Ray'z Arcade Chronology [Taito x M2] - PS4/Switch [2023]

[Flashman]

According to Mark at Electric Underground all the games on Ray'z for the PS4 come in a blistering fast 2 frames of input lag. This is without monitor lag so once you add that in most people are probably going to be closer to 3 frames or above depending.

It's really an amazing package. Best shmup release of the year thus far.

Semi-related, and this is just a question that's been floating in my head for a while, but, is there not a better way to measure input lag than what Mark does? He has so much influence here over the discussion, and what we see in videos is some janky little LED taped to a TV screen.

I don't really know the answer here, but within other gaming communities that care about these sorts of things, like fighting games, is this really the standard? We seem to log this sort of stuff as LAW, and I just have a hard believing it's all that accurate. So many variables that could be impacting that number...

Tbh I'm finding E.U. a bit tiresome these days - all his videos boil down to is frames now. That said looking forward to SHMUP Slam and it's great he organises that every year.

[davyK]

It's an opinion like any other though he at least does try and back it up with some evidence.

All depends if you can feel lag and you believe it affects performance.

Maybe if I had 2-ALLed DDP I'd be more sensitive to lag but it's rare that I notice it. Of course my performances could still be affected by it without me being aware of it. With controllers and displays there are so many variables that it can be a bit of a rabbit hole and it's easy to become obsessed with such a thing.

I suppose if you can look at his reviews and find that your experiences with a game agree with how he feels lag then his reviews are a useful guide.

Personally, I've avoided the S-tribute games as I simply don't see the point of playing a port of a port. I'm buying some Switch ports. I tend to trust M2 and so far the 2 Live Wire ports I've bought (Mushi and DFK) feel pretty good to me.

[BurlyHeart]

Do you think this will eventually end up on PC like Darius?

[m.sniffles.esq]

Tbh I'm finding E.U. a bit tiresome these days - all his videos boil down to is frames now.

Well, stop watching them and he'll stop making them...

I mean, a good portion of the problem is that the market is flooded with nothing but ports of 30+ year old titles, so there's really nothing left to talk about except the minutia of said ports

And that sort of feeds into the other problem, which is similar to what happened to baseball a few years ago. It was populated by a bunch of old, lazy assholes that just wanted to keep cashing checks until they were grey and feeble. So they got real into launch angle, and exit velo and other boring minutia that allowed them to do very, very little yet keep 'producing'. But--little by little--the game got repopulated by youngsters that just wanted to wile the fuck out and make crazy plays. And eventually, things became re-energized.

And in case you don't get the analogy, shooters are currently in the old, lazy, launch-angle, asshole phase. 'Here's some fucking port of a snes 'classic' but now snappy and efficient with 1/10 of a frame of lag and some collector's coins. Ain't that worth $50?'

[Carmen]

The 2-3 frames sounds right to me, the games feel phenomenal to play. Really makes one wish that that was the industry norm. Seriously, it was one of those eye-opening moments when I went back to the Taito Memories version of Rayforce after playing the Ray'z version. I immediately understood why everybody says the TM version is a laggy mess... having no other experience at the time I just kind of assumed that's how the game was

So yeah, I am liking Rayforce a lot more now. Though it feels like a very different game to get used to after having played so much of the other games with not being able to lock-on to everything.

I did re-download the demo of the Layer Section S-Tribute just to compare and... it was hard to tell. It felt fine? Certainly much better than the TM version. But I could only was able to play in consumer mode with the zoomed in screen so maybe that's why it felt different. I have also heard CC has went back and patched their games to improve the performance somewhat, so maybe that was it. I did recently pick up Elevator Action S-Tribute and that felt fine as well...

I am looking forward to a Darius Cozmic-style update where we get the PS1 versions with all their bonuses. Raycrisis Special Mode is a lot of fun.

[Sturmvogel Prime]

Got a problem with a trophy: How I can unlock the "I *heart* TAMAYO" trophy in RayCrisis?

[Rastan78]

Got a problem with a trophy: How I can unlock the "I *heart* TAMAYO" trophy in RayCrisis?

The way the soundtrack works is there are four different long tracks that can play through the main 4 stages. They're called Story 1, Story 2 etc. Which one plays is determined by the stage 2 you selected. So just play the game normally (presumably use the same initials in case that matters) and you'll hear all 4 tracks by trying out the different maps which pops the trophy.

[Kobz]

Ray’z Arcade Chronology is getting a Steam port: https://store.steampowered.com/app/247 ... hronology/

[FunktionJCB]

Ray’z Arcade Chronology is getting a Steam port: https://store.steampowered.com/app/247 ... hronology/

Awesome news!!!

Now I just need Taito to release the Darius Cozmic Collection Console compilation (they only released the Arcade one) to be a (mostly) happy man.

[gradiusscrub69]

Ray’z Arcade Chronology is getting a Steam port: https://store.steampowered.com/app/247 ... hronology/

man i hope it supports portrait/TATE

[cfx]

I can't imagine it not suppporting it since the consoole versions do.

Just for Rayforce of course, as Raystorm and Raycrisis don't use vertical screens anyway.

[FunktionJCB]

man i hope it supports portrait/TATE

Check that trailer on the Steam page, at 1:51.

It has it.

[BIL]

As expected of M2.

[cfx]

It's also listed there under Features to elimiate any doubt:

Play in landscape or rotate your monitor for portrait mode

[Bar81]

I didn't see any mention of R-Gear. That's disappointing.

[cvaniafan]

BTW, is the remixed soundtrack from the PS1 version of RayCrisis included ?

[SPM]

Any thoughts on when the SLG version is likely to ship? Their website says this summer, but that's not usually reliable right? I should've gone digital...

[Rastan78]

BTW, is the remixed soundtrack from the PS1 version of RayCrisis included ?

Yeah you can play the console soundtracks across all three games while still enjoying arcade accurate ports. Pretty cool IMO.

[EmperorIng]

The RayCrisis arrange in the M2 Collection is a mix of the official arrange album Rayons de L'Air and the PS1 arrange music, it uses some tracks from each (because the Rayons album isn't synced to the action of the whole game like the original tracks are). The main stage BGM is the PS1 arrange, while the intro, TLB and credits come from Rayons. DisHuman retains its Kissed by a Rose boss theme , though I think the Rayons version, Formless Living Bodies, would have been better (I love the piano intro of the former though).

I am surprised this is coming to steam so soon, but pleasantly so. That probably means I'll retire my switch version pretty handily and hopefully be able to belt out some clears from the comfort of PC, without the save-state handicap the Soytch version has (only 12 save states versus the 30-something on PS4).

[Koa Zo]

Any thoughts on when the SLG version is likely to ship? Their website says this summer, but that's not usually reliable right? I should've gone digital...

Might want to check with member Bar81 on that.

[Bar81]

Any thoughts on when the SLG version is likely to ship? Their website says this summer, but that's not usually reliable right? I should've gone digital...

Might want to check with member Bar81 on that.

Meeeooooowwwww!!!!

[Bar81]

Any thoughts on when the SLG version is likely to ship? Their website says this summer, but that's not usually reliable right? I should've gone digital...

There's apparently no rhyme or reason to their shipping schedule - I'm assuming it has to do with the various suppliers of the swag but I'm speculating. For example, I just got a shipping notice on Wonderboy Ultra Collection which was originally scheduled to ship in December of this year. I got the Turrican Ultra Collection shipped on time earlier in May of this year. Then there's Ray'z which seems to have fallen into a wormhole or something.

[qmish]

Well, stop watching them and he'll stop making them...

I stop watching EU videos after that biased R-type Final 2 "review"

I now prefer ShmupJunkie or others instead.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I've noticed on the Switch port of Ray'z, if you're using a 2nd gen oled based Switch setup when watching your replay or one downloaded from the ranking section for RayForce/RayStorm/RayCrisis, the oled screen won't go into "auto-dimming" mode (as it usually does with other Switch games if the CPU doesn't register any game control or button input within a certain amount of allotted time to save on lipo battery power). How cool is that?

Kudos to M2 for this cool little known tidbit when watching replays with an oled Switch setup indeed.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[BydoR9]

Come on now Strictly Limited Games, you say 'Summer 2023' it's now Autumn (today/tomorrow).

When are you going to dispatch my Ray'z Arcade Chronology????

I'm convinced my copy of DoDonPachi DOJ will arrive before it!

Any time soon.... 'Release Date Q1 2024' my prediction.

[Jucksalbe]

They haven't updated anything on their release schedule in the last three months which is really making me consider just cancelling my order.

[Carmen]

I got duped into buying the Strictly Limited rerelease of Wild Guns Reloaded, and it took far longer than their schedule said. I think nearly a year passed since I made the order; by the time it arrived I had already forgotten about it. I hope their QC has improved since then, since the actual quality of the product was nowhere near advertised, either (my arylic standee was printed backwards, for some reason, the "engraved" keychain was clearly not engraved, the box art looked like something even I could have put together in Photoshop...) And here I thought Limited Run products were disappointing (well, they still are, but that's another story...) Definetely the last time I ever get anything from them. Though at least this time all they have to do is copy the Japanese release (I presume?), so as long as they don't screw that up... Best of luck to all of you who decided to go down that route.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

the "engraved" keychain was clearly not engraved

Can you elaborate? Was there no design at all on the keychain? Or did it simply feel too "flat"? Some people don't realize that metal engraving with a laser doesn't feel like a normal diamond tip etching unless you go much deeper than is required to mark the metal, and can feel like it's the same depth as the metal around it when you rub your thumb on it.

[Jucksalbe]

I never had a problem with the quality of their releases (but I also seldom buy CEs), but the constant delays with hardly any information are what bothers me. Not to mention their weird practice of selling the same collection titles with less games at retail.

[Carmen]

the "engraved" keychain was clearly not engraved

Can you elaborate? Was there no design at all on the keychain? Or did it simply feel too "flat"? Some people don't realize that metal engraving with a laser doesn't feel like a normal diamond tip etching unless you go much deeper than is required to mark the metal, and can feel like it's the same depth as the metal around it when you rub your thumb on it.

Hmm, interesting, I didn't realise that. The logo is on the bullet-shaped keychain (well, it's more of a necklace I guess?), but it looks like it's just stamped on there... similar to the way the Sony logo is stamped on a Dualshock, for example. But perhaps that's still engraved? I certainly expected it to be cut deeper, the way you're describing.