new Playstation games Three Stooges & Mobile Light Force

[Atari7800]

I just picked these up, and I am confused...

I understand the Three Stooges game is based on an old computer game (which is cool) but I was wondering... did they not upgrade the graphics and sound AT ALL? This thing looks terrible! It actually plays pretty well, but damn it looks bad.

Mobile Light Force is another bizarre thing... for those who don't know, it's a shooter that came out YEARS ago for the import Saturn and Playstation called Gunbird... the sequel came out for the Dreamcast. It's a cutesy-type anime shooter that's not half bad. ASC (I think) decided to bring it over here for some reason, and managed to produce some of the shittiest box art I've seen in awhile. The cool original box art has been replaced by three badly-drawn Charlie's Angels wanna-bees running and shooting some lame guns. I understand the appeal of putting hot chicks on game covers to move more product, but the girls look like hell and the back of the box looks even worse. Maybe 20 words to describe the whole game. Lame! The opening screen features the ugly chicks again, then the interface switches to the original Japanese game. Same anime characters, same JAPANESE voiceovers... I can't believe the awful job that was done bringing this game to the states. Why not just keep the original name and box art, or at least use a talented artist to draw some big-breasted women to sell the game?

The sequel, Mobile Light Force 2, is also available on the PS2 (yep, it's Gunbird 2) and the cover art is just as bad.

Other recent finds:

PSX:
Sealed Fighter Maker $9
Sealed RPG Maker $9
FF7 $5
Guilty Gear $5 (I have NEVER seen this in the wild before)
Dragon Ball z: Ultimate Battle 22 (sucks) $10

Genesis:
Theme Park, Pac-Man 2, and Mega Bomberman for $10 total

Tg-16
Fantasy Zone and Military Madness for $15 total

Saturn:
Stellar Assault SS $50 (for trade!)
also have a copy of Arcade Gears: Pu-Ru-Ra-Li if anyone is interested

[Rogmeister]

I believe the original Three Stooges game was actually on the NES and I think I have that. I figured from reading about it that it was basically the same game but with updated graphics...maybe they didn't do anything with it. I will now have to pull out and try my copy which I haven't played yet (the PSX version)...

[Captain Wrong]

The sequel, Mobile Light Force 2, is also available on the PS2 (yep, it's Gunbird 2) and the cover art is just as bad.

I had a big rant about the Mobile Light Force thing a few months ago, but I do need to point out MLF2 is NOT Gunbird 2. It's a totally different game, and I can't think of how to spell the name because I was only a C student in Japanese. Gunbird 2 is only avaliable on the Dreamcast.

[bargora]

The sequel, Mobile Light Force 2, is also available on the PS2 (yep, it's Gunbird 2) and the cover art is just as bad.

I had a big rant about the Mobile Light Force thing a few months ago, but I do need to point out MLF2 is NOT Gunbird 2. It's a totally different game, and I can't think of how to spell the name because I was only a C student in Japanese. Gunbird 2 is only avaliable on the Dreamcast.
Shikigami No Shiro, which translates out to "Please port me to the U.S. with teh h0t ch1x on the cover."

[scooterb23]

If it looks anything like the GBA version of the Three Stooges, then no, they didn't touch the graphics at all, and that's a good thing. I had it on C64 back in the day, and the graphics then were stunning! I still think they are...

I

[Rogmeister]

Well, I went and played the PSX Three Stooges game...and you're right, the graphics aren't very good...pretty much what I remember from the NES. Still a fun game, though...

[Daniel Thomas]

The Three Stooges was one of the great Cinemaware games on the Amiga. I was surprised to see it again on GBA, and it looked perfect, even if the game itself has really aged. Why stick it on the PSX? I can't imagine anyone paying more than $10 for it. That's one of those games that needs the full-on "anthology" treatment.

[maxlords]

I remember it from the Amiga...it's still just as fun too :D

As for MLF2....blech. Blurriest shooter EVER. How depressing is it to play a blurry, badly ported Shikigami No Shiro? *sob*

[Kid Fenris]

I remember it from the Amiga...it's still just as fun too :D

As for MLF2....blech. Blurriest shooter EVER. How depressing is it to play a blurry, badly ported Shikigami No Shiro? *sob*

I actually reviewed both Mobile Light Force games recently, and came to the conclusion that the first MLF is a lifeless, frustrating bore, while MLF2 is actually kind of fun, thanks to its evasion-based score system and decent level design. Its visuals resemble a fuzzy PC homebrew shooter, but if you can get used to that, it's a fairly enjoyable title.

And Shikigami no Shiro translates to "The Castle of Shikigami," I think, though Bargora's take seems more accurate. I wonder if XII Stag really means "Mobile Light Force 3" . . .

[maxlords]

Well, the thing is..there's NO reason for it to be fuzzy. It's just irritating. It hurts my eyes to play it, seriously. It's a decent vertical shmup, but I've had more fun with Gekioh cause I can SEE it.

[hezeuschrist]

Hahaha, Perkar and I were playing some Gunbird... errr, Mobile Light Force today, right after R-Type kicked our ass to hell and back.

Whoda thunk that it was actually Gunbird?! I mean, it's not like when you beat Mobil Light Force it actually has "GUNBIRD" printed all over the background on the high score screen... ahaha.

[Captain Wrong]

Well, the thing is..there's NO reason for it to be fuzzy. It's just irritating. It hurts my eyes to play it, seriously. It's a decent vertical shmup, but I've had more fun with Gekioh cause I can SEE it.

Ding ding ding! As has been mentioned elsewere, this game really relies on you coming as close to the bullets as possible. It's like you're playing chicken with the enemy fire. Maybe if they'd left the TATE mode in, this would be better.

And Kid Fenris, you're right. When I was playing Perfect Cherry Blossom, all I could think was "this looks like Shikigami".

Random thought: I wonder if all the bad vibes from gamers has filtered back to XS games concerning these two releases.

[bargora]

Just for you, Captain, I reproduce this post I found at Insert Credit, (http://forums.insertcredit.com/viewtopic.php?t=251) topic entitled "XS Games to fans, 'It's not our fault'"


A friend of mine was kind enough to grill the president of XS Games over the quality of their "work" while at E3. According to him, it's not their fault that the games are chopped all to hell; it's just the way they receive the games from Four Winds.

Not sure how much truth is behind that statement, but it's all he was able to pump out of him. Hopefully he can get me a picture of the guy's buisness card soon.. naturally, it'll be posted and shared to all.

They also announced getting the rights to "some online combat chess game thing" for PS2 and 1-2 other games my friend didn't catch the name of.

I hope to god neither of those unknown games turn out to be Psyvariar or DoDonpachi Daioujou :\
I can just see the guy, whining like Han Solo when the MF hyperdrive gives out repeatedly.

And I think (having never played the import version) you're probably right about MLF2 being fuzzy because of the de-tatezation, which ends up smooshing (that's the technical term, I believe) the sprites and stuff.

Now, one could imagine Mobile Light Force "III Stag" coming out, Master Fenris, but I think that the roushimsx might be right. I fully expect to see a Mobile Light Force 3, subtitled "Boob Buzz" (or "Boob Storm") before year's end. After all, those games have had a bit more exposure, which is what I think really counts.

[Zaxxon]

Does Three Stooges run on an Amiga/c64 emulator for PS? If so, I wonder if it could be hacked to run other games. hmmm...

[maxlords]

Ding ding ding! As has been mentioned elsewere, this game really relies on you coming as close to the bullets as possible. It's like you're playing chicken with the enemy fire. Maybe if they'd left the TATE mode in, this would be better.


Perfect Cherry Blossom is better than Shikigami IMO, at least the US one, cause it's so much crisper :) Stupid XS and their stupid need for better glasses while localizing!

Seriously though, I like the getting close to enemy fire thing...risk is good, but when it's really hard to SEE the game, it sucks ass.

[Captain Wrong]

It's not their fault, huh? So Four Winds sent the games to them with the guys from XS games names replacing those of the characters in Gunbird?

Riiiight.

[bargora]

It's not their fault, huh? So Four Winds sent the games to them with the guys from XS games names replacing those of the characters in Gunbird?

Riiiight.
Oh shit--yeah! Busted!