The Official Cool PCB You Just Got Thread!

CIT · Post by **CIT** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 12:58 pm

Shalashaska wrote:I'm not so keen on PS but I got an extremely good deal on it so I couldn't refuse.

Yip, by far the worst game Cave have put out. What did you pay? Seems like the price for PS has dropped considerably in the last 3 months.

Post by **Dave_K.** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 10:13 pm

Big thanks to caldwert.

EOJ · Post by **EOJ** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 10:19 pm

CIT wrote: Yip, by far the worst game Cave have put out.

Like it or not, the game is awesome because it's the only Cave PCB you can pause and slowdown at will with the Start button. It even has complete stage practice modes built in! Full details here:

http://www.danmakudreamer.com/viewtopic.php?p=478

Post by **Dave_K.** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 10:39 pm

I knew about the Pink Sweets practice modes and pause feature, didn't know about a slowdown feature. Great tips. Too bad Icarus isn't playing this anymore to update the strategy section.

@Shalashaska: Pink Sweets is the polar opporite of Futari, so I can see why someone who really latches onto futari would not appreciate PS.

CIT · Post by **CIT** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 11:40 pm

EOJ wrote:
CIT wrote: Yip, by far the worst game Cave have put out.
Like it or not, the game is awesome because it's the only Cave PCB you can pause and slowdown at will with the Start button. It even has complete stage practice modes built in! Full details here:

http://www.danmakudreamer.com/viewtopic.php?p=478

Well, you are right, those features are in fact awesome, and other Cave PCBs should have them as well.

Doesn't change my feeling about the game though. I still think it's dull, unbalanced and a stylistic mess, and I feel I've played enough of it to have an informed opinion.

EDIT:

Dave_K. wrote:Big thanks to caldwert.

Very nice!

zinger · Post by **zinger** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 12:21 am

ur ass is a dull, inbalanced stylistic mess

Seriously though, I agree about the music and graphics of Sorekara (after listening to the soundtrack CD and spending *one* credit in the arcades). I was hoping this would be another Yagawa hit apart from that though, all his fans speak so dearly about it. I guess I should think twice about purchasing the board.

EOJ · Post by **EOJ** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 12:27 am

zinger wrote:I guess I should think twice about purchasing the board.

If you like raizing games you'll probably love it. It's a really complicated game that only shows its true inner brilliance upon intensive play and experimentation. I quite like the game now, even though I think Futari 1.5 (+Black label) is the best game ever.

Lordstar · Post by **Lordstar** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 12:44 am

Dave_K. wrote:Big thanks to caldwert.

been wanting that one for a while now. But Ive just lost my only vert cabinet so it is not happening anytime soon.

CIT · Post by **CIT** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 1:48 am

zinger wrote:ur ass is a dull, inbalanced stylistic mess

Seriously though, I agree about the music and graphics of Sorekara (after listening to the soundtrack CD and spending *one* credit in the arcades). I was hoping this would be another Yagawa hit apart from that though, all his fans speak so dearly about it. I guess I should think twice about purchasing the board.

Well, you should really try it out some more, since many Yagawa fans like it, so you might enjoy it too.

But anyway, here's why I think it's no fun:

- You have to rely on shield too much during the boss fights, you just kind of sit there absorbing bullets, wondering when you actually get to do stuff (i.e. shoot).
- Medalling is basically just collecting medals when they drop, there's few tricks or tasks like bombing in some specific spot or destroying enemies a certain way.
- The first three stages are extremely easy, then in stage 4 it suddenly starts becoming the hardest game ever, and not just because of rank, it really is that hard.
- Items all zig-zag down the screen really slowly. Maybe it's just me, but I need about 0.2 seconds to decide that I don't want to collect an item, and then I want it to get the fuck off the screen, not hang around for another minute.
- Milking bosses is kind of dull, they don't slowly deteriorate as in other Raizing games, but you just blow off some parts before dealing with the main body.
- The graphic style is just this jumbled hodgepodge of Ibara backgrounds, Lego robots and admittedly sexy babes, with an extremely annoying parapara dancepop soundtrack. On the whole I find the entire presentation extremely dull and unimaginative (see also lack of detail on bosses getting taken apart).

As EOJ says it's a really complicated game, but I don't think in a good way. Based on what we know the real scoring nitty gritty really only starts from stage 6 anyway, but most players won't even get that far.

I think I put about 30 credits into the game, but at no point did the game grab me and make me feel I really want to play it some more. And I DO enjoy some other Raizing medal-games (Garegga, Batrider, Brave Blade, for example - I haven't played MM Pork yet).

EOJ · Post by **EOJ** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 2:04 am

CIT wrote: - You have to rely on shield too much during the boss fights, you just kind of sit there absorbing bullets, wondering when you actually get to do stuff (i.e. shoot).

This is a common misconception. You shouldn't be using your shield nor your bomb much on the boss fights (or anywhere else for that matter). This is what jacks the rank up to horrific, irreversible levels. You should be dodging and shooting most of that stuff.

Like luring a child in with an ice cream cone, only to slap him in the face when the cone is halfway finished, so too does Pink Sweets try and lure you in with the bomb and shield, only to smack you back harder than ever you've ever been smacked once you try and get further in the game.

Pink Sweets rewards those who shoot (for example, all non-fixed extends in the game are based on an invisible shot counter, and if you don't keep shooting things instead of using your shield you won't get these extends), and punishes those who do not.

Imhotep · Post by **Imhotep** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 2:26 am

knowing PS only from videos, I think its music is great and the bosses are very detailed in the way they're describing their use of weaponry.

CIT · Post by **CIT** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 2:44 am

Actually, I was told not to overuse the Rose Cracker before playing the game, but often there are boss patterns that I find frankly undodgeable, unless you use the shield. You gotta ask yourself, what's the point in including a shield and bomb if it's use adversely affects your play. That's part of what I mean about bad balancing (and this is a common criticism of Souyugurentai's web shot vs. main gun, as well), in other Raizing games you have bombs/charge shots and you're supposed to be using them all the time.

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 3:51 pm

I just won a PCB on eBay labeled "Twin Cobra", but then I looked around and the image didn't at all match the pics of Twin Cobra PCBs on the net. I'm asking the guy not to send it and to refund whatever he's willing to refund (wasn't very expensive).

Is eBay generally a bad place to buy PCBs?

caldwert · Post by **caldwert** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 11:26 pm

I saw that same auction and was going to bid on it til I noticed the connector edge couldn't have been Jamma. Also like you said the pictures didn't match the PCB pictures I saw for Twin Cobra so I passed on it.

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 11:31 pm

Yeah, I'm definitely going to be much more cautious from here on. It seems like eBay could yield some nice deals on PCBs here and there, but I'm not sure it's worth the time and effort.

CIT · Post by **CIT** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 12:53 am

I've had good experiences w/ buying PCBs on Ebay, but I only buy from sellers that post a pic of the actual PCB so I can check whether it's an original.

www.mameworld.net/maws/ <- good place to find pics of PCBs

Needless to say, you should compare pics before bidding.

caldwert · Post by **caldwert** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 1:36 am

There's some deals to be had on Ebay but its kind of annoying with the stores/shops listing all the crap Buy It Now hoping someone will buy it. That being said there's still plenty of deals on there and a good way to find out about games you didn't know about. I often see stuff on there I didn't know about.

Gakidou · Post by **Gakidou** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 10:29 am

Yagawa overload!

sven666 · Post by **sven666** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 12:19 pm

shaping up very niceley there gakidou

Post by **Dave_K.** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 4:30 pm

Finally! No more silent gameplay via Mame.

theevilfunkster · Post by **theevilfunkster** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 9:13 pm

Got my first Taito F3 boards, Puchi Carat and Arkanoid Returns. Just need to get a spinner now, not so much for Puchi Carat as it's quite playable with a stick but Arkanoid is not too great with a stick.

lowemark · Post by **lowemark** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 5:51 am

Pink Sweets.

caldwert · Post by **caldwert** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 6:15 am

Picked up The Game Paradise Jaleco Mega 32 cartridge tonight for $85 from a local shop. Fun little game so far that is surprisingly a lot harder than it looks. Does anyone have a legitimate list of Mega 32 games that exist? I've seen some online but nothing that looked very official.

Post by **Dave_K.** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 6:32 am

Game Paradise is a great game, a total hidden gem with 2 loops and score attack mode. I haven't seen an official mega32 list either, but there is always this.

Post by **Dave_K.** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 7:09 am

Was on a buying binge end of last month. This came in just before the shmupmeet. Looks fantastic at 31khz.

caldwert · Post by **caldwert** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 10:39 am

I've been on a binge lately as well. Silent Dragon, Combatribes, Toki, Sky Shark, Rough Rangers, Crime City, The Game Paradise, The Legend of Air Cavalry, and Lightning Fighters have/or will be showing up within the week. Toki is just as I remembered it. Really fucking hard. I remember there was a Toki and Buster Bros. side by side at this old indoor soccer place in town. I must have spent about $5 a day on those machines. Toki on NES is shit, but Buster Bros. Collection on PSX is great. I remember being the only person to order it at Babbages back in the day and they asked my mom if I was a little kid when she picked it up for me. She's like no he's 17 and played it in the arcades as a kid, they were like oh....

CIT · Post by **CIT** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 10:20 pm

This was one of my most-wanted PCBs.

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 10:43 pm

Somehow I don't recognize that, CIT. What is it?

CIT · Post by **CIT** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 10:46 pm

Mahou Daisakusen

Post by **Dave_K.** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 7:27 am

CIT wrote:

This was one of my most-wanted PCBs.

Very nice find! Thats all I'd need to complete my Raizing collection.