Castle Shikigami games

[Lawfer]

Are these any good? And is there any reasons to pick up the US versions over the japanese versions (story? dialogues?)

[Special World]

I'm not overly fond of them. They're not bad by any means, but they lack the sort of emphasis towards survival or scoring that makes a shooter truly great. And grazing, yuck.

[Pretas]

Run screaming away from the US PS2 release of Shikigami 1, known as Mobile Light Force 2.

[viper_phase1]

XS Games' localization for Shikigami no Shiro II is Tensai-level comedy. Unparalleled.

[KAI]

“It's Idiot Power!"
The localizations are crap and the games are hard but also addictive as cocaine (yep, I said it)

[Lawfer]

Lol:



Mobile Lightforce and Mobile Lightforce 2 arent even games from the same series.

[davyK]

The Gamecube version of Shikigami 2 is rather nice. You need to be able to play imports though as it is JPN only. The PAL PS2 version of Shikigami 2 is a huge step up from the horror that is Shikigami 1 (aka Mobile Light Force) but sadly it is 50Hz only.

[cj iwakura]

I'm kind of a fan. *cough*


If you care about the story, play the first game on PC and use the translation patch[shameless plug] that we spent like a year on[/shameless plug].

The Shiki games have a ridiculously convoluted plot, and I enjoy them enough.

If you just want curtain fire madness, they're good for that too. And as said, Shiki 2's dub is PRICELESS.

Shiki 3 on the Wii has a legitimately good dub and a hilarious plot. The guys at Aksys obviously had a blast writing and acting it out.

It's the weakest game of the three, but still well worth playing.

So, IMO: 2 > 1 > 3

Also, 1 is easily the hardest.

[Strikers1945guy]

Only played the original but I do love it (Arcade hardware: Taito GNET setup). I find the grazing fun (and don't care for Psyvariar series) so Shikigami no Shiro gets a lot of play in my cab

[Obiwanshinobi]

I'm not sure about 1 and 3, but 2 is one of very few shmups that come near Sonic Wings Special in terms of variety of play styles depending on the choice of playable character. Just saying they are numerous and varied. Castle Shikigami 2 US is a loveable localisation indeed, but the port - reportedly - isn't 100% "arcade perfect".
All three got decent PC ports, but I think 3 on Wii has an exclusive "sped up bullets" mode.
If you intend to play them on LCD, bear in mind 2 and 3 on PC output pretty high resolutions (and the platform isn't region-locked).

[Damocles]

You can pick all of them up for peanuts. Do so.

[chempop]

As far as the PS2 Castle of Shikigami, the US ver has hilarious translations that are the reason it’s worth playing. Sadly, mobile lightforce 2 (shiki1) has no tate option so you may want to find an import version if possible.

[Herr Schatten]

I've only ever played the second one, but it's among my favourite shmups. As has been mentioned before, the variety of playstyles offered through choice of character is immense.

[Despatche]

they're cool games. like sonic wings/psikyo, you get a bazillion characters that do different things (which is why mlf did what it did). the game itself and scoring is pretty fun; it's somewhere between esprade/galuda and touhou i guess?

strangely, the series seems to get slightly worse as it goes on; the first game might be the best, with the best design and music. the graphics and i think story get slightly better as you go along though.

[BulletMagnet]

I feel like an idiot for asking, but I'm kinda curious why the general consensus seems to be that the series' later entries weren't as good (or at least that III was the worst)...I haven't 1CCed them or anything, but having played all three to some extent I tend to like the gameplay enhancements that each sequel made (II added alternate focus shot types and kept shot power constant, III auto-collects all coins and allows bombs to be sacrificed for scoring). I'm wondering what it is I'm missing from a more experienced perspective...

[cj iwakura]

I feel like an idiot for asking, but I'm kinda curious why the general consensus seems to be that the series' later entries weren't as good (or at least that III was the worst)...I haven't 1CCed them or anything, but having played all three to some extent I tend to like the gameplay enhancements that each sequel made (II added alternate focus shot types and kept shot power constant, III auto-collects all coins and allows bombs to be sacrificed for scoring). I'm wondering what it is I'm missing from a more experienced perspective...

Personally? III's final boss. I's is pretty ludicrous too, but II's is very fair. Everything Kuga does can be avoided.

Tsukiko and Shoujo both have unavoidable BS attacks, or at least nigh impossible to dodge.

And Shoujo from I is a straight-up endurance trial.

[xxx1993]

I'm kind of a fan. *cough*


If you care about the story, play the first game on PC and use the translation patch[shameless plug] that we spent like a year on[/shameless plug].

The Shiki games have a ridiculously convoluted plot, and I enjoy them enough.

If you just want curtain fire madness, they're good for that too. And as said, Shiki 2's dub is PRICELESS.

Shiki 3 on the Wii has a legitimately good dub and a hilarious plot. The guys at Aksys obviously had a blast writing and acting it out.

It's the weakest game of the three, but still well worth playing.

So, IMO: 2 > 1 > 3

Also, 1 is easily the hardest.

How is 3 the weakest? I thought it was the greatest, actually. It had nicer artwork compared to the previous games, Kohtaro's new outfit looks badass (reminds me of Kyo Kusanagi from The King of Fighters), the voice acting is more improved, and the graphics are much better.

[xxx1993]

Also, 3 has Reika Kirishima from Time Gal, who looks even cuter in this game.

[Strikers1945guy]

Also, 3 has Reika Kirishima from Time Gal, who looks even cuter in this game.

this is why we play stg

[BulletMagnet]

Personally? III's final boss.

Stupid attacks, huh? Weird that they'd make such a rookie mistake three games into a series that's pretty well-built otherwise...

[xxx1993]

Doesn't anyone here at least like Reika? Heck, she breaks the fourth wall more than the other characters, even asking the player to lend her a hand during the final boss battle.

[BulletMagnet]

I did find it amusing how she used her time-travel powers mainly to get tabloid dirt on the rest of the cast.

[cj iwakura]

Doesn't anyone here at least like Reika? Heck, she breaks the fourth wall more than the other characters, even asking the player to lend her a hand during the final boss battle.

I love Reika! Don't get me wrong, I love Shiki 3. I bought the Wii for it.

It's just not as fun in comparison to the others. Stage 1 is great, and it's downhill from there.

[Despatche]

How is 3 the weakest? I thought it was the greatest, actually. It had nicer artwork compared to the previous games, Kohtaro's new outfit looks badass (reminds me of Kyo Kusanagi from The King of Fighters), the voice acting is more improved, and the graphics are much better.

because not even all of these things can counter sloppier gameplay

also the music pretty much sucks. ii's is better, but the original just stomps them both completely and utterly. the remixes in ii are really bad

[AntiFritz]

Shiki 2 has a boss where you play connect four to win. CONNECT FOUR. It will always be the best of the three for this.

[M.Knight]

I don't get what is supposed to be so unfair about 3's final boss, aside from the "scream" attack whose hitbox I still cannot decipher. I managed to 1CC the game with Batu-B and there was no pattern where I thought it was impossible, even if some seem very difficult at first such as the first form's very first attack with the red waves. I think the last form's first pattern with the green arcs and aimed purple bullets can also be very tricky, but once you destroy one of the two upper orange generators it becomes easy-peasy.

What I enjoy about Shiki' 3 is how it seems inspired by Raizing suicide mechanics but only for scoring as there is no rank. Extends are rewarded very often and bombs are given for each life won or lost. Bombs can be used as HTMs to boost the score multiplier for a short while. You end up suiciding from time to time to regain bombs in order to use them one after the other during the stages and regain extends to gain a few bombs and to allow new suicides to gain even more bombs, and so on and so forth. Grazing defintely took a seat back in this game even though it is still useful when HTMs are not active.

My few complaints would be that the ennemy waves and general atmosphere seem less inspired than 2's and the first two stages are too long given their relatively easy difficulty. That last one applies to the entire series, I guess.

By the way, does anyone know if there are available videos of runs with Emilio? I wonder how you have to tackle the stages with this character but I can't find anything. Is the Appreciate DVD the only reference?

[cj iwakura]

I'm not sure you can survive Tsukiko's scream. Maybe you're expected to nuke her, who knows.

[M.Knight]

I think I managed to dodge it a few times by staying at the very bottom of the screen, but sometimes I get hit even if my hitbox wasn't seemingly colliding with the scream. While the rest is manageable, that attack is a bit fishy. At least I don't get how it works.
If I have HTMs in stock, I tend to activate one and use its start-up invincibility frames to avoid any trouble. A regular bomb should also be fine, of course.

[professor ganson]

This might be my favorite shmup series of all time. Love, love the art & music. The gameplay/scoring is fantastic. The game to start with is Shiki 2 because most everyone loves that. Then, if you like Shiki 2, the other two games are more challenging so you can work up to them.

[xxx1993]

How is 3 the weakest? I thought it was the greatest, actually. It had nicer artwork compared to the previous games, Kohtaro's new outfit looks badass (reminds me of Kyo Kusanagi from The King of Fighters), the voice acting is more improved, and the graphics are much better.

because not even all of these things can counter sloppier gameplay

also the music pretty much sucks. ii's is better, but the original just stomps them both completely and utterly. the remixes in ii are really bad

Eh, the only music I didn't like was Stage 4's original music, because that one sounded moody and boring.