Vasara - your thoughts

[MmSadda]

Okay, I finally got myself a vert cab (involved a fair bit of creativity and hacking, but I got there) and have picked up a few games already, but I get antsy and ADD about wanting to try new games. I know a guy that's got Vasara up for sale, and I'm interested.

However, only Visco shmup that I know of otherwise is Andro Dunos on Neo Geo, and I wasn't a big fan of that game...

So, what do you more knowledgeable guys think about Vasara? Is it worth playing? Good game overall?
How simple or complicated is the scoring system?
How difficult is survival?
Would you draw any comparisons between it and games from any larger companies?


Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts.

-Collin

[emphatic]

Scoring involves holding A 'til to charge your sword, then try to hit as many enemies as possible with it to get multiple kill bonuses. You also get better score the more flag-bearing enemies you kill. Rather tedious IMHO. But it's a pretty game and the theme is very cool. It's not Guwange though. Also, it's become a bit pricey lately.

[MmSadda]

Scoring involves holding A 'til to charge your sword, then try to hit as many enemies as possible with it to get multiple kill bonuses. You also get better score the more flag-bearing enemies you kill. Rather tedious IMHO. But it's a pretty game and the theme is very cool. It's not Guwange though. Also, it's become a bit pricey lately.

Define "pricey" - how much did it used to go for, and what does it go for now?

Game looks interesting, and pretty. To be honest, I'm a sucker for pretty games.

[jonny5]

Scoring involves holding A 'til to charge your sword, then try to hit as many enemies as possible with it to get multiple kill bonuses. You also get better score the more flag-bearing enemies you kill. Rather tedious IMHO. But it's a pretty game and the theme is very cool. It's not Guwange though. Also, it's become a bit pricey lately.

Define "pricey" - how much did it used to go for, and what does it go for now?

Game looks interesting, and pretty. To be honest, I'm a sucker for pretty games.

play galuda....

[MmSadda]

play galuda....

You say this because Vasara isn't worth playing, or because Galuda is just THAT good?

[Obiwanshinobi]

May I ask why don't you just check out Vasara 1&2 in MAME? It's your opinion that matters for you after all.

[MmSadda]

May I ask why don't you just check out Vasara 1&2 in MAME? It's your opinion that matters for you after all.

That's a good point. To be honest, I just simply haven't gotten into the whole MAME thing. I should probably do that, as I used to use a Neo Geo emulator to test those games, and found it was pretty effective at determining what games were must-haves.

What's the best way to go about getting it at this point?

Thanks for the advice.

[clp]

Both vasaras are excellent the 2nd is better though but also alot tougher , its true vasara isnt guwange because the scoring systems are actually fun to learn . Get them both if you can you wont regret it .The first one is all about using melee attack at best points to get highest kill combos as you can the 2nd you use the melee attack to get as many hits throughout a stage it resets to 0 if you use the attack and dont hit anything .

[clp]

play galuda....

You say this because Vasara isn't worth playing, or because Galuda is just THAT good?

No he says it because he cant go one post without mentioning cave , true story.

[Ed Oscuro]

Vasara is good. The melee thing could be tedious, I suppose, but I was always focused on trying to hit as many enemies as possible to feel put upon or tired of it.

That said, even though I also saw the Vasara for a good price, I didn't jump on it.

lol @ Cave mention...

[clp]

Vasara is good. The melee thing could be tedious, I suppose, but I was always focused on trying to hit as many enemies as possible to feel put upon or tired of it.

That said, even though I also saw the Vasara for a good price, I didn't jump on it.

lol @ Cave mention...

Have you tried vasara 2? it really fixes the tedious nature of the first,s scoring system IMO

[MmSadda]

Both vasaras are excellent the 2nd is better though but also alot tougher , its true vasara isnt guwange because the scoring systems are actually fun to learn . Get them both if you can you wont regret it .The first one is all about using melee attack at best points to get highest kill combos as you can the 2nd you use the melee attack to get as many hits throughout a stage it resets to 0 if you use the attack and dont hit anything .

Got ya, thanks for the advice! The game did look pretty solid, if heavy on close-range, to me, but I can't tell much from videos. It almost sounds like scoring works out somewhat similar to Ketsui without the collection - is that a fair comparison at all?

No he says it because he cant go one post without mentioning cave , true story.

LOL! He's probably referring to the fact that I picked up Galuda yesterday, and he had some posts in the thread. He also knows I've been geeking out about getting ESPGaluda - it's the one Cave game that is a must-own I've played so far (at least taking into account the cost of PCBs.) I take it you, like me, are of the mindset that for as good as Cave can be, they're not the end-all-be-all of shmups?

Vasara is good. The melee thing could be tedious, I suppose, but I was always focused on trying to hit as many enemies as possible to feel put upon or tired of it.

That said, even though I also saw the Vasara for a good price, I didn't jump on it.

lol @ Cave mention...

Cool, thank you for more worthwhile feedback! I actually saw it on neo-geo.com before here. I'm tempted to give it a try, particularly if I can work out a trade with the guy. It seems to me like most companies that made shmups had one or two distinct styles of gameplay that permeate everything they made, and I'd be interested to try something (other than the Neo Geo shmups) that isn't Cave or Psikyo.

[emphatic]

It almost sounds like scoring works out somewhat similar to Ketsui without the collection - is that a fair comparison at all?

No. Vasara (1) scoring is more like a fighting game set in the air while Ketsui is a shmup in every aspect.

[Ed Oscuro]

Vasara is good. The melee thing could be tedious, I suppose, but I was always focused on trying to hit as many enemies as possible to feel put upon or tired of it.

That said, even though I also saw the Vasara for a good price, I didn't jump on it.

lol @ Cave mention...

Have you tried vasara 2? it really fixes the tedious nature of the first,s scoring system IMO

Yes, I still go back to Vasara though. In fact I thought I preferred the first.

It almost sounds like scoring works out somewhat similar to Ketsui without the collection - is that a fair comparison at all?

No. Vasara (1) scoring is more like a fighting game set in the air

So you mean you have to end every combo with a kick?

[clp]

All this talk makes me wanna come back to vasara 2 heh.

[zakk]

There's not much actual 'shooting' in Vasara; keep that in mind if stuff like that tends to matter to you. You're going to spend 95% of your time swinging the melee attack into groups of enemies.

[BulletMagnet]

There's not much actual 'shooting' in Vasara; keep that in mind if stuff like that tends to matter to you. You're going to spend 95% of your time swinging the melee attack into groups of enemies.

This is the main make-or-break point when it comes to Vasara - you've got to be down with using melee attacks as much as possible, especially if you're playing for score. Personally I rather like the setup, as it's a nice change from most "shooting" games: give the Vasaras a try on MAME and see what you think. If you do end up playing them, make sure to stop by the high-score thread linked in my sig.

[Ed Oscuro]

In a way, the Vasaras are just taking to the logical extreme a strange situation that has occured in many "shooting" games where the focus is less on shooter and more on dodging barrages of bullets - the shooting aspect in some games - and the shooting is just relegated to a replacement for a timer as you wait for each enemy to auto-destruct. I don't mean that every new game is this way, or even many of them, but it feels that way in many games.

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

May I ask why don't you just check out Vasara 1&2 in MAME? It's your opinion that matters for you after all.

That's a good point. To be honest, I just simply haven't gotten into the whole MAME thing. I should probably do that, as I used to use a Neo Geo emulator to test those games, and found it was pretty effective at determining what games were must-haves.

What's the best way to go about getting it at this point?

Thanks for the advice.

I still think the best way to determine whether you like the game or not is to get an emulator. Try mame32. It's the easiest solution I can think of, it has a built-in frontend, so you just download a game, put it in the rom-folder and select it from the game list. Some configuring of buttons may be involved at this point...

[lgb]

Vasara, like every other Visco game in existence, works. It's a solid game with solid mechanics. Vasara 2 is a big fat upgrade to everything in Vasara, so you may want to use the first game as a stepping stone/as warm-up.

[MmSadda]

I still think the best way to determine whether you like the game or not is to get an emulator. Try mame32. It's the easiest solution I can think of, it has a built-in frontend, so you just download a game, put it in the rom-folder and select it from the game list. Some configuring of buttons may be involved at this point...

Where would you go to get MAME and roms? Just a torrent tracker, or what?

[clp]

just google dude mame is freeware theres many versions available on many sites and just put vasara or vasara 2 rom into google for a million rom sites and a direct link .

[Ghegs]

There are many different variations of MAME, MameUI is one of the more friendly ones.

As far as asking for roms go, this is not the forum to do it in as per the Forum Rules.

[NTSC-J]

I hate the way enemies push you around (and often into bullets). Whenever I play I get so antsy having to hold the melee and wish I could just use the shot and dodge like normal, but that's not how you Vasara, and so that's why I don't.

If you want to play a non-Cave or Psikyo (kind of boggles the mind, really) try Cyvern, Varth and Air Gallet. Some good variety and quality with those.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Make sure to disable bilinear filtering in MAME and if you are using an LCD, run MAME in its native resolution. As for the scanlines, I suggest Real Scanlines. Look good on a CRT, although for LCD you might want something fancier. Scanlines + no filtering is way to go when you play lo-res games on emulators.
Also, don't be a stranger to this MAME hack. Won't help you with Vasara, but Vasara doesn't terribly need it from what I remember.

[BulletMagnet]

I hate the way enemies push you around (and often into bullets).

I never quite understood that complaint about the game - in most shmups if an enemy touches you you're dead instantly anyway, here you at least have a chance of surviving a brush with one.

[MmSadda]

There are many different variations of MAME, MameUI is one of the more friendly ones.

As far as asking for roms go, this is not the forum to do it in as per the Forum Rules.

Of course not, sorry about that. I got caught up in the discussion and lost track of where the line in the sand is. Thanks for the heads up.

just google dude mame is freeware theres many versions available on many sites and just put vasara or vasara 2 rom into google for a million rom sites and a direct link .

True, but some places are better than others/have more reliable members, etc...

[clp]

I hate the way enemies push you around (and often into bullets). Whenever I play I get so antsy having to hold the melee and wish I could just use the shot and dodge like normal, but that's not how you Vasara, and so that's why I don't.

If you want to play a non-Cave or Psikyo (kind of boggles the mind, really) try Cyvern, Varth and Air Gallet. Some good variety and quality with those.

You can play vasara just like shooting and dodging if you please its fully possible you just wont score well . Also as said the bumping you around thing is a weak complaint compared to most shmups that annoyingly kill you vasara gives you a chance .Its sad to see whenever a shmup comes out doing something different or its own thing no matter how well executed there is always a massive % of traditionalists who just cant bare having to think past shooting and dodging , i guess thats why the psyvariars arnt that popular here either .

[MathU]

Am I the only one who doesn't think the 2nd game upgraded the mechanics? I actually prefer how the 1st game plays.

[clp]

Am I the only one who doesn't think the 2nd game upgraded the mechanics? I actually prefer how the 1st game plays.

The 2nd one is way more more refined i feel and has a better scoring system infact probably the first shmup ive ever played with friendly stage long chaining . Its nice there both different enough to warrant preferences the second has boss milking to but again nothing to strenuous .