BulletMagnet wrote:Hey, Spartacus! I was already going to use some previous comments you'd made on this forum about Metaphlist (and credit you, of course), but it's great that I can address you in person - you gotta post more often!
In any event, for this article I'm focusing mainly on 2D shooters, so I could definitely use some additional info on Vermin Kids, if you have it (and are willing to face the horror anew, heh heh). I had also overlooked the Centipede remake, so thanks for mentioning that.
At this point, as I said in the first post, I'm mainly looking to fill in the gaps around the edges, i.e. the minigames, classic compilations, really obscure stuff, etc. Pretty much anything listed in the original post, if you could contribute a few words on any of them I'd be grateful.
Things are coming along great thanks to you guys, this article's going to be even more expansive than the Saturn one (and that's after I've made efforts to compress it!).
I’m not worried about getting credit, just enjoy helping people out best I can. As I said previously, I’m not well versed in the genre. I don’t know Yoko’s from Ono’s or Damaku’s from Sepaku’s. And 2D from 3D? I never could figure out what difference that made either. Forced scrolling, that’s pretty much what defines it for me. I think Calcolo! is 2D though. Reminds me a bit of Twinkle Star
Perhaps this might help you…
Jaleco Collection Vol. 1 has Exerion, Formation Z, Field Combat, City Connection, Ninja Jajamaru Kun, Argus, and Rod Land
PD Ultraman Invaders is a loose variation of Space Invaders. The field of view was changed from a vertical drop down orientation to an almost flattened advancing across the ground perspective. The destructible barriers to hide behind are still there as is the random extra points flying saucer. There are nine different super deformed Ultraman characters to choose from and the "advancing aliens" are all Ultraman nemisis characters. The game uses the original Ultraman theme music and sound effects and includes a split screen 2 player VS mode.
SD Gundam Over Galaxian is a variation of Galaxian using super deformed Gundam characters. I don't know jack about Gundams, which is too bad because the characters all have names and I would probably recognize them. The most interesting feature of the game is how the shoulder buttons let you swing your perspective from a straight up/down verticle game all the way down to a straight across horizontal game. When in horizontal mode, you can change from a 3rd person view to a 1st person view.
The Story mode and the G Changer mode consists of fighting off two waves of Gundams. The first wave are generic Gundams and the second wave will also include a named Gundam opponent who is much tougher. Destroying Gundams will occasionally be rewarded with floating powerups.
The story mode has animated cutscenes between each two waves. The G Changer mode forgoes the cutscenes but let's you play with six different Gundams in succession. There's also a Galaxian remix featuring Gundam characters and a two player mode that uses a single screen and the two players can shove each other around trying to score points.
My understanding is that Space Invaders 2000(1998) is an alternate version of Space Invaders (1997) and that The Invaders (Simple 1500) is a direct conversion of the original Bally Midway Space Invaders coin-op game. Space Invaders 2000 let's you choose from 3 original tabletop and one upright Taito Space Invader coin-op games. All can be switched to play in tate mode. It also features a time attack mode and a 2 player split screen mode.
Strike Force Hydra has you patrolling river waterways in this vertical scrolling hovercraft shooter. Equipped with unlimited supply of machineguns and homing rockets that are upgradable with pickup powerups. Shoulder buttons give up a burst of speed or the ability to jump. The jump feature can really be exploited because you can control where you land and literally leap frog yourself all the way to the level boss's, should you so desire. Each level has a section of undefended narrow canyons that requires precision steering to avoid collisions with the canyon walls. The game was also released for the GBA.
http://www.allgame.com/cg/agg.dll?p=agg&sql=1:43012
Super Dropzone - Intergalactic Rescue Mission is a Defender clone with a jetpack equiped dude in a spacesuit. It's been released on several platforms and the PlayStation version is identical to the SNES version.
TRL: Rail Loaders is an overhead view vertical scrolling shooter/racing hybrid using train engines on train tracks. You can race against a computer opponent or against a second player. You shoot bubbles that encapsulate rogue oncoming train engines allowing you to shove them off the track harmlessly. Some oncoming objects, such as rolling boulders, are avoided by simply jumping over them. The train tracks have many branches and alternate routes, some leading to dead ends or impassible objects - like herds of sheep crossing the track. There are also junctions in the track with track switching levers that you can stop and throw (did I mention your engine has arms?) to reroute yourself to an unblocked track. So there's some backing up and trial and effort involved in reaching the end. The game has time limits, so route familiarization is key to winning.
Vermin Kids is a puzzle shooter that places 5 rows of slowly descending colored octopus aliens on the screen above your character ala space invaders . You are tasked with eliminating a set amount of them to advance to the next round. Your character fires a shot from a chain of randomly rotating colors that can be manually cycled through. Hitting an alien changes it's color to whichever color you presently have selected. When 3 or more aliens of the same color are aligned horizontally, vertically or diagonally - they are eliminated.
Each row of aliens takes a sidestep to the right or left in unison from the bottom row on up to the top, briefly exposing the next rows to your shots. When this bottom to top sidestepping cycle has been completed 4 times for all rows - the remaining aliens descend one row and create room for another row of aliens to be added at the top. You can have a maximum of 7 rows of aliens on the screen at one time. An eight row puts the bottom aliens on top of your character and ends the game. Each round of the game increases the number of aliens that must be eliminated and there is no time limit as long as you can keep the aliens from reaching the bottom eight row. After completing a sufficient number of rounds you advance to the next level by choosing from a branching planetary path. New planets increase the number of aliens per row AND the number of colors! My first attempts with the game gave it a rather child like impression. But like any good puzzle game, the difficulty slowly increases until it becomes quite intense. The character animation and voice work between levels is a humorous mix of English and Japanese, but all the menu selections are entirely in Japanese.
You might also check into Finger Flashing. It's also a puzzle shooter. It appears and plays like a vertical 2d shooter to me.
http://www.mobygames.com/game/playstati ... r-flashing
