Why is Toaplan's V-Five called V-Five

rtw · Post by **rtw** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 2:52 pm

After playing this game for a while I got curious, why does it have this strange name ?

Does the Kanji above the V-V in the title screen mean anything ?

http://www.games-db.com/img/3/ingame/vfive.png

Is it a reference to the weapon system ? Weird because there are 6 slots ?

Does V-Five mean something special in Japan ?

Did it get a console release ? If it did, maybe there is some story ?

rtw

Macaw · Post by **Macaw** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 3:27 pm

Thats not Kanji thats katakana, and it just spells out V-Five in japanese. I've never actualy played this game before....I think i'll check it out now...

it290 · Post by **it290** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 4:02 pm

It did get a console release on the Genesis. I don't think V-V means anything, they probably just thought it sounded cool. There's no more story than any other Toaplan game as far as I can tell.

incognoscente · Post by **incognoscente** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 9:59 pm

The story, from memory:

Players lined up to play arcade games for decades, but as time went on, fewer players filled the queues. The spark was gone.

Expert players could clear the games within weeks of release and the machines were then relegated to the unpopular corner of the game centers. Easy games were outright boycotted.

[I don't specifically remember if a year was mentioned. Let me guess at something like 2134]

Advances in Virtual Reality have allowed players a direct connection to games so that their very thoughts could effortlessly move the ship about the screen. No more excuses for control devices or autofire. All that's left is skill and ability.

The game V-V is released in arcades, but with a twist. With the player hooked into the game, if the player dies in game, the nervous system is sent a response that effectively ends the life of the player.

This is the game for the experts of the future. This is V-V.

edit:
found it, cleaned it:

2D was not enough, and so 3D was introduced to placate the players.

And then 3D was not enough.

In 2210, the demand for a new experience demanded an ultimate arcade game machine.

Thus, GrindStormer was born.
The Ultimate Game Machine.

No game presented a truly compelling experience of engaging in combat within a game.
This defect can be remedied via the fifth option (V-V) of the game.

It is the ultimate--if the game is not cleared, there is no return.

[there is more, but that's the important stuff :)]

iatneH · Post by **iatneH** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 10:16 pm

Holy cow.

I'm scared to play now O______________o

Twiddle · Post by **Twiddle** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 10:25 pm

That game's story is incredibly ironic when looking at the current trends of video games.

Post by **Shatterhand** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 4:20 am

Maybe, inside the storyline, there was a game called V, then it spanned a series, with V-II, V-III, V-IV, and finally, V-V

SAM · Post by **SAM** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 4:38 am

You make that story up all by yourself, incognoscente.

That's not the actual V-V's story.

But it is much more funny than the actual one anyways.

Arcatech · Post by **Arcatech** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 8:16 am

That post was the shit incognoscente. For real.

rtw · Post by **rtw** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 9:01 am

Thank you for an interesting alternate parallel storyline

So no one here has the original manual for the MD to have a quick peek in ?

rtw

DC906270 · Post by **DC906270** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 9:08 am

I have the manual. what would you like to know (btw i dont read japanese)

Neon · Post by **Neon** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 9:10 am

http://www.genesiscollective.com/

They might have a manual (US release is renamed Grindstormer IIRC). Sorry, don't have time to download it and check atm.

rtw · Post by **rtw** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 10:05 am

DC906270 wrote:I have the manual. what would you like to know (btw i dont read japanese)

Swell, plenty of people here do, if it's not too many pages maybe you could scan them or take a digital photograph ?

rtw

rtw · Post by **rtw** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 10:14 am

Neon wrote:http://www.genesiscollective.com/

They might have a manual (US release is renamed Grindstormer IIRC). Sorry, don't have time to download it and check atm.

I had a quick check, the online version only has a box scan and the downloadable archive contains mostly cheats.

rtw

rtw · Post by **rtw** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 10:16 am

On my searches throught the net I found this:

I have asked the owner of the site where he got it and if he has it in a higher resolution, but to no avail. There is some Japanese text on the flyer can anyone make out what it says ?

rtw

DC906270 · Post by **DC906270** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 10:32 am

sorry, but i dont have a scanner, and a photo wouldnt be readable im afraid

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 12:54 pm

I have asked the owner of the site where he got it and if he has it in a higher resolution, but to no avail. There is some Japanese text on the flyer can anyone make out what it says ?rtw

見せてあげよう最高のシューティング

In Engrish, "Let's show them great shooting". (Like showing off your abilities in a shooter). Doesn't really help the storyline.

I own the PCB, and I think the instruction card, but of course, that doesn't help at all.

rtw · Post by **rtw** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 2:56 pm

GaijinPunch wrote:見せてあげよう最高のシューティング

In Engrish, "Let's show them great shooting". (Like showing off your abilities in a shooter). Doesn't really help the storyline.

Thank you gajinpunch for that translation! I scanned my extras just in case there is something written there.

Here are the scans:

http://home.online.no/~an-tj/rtw/v_five/v_five_1.jpg
http://home.online.no/~an-tj/rtw/v_five/v_five_2.jpg

While playing the game I started to wonder if the shape and the amount of weapons might have something to do with it. By moving your ship back and forth you change the position of the external cannons. They move in an angle describing a V.

Then when you are at full shot power you have 5 laser streams:

What do you think, plausible or not ?

rtw

Limbrooke · Post by **Limbrooke** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 4:31 am

I'd like to know if anyone has any gripes or comments on the difference between Grind Stormer (NTSC-U/C) and V.V (NTSC-J) on Genesis.
Now as I've come across it seems in GS you pick up the options without choice of 'powering up', whereas V.V allows you the customization. I was startled when I realized this, and it really swayed my opinion on getting the domestic release over the import since having a choice was in the arcade too.

gameoverDude · Post by **gameoverDude** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 4:40 am

Limbrooke wrote:I'd like to know if anyone has any gripes or comments on the difference between Grind Stormer (NTSC-U/C) and V.V (NTSC-J) on Genesis.
Now as I've come across it seems in GS you pick up the options without choice of 'powering up', whereas V.V allows you the customization. I was startled when I realized this, and it really swayed my opinion on getting the domestic release over the import since having a choice was in the arcade too.

Tengen's Grind Stormer for Genesis does have V-V in it as an alternate mode. It's been awhile, but IIRC you select it from the options screen.

Blade · Post by **Blade** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 5:25 am

That storyline sounds a lot like something out of Kid Chameleon. Where a videogames runs amuck due to it's realisim and cyber intelligence.

gameoverDude · Post by **gameoverDude** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 5:34 am

The checkpoint system in GS/VV is a bit of a regression after some other Toaplan games IMO. Twin Cobra is better than Kyukyoku Tiger because it ditches them.

When the rank climbs, the bullet speed goes bonkers. Die, and you'll notice them being slower for awhile. Just goes to show I can handle an absolute screen-filling clusterfuck of 280 slow Cave style bullets better than 40 fast Toaplan ones. Ketsui and DOJ look easy compared to this, just IMO.

louisg · Post by **louisg** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 5:42 am

Just goes to show I can handle an absolute screen-filling clusterfuck of 280 slow Cave style bullets better than 40 fast Toaplan ones. Ketsui and DOJ look easy compared to this, just IMO.

Yeah I think fast bullets are generally much harder.. slow flowery manic bullets = eye candy.. fast aimed bullets = OMFG!!

Man, I still need Grind Stormer.. that game really is pretty cool

iatneH · Post by **iatneH** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 6:29 am

Is the game really that hard to find?

I almost forgot I had a copy... I guess I should give it another go since I've now discovered my Toaplan love :)

Skyknight · Post by **Skyknight** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 4:06 pm

I myself remember finding a translation which suggested that V-Five took place in virtual reality. Something about a cyberspace infection.

In other words, the milieu is supposed to be something akin to Raycrisis.

EDIT: Okay, I found the original Japanese story, and sicced BabelFish on it...

That former times, the sufficient game which changed the point of view such as 2D and 3D swaggered, appeared to those of the type which is called virtual reality and the like as the developmental type, but request of the people who do not have the upper limit did not reach even those it makes be satisfied. Western calendar 2210, demand for the further stimulus for the game of the people was born the ultimate arcade game machine here. As for the name "grinding ストーマー". It was the super actual experience game that this ultimate game machine already the player is not as a game, enters into the world of the game in actuality and experiences battle. 5th menu of this game " < V? > (ヴィ five)". If it does not clear this, returning to the actual world, it was the super ultimate special menu which bet your own life to the question skillfulness which this is not. Concentrating leading technology because of this game, the player machine "NA which was made? 00 ". That, whether the actual fighter plane compared to 遙 had the specifications which are superior. Usual it is equipped, "WING" was invincible デヴァイス which does not receive any attack by completely putting "WING" itself in another dimension. With the operation of the player unrestrictedly be able to modify the attack range, it can shoot the bullet of power of usual several times in addition by utilizing the distortion of the dimension which occurs the occasion where "the WING" fellow it contacted, when "SHOT", the enemy is discovered, corresponding to the number of life inside that fuselage reactions, until you attach the aim, destroy you shoot the bullet and continue to be packed when it hits "SEARCH", and to the enemy, the absolute magnetic field which is formed by the fusion with the fuel of the enemy plane adds further attack, "MISSILE". The weapon of these selective possible 3 types and freely using "WING", many players kept confronting, but clearing still at one time, the person who returns to the actual world had not made some one person. It has been about that the alone youth will throw the coin here. He was the secret intelligence staff of the information investigation agency which is dispatched from government. As for that purpose, " < V? > (ヴィ five)"it was to investigate true purpose. "Probably as expected is this the mere game truly? So, that was not, when we assume " < V? > When (ヴィ five) true purpose just...... "he pushes the start button, it could give out from all speakers signal of start. "Show time! "And one person and young person" < V? > (ヴィ five) it kept downloading "to the world.......

Hmmm...So I was right. The player-character suspects that V-Five is no mere game, and is trying to investigate its true nature...

Skyknight · Post by **Skyknight** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 5:42 pm

Addendum: The bit that is written before the arrival of the secret intelligence agent is difficult to understand (no thanks to BabelFish's less-than-optimal abilities), but I'm wondering if it's meant to mean that those who successfully clear V-Five's "win or die" setting are no longer the people that they once were. Is it some secret organization's brainwashing tool? The original text was found on Google's cache of an apparently defunct Japanese page. Do a Japanese-only search for %Toaplan "V-V"%, and access the cache of the first example.

Anyway, maybe the names of the music can also shed some light on the subject...

St. 1: "Wonderful Dreamer". Very ambient and optimistic-sounding. Maybe it's meant to portray the hopes of our secret agent...
St. 2: "Heads Up!". In contrast, this is a rather grim song, always using low notes. Has V-Five figured out that this player is not what he/she seems? Maybe the player, in turn, has figured THAT out...
St. 3: "Large Charge". If the fifth option's reputation is anything to go by, this may be where its players usually die. The secret agent needs to buckle down against V-Five's onslaught. The song itself is SOMEWHAT laid back, but it still suggests fervor.
St. 4: "Free at Last". Another optimistic song, with instrumentation similar to that of "Wonderful Dreamer". Is this where V-Five normally ends?
St. 5: "Repercussion". Well, it doesn't end in at least THIS case! Slow and yet energetic, its cadence suggests to me a constant progression of the agent...and maybe V-Five's efforts to get rid of this pest...
St. 6: "A Poisonous Snake". Not as grim as "Heads Up!", but still plenty dark. There's even a sense of the unholy at times...It seems that V-Five truly is a "poisonous snake", or at least has one lurking within. The outer-space environs, and the shrine at the end...Was V-Five programmed, at least in part, by would-be alien invaders?
Bosses: "Night Bird". Forget how dark "Heads Up!" and "A Poisonous Snake" are--this one wouldn't even be out of place in a Castlevania game! The liquid-like bass, minor key, and low synth-strings (I think that's what plays at times--it's the second primary foreground instrument) result in a sense that you're facing the cruel, the evil...the unholy. The end of the cycle is worth considering--it's a sudden, rapid crash of notes that slow down, then end in what sounds a little like a (mechanized) bird's screech, with a low electric guitar and the liquid bass still sounding as the screech dies off. Just how powerful is the evil that lurks within V-Five...? Does the "night bird" signify a demon? Is that what the very last boss really is?

FRO · Post by **FRO** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 7:51 pm

I think that's the most insane story I've ever seen attached to a shmup. Except maybe Cho Aniki.

incognoscente · Post by **incognoscente** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 6:58 am

Skynight: the same story is at http://homepage1.nifty.com/shootingstar/v-v.html , which isn't broken for me.

Ko.oS · Post by **Ko.oS** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 11:29 am

good eveninge -
______________
V - FIVE

V = short for formation
5 = the digit you get if you add 1 (your ship) and 4 (number of max available options)
______________
...

a few more things that might not be immidiately noticeable (please note that this is only true for the Grind Stormer variant, I'm no big fan of the Formation Five!) - as per usual, people who know everything, dont read further (:o). corrections, counter-suggestion, random comments, flaming, whining, etc, are welcome however.

* you get points per hits (not destruction), and if you use Missile exclusively, you can score roughly 30% higher w/o even noticing (splash damage, etc)

* you start out with 2 extra bombs; once you max out your bomb stock (6), the game will give you roughly 600 points per second, even if you dont shoot. this only applies to stage trips - during boss battles this counter rests. so yea, thats the DDP bomb bonus thingie right there (albeit its not, err, "cumulative". you get a 10K points for each surplus bomb, however) - the system is a little broken, though, because the fifth boss' first form counts as stage trip, so if you hold your fire and only dodge/endure his attacks, you can rack up digits with little effort. the official JP rev is V-5, which has no bombs, so its no biggie anyway.
there are some more umn, "ideas" that were refined in the pachi series, of course - like, you know, the laser/shot system - or general cave-isms; like bomb carriers right before boss battles, the mandatory hidden 1-up in stage 3, "organic" bulletpatterns, carousel-like attacks, lots of herding, weaving and upward movement, blahblahblah. apparently its ikeda's first game at toaplan, so no big surprise there.

- in stage 4, depending on what weapon you're using, you will get a different mid-stage boss; very nice idea, in my opinion. all three mid-bosses will reappear in stage 6, by the way.

- once you max out your craft's speed, the game starts throwing out speed down's, which is plain weird. well, maybe not, but still, have fun dodging that shit!

- "rank" is dependant on powerup level, so if you stick to two options, the game will go easy on you. in later stages, you might have trouble killing stuff quickly enough, however. the genny rev lets you access each stage individually, so again, no biggie.

- if you finish off the final boss w/ a bomb, you get 100K extra points (no kidding). no idea why this is.

there's more, but my keyboard has no autofire circuit, so my hands are aching already... UM, WHAT?

o yea, why the hell toaplan.com is down, i do not know. either way, Yuge > Uemura -- but just by a notch.

Ko.oS · Post by **Ko.oS** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 11:33 am

oh, and just for fun. ;D

slow flowery manic bullets = eye candy.. fast aimed bullets = OMFG!!

"I think the invigorating feeling of dodging the more abundant, but slower bullets is different, and even visually I think has more of an impact and can really show off a players abilities."

sorry for the double-post . . .

shmups.system11.org

Why is Toaplan's V-Five called V-Five

Why is Toaplan's V-Five called V-Five

yo la tengo

...