So I took a minute to revamp the Gameboy section at the Xenocide updates. While doing some order (I split the Game Boy and Game Boy Color lists) and rom research I stumbled into a couple of shmups I didn't know. It's mini-review time! Enjoy!
Vattle Giuce
1991, developed by Igs
Let's start with the most obscure of the bunch - I really had never heard before, let alone seen it. Don't ask me what twisted Janglish coherence is behind the awful-sounding title "Vattle Giuce" - my guess is good as yours.
Anyway, what do we have here, a nice vertical. Backgrounds are rather dark and detailed - it's easy to imagine that on the original DMG this game was a messy blur.
At the beginning of the game you can choose between three ships - not half bad for a start. Picking enough "P" power-ups will reveal that ship one is the welcome spread type, ship 2 comes with side shots and ship three with rear shot - the classical expert ship. The weaponry is lacking, though, nothing worthy a mention.
Among the other power ups to pick up: "E" pods to replenish your noticeable energy bar, "S" pods for some needed speed boost, and "?" pods which are a surprise, but a positive one regardless. These power-ups fly towards the upper end of the screen once released, in a rather compile-esque fashion, so be sure to grab them fast.
The main point of interest is another, though - the game uses the same dive gameplay seen in Aerostar, but probably with better results, since there's no jump bar and no road to pay attention to. While you're high in the skies no background element can harm you and you only have to care about dodging bullets and taking down the air troops. Dive below and you will be able to destroy ground targets (the main power-up source), but you will also be exposed to the risk to crash yourself into a building.
Each stage is quite long, and follow the same repetitive path - you have one middle boss and two moments where the scrolling gets fast - it's nothing especially original, but it's surprisingly fleshed out for a Gameboy title, and it keeps a decent pace. Not that it manages to do better than Solarstriker, mind you... The setting ranges from eye-shaped computers (reminiscent of Zanac - hey, maybe this game is the reason why GameFAQs incorrectly lists a "Zanac" for Gameboy...), Aztec ruins (yay for consistency), and well, more ruins... Since the ship's palette in the first stage is swapped, I'd assume it's a nighttime stage, how cinematic...
Oh! and let's not forget anime babes - Ms. Three of Hearts (pause screen) and Ms. Eight of Diamonds (ship selection screen), beautifully framed into playing cards. Nice little touch and again, something uncommon on GB. The high score default is just 1000 points, but enemies give 2-6 points each, which seems like an oddity. Oh, you're given unlimited continues, for the record.
Overall, I enjoyed Vattle Giuce - the music is catchy too, definitely of the game's high points. There are a couple of loose carts on Yahoo Auctions right now - I have no Yahoo account, but if some fellow shmupper is willing to help, I wouldn't mind to grab one. ^_^
Scarce internet coverage:
http://generation9.kanshima.net/b2/inde ... #topoframe
http://screenmania.retrogames.com/gb/03/gb_0073.html
http://takaya.s3.x-beat.com/hobby.tstg1.html
Yahoo auction:
http://page11.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/n35471773
Mercenary Force
1990, developed by Meldac
This has been discussed previously on the forum, yet it wasn't on the Xenocides. However, this game rocks, so I just wanted to talk about it and give to it a little exposure for the unaware of you. Don't be fooled, it looks like Goemon but plays like an horizontal Knightmare. And the four squad member is brilliant stuff - you have a great control over your "option pods" which you can rearrange in formations, change the leader, and even sacrifice them ("option shoot!") for a smarbomb effect. It's almost like a tiny Gradius V, hehe!
The gameplay is sophisticated enough - you can hire warriors from five different "classes" - choosing a well rounded team plays a large role into surviving, but there's more. all the formations have their weaknesses and strenghts: the vertical column exposes you to enemy bullets, but allows all the four men to take cover on the same spot, and so on.
Aesthetically, it's just how a GB game must be - simple and clean, this one is clearly playable on the rusty old model. Moreover, the Japanese setting is awesome - reminds me of Super Mario Land, and Goemon of course. Unfortunately, as soon as the action gets frantic and the screen crowded, the game starts to "cancel sprites" - still better than slowdown I guess, but annoying nonetheless. Without continue of sorts and limited cash, the game should provide a decent challenge too.
Mercenary Force is known as "Tenjin Kaisen" in Japan, and apparently it has been given the honor of a sequel, which turned out to be one of the biggest letdowns I've ever had from a sequel - I expected more frantic medieval shooting action, and I got what it seems to be a digital comic...
I'm a bit surprised this game has not achieved a cult status (after all, is from the guys behind Zombie Nation...) and is very little known even among us, I can only imagine it's because its look is deceiving enough to think to it as a borderline. Still, it's the most unique and imaginative of the bunch!
Search function redirects to:
http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?t=4445
http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?t=4877
EDIT: Well, since I got a copy of the manual for this game, I thought to write down here some of the useful informations, keeping the awkward english unadulterated, enjoy:
Introduction
Over one hundred years ago during the mighty Shogun era, the Lord of Darkness sent his fearsome army to terrorize the Japanese countryside. Using the Dark Lord's powerful magic, his evil minions spread famine, plague, and pestilence wherever they went, leaving the peaceful population hopelessly oppressed. All who challenged the wicked Lord were mercilessly slain as a warning to all those who had any further thoughts of rebellion.
Then one day while meditating, the great Shogun, Tokugawa, had a divine vision where he saw a small group of mighty warriors rise up to defeat the evil Lord. He immediately set out to recruit the five bravest and most skillful fighters in the land. After months of searching he was finally ready to put his dream into action. It was time to unleash the Mercenary Force.
How to play the game
Mercenary Force is a completely new type of shooting game in which you can control up to four characters at a time in various strategic fighting formations. The outcome of the game depends on the specific warriors and fighting formations you choose, as they relate to the changing enemies and terrain.
There are six stages of the game, with each stage composed of twelve screens. Each stage is full of merciless enemies with a Boss enemy awaiting you at the end. The object of the game is to destroy all the enemies you encounter and pick up the coins that they leave behind. These coins will allow you to replenish the strength of your fighting team during a given stage and hire a new mercenary at the beginning of each new stage.
Servant
Name: Kichi
Age : 15
Horoscope sign: Pisces
Blood Type: AB
Favorite Food: Barbecued Beef
Fighting Strength: 6
Cost to Hire: ¥400
Shooting Style: Single-shot rifle
The servant has no spirit warrior counterpart, but he can deliver one deadly blow that clears the screen of all enemies.
Mystic [Miko]
Name: Sakura
Age : 19
Horoscope sign: Capricorn
Blood Type: B
Favorite Food: French Cuisine
Fighting Strength: 8
Cost to Hire: ¥700
Shooting Style: Vertical Bullets
Spirit Warrior: Spirit of Life
Monk
Name: Nem-bo
Age : 53
Horoscope sign: Virgo
Blood Type: O
Favorite Food: Red Beans
Fighting Strength: 9
Cost to Hire: ¥1,200
Shooting Style: Diagonal Power Shots
Spirit Warrior: Spirit of Time
Ninja
Name: Tora
Age : 18
Horoscope sign: Leo
Blood Type: A
Favorite Food: Bananas
Fighting Strength: 10
Cost to Hire: ¥1,000
Shooting Style: Short-range Shurikens (Death Stars)
Spirit Warrior: Spirit of the Wind
Samurai
Name: Take
Age : 21
Horoscope sign: Taurus
Blood Type: O
Favorite Food: Japanese Pancakes
Fighting Strength: 12
Cost to Hire: ¥800
Shooting Style: Double Cross-bow
Spirit Warrior: Spirit of Fire
Fighting Formations:
Formation of the Wind
This formation utilizes continuous shooting in a wide field attack.
_O_
O_X
_O_
Formation of the Forest
This is a more protective formation that allows the group to advance with fewer casualties.
--
-x
Formation of the Fire
This grouping concentrates heavy fire power from the center of the formation and is ideal for fighting in narrow terrain where mobility is a problem.
=-x
Formation of the Mountain
This is the widest attack formation and is best used in open spaces. However, it can result in heavy casualties.
x
-
-
-
Special Features
During the course of your journey, you will encounter may special features such as Temples, Shrine, Seki's Cafe, and Daibutsu (very wise holy men). You can use these Special Features as resting places or as places to get help to complete your mission. You will find a fortune teller at the shrines, a lucky feature awaits you at the Temples, and the Daibutsu can give your team more energy or resurrect a dead warrior. At Seki's Cafe, you can replenish your warriors' strength by purchasing the following items found on the menu:
Sushi: Increases all warriors' strength by 1 point
Medicine: Increases the leader's strength by 3 points
Tea: Increases all warriors' strength by 3 points
Hints for winning the game
1) You will come across a Shrine in stage 2. If you like, you can try your luck by betting ¥100. If you have excellent luck, you will be visited by a special character in the final stage of the game. You will have a better chance to get an excellent result if you use the Mystic as your formation leader (only the leader gets to try his luck)
2) There are special Seki's Cafes at the start of Stages 2 and 5. They both include a special menu item in place of tea [the Scripture]. If you purchase this item, the leade rof your group will be transformed into a stronger chaaracter. Therefore, it is best to use a weak character (e. g. the Servant) as your formation leader when you enter these cafes.
3) When you encounter the Daibutsu, you will have the option of spending ¥100, ¥200 or ¥400. If you spend ¥400, you will have better odds of obtaining a good result.
¥50,000 mode: at the title screen, press Up, Select, A and B simulataneously, then hit Start. Then you can select which stage to play by simply pressing Right when "round 1" appears.
Chikyuu Kaihou Gun ZAS
1991, developed by T&E Soft
Oh, yeah, ZAS. Cool vertical with very nice backgrounds and option-based gameplay. I'd talk more about it, but why - after all our ccovell already wrote a great review for it!
Links:
http://www.disgruntleddesigner.com/chri ... views/ZAS/
http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?t=5631
http://www.shmup.com/index.php?page=fiche&id=824
http://www.emunova.net/veda/test/801.htm
yours for 5000 yen at Yahoo:
http://page4.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/d66280947
Starhawk
1992, developed by NMS Software
This one apparently has been out there for fourteen years and yet no one noticed it. It deserved to disappear into the shmup limbo though, as it really stinks. Huge ship sprite, near-to-useless powerup system, boring gameplay. Background graphics are nice - the usual bioorganic look you'd expect from an european product - The parallax effect in stage 2 (a biometal-like desert) is nice. Collecting powerups during the first stage does very little - a firerate increase which is barely noticeable, and a bit pod that proves to be useless. Suddenly, in stage two, your ship is changed - losing a couple of lives will revert it to its original, less powerful shape, which will make the difficulty kinda unfair.
This game is quite awful. Its best part is the very nice boxart.
http://www.emunova.net/veda/test/985.htm
http://screenmania.retrogames.com/gb/02/gb_0037.html
Currently on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.it/Nintendo-Gameboy-STA ... 8282979958
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GAMEBOY COLOR
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Macross 7: Ginga no Heart o Furuwa Sero!!
2000, developed by Epoch
Epoch developer is known to pay attention to the "anime" flavor of its games, and this Macross is no exception. You get to play once again with Max and Milia, as well as four other characters from the Macross 7 manga. The game sacrifices a large portion (like, half) of the screen for a bottom status menu which constantly shows the character's portrait, as well as his speech and his/her reactions to the battle outcome.
You can switch between three pilots at any time during stage, each with his own energy bar. However, you cannot morph from valkyrie to gerwalk to battroid on the fly like on Snes: rather, you are occasionally given the choice at the beginning of the stages. Choosing a pilot over another doesn't affect gameplay at all, sadly - I guess it only changes the cutscenes you're going to see. Maybe It could determine some branch path, but I didn't play the game so deeply to say. Even the difference between gerwalk, battroid and valkyrie isn't underlined as before, and the powerup system is limited to picking up a couple of pods to increase your firepower. The couple of bosses I met were boring to say the least.
Definitely a game which puts more emphasis on fan-service than gameplay. Given Epoch's remarkable efforts, this was a small disappointment. Still, it's an original shmup for GBC, one of the few. The game has a battery backup and allows up to three data files.
Currently on Yahoo:
http://page4.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/d67779312
Bootleg:
http://www.macrossworld.com/macross/gam ... ootleg.htm
Burai Fighter Color / Space Marauder
1999, developed by Taxan / Kid
Yeah, I know Burai Fighter Deluxe is already in Xenocide files - what I didn't know is that it received a GBC re-release, which came to the west thanks to Agetec. The game is by all means the same as before, except the rom I tried didn't detect background collision, which made the whole affair a lot easier. Since it's just added color you'd expect it to be backwards-compatible with GB, but nope. It's GBC-only, weird.
Anyway, Burai Fighter is a cool game - it's certainly better than the only similar title on the system, Battle Unit Zeoth and it's a good portable replacement for Section Z. I'd love to compare it to the NES original, which sadly I never played.
Currently on Yahoo:
http://page6.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/f38651786
^_^
