gba purchase question...

sjewkestheloon · Post by **sjewkestheloon** » Thu May 26, 2005 12:06 pm

i've found phalanx and namco museum for the gba for ten quid a piece and i can only afford one of them off trades so i was wondering if you guys could give me a little advice. which one to get? bear in mind that i haven't played galaga or galaxians for a very long time but would like somethign like this for my gba to rack up some scores. kind of appeals to me to have something like this on gba. however phalanx looks pretty good and i've heard some good things. what's it like? are there any decent scoring mechanics, or interesting weapon ideas?

cheers for the input

SheSaidDutch · Post by **SheSaidDutch** » Thu May 26, 2005 12:18 pm

I would go for the Namco comp since you'll be getting more than one game in a single cart

What other games are on there?

sjewkestheloon · Post by **sjewkestheloon** » Thu May 26, 2005 12:26 pm

hey man

you get galaga, galaxians, dig dug, pole position and ms. pac man.

seems decent but i can't find any info about hi-score saves etc, or even anyone whose opinion i trust in a review

Accutron · Post by **Accutron** » Thu May 26, 2005 12:44 pm

Get Phalanx. It's a solid 16 bit sidescroller. The GBA Namco Museum is, bar none, the worst edition of Namco Museum, with only five games. Get it for a console instead, and you'll get a much more solid package, with Galaga Arrangement, Pac Man and Pac Man Arrangement, Pole Position 2, Dig Dug Arrangement, etc. If you really must have Namco on the GBA, wait for the new one that's coming out with like 14 games on it.

I've never played Phalanx on the GBA, but the original SNES version is pretty decent...Mode 7, 6 layer parallax scrolling, okay music, varied weapons. The GBA port is supposed to be good.

TVG · Post by **TVG** » Thu May 26, 2005 1:15 pm

phalanx has ok graphics but shit gameplay, level design and weapon system, i would like to say "imo" but this really isnt an opinion as much as a constatation.
it might have been better back in the day when there was no shmups for the snes tho.

if you bought the gba as a shmupping handheld, prepare for a world of hurt.

CMoon · Post by **CMoon** » Thu May 26, 2005 1:24 pm

Yeah, Phalanx on the GBA is nothing special--apparently far worse than its original SNES version.

As said above, the GBA really isn't shmup friendly. You should instead be investing in Astroboy, Wario ware, the Castlevania games, that new Zelda, etc...

Post by **Ghegs** » Thu May 26, 2005 1:36 pm

I rather liked Phalanx GBA.

ccovell · Post by **ccovell** » Thu May 26, 2005 1:53 pm

CMoon wrote:Yeah, Phalanx on the GBA is nothing special--apparently far worse than its original SNES version.

The original was on X68000, wasn't it?

(http://nfg.2y.net/sales/html/EpZuAVEFVlSyOEWoHn.html)

sjewkestheloon · Post by **sjewkestheloon** » Thu May 26, 2005 2:16 pm

trust me i didn't buy the gba for shmups, but i thought some portable fun would be in order from all genres. i think i probably will go with phalanx as the weapon system seems prety damn good to be honest. oh well i'll see what i fancy when i get there

Accutron · Post by **Accutron** » Thu May 26, 2005 3:18 pm

That page says the X68000 version is superior to the SNES and GBA versions. Anybody know what the differences are?

pixeljunkie · Post by **pixeljunkie** » Thu May 26, 2005 3:21 pm

Phalanx is okay....but frustrating as its hard to see things on the small screen. Tiny bullets don't help. Not much in the way of shmups on the GBA. I like Iridion 2 personally...you can always get R-Type DX for GB Color though. Of the 2 you listed though...go with Namco, more to play.

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Thu May 26, 2005 5:34 pm

I suggest waiting for the new Namco GBA pack coming out. It will have some of the same games as the current one and possibly better ports. However, it still has only five games. Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Galaga, Dig Dug and Bosconian. It was originally planned to have Rally-X, but it has been replaced by Bosconian. Hopefully, it will have Rally-X as a hidden game. Portable Rally-X would rock.

sjewkestheloon · Post by **sjewkestheloon** » Thu May 26, 2005 5:41 pm

ermmmm sorry guys but this topic is a bit irrelevant now....

went to the game shop (thati used to work in) and they had a perfect condition snes in, the console i was looking for originally. so the guy returned my sp and ff DOS, which cost 60 quid, and sold me a snes, 2 pads, and the following games for the dame price:

mario kart
super mario world
mario all stars
LOZ a link to the past
super r type
super strike gunner
super star wars
super ghouls and ghosts
starwing
pagemaster
incredible hulk
bob
alien 3
aladin
spin dizzy worlds
cool spot
the death and return of superman

i'm well chuffed!

sjewkestheloon · Post by **sjewkestheloon** » Thu May 26, 2005 5:45 pm

oh and i also got a mint condition boxed thunder force 2 for me md... been looking for that for ages!!

Accutron · Post by **Accutron** » Thu May 26, 2005 5:48 pm

BrianC wrote:However, it still has only five games.

Eh? According to Gamespot the GBA version will have Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Galaga, Galaxian, Dig Dug, Pole Position, Pole Position II, Rolling Thunder, Rally X, Bosconian, Dragon Spirit, Sky Kid, Xevious and Mappy.

EDIT: Nevermind, I see now they slipped in the bit about the GBA version being gimped right at the end of the article. Bah.

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Thu May 26, 2005 6:02 pm

Accutron wrote:
BrianC wrote:However, it still has only five games.
Eh? According to Gamespot the GBA version will have Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Galaga, Galaxian, Dig Dug, Pole Position, Pole Position II, Rolling Thunder, Rally X, Bosconian, Dragon Spirit, Sky Kid, Xevious and Mappy.

EDIT: Nevermind, I see now they slipped in the bit about the GBA version being gimped right at the end of the article. Bah.

Gamespot is very bad about multiplatform games with their E3 coverage. Most of the time, they do some cover all article that doesn't necessarily reflect the GBA version.

SheSaidDutch · Post by **SheSaidDutch** » Thu May 26, 2005 7:35 pm

sjewkestheloon wrote:ermmmm sorry guys but this topic is a bit irrelevant now...i'm well chuffed!

Congrats on a pretty sweet deal

Prepare to spend alot of late nights on Super GnG

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Thu May 26, 2005 7:41 pm

sjewkestheloon wrote:ermmmm sorry guys but this topic is a bit irrelevant now....

went to the game shop (thati used to work in) and they had a perfect condition snes in, the console i was looking for originally. so the guy returned my sp and ff DOS, which cost 60 quid, and sold me a snes, 2 pads, and the following games for the dame price:

mario kart
super mario world
mario all stars
LOZ a link to the past
super r type
super strike gunner
super star wars
super ghouls and ghosts
starwing
pagemaster
incredible hulk
bob
alien 3
aladin
spin dizzy worlds
cool spot
the death and return of superman

i'm well chuffed!

That's a pretty good haul. Star Fox, Mario, Super Star Wars, one of the better Superman games, Cool Spot, and Zelda. Aladdin is easy, but very fun. Not too sure about the others. I have Alien 3, but I need to play more of it for more of an opinion of it.

SheSaidDutch · Post by **SheSaidDutch** » Thu May 26, 2005 7:44 pm

BrianC wrote:That's a pretty good haul. Star Fox, Mairo, Super Star Wars, one of the better Superman games, Cool Spot, and Zelda. Aladdin is easy, but very fun. Not too sure about the others. I have Alien 3, but I need to play more of it for more of an opinion of it.

Esp considering Mario Kart (that I've seen) was priced at £24.99.

Zweihander · Post by **Zweihander** » Sat Aug 27, 2005 5:28 pm

CMoon wrote:Yeah, Phalanx on the GBA is nothing special--apparently far worse than its original SNES version.

false. the bullets actually look like bullets now, instead of those tiny red dots from the SNES version. plus, the Continue option is good for practice, since it doesn't save score. oh, and the game actually saves high scores now. far superior to the original, actually. :/

PooshhMao · Post by **PooshhMao** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 2:12 pm

... but unscaled graphics (or only very slightly) mean much less room to move in. Very crowded feel, not nice. R-Type III is even worse....

Recently got a GBA SP myself, but not for playing shmups... plenty of other ace games though (Metroid Zero Mission and Astro boy! And Gunstar Super Heroes which is coming!!