Ketsui is a beautiful game. Cave's best work imo. It's pretty hard but the patterns are some of most well thought out in the genre. Early 2000's Cave was incredible.
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Shmups (Shoot 'Em Ups) |OT| THE FULL EXTENT OF THE JAM
- Thread starter Nya
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Ketsui is a beautiful game. Cave's best work imo. It's pretty hard but the patterns are some of most well thought out in the genre. Early 2000's Cave was incredible.
Darius Burst Chronicle Saviors on PS4 in my opinion is great for new shmup fans. It's challenging but also not super bullet intense, has great visuals and beautiful music, stages are usually pretty short with epic bosses and there's a campaign "mission" mode with a ton of stages to choose from so it also lends itself well to fun, quick pick up and play sessions. It also has an addictive chaining mechanic using the ships' various charge beams/specials that's fun to mess with but deep enough to be rewarding once you get into it (not to mention being able to pull off one hit kills on bosses sometimes when timed right which is really satisfying). Also a local arcade bar here has a Darius Burst 4 player sit down arcade cabinet and from what I've seen it's one of the most popular machines in the bar with lots of people waiting to play it and laughing and having a lot fun with the game despite it having the appearance of being a "hardcore" shmup.
I finally spent some serious time on Twinkle Star Sprites and I absolutely adore it. I legitimately laugh out loud every time I hear NANJA MONJA!
I need to get some IRL people to play this and Megagun with.
I need to get some IRL people to play this and Megagun with.
Cool this game was totally off of my radar, I'll check it out.
Awesome, it's a sequel to a long running shmup series by Taito, has a great bio mech sea life art style. Also might be a nice change of pace for a new shmup fan as a way for her to see what a good horizontal shooter looks like vs vertical shmups.
I downloaded Twinkle Star Sprites for Switch before going on a recent trip and it was my go-to shmups (in between copious amounts of Ikaruga and Strikers). Just a fun, comical shooter and the chaining vs. system is addictive and as you said the voices and characters are funny. Hoping to check out Megagun once I have cleared a few more games out of my backlog.
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So Degica announced that the Tatsujin ship DLC will be coming to the Steam version of Game Tengoku Cruisin Mix next week alongside the DLC on the Japanese PS4 version:
https://gameparadise2017.com/en/info.html#info20190207
This news of course comes days after the LRG PS4 special edition came and went. Could they be more transparent?
https://gameparadise2017.com/en/info.html#info20190207
This news of course comes days after the LRG PS4 special edition came and went. Could they be more transparent?
did the same last week, played the ADK collection and gave it another try. still fun!
I'm going to be pre-ordering the Darius Cozmic Collection Special Edition soon from Amazon Japan (unless someone can recommend a good U.S. import source), will Amazon Japan charge my card right away or do they wait until the item ships? Last time I used Amazon Japan was late 2016 for the Battle Garegga premium edition so couldn't remember.
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That's both great and shitty news. I'd agree that they need to be more transparent. I might have just gone with the Steam version rather than the LRG LE.
Degica must have timed those things deliberately. They have really drawn out the bullshit regarding this game.
I asked the same question about the same game a while back, haha. It should charge upon shipping.
Was looking through the Dariusburt DLC, which looks awesome by the way, and realized that it seems to fairly definitively solve who owns Progear. Progear is part of the Capcom DLC pack, and in the DLC pack or the invidual DLC listing, Cave is not listed as a rightsholder anywhere, on steam or PSN. Seems like it's solely owned by Capcom.
Which is why y'all need to be buying the Capcom Beat 'Em Up Bundle, because they could make an absolutely killer shmup bundle with the right motivation (sales).
You're absolutely right. Good thing I'm an idiot and bought it three times (ps4 digital, switch digital, import CE).
Progear, Mars Matrix and 19XX all deserve the M2 treatment but a shooter bundle with those three + the rest of the 1942 series would be incredible.
It could be bullshit but a supposed complication I've heard from a few different Japanese sources is that everything that came out on CPS2 is specifically the domain of Capcom USA due to some bookkeeping technicality, so it's not even that Cave would have to talk to Capcom in order to put out Progear again, it's that they specifically need the okay from Capcom USA, so if they don't have a contact or if Capcom Japan can't be bothered to do the legwork then nothing happens.
Excuse my ignorance, but I wasn't aware Cave ever had anything to do with Dariusburst, or the Darius franchise at all.
Dariusburst CS has a lot of crossover DLC ships--there's a Taito pack, a Sega pack, a Capcom pack, a Raizing pack and a Cave pack.
I splurged and got all the Darius Burst DLC packs last year. The extra ships are great and the DLC also includes new stages.
So I'm on Amazon Japan getting ready to pre-order the Darius Cozmic Collection and confused as to which one to get because it looks like they have two listings for the Special Edition? Pic below of what I'm seeing, the first listing is for 18,144 yen and the other below the regular edition is for 19,980 yen, want to make sure I choose the right one and don't miss out on any goodies (excluding of course the GB version of Sagaia is long gone and was only a quick limited bonus for Prime JP customers):
So I'm on Amazon Japan getting ready to pre-order the Darius Cozmic Collection and confused as to which one to get because it looks like they have two listings for the Special Edition? Pic below of what I'm seeing, the first listing is for 18,144 yen and the other below the regular edition is for 19,980 yen, want to make sure I choose the right one and don't miss out on any goodies (excluding of course the GB version of Sagaia is long gone and was only a quick limited bonus for Prime JP customers):
I preordered one months ago and I -think- it required Amazon Prime JP so I did a free trial. Now there are like 6 selection boxes so I have no idea and am wondering the same thing.
Agent Unknown and Lakeside
The bottom, most expensive listing comes with some Famitsu junk (look for ファミ通 in the listing) like stickers and a dish which you can see on this page if you click the tab on the right and scroll down:
http://darius.jp/cozmic/products.html
I got the Famitsu bonus version because I'm a consumer whore but the stuff is hardly essential, IMO.
Also you don't need Amazon Japan Prime as far as I'm aware. Or at least I wasn't denied from pre-ordering it. But now you guys have me second guessing myself.
The bottom, most expensive listing comes with some Famitsu junk (look for ファミ通 in the listing) like stickers and a dish which you can see on this page if you click the tab on the right and scroll down:
http://darius.jp/cozmic/products.html
I got the Famitsu bonus version because I'm a consumer whore but the stuff is hardly essential, IMO.
Also you don't need Amazon Japan Prime as far as I'm aware. Or at least I wasn't denied from pre-ordering it. But now you guys have me second guessing myself.
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Thanks, I'm choosing the 19,980 SE listing and with shipping it came out to $183.77 in USD, is that about what your total was?
Edit: Weird, I'm on check out screen and I know I selected the more expensive SE for 19,980 but it looks like it's defaulting to a different listing/price now for 18,500 yen. Don't want to pull the trigger yet if I'm not getting the right one (I want the Famitsu goodies too), pic here if what I'm seeing:
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Yeah, mine was listed for the exact same price and then lowered at checkout to 18,500 yen. I think the 19,980 price includes sales tax. My guess is that since it's an international shipment, sales tax does not apply maybe? I wouldn't worry about it. You have picked the correct product -- you'll get the Amazon bonus and the Famitsu stuff.Thanks, I'm choosing the 19,980 SE listing and with shipping it came out to $183.77 in USD, is that about what your total was?
Edit: Weird, I'm on check out screen and I know I selected the more expensive SE for 19,980 but it looks like it's defaulting to a different listing/price now for 18,500 yen. Don't want to pull the trigger yet if I'm not getting the right one (I want the Famitsu goodies too), pic here if what I'm seeing:
Edit: Yup, just checked the official website. The price listed for the Famitsu pack says 18,500円（税別）／19,980円（税込), the first price being without tax, the second with.
Do any of the Cozmic Collection games have 4 player? Was just thinking how awesome DBCS would be on our defacto party console.
Awesome, thanks for your help! Finally got this bad boy pre-ordered! What's the Amazon specific bonus you mentioned?
No problem. It might not be exclusive to Amazon but it's a retailer bonus they offer:
ダライアス オーディオトラック -ティアット ver.-
『ダライアス・アルファ』のサウンドトラック11曲と元ZUNTATAのCOSIO氏による『ダライアス外伝』のスペシャルアレンジを1曲収録したCDです。
Google translate:
Darius audio track - Tiat ver.-
It is a CD containing 11 songs of "Darius Alpha" and a special arrangement of "Darius Gaiden" by COSIO of former ZUNTATA.
Sorry I missed your reply earlier. Fortunately it didn't make me sign up for Prime, it just asked me if I wanted to try a free trial but I was still able to skip it and order.
Cool, I saw that there was an audio CD but didn't realize it was Amazon exclusive. Can't wait to hear those otherworldly and ambient Zuntata tracks playing in my car. ^___^
So looks like it's confirmed no digital release for the Darius Cozmic Collection, SE and Taito have nobody but themselves to blame if it sells poorly:
If anyone else was wondering, the answer is no. I'll pass on the crazy prices then and hope for a DBCS port.
Thankfully I'm not really interested in the extra home ports of the arcade games, but no G-Darius is such a bummer. I'm mostly torn for that reason.
I'm still confused. I see 3 selectable boxes above and 3 below. Will post a pic later.
Damn. So I ordered (or was trying to order) the Prime Day edition, that comes with a bonus game. However they decided not to ship that one internationally, so I got defaulted to a different version and now I can't figure out the differences. I've had this preorder since mid July.
Canceled my old order and ordered the Famitsu DX. Salty about the Prime DLC being locked down.
Damn. So I ordered (or was trying to order) the Prime Day edition, that comes with a bonus game. However they decided not to ship that one internationally, so I got defaulted to a different version and now I can't figure out the differences. I've had this preorder since mid July.
Canceled my old order and ordered the Famitsu DX. Salty about the Prime DLC being locked down.
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There's actually two of them, there's also a "Proco version" that's exclusive to another retailer and includes a different bonus track.
It'll hit whatever sales projections they've set, I'm sure. They're milking the shit out of this package because that market is happy to be milked.
Yes. Two different physical editions (one with substantially more games), and no digital version.
Oh wait, there's no digital version at all? That I did not know.
Yikes.
Yeah that's the one that was an Amazon Prime Day thing (by some day in July) but they wouldn't ship internationally regardless. I dug thru all that today.
It's the Gameboy version of Darius II (first handheld Darius).
Interesting, another thing to miss out on, ha.
Yeah I guess if that overpriced soundtrack they sold which included the ACA/Hamster Darius arcade port sold well enough then I guess no reason why this one wouldn't.
'Paladin' available in Steam, Switch and Xbox One has resulted in my greatest shmup surprise of this 2019.
Picked up the Switch version, and man, this is the smarter and better designed take in the 'Defender' formula that I have played.
Basically, it's a 'Defender' clone infused with psychedelic and neonsish visuals, but played with a twin stick shooter control scheme.
The thing is that like in 'Defender', you need to defend buildings. Each building has a number of people. If an enemy UFO attacks a building, the number of people will decrease. And if a building is destroyed, it will activate a laser barrier complicating your movement through the scenario, because the barrier only will be deactivated every few seconds.
And here comes the masterful approach of the game. After destroying each enemy, you can collect a currency item that will only be available for a limited amount of time. So to obtain money, you need to play in a risky way, close to the ships, in the same way as in 'Graceful Explosion Machine'.
And after each wave out of 40 in the adventure mode, you will access a shop to buy upgrades with this currency.
There are two upgrades for the shoot of your ship, you can buy extra lives, you can buy bombs...
But you also need to manage the resources of the city, by buying things like a perk to increase the number of people in each building after each completed wave. And defenses for your buildings.
So at the end, you need to decide what to upgrade first, and be careful creating a balance between upgrading your fire power for the advanced waves, while you're sure that your buildings will resist the enemy attacks.
It has tons of additional game modes, and all of them have online leaderboards in this Switch version.
Each wave is masterfully designed with a fine tuned difficulty curve.
The game looks gorgeous in the Switch screen, running at 60 FPS with million of explosions, particles, enemies, bullets and whatnot.
They have nailed the feeling of the controls, it has A LOT of different ships each one intended for a style of play.
One of the finest western shmups in recent memory.
And this is the best part: it looks to an Atari / Jeff Minter / Eugene Jarvis / British tradition.
And there are not so many shmups released nowadays with such a great understanding of the principles of this Atari and neon infused tradition, playing all the right notes in such a brilliant way.
Picked up the Switch version, and man, this is the smarter and better designed take in the 'Defender' formula that I have played.
Basically, it's a 'Defender' clone infused with psychedelic and neonsish visuals, but played with a twin stick shooter control scheme.
The thing is that like in 'Defender', you need to defend buildings. Each building has a number of people. If an enemy UFO attacks a building, the number of people will decrease. And if a building is destroyed, it will activate a laser barrier complicating your movement through the scenario, because the barrier only will be deactivated every few seconds.
And here comes the masterful approach of the game. After destroying each enemy, you can collect a currency item that will only be available for a limited amount of time. So to obtain money, you need to play in a risky way, close to the ships, in the same way as in 'Graceful Explosion Machine'.
And after each wave out of 40 in the adventure mode, you will access a shop to buy upgrades with this currency.
There are two upgrades for the shoot of your ship, you can buy extra lives, you can buy bombs...
But you also need to manage the resources of the city, by buying things like a perk to increase the number of people in each building after each completed wave. And defenses for your buildings.
So at the end, you need to decide what to upgrade first, and be careful creating a balance between upgrading your fire power for the advanced waves, while you're sure that your buildings will resist the enemy attacks.
It has tons of additional game modes, and all of them have online leaderboards in this Switch version.
Each wave is masterfully designed with a fine tuned difficulty curve.
The game looks gorgeous in the Switch screen, running at 60 FPS with million of explosions, particles, enemies, bullets and whatnot.
They have nailed the feeling of the controls, it has A LOT of different ships each one intended for a style of play.
One of the finest western shmups in recent memory.
And this is the best part: it looks to an Atari / Jeff Minter / Eugene Jarvis / British tradition.
And there are not so many shmups released nowadays with such a great understanding of the principles of this Atari and neon infused tradition, playing all the right notes in such a brilliant way.
Well, the Switch port came this January.
But I think that the great problem that this game has to obtain visibility is its name.
It's impossible to find videos, info or reviews, because all the search results will take you to 'Paladins', the multiplayer game.
Even finding the launch trailer was a hellish experience, and only introducing the name of the game and the name of the studio I had success.
I will add as an extra motive to purchase this, that Llamasoft appears in the Thanks section of the credits.
Every game referencing to Llamasoft deserves a sale on my part :)
A bunch of game companies have been dumping OSTs on Spotify. There's a ton of ZUNTATA; been playing some Darius and Infinity Gene.
Maybe not a shmup, but for fans of Zuntata, don't forget that the charming single-screen platformer 'Whip! Whip!', with a graphic palette inspired in the Game Boy Advance era, and inspired in classics such as 'Bubble Bobble', 'Snow Bros' or 'Parasol Stars', includes a soundtrack composed by Cosio, one of the members of Zuntata.
The game is available in Steam and Switch.
The game is available in Steam and Switch.
Whip! Whip! was totally NOT on my radar. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!
Yasushi Kaminishi did the OSTs for Giga Wing, Mars Matrix, and a couple other shmups. He has a new game out on Steam:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/982850/Tess_Elated/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/982850/Tess_Elated/