New Sonic Wings/Aero Fighters game by SUCCESS

[Steven]

Who is making High Tension? I have no idea, or if they even announced who the devs are.

Same team as Reboot

Excellent!

[CIT]

Am I the only one who's actually digging the new SW...?

[Tokyo-J]

Am I the only one who's actually digging the new SW...?

I have played through both loops. I enjoy it quite a bit. The second loop is crazy hard compared to the first. Honestly the earlier videos had me scared that it would be unplayable/unenjoyable. It is a decent game although a low tier Japanese shmup, it is still years ahead of European ones.

[Buffi]

I have literally no idea how you can enjoy this

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I have literally no idea how you can enjoy this

As the ol' saying goes: "Different strokes for different folks." Aw shucks, ain't that right?

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Augemitbutter]

i don't know how they get together to release an ugly game in 2025. Slapping anime girl on everything is not enough.

[EmperorIng]

It turns out several characters do way more damage if you enable 30hz autofire.

The way to do this is tricky, because if you start the game with one input, you cannot change to another - ie, if you have a controller plugged in you cannot swap to keyboard, or vice versa.
So, to get around this, you can start with keyboard and then plug in your pad - the game won't detect the new input.

I set up Joy2key to have a 30hz auto button (iirc, a 1/12 fire frequency) and used Chaika and Pushka, and the difference was immediate - enemies and bosses now melted away from point-blanking as there is not a set burst limit for their Russian-tower shot. You definitely need this to survive loop 2 because the enemies just do not die in this fucking game.

A japanese player has already gotten almost every 100% kill bonus using a combo of Whity and MaoMao with external autofire, over 20 million points, lol! Imagine a new shmup in 2025 needing external autofire.

The 100% kill bonus for a stage is 1,000,000 points which eclipses every other score or optimization trick you can do - hoarding power-ups, milk, etc. To be honest it is a terrible addition (and if twitter is to be believed, added after the loketest without much thought). Because it more or less narrows the type of play-style and which characters you use (MaoMao's time stop bomb is essential now because enemies leave the screen too quickly to manage). However, the game is so poorly-telegraphed that very often I end the stage with 99% - and a 99,000 bonus - with no knowledge of what I possibly missed. Is it a destructible building? Is it a missile that flew onto screen? Is it an enemy that flew across the screen for 2 seconds before disappearing? There's no way to tell. But it means that scoring is dependent around sweeping the screen and constantly using MaoMao's time stop bomb to make sure no stone is unturned.

I don't know if this is supposed to be a real deep cut - a real homage to Sonic Wings where you have one element of the game that completely fucks up the scoring. If so, wow, hats off to the developers - what a tribute!

Good thing I am still working on 2all'ing Sonic Wings 2, so I have something else to go to instead of spending too much time with Sonic Wings Refund.

[Steven]

Couldn't you just use Steam's built-in autofire thingy? I have never really looked into what it can do and I don't know if that can do 30Hz, but if it can't, that's a problem in itself.

[EmperorIng]

Couldn't you just use Steam's built-in autofire thingy?

If I had that version of the game, yes!

[Tokyo-J]

I have literally no idea how you can enjoy this

I am not hard to please. The First Raiden was the original Arcade shmup I was obsessed with. Literally has to be on par with that or Twin Cobra.

[DietSoap]

I have literally no idea how you can enjoy this

$60 is absolutely insane, but I'm pretty sure I could wring some fun out of this from the footage I've seen.

[EmperorIng]

Japanese twitter user yakko_ooo has found that the game actually has a pacifist bonus if you never touch the shot or bomb button the entire stage - taking a cue from the recent cotton game bonuses it's called "A Farewell to Arms."

It starts at 100,000, but climbs exponentially with every stage, until you start earning millions of points per stage for never pressing the button.* The moment you shoot or bomb, the bonus is ended and you cannot start it up again.

This game is so fucking bizarre man.

*does this mean the only winning move is not to play?

[Steven]

Couldn't you just use Steam's built-in autofire thingy?

If I had the steam copy of the game, yes

lol

I did some testing and you can still use it with non-Steam games. That said, as you said earlier, 30Hz auto being optimal in a modern game feels really weird in a bad way. I am reminded of Takahashi Meijin's ultra-strange button mashing/external autofire game.

The no shoot bonus, however, is absolutely hilarious. I kind of want to go play it again to see how far I can get without shooting!

[BareKnuckleRoo]

As much as a game may or may not suck, I don't think it's a good idea to disclose the fact that a newly released arcade game is available as a pirated copy. I'm worried about the potential damage in the future in terms of how it reflects on English speaking shmup fans and getting good western English releases of games if Japanese arcade devs get alienated by this sort of thing.

It's the same with Senjin Aleste when it was discovered the arcade release basically had a fully playable PC release built into it and then it got pirated with content creators making videos about it only to delete their videos when they realized how bad it looked for them to be showing off their pirated copies. The only difference is this particular game is looking to be a bit of a kusoge, but I still don't think it's necessarily wise to discuss (or rather flaunt) the existence of a pirated copy of a brand new game so openly. We should be showing a little bit more respect and discretion.

[EmperorIng]

Right, I'll be a bit more tactful.
Frankly if they were to do a boatload of patches on the game I would probably "run out" to get it assuming they fix some of the glaring issues. We shall "see" what happens when the digital ps4 release comes out in several months. I have heard rumors on discord (take that for what you will) that that release will coincide with patches that will retroactively come to the other versions. I don't know how much truth their is to that, and maybe it's wishful thinking.

I can't in good conscience recommend this game as it is right now, not even for the most ardent Maomussy addict. Since i know my boy xxx1993 is reading this (check the link to my youtube clear above), I don't think I have anything to apologize for!

Perhaps we should have known we would be in trouble when you actually look at what Success has developed in-house, versus the flashy games they have farmed out to Saizensan or Studio Fiesta:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmqHnnPIej4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85AocoDCSYs

Versus those cotton games, these feel like barely-indie efforts, as opposed to something that was made by a studio that is over 30 years old. The two programmers they had had their plates more than full, and they had to sub-contract the graphics out to what feels like bottom-of-the-barrel chinese shovelware art assets.

Despite what a lot of people say, the music is actually not bad, even if the tracks don't reach the highs of 2, 3, or Limited. Nor does the new music have the memey, silly brashness of SW1. But as its own thing, it works. I was worried Hoshi Q was washed after his frankly underwhelming remix track in that ZeroRanger album, but maybe he just wasn't inspired there. The remixes are nice but the choice of some of their placement is strange (the climactic final stage theme from Limited, in the Venezuela stage? the tokyo theme... for the rocket-ship boss?).

EDIT:
A new 2all video came out from a Japanese player
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wVoE1YZQDg

LIke, skip ahead to 28 minutes, what the fuck is going on with this game?

His description:

Player feedback: It seems that the development team has never played any previous works, and many designs seriously do not conform to the characteristics of Sonic Wings. The score system is bizarre and lacks depth, and the 3D models and animation effects of the game are not even as good as DC games 20 years ago. Overall, it is the bottom and shameful work of the entire Sonic Wings series.

[Tokyo-J]

As much as a game may or may not suck, I don't think it's a good idea to disclose the fact that a newly released arcade game is available as a pirated copy. I'm worried about the potential damage in the future in terms of how it reflects on English speaking shmup fans and getting good western English releases of games if Japanese arcade devs get alienated by this sort of thing.

It's the same with Senjin Aleste when it was discovered the arcade release basically had a fully playable PC release built into it and then it got pirated with content creators making videos about it only to delete their videos when they realized how bad it looked for them to be showing off their pirated copies. The only difference is this particular game is looking to be a bit of a kusoge, but I still don't think it's necessarily wise to discuss (or rather flaunt) the existence of a pirated copy of a brand new game so openly. We should be showing a little bit more respect and discretion.

Delete anything Emulated , roms , or Pirated from your PC immediately. Otherwise, you are a Hypocrite. Literally everything these days outside of the Nintendo Switch 2 is hacked or running already emulated on PC. Emulation/Piracy is what a majority of the people on this forum play honestly. No one was providing direct links to anything on this site. And before you attack me, I literally buy anything I can retail or that is possible to purchase overseas PCB wise. If a game is only out digitally like a Seijin Aleste. What is the issue if they are not porting it to Consoles or releasing in the West?

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Delete anything Emulated , roms , or Pirated from your PC immediately. Otherwise, you are a Hypocrite.

Did you by chance take a serious blow to the head recently? Or is there some other reason you think I'm a hypocrite if I emulate a fan translation of a 30 year old Famicom game that's never had an English release? Maybe a big ol' pair of glasses to see they're not quite the same thing as what I'm talking about.

[Firehawke]

Did you by chance take a serious blow to the head recently? Or is there some other reason you want me to apologize if I emulate a fan translation of a 30 year old Famicom game that's never had an English release? Maybe a big ol' pair of glasses to see they're not quite the same thing as what I'm talking about.

Considering they seem to think Raiden Legacy is good enough and that we don't need a rerelease of the Raiden Fighters titles, you might be on to something..

[BareKnuckleRoo]

assuming they fix some of the glaring issues.

This would be nice but sadly I get the feeling it would require firing the current devteam and finding someone who can take all the art assets and game engine and make an actual working game out of it. When I called it a bit of a kusoge I was admittedly being polite. >w>;;

snip

I'd love to see more Raiden Fighters Aces quality Raiden collections. Imagine one that also has a sequel to Viper Phase 1 in it or something, that'd be amazing. I've always loved that game's aesthetic but felt it could use a bit of modernization to address the rather sluggish ship and large hitbox. The Judge Spear handles so much more fun in the RF games.

We've already seen several really good "game collection + a sequel" releases such as the GG Aleste Collection, it's something I really hope devs keep doing. If Salamander III is even half as good as M2's usual quality it'll be dynamite.

[DietSoap]

Since i know my boy xxx1993 is reading this (check the link to my youtube clear above)

Tell him to come back already. The farm desperately needs him now more than ever.

His description:

Player feedback: It seems that the development team has never played any previous works, and many designs seriously do not conform to the characteristics of Sonic Wings. The score system... lacks depth,

Well tbh that part does sound faithful to the previous games.

[Steven]

Legitimate piracy concerns aside, wow, people still incorrectly believe that emulation is illegal. Guess you'd better go report Nintendo to Nintendo for running all of their online subscription games using emulation. Maybe they'll get taken away and they'll have to go back to the source code to reprogram them all to run natively on Switch/Switch 2, which I am sure will absolutely not happen. Or maybe Nintendo will sue Nintendo and go out of business. Also lol subscriptions.

So... this, Cygni, or Sine Mora?

[EmperorIng]

Well I got my 2all (twice!) with Keaton and Chaika combo, and a Lord River/MaoMao combo.

You can watch the Keaton play here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aoR2OSyG9w

I may be done now... or am I

The clusterfuck of the loop 2 final boss is definitely a sight to behold. There's still the general problem of the loop 2 enemies being way too tanky and too hard to keep track of amidst the visual clutter. They also fire whenever they are in the same Y coordinate that you are, meaning they tend to fire at you directly from the bottom of the screen, which is really annoying.

Keaton is at least strong and decently fast, and I guess Chaika's bomb makes you invincible to bullets. It only took 5 games for Keaton to be a good character... to bad that he is good in a really shitty game.

For reasons unknown I unlocked the second secret character, Inufuku (to do so one must beat the game with every char). Slow ship with a rapid fire shot that's really strong and can be very much abused with the external autofire for a constant stream of damage. Its bomb is the daisenpuu special: a squadron of inufukus come to be your wingmen in formation as you move around. Kinda cute.

If you would like some background noise or comedy we had a little while ago a competition of blind play between four people to see who could get the farthest when the game was fresh. Think of it as a shmup comedy/podcast.
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2474577089

So... this, Cygni, or Sine Mora?

Sonic Wings Refund, to the other games' shame. Because this is easy and 15 minutes long.

[Steven]

So... this, Cygni, or Sine Mora?

Sonic Wings Refund, to the other games' shame. Because this is easy and 15 minutes long.

Going for the Less Suffering Because It's Shorter™ route, huh. I don't think I could disagree with this choice lol

[EmperorIng]

As an update to this post, the japanese player yakko_ooo (his xwitter handle) has been, uh, enamored with the game's hidden pacifist bonus lately. His page is full of videos of him grinding out various parts of the game to see if he can get all the way through. I've tried it myself and can get about 2 stages in before the screen is too cluttered. Yakko mentions that he needs certain stages to appear at certain points during the random order in order for this to be more doable, because of course, lol.

Well he recently 1all'd the game getting all pacifist bonuses, and it really is ridiculous. As I said above, you need to not press the shot or bomb button, and you cannot die. But if you do so, the bonus doubles EVERY SINGLE STAGE.
So, what does that mean?

100,000
200,000
400,000
800,000
1,600,000
3,200,000
6,400,000
12,800,000
....
25,600,000
53,200,000
106,400,000
212,800,000
415,600,000
831,200,000
1,662,400,000
3,324,800,000

This is so ridiculously worth more than any other thing you can possibly do in the game as to make playing it "competitively" a joke and a waste of time. Why play the game if the optimal way to play is to do nothing!?

It 'hilariously' breaks the scoring, ship variety and playstyle and flattens everything (when already the game's "meta" was close to being flattened by the dumb 100% 1,000,000 point kill bonus) into a single playstyle. It's basically a hard-cap for scoring on every ship which just means that there is less dynamic or interesting things to do in a playthrough if you want to "optimize." It's crazy that these slop-makers couldn't foresee the results of their own decisions.

[Hazuki]

What a delicious reading. Thanks for sharing, guys. At the same time, what a disgrace for such an amazing series.
Now to never play this unless if I can download for free in the future.

[Steven]

lol

So I only played the game once, and I'm not sure if there are different ship speeds, but if there are, it just makes it so there is no reason to pick anything other than the fastest ship and try not to get hit. I hate to even have to ask this question, but does this game have sealing? At this point, it's probably safe to consider it to be an inherently accepted standard feature for most vertical shooters for the past 40 years, but given that this game is what it is...

[EmperorIng]

Each ship has a different speed, though, with I think Whity the dolphin being the fastest. I agree that the only meaningful choice is to pick a fast ship in this case.

As for sealing, I am actually not sure, since it can be hard to read the screen clutter at times. I haven't rigorously tested whether or not there's bullet sealing. I can say that there is no bullet sealing in the 1997 Sonic Wings Limited

[D]

What's 'bullet sealing'?

[spmbx]

As a filthy casual i have no idea what bulletsealing was either. Google to the rescue!

Sealing
In many games, enemies have to be a certain distance away from the player before they will fire. Getting inside of this range will stop the enemy from shooting completely. This is commonly referred to as bullet sealing. This is most commonly exploited on grounded enemies which the player can hover on top of without colliding.

[Jeneki]

Careful, Spanky may notice this discussion.