There's a pretty decent illusion of power... scratch that, illusion of prowess going on by halfway through Stage 2. The power's quite real if you survive to that point, or even eat a Game Over just before, popping in another credit and instant-respawning (US regulations!) to a Max P icon. It must seem a veritable tale of glory by casual standards, but there really isn't much to it, besides "keep Vulcan to ward off flying zako, and don't scroll madly left and right giving the sniper tanks a selection of delicious free lunches."Sengoku Strider wrote: ↑Thu Sep 05, 2024 6:23 pmI dunno. This line of conversation sent me down a rabbit hole of a handful of retro dad YouTubers saying "I love this game! I'm so hardcore!" and then getting wiped out by the 2nd wave of enemies. Shmup Junkie was the only reviewer who seemed to know how to actually play it and reach stage 3. I can't imagine your average arcade goer got more than 30 seconds of entertainment out of it. The argument's academic because obviously it did do well, but I don't ever recall crowds around the machine, or even consistent traffic for that matter compared to like Smash TV or something. It was just so ubiquitous that everybody remembers seeing it.
This was also comfortably within an era where mainstream mags like EGM would print beatific spreads on Gaiares and Space MegaForce's powerups and cutscenes, often followed with genuinely enthusiastic reviews and awards. (at least Martin, Don, and dear ol' David Siller's STG reviews were) Raiden's success really has to be understood in that context. An adroitly-made copycat of the best in the business is no minor asset. I think even Toaplan themselves weren't doing too badly around then, in NA... Taito being invested enough to specifically order 2P versions of Kyuukyoku Tiger, Fire Shark and Hellfire for the market, much as they requested Double Dragon's eponymous co-op from Kishimoto and co at Technos.
That's quality top-gunning vidya boner fuel for 1990. Still feels fuckin rad tbh.
That one bout of bad bullet contrast in st7 aside, I had a blast with the ACA release... the sense of sheer crushing weight in the final stage's tank alley is still genuinely arresting, as is the rush of annihilating the lot into a carpet of burning twisted metal. I often see casuals fondly reminisce on the sheer demolition these games conveyed; actually, diehards on here have always noted much the same. A classic balance of simplicity and tension paired to innocently cathartic, bubblewrap-compulsive mayhem. Something The Flying Game Ever really dialled up with its still-formidable pixel art, ofc.Highly Classified From The Desk Of Hamada-san
Yeah, that's quite the CV, particularly for the very early 90s. Going from one era's titan to the next, before settling at a scrappy mid-carder's US branch, at a time when arcade stuff still had mainstream currency. Some years before the FTG boom more or less finished off STGs' time in the limelight, and before the PS1 eventually did much the same to arcades in general.Fabtek's name was derived from the initials of its founder Frank Ballouz (F.A.B.-tek), a former Atari and Nintendo of America executive who later also founded Irem America.
It's no wonder they were so adept at getting their product into cabs and onto consoles, really. And of course, The Flying Game Ever and its prelude even made it onto the PS1 itself, alongside The Racing and Fighting Games Ever. Not too shabby. I'd hire the dude if I was looking to publish a blatant cover of my industry's top guys, too.
