Saturn shmups and a short intro

[DreamerNL]

Hey all, this is my first post here...although I'm not new to the shmup genre
Mostly people from the US here, or some people from Europe maybe? I'm from Holland myself.
Anyway, I was wondering how good the Saturn ports of Gekirindan and Batsugun were...good, perfect or Don-Dodonpachi flawed?

Thanks a bunch!

[BulletMagnet]

Hello, welcome to the forum.

As for the ports, I own Batsugun and it's very good, it includes both the "regular" and "special" versions of the game and plays faithfully...some of the slowdown was removed though, so later levels might be harder.

I haven't played the Saturn Gekirindan, but supposedly it's not very good port-wise.

[Neon]

Batsugun is better than arcade perfect and a must own.

Gekirindan is a bad port of a bad game. Graphics messed in the translation, has mid level load times. Still playable...why you'd want to play it is another discussion.

[llabnip]

Batsugun is a must-have for the Saturn. Really well ported and has a special Saturn mode and remixed music and... well... is just a swell game.

Gekirindan is a bad port but that that doesn't stop it from being a fun shooter. I'm in the minority here, but it's sort of a guilty pleasure for me and I love Gekirindan quite a bit. The port suffers some wierd jerking at a few minor points in the first level and there is a bit of loading from CD before the bosses (as the british guy might say "simply unacceptable in a shooter if you ask me") and there is no high score saving. Heck, even the graphics are a bit unstable at points... but the music is TOP notch (Zuntata!) and the gameplay is, thankfully, unaffected. Great style and I dig the time travel theme. One of my favs for the saturn (I like it more than Layer Section/Galactic Attack/Rayforce, but then again I'm not too big on drifty ship that self-centers or the lock-ons unless I'm playing Sokyu where it was done much better, IMO).

[BulletMagnet]

has a special Saturn mode...

What are you referring to? The "special" game? If that's the case then it's really not a "Saturn mode," as the "special" version was (AFAIK) released as a separate arcade game from the original. Or did you mean something else?

[Ganelon]

He obviously meant Special Ver. since there's nothing else. But hey, it's sort of like getting 2 games in one (as if DOJ included both DOJ and Black Label) since Special Ver. sure isn't included in the original Batsugun PCB.

[CMoon]

Gekirindan is a bad port of a bad game. Graphics messed in the translation, has mid level load times. Still playable...why you'd want to play it is another discussion.

*sigh*

Geikirindan is a fine (if not somewhat slowpaced) game made by ex-toaplan staff which serves as a functional homage to toaplan, including skull bombs from Truxton, a Fireshark level, etc.

My biggest beef with the game is the large and very touchy hit box.

I can't see calling this a bad game, though it isn't top 25 stuff either.

The port suffers from some graphic glitches and a couple points where the scrolling is jerky for a second. There is also slight loading time before each boss.

All that said, Gekirindan has earned a bad reputation for no reason other than the blunders in the port are inexcusable given the perfect port of Layer Section.

I'd also like to point out that this port is a better one than say, the Saturn port of Donpachi which many people here find playable; so don't buy into what all the naysayers espouse. Try it out in mame and if you like it, pick it up; it is pretty inexpensive and none of the glitches in the port actually affect gameplay in anyway.

[Neon]

I'd also like to point out that this port is a better one than say, the Saturn port of Donpachi which many people here find playable; so don't buy into what all the naysayers espouse.

Matter of opinion. Donpachi, for all its flaws, doesn't load in the middle of a friggin level The graphics are totally intact too. I'd view it as a better port to the Saturn than Dodon...DDP's awesome explosions got ruined.

[CMoon]

Yes, but despite Gekirindan's problems, there is no actual faults in the gameplay. No slowdown, nothing. Donpachi actually has slowdown and various other problems that actually DO hamper gamplay.

Hell, let's completely write off G Darius since the whole damn game has slowdown (never mind the last couple R-Types)

Gekirindan is an ugly, unfortunate port that has no functional gameplay problems. It doesn't help that it is an average shmup.

But with a mentality like that, I'd never end up playing Metal Black...and there is nothing that makes a real SHMUP-O fan than getting your ass handed to you by the second level of Metal Black!

Edit: Haha, let's write off my entire life which is filled with glitches, slowdown, and apparently got ported to the 3DO

[Ganelon]

Also annoying is that Taito's Saturn home ports (regardless of who ported them) never had any extras...

[jp]

I'd also like to point out that this port is a better one than say, the Saturn port of Donpachi which many people here find playable; so don't buy into what all the naysayers espouse.

Matter of opinion. Donpachi, for all its flaws, doesn't load in the middle of a friggin level The graphics are totally intact too. I'd view it as a better port to the Saturn than Dodon...DDP's awesome explosions got ruined.

Tell me you didn't just say you felt DonPachi was a better port than DDP. Please.


Slightly pixelated explosions (which, you really shouldn't be paying TOO much attention to anyways in a manic shmup) vs. tons of extra slowdown, a drastic decrease in sound quality, and horrendous load times.

No.



As for the original poster's questions:
Gekirindan - Not too great, but playable. The gameplay is still there and the music is fine. But there's some extra slowdown, a lack of extras, and some nasty loading.

Batsugun - Better than the arcade. Get it.

[Neon]

Slightly pixelated explosions (which, you really shouldn't be paying TOO much attention to anyways in a manic shmup) vs. tons of extra slowdown, a drastic decrease in sound quality, and horrendous load times.

The slowdown doesn't bother me much, the sound quality decrease sucks but the same thing happened to DDP, the load times aren't much more than the PSX version between levels (just the initial load).

[captain ahar]

perhaps not the right place, but with all this talk of Batsugun... i want it so hard. sounds so fun, especially the special version.

still haven't seen video for the game, so my first experience will be quite the event.

[CMoon]

Batsugun is one of my all time favorite shmups. What with all this talk I stuck it in and did a quick run through. It completely has its own feel and no other game is quite like it. Absolutely one of the very best.

[Tar-Palantir]

But with a mentality like that, I'd never end up playing Metal Black...and there is nothing that makes a real SHMUP-O fan than getting your ass handed to you by the second level of Metal Black!

A-ha...but where? The shiny orbs, the mid-boss or the rows of bug-eyed fishes firing diagonal bullets after they pass you ?

[jp]

But with a mentality like that, I'd never end up playing Metal Black...and there is nothing that makes a real SHMUP-O fan than getting your ass handed to you by the second level of Metal Black!

A-ha...but where? The shiny orbs, the mid-boss or the rows of bug-eyed fishes firing diagonal bullets after they pass you ?

God I love Metal Black.


So "infernally cheap" as the high score thread says... but 1CCing it is like, one of the most satisfying things I've ever done shmupwise.