Sonic Wings Special

[Neon]

Shatterhand I think it was had a good thread going on this at the old forums and thought I'd share my [limited thus far] perspective...Thanks to capt. ahar for hooking me up with this copy.

Art style is pretty kewl (the Ninja's plane homing weapon is a throwing star ) The levels seem well designed artistically as well, and typical giant multipart bosses...

Music is good on the whole and hummable. The bonus mini-cd stuff is übercorny with japanese singing. Nothing I'd listen to but still musically solid...

Gameplay is pretty inexcusably boring for the first few levels. I got into the shmup 'zen state' but not till far later in the game, bringing me to the next con...

Length. Way too many fucking stages, each one longish. I'll probably make myself look like an arse when it turns out there's the same amount as any psikyo game...but the game seems too long for me, maybe because of the ease of the first half or so though.

In all I think when I try it out on a harder difficulty it will be pretty sweet.

Did Mediaquest develop any other shooters?

Also curious as to the differences with the psx port, I got the Saturn version...PSX version probably has better explosion sfx? Any other differences? I recall this as being one of the ones people listed as being better on Playstation.

[Thunder Force]

The PSX version in Tate has a lot of slowdown.

[Ghegs]

The PSX version in Tate has a lot of slowdown.

It does? I don't remember seeing any, but it was some months ago when I cleared the game.

[Thunder Force]

The PSX version in Tate has a lot of slowdown.

It does? I don't remember seeing any, but it was some months ago when I cleared the game.

I cleared the game with the F-15 on an original model JP PSX and the slowdown was pretty bad at times.

[D]

The PSX version in Tate has a lot of slowdown.

It does? I don't remember seeing any, but it was some months ago when I cleared the game.

I don't think so, perhaps in two player mode!
PS has better music & sound effects.

The games are pretty much the same.
The Saturn version has a strange VGA display mode??? perhaps to play on a computer monitor????

[Kiken]

Did Mediaquest develop any other shooters?

Media Quest didn't develop games, they just handled a few ports.

The other port that I'm aware of that they handled was the Saturn version of Layer Section II (aka Ray Storm).

[Shatterhand]

Yeah, I did a thread about this game in the old forum.

I really love it. I think only the 1st level is "boring", but it's quick enough so it doesn't get into the way .

I think Sonic Wings Special (and Blast Wind) to be a game that shows exactly what's the difference between simple gameplay(SWS) and bland gameplay (Skull Fang).

THe game is very simple, but it's very deep in the gameplay department. The level design and boss design is very spot-on. I like it more than Psikyo game I ever played.

[PepsimanVsJoe]

You consider the levels in Sonic Wings Special...longish?

They're actually rather short..about Psikyo length. Hell Varth: Operation Thunderstorm has longer levels..not to mention there are about 35 of them.

[raiden]

the trick to make the first stages more interesting to play is play for score. It took me ages to notice, but the money icons drop in value the further to the bottom you pick them up. So try to pick them all up as high on the screen as possible, and you´ll find the game gets quite a bit harder at the same time.

[Neon]

Ah, thanks for clearing that up. I was hoping it wasn't like the shine in strikers...cause they shine way too fast for me.

Kiken: Ah, I'm assuming this is done by videosystem then? Too lazy to check the xenofiles company is unimportant anyways.

[Shatterhand]

Actually, there are lots of stuff you can do if you want to play it for score.

Try to play Mato Grosso stage, and get as many as 10000 points worthy icon as possible, and you will see how challenging it is

You can also try to NOT bomb. When you do that, if you keep getting more bombs, you get a bonus.

You can also milk bosses. There are 2 ways of doing this: first is to destroy piece by piece of each boss. Also, some bosses fire destructable bullets, and when you shot those bullets, you get some points. Just for the record, you can leave stage 1 with 22000 points or 34000 points, if you know what to do

[takohiko]

Just FYI, for anyone who's thinking of getting this - in the PAL version, despite what the box says, they did a Mobile Light Force job on the story (ie. it isn't there)

[Neon]

Actually, there are lots of stuff you can do if you want to play it for score.

Try to play Mato Grosso stage, and get as many as 10000 points worthy icon as possible, and you will see how challenging it is

You can also try to NOT bomb. When you do that, if you keep getting more bombs, you get a bonus.

You can also milk bosses. There are 2 ways of doing this: first is to destroy piece by piece of each boss. Also, some bosses fire destructable bullets, and when you shot those bullets, you get some points. Just for the record, you can leave stage 1 with 22000 points or 34000 points, if you know what to do Very Happy

Word, I will give these a try. Cheers m8

[captain ahar]

glad you're satisfied with the game. it has clearly found a loving home. never completely warmed to it myself, even with my enveloping Psikyo madness.

[Ganelon]

Also wondering if there's any difference between the original PS game and the Hamster re-release. The code is definitely changed since the re-release title screen now has the text "Arcade Hits."

[Obiwanshinobi]

Holy Discotheque, this game is made of AWESOME.

[mjclark]

Weirdly, I just discovered how awesome Sonic Wings 2 and 3 are last night. This is the dawning of the age of Sonic Wings!!

[doctorx0079]

FYI Sonic Wings is basically the same as Aero Fighters.

[Obiwanshinobi]

On hard it sports the most menacing motherfucker of a boss I've ever encountered in a shmup's first stage. Although I usually play shmups on default difficulty levels, this one is well worth playing on hard for this way you have to exploit your fighter's strenghts fully. My current favourite is IL-102 [is Pooshika how they spell "pushka" - "can(non)"?], a point blanking beast.
The game restates that good game design is about so much more than just the scoring... In this one I'm not point blanking for the score; I'm point blanking because my fighter of choice has been designed with point blanking in mind and it's both effective and fun way of doing things. This sort of stuff distinguish a shooting game from a scoring game dare I say.
I urge every shmups developer and would-be developer to play Sonic Wings Special. The wealth of things this game does right is fairly astonishing.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Suppose if Psikyo did a proper Sonic Wings 4/Aero Fighters 4 PCB sequel to the Sonic Wings/Aero Fighters series, a new single feature or gameplay element (as typical of all Psikyo arcade sequel PCB titles) would've been incorporated to give the series some newfangled wrinkle in terms of gameplay/game mechanics to spice things up. It's a given.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Dave_K.]

PCEFX!, that would be Sonic Wings Limited (aka Aero Fighters Special) as the 4th and last in the series on PCB. Very similar, although not exactly the same as Sonic Wings Special for consoles.

[professor ganson]

On hard it sports the most menacing motherfucker of a boss I've ever encountered in a shmup's first stage. Although I usually play shmups on default difficulty levels, this one is well worth playing on hard for this way you have to exploit your fighter's strenghts fully. My current favourite is IL-102 [is Pooshika how they spell "pushka" - "can(non)"?], a point blanking beast.
The game restates that good game design is about so much more than just the scoring... In this one I'm not point blanking for the score; I'm point blanking because my fighter of choice has been designed with point blanking in mind and it's both effective and fun way of doing things. This sort of stuff distinguish a shooting game from a scoring game dare I say.
I urge every shmups developer and would-be developer to play Sonic Wings Special. The wealth of things this game does right is fairly astonishing.

So is point blanking generally the way to play SWS, as is the case with Sengoku Ace, which is nearly all about point blanking?

[Obiwanshinobi]

"Hey, little freak, let's dance!"

So is point blanking generally the way to play SWS, as is the case with Sengoku Ace, which is nearly all about point blanking?

Depends on the fighter. They are sick and wicked in more ways than one. IL-102 is a point blanker akin to that ginger kunoichi's plane in Sengoku Ace (there's no charged shot in SWS, though), but its spread shot is pretty weird (maybe inspired by Strikers 1945 II's Flying Pancake?) and its bomb is trickier to use effectively. Some "classes" are completely different, though. There's even a proto-Zero Gunner type chopper.
The only thing I dislike about Special is that you pick up your pilot's homeland's currency for the score no matter where you fight. That's just wrong. "I'm going to Panama to earn me some rubles." Collecting local currency made more sense.

[Herr Schatten]

So is point blanking generally the way to play SWS, as is the case with Sengoku Ace, which is nearly all about point blanking?

Not necessarily. It depends on the character. I completed the game with Anjera (Angela?) and with her it's all about using the bomb strategically.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

PCEFX!, that would be Sonic Wings Limited (aka Aero Fighters Special) as the 4th and last in the series on PCB. Very similar, although not exactly the same as Sonic Wings Special for consoles.

Thanks Dave for letting me know about that Sonic Wings Special PCB is the very last one in the series. Makes me wonder if the developer Psikyo had any desire to go back and make a proper Sonic Wings/Aero Fighters sequel for ol' times sake -- would be apted titled Sonic Wings 5 indeed.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Shatterhand]

Weirdly, I just discovered how awesome Sonic Wings 2 and 3 are last night. This is the dawning of the age of Sonic Wings!!

The thing is, SWS is 10 times better than either SW2 or SW3.

It's an amalgamation of all the 3 Sonic Wings games, but the end-product is a lot better than the 3 games put together. If you are a fan of any Sonic Wing games you will be blown by Special...

[Limbrooke]

The thing is, SWS is 10 times better than either SW2 or SW3.

It's an amalgamation of all the 3 Sonic Wings games, but the end-product is a lot better than the 3 games put together. If you are a fan of any Sonic Wing games you will be blown by Special...

Good thing this is opinion and not fact, especially without evidence.

The scoring in Special is non-existant thanks to it being nearly impossible to snag 10k pts medals, pardon with Koful and or Whity.
Having said this, the aircraft line-up and ship selection is garbage compared to SW3, even 2. What scoring exists is weak thanks to medaling being nerfed and enemy point values plunging. It as I'm aware has no elements from SW3, pardon the top of the screen max medal bonus, but it has plenty from SW1, SW2, and SWL in terms of stages and ships.

I'm a fan of Sonic Wings and Special is alright but nowhere near to being the best in the series.

[Obiwanshinobi]

I think about the money (not medals), extra bombs and power ups in Special as an equivalent of fairies and 1ups in Raiden rather than than something heavily influencing the final score. The points earn me extends (which I badly need) and that's about it. Pure risk-and-reward thrill. The score's not on my mind at all during my runs. I like the purity of it all.
By the way, if you choose Ka-50 Hokum (Volk), make sure to try out both shot and rapid buttons (with rapid alone you won't be able to strafe).

[Ed Oscuro]

if it doesn't have team blazers and the awesome story of Sonic Wings 3 it can't be as good. FACT.

[Obiwanshinobi]

The story's in Japanese, so if you can't read it, you can make up your own one. I like the music in 3 better than in Special, but these days every time I give 2 or 3 a go, both make me wanna come back to Special.