though it's often (but definitely not always) assumed that all OFF is the default.
For difficulty especially, it would be one of the most popular settings to change by operator based on how much the game was played and how good players were, so there's not really a real "this is how the game was in arcades" pointer.

The safest option to go for is generally what MAME decides is the default (usually based on the vague rules above), since that's what competitive players tend to rely on nowadays.

[Steven]

Fortunately, Toaplan's manuals do give the default settings. At least, the Japanese ones all do as far as I have seen, and at least for Out Zone they do default to all off. Not sure about the overseas ones.

Here is my Out Zone manual, with the defaults indicated with the *

Spoiler

Surprisingly, less shitty photography than usual this time, too.

[Bar81]

Fortunately, Toaplan's manuals do give the default settings. At least, the Japanese ones all do as far as I have seen, and at least for Out Zone they do default to all off. Not sure about the overseas ones.

Here is my Out Zone manual, with the defaults indicated with the *

Surprisingly, less shitty photography than usual this time, too.

Thanks. Have a board coming but don't think it has manual so this is very helpful.

edit: Apparently everything is online now - if you want the dip switch settings you can find a copy here: https://archive.org/details/arcademanual_Outzone

[DenimDemon]

Got the defeat the 4th boss with no assist achievement on K tyger. I’m proud.

[Steven]

Jaimers wrote some stuff about the Bitwave Toaplan games on Youtube: https://youtu.be/HEfLL6Dk8uI

New Toaplan Steam ports came out courtesy of Bitwave.
Based on the arcade versions, this first batch includes Out Zone, Tatsujin/Truxton, Zero Wing and Kyuukyoku Tiger/Twin Cobra.

Having Toaplan games be on Steam is pretty wild.
Didn't expect that in a million years.

They got some things really good in this.
The slowdown is correct and the input lag is really low.
It also has good practice options, savestates, replays, gadgets and leaderboards.
Some very neat things too like a hitbox viewer and ability to reduce the hitbox.
Kyuukyoku Tiger and Tatsujin even have widescreen arrange modes added to them.
Some bizarre stuff too like a 'Dodge' option that quote, "automatically dodges enemies and bullets".

Base input lag is 2 frames, which is already really good, but what's really interesting about these ports is that they also have uncapped framerate, which is something I've rarely seen with ports of old games.
Meaning that if you have say a 240 hertz monitor, you can play these games at 240 FPS and the input lag would be insanely low, beating even runahead on regular emulators.

So pretty incredible out of the gate.
What's wrong with the ports is uh... everything else.

- Out Zone is based on the wrong romset.
It's based on the 'outzonec' romset in Mame, which is the oldest version available and is based on an old unfinished prototype. It's very buggy, has a lot of missing content and wrong music plays in the wrong stages. Important secrets that you use to score the game with are simply not there and tons of regular enemies are used as placeholders for enemy sprites they didn't finish yet. The final boss is also unfinished, it's missing graphics and patterns.

There is Hard mode, which is based on another wrong romset (outzoneh), but it's closer to the actual game since it has all the missing content Normal mode is missing.
It's a weird version where enemies start with 2nd loop behavior but bosses are still the same.
Currently this mode crashes after loop 1.

- All of the dipswitches are wrong by default.
Besides difficulty being too high, they also start you with less lives and you only get two extends, even though you should be getting an extend every 300k points.
The option to select 300k every isn't even there. Or maybe they're mislabeled???

- The games are running too fast.
Like Out Zone is supposed to run at 55.161545 Hz, but they made the base speed for all games 60 Hz. This makes the game run almost 10% too fast.
I tested how long it takes for energy to run out and you die in the Steam port over 4 seconds faster: https://tinyurl.com/mr34ppzw

- Audio is just atrocious all across the board.
Sound effects are wrong and they sound awful, and music is playing in the wrong stages at the wrong tempo with missing undertones.
It's also completely missing 4 out of 7 stage themes. (!!!)

- The good things about the port are half-baked too.
Like the gadgets are useless, even though you could have useful things in there.
Like I keep losing track of how many C items I've collected for the Zero Wing secrets and having a gadget there that just tells me would have been extremely nice.
Practice mode is missing a lot of options too, like being able to select speed up or not.
The hitbox viewer is pretty broken, and the widescreen modes look very janky too. Like nothing got updated to actually accommodate these. Animations didn't get adjusted and enemies just spawn out of existence now.

All the other ports seem to suffer from these same problems too.
Audio in Tatsujin is especially awful, and stage 1 seems to have a wrong background.
Zero Wing has a layer problem at the top that shows things you're not supposed to see.

Kyuukyoku Tiger probably got the worst treatment.
The base game is already really hard, but now besides the game also running too fast, the difficulty is also off. Enemies shoot far more than they're supposed to and their shooting timings and angles also seem wrong.
Which is most evident in that safespots simply don't work at all anymore. (!!!)
This is a huge problem with the stage 10 boss in particular.
Enemies can fire at you in spots that they shouldn't be able to, which implies that something is fundamentally wrong with how enemies aim and shoot.

Hopefully most of the egregious problems get patched out.
This has the potential to be definitive ports, even beating out traditional emulation (but probably not M2), but it's really not there yet by a long shot.
This is like a rare case of a port getting all the advanced features right but then just falling flat on their face on the fundamentals, and forgets about actually porting the game well in the first place.

Great, apparently Kyuukyoku Tiger is completely broken. I have not really played it aside from trying the widescreen to see how it is, but it did seem a bit off somehow in the normal aspect ratio aside from being too fast, although I wasn't ever really able to figure out the reason.

I'm curious to see what happens with the stage 10 boss safespot now, but I don't really know any other safespots aside from the semi-safespots at the stage 5 boss, which aren't really all that safe once the enemies start spawning.

Out Zone hard version is a weird version of that version, too, apparently, but I don't know much about the hard version since I prefer to play the regular version.

I hope all of this gets fixed. They are (unfortunately, if you ask me) going to patch CATS in eventually, so hopefully we'll at least see some fixes for Zero Wing when that happens, preferably along with the option to not have CATS since he doesn't belong here anyway.

[PerishedFraud ឵឵]

I mean, let's be real, even if they add based man, it will just be part of the attract mode. After all, that's how it would've been if he was originally in there.

[Jeneki]

And now I'm imagining boss intro text

WARNING
A HUGE BATTLESHIP IS BELONG TO US

[Steven]

I mean, let's be real, even if they add based man, it will just be part of the attract mode. After all, that's how it would've been if he was originally in there.

Maybe. The credits do specifically list an intro artist (and it's not the person who made CATS originally), so I'm actually thinking that they'll stick an intro in there after you press start. Attract mode wouldn't be too bad, and CATS is mentioned in the original arcade ending anyway.

I don't know. I actually really like CATS to the point where I got my Mega Drive Zero Wing signed by the creator of CATS last month, but I don't think that he really belongs in the arcade version. I wonder if the Japanese text, complete with its typo (yes, there is actually a typo in even the original Japanese intro), is there if you set the language to Japanese. I guess we'll see soon enough when CATS is unleashed upon the world once again, hopefully with fixes for at least some of the games.

And now I'm imagining boss intro text

WARNING
A HUGE BATTLESHIP IS BELONG TO US

lol this made me laugh way more than it probably should have. I might actually be okay with this if they put it in the game right before you fight the final boss, which is supposedly CATS. There's no enemies or anything right before the fight anyway, at least for a few seconds, so it would at least give the player something to look at!

[Fingolfin]

At the risk of being terribly naive/revealing my ignorance I need to ask why the Steam reviews all are rather glowing? Most of these have 100% positive reviews!?!?

In the past I often glance at Steam reviews but don’t rely on them: they’re usually oddly biased, inconsistent and quirky (euphemism) @ best.

Would seem Steam reviews are just another social media platform for spouting absurdities/seeking attention (imagining most will read that roll eyes and be convinced of my naïveté and ignorance). “Ignorance is best”? Nah, not really…

Just submitted the following for Out Zone and hopefully it’ll stick — if so I’ll do the same for K Tiger, Truxton & Zero Wing. Not expecting that’ll do much…

Emulation engine has much going for it — especially snappy input response time — but much is broken

Runs too fast — 10% or so faster than original arcade speed and this breaks a lot of gameplay elements related to enemy spawning and behavior

Normal ROM version is the oldest available and a prototype: missing music, enemy placement is incorrect, and there’s inaccurate enemy behavior specifically spawning, attack patterns and shooting/firing vs arcade/ROMs

Hard ROM is a later modified (?) version that corrects issues w/ Normal difficulty but crashes @ end of first loop

When screen is set to Full Screen (no window) sound disappears — also Border always turns on and must be re- turned off

Aside from ROM differences/problems specific to Out Zone the issues stated here — speed related problems and Border settings — currently apply to all 4 Bitwave Toaplan STGs

Great price and a great start w/ emulation but nowhere near the QA and refinement of ACA Arcade available on Switch/PS4

After seeing Carl-Henrik and Bitwave engaging @ shmups.system11 had high hopes for these — still do!

Hoping for fixes

I am certain that porting and emulating for PC from arcade ROMs is challenging work but as such Bitwave’s efforts are a bit hack (not intending a ROM hack joke unfortunately)

Who were the play testers for these?
Is play tester/play testing info avaialable?

M2 & ACA Arcade proudly ID expert super players that test their stuff — can or will Bitwave do similar/the same?

Of course I have considered what Sumez, MJR, BrianC and Steven et al have noted here, the Jaimers’ notes from above via his YouTube and my own experiences (e.g. minor but annoying and a bit additionally amateurish with sound repeatedly/consistently dropping out for Out Zone when set to Full Screen).

From Ray’z thread, Rastan’s post (and the parenthetical) about M2 and ACA Arcade QA super player testing vs what we appear not to have here with Bitwave’s Toaplan PC ports is quite accurate/insightful/illuminating.

Appears at least prior to launch and even now Bitwave’s been all ears (Grogu )— both here earlier in this thread and through various other sites/social media but that may have been/just be a PR tactic/strategy (?).

Hopefully not: Carl-Henrik and Bitwave please prove me wrong; would be a great loss if no real fixes are made/attempted (besides the CATS meme lift from Genesis ).

Edit & additions: revision or two and noting that my Out Zone Steam review is visible
Please note: hopefully no umbrage or anyone upset about my having done a bit of digesting of Toaplan Steam discussion here and incorporating some of the views, expertise and experiences of others here and elsewhere in writing my Steam review: only intending to be thorough without being exhausting (as this post now is ).

Thanks much for reading!

[RVY]

Sorry for my bad English. I have been reading this forum for years and decided to join today. I don't know in which place to write my experience and information, so I want to share it here.

I bought the Steam bundle on release day. After playing a little bit of "Kyuukyoku Tiger (究極タイガー)" I found it to be riddled with problems... I played it for 15 hours. I am running out of patience. All the many noted problems are correct. (I have not played most of the other games yet. However, I noticed something strange right away.)

(1) The music and sound effects are wrong in all games. This is an emulation accuracy issue, but many people do not like this.
(2) Kyuukyoku Tiger runs at 60Hz, which is too fast. The original PCB board runs at 54.88Hz, you have to fix it to 55Hz in the GPU driver settings.
(3) The Extend setting is shown incorrectly. This is the same with TATSUJIN. Have they done a test play?
(4) The game is too difficult even on the lowest difficulty level. Obviously the speed and firing angle of the enemy bullets are wrong.
(5) The top of the screen is missing every time I play the practice mode. The screen display is broken. The HUD sometimes disappears in other games as well.
(6) Even if you turn off assist (arcade), you can still see your ship's hit points. Terrible bug.
(7) Widescreen mode does not even need to talk about the terrible content. Is it a prototype?
(8) The safe zones for the bosses in stage 5 and stage 10 are completely unavailable. This is the most serious problem!!!!!
It is possible that the behavior of enemy planes and bullets itself has been changed. The algorithm itself may have been changed.
(Furthermore, why are the stages counted from 0 to 9 in Practice?)
(9) The online ranking is still registered even if the settings are changed. It is not working.

Many Japanese players will eventually decide not to play this port. Very disappointing. I really hope they fix everything in the update. I was really hoping to be able to play Toaplan games on my PC with the best quality, I have no choice but to stick with M2 Shot Triggers.

Unfortunately, most of these old games have only been played illegally on emulators by most people. Therefore, they don't realize their mistakes and errors. It is very sad to see that those people appreciate them so much.

Translated with http://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

[Steven]

At the risk of being terribly naive/revealing my ignorance I need to ask why the Steam reviews all are rather glowing? Most of these have 100% positive reviews!?!?

It's not just the Steam reviews, either; most of the other reviews I have seen are extremely positive, including the one over at Eurogamer, which was also written by someone who claims to have an Out Zone PCB, but comparing the PCB that I have to this release resulted in extremely different experiences, so I'm not really sure about that review.

I don't know. I don't get it either. Maybe I wouldn't mind (or at least mind as much as I do) if I wasn't completely obsessed with Toaplan, but I am, and because I am I care a lot, and perhaps more than I should.

Of course I have considered what Sumez, MJR, BrianC and Steven et al have noted here, the Jaimers’ notes from above via his YouTube and my own experiences (e.g. minor but annoying and a bit additionally amateurish with sound repeatedly/consistently dropping out for Out Zone when set to Full Screen).

From Ray’z thread, Rastan’s post (and the parenthetical) about M2 and ACA Arcade QA super player testing vs what we appear not to have here with Bitwave’s Toaplan PC ports is quite accurate/insightful/illuminating.

Appears at least prior to launch and even now Bitwave’s been all ears (Grogu )— both here earlier in this post and through various other sites/social media but that may have been/just be a PR tactic/strategy (?).

Hopefully not: Carl-Henrik and Bitwave please prove me wrong; would be a great loss if no real fixes are made/attempted (besides the CATS meme lift from Genesis ).

I do think that these releases have great potential, as the actual functionality is mostly actually very good, and even Jaimers said the same thing. These are perfectly salvageable releases in their current state. Bitwave has been very receptive to both of my lists of fixes that I sent to them, so I am hopeful that they will get everything all fixed.

Maybe, and hopefully, they'll bring in Jaimers or some of the other really good players, or even just really knowledgeable players, to test everything. I'd gladly playtest Slap Fight or Hishouzame for them if they asked me to, even though I am not a super great player or whatever, but I know both of those games very well, especially Slap Fight. I do have both of those PCBs, too, which makes it pretty easy to check those games against the PCBs to see how they compare.

[Leandro]

At the risk of being terribly naive/revealing my ignorance I need to ask why the Steam reviews all are rather glowing? Most of these have 100% positive reviews!?!?

In the past I often glance at Steam reviews but don’t rely on them: they’re usually oddly biased, inconsistent and quirky (euphemism) @ best.

Would seem Steam reviews are just another social media platform for spouting absurdities/seeking attention (imagining most will read that roll eyes and be convinced of my naïveté and ignorance). “Ignorance is best”? Nah, not really…

I just read the Steam reviews and a lot of them mention the problems you described. The only difference between your review is that they chose to give a Thumbs Up despite all the problems, and you chose the Thumbs Down.

Saying the reviews are being ignorant and not describing the problems of the port is plain false. A review just on the first page, written 6 days earlier than yours, explained every issue with the port, yet gave it a positive rating.
It's a game they bought so they can rate it the way they want.



Enviado de meu 2201116SG usando o Tapatalk

[beer gas canister]

I figure that if they can get the input lag that low, the other elements can be repaired. That is not the case with a poorly optimized port, those are damned from the outset. Bitwave's team has been communicative and open during the development process too, and folks can actually contact the devs and discuss issues with them easily.

[FunktionJCB]

Would seem Steam reviews are just another social media platform for spouting absurdities/seeking attention (imagining most will read that roll eyes and be convinced of my naïveté and ignorance). “Ignorance is best”? Nah, not really…

That's a rather... arrogant and petulant take on Steam reviews.

Steam reviews are like reviews anywhere. You have "good", and "bad". Informative reviews that go in-depth on each game, and more simple takes. They normally reflect the experience of those who spend their money on something.
To simplify the whole thing, and call those who review their purchases on Steam as people "spouting absurdities/seeking attention", is beyond ridiculous.

Is it that hard to understand that not everyone spent thousands of dollars on PCBs, or has years of familiarity with each of these games, and simply reviewed, essentially, their "experience" with them, as is?
And, let's be truthful. They, as a product, play "well". Heck, even Out Zone, who uses the wrong version of the ROMs. For someone playing for the first time, they start it, and they get a responsive, fun game, and their review will reflect that.