The Mame Club! - This weeks game is ESP Ra.De.

[zektor]

Ok, as I mentioned in an earlier post we will be posting the weekly game on each Tuesday of the week since we began this on a Tuesday. This week's game was chosen by Gamereviewgod. The next person on the Mame Club list will get to choose their game the coming week and must PM me with the chosen title by Monday night at the very latest.

When writing your review, post it right here in the sticky topic and include any thoughts you have about the game. It would also be nice to let us know other aspects of the emulation. Here are some things that would be good to know:

Did you like/dislike the game? Why?
What type of machine are you running it on? Specs?
What version of Mame?
How long did it take you to beat it? Score?

Again, YOU are the reviewer. Let us know anything and everything you think about the game!


This week's game can be found here (as always):

http://www.videogamearchive.com/emu/mame_request.htm


Club Members

Gamereviewgod
Wisesalesman
scooterb23
ddockery
AlanD
digitalpress
IntvGene
NE146
jonjandran
Flack
IGotTheDot
zektor (me!)
buttasuperb
chadtower
Sotenga
Stark
ECWSandmanECW
christianscott27
TripppsK
NoahsMyBro
vespertillio
ghsqb
TheSmirk
anotherfluke
BHvrd

Wisesalesman is next in line!

[Gamereviewgod]

Just a side note, this is the game that prompted me to post the original "Game of the week" idea. I know some of you want some variety, but it's only right that this game be picked first. Besides, you'll all get your chance! :P

Anyone, this is simply an amazing shooter. I've played through it countless times since I got my ROM set and with the exception of the final boss, it never feels that difficult: It's just right. Power yourself up and you'll be stunned by the amount of firepower this game can handle. The shield/bomb combo is ingenious and has been done a few times now.

It runs fine on my P3 933 (w/300+ megs o' RAM) with only a minor problem when things get too hectic. 2-player mode doesn't prove to be a problem. I love this shooter. Who knows? Maybe we'll get a PS One port yet!

[Rezrov]

Just a side note, this is the game that prompted me to post the original "Game of the week" idea.

Great choice for game of the week. Reminds me a lot of another Cave game Guwange that I played on MAME about a year ago. Both are excellent shooters that avoid the cliché of piloting a ship, and have you controlling a human 'fighter' instead.

Things I really enjoyed about this game:
- The graphics. The attention to detail in the background art is really impressive; and the different robot ships and vehicles are animated amazingly well.
- The enemies. Levitating psychic men in black shooting deadly handprints at you has to be one of the coolest shooter-villains ever. (And you've got to love it when the final boss starts throwing thousands of those deadly handprints at you. It's like she's trying to slap you to death!)

Things I didn't really like all that much, but still don't detract from my enjoyment of the game:
- Goofy pseudo-profound dialog between stages. "The scream of anger shakes the earth and you discover that it came from your soul" ........ What?!??
- Having to shoot and kill about a thousand little girls in the final stage, and hearing each one scream as she crumples. I really didn't feel all that much like a winner after plowing through that section of the level.

Anyway.... loved the game.
Go MAME Club, go!!!!


- Shawn

[zektor]

It runs fine on my P3 933 (w/300+ megs o' RAM) with only a minor problem when things get too hectic. 2-player mode doesn't prove to be a problem. I love this shooter. Who knows? Maybe we'll get a PS One port yet!

I had a 933 right before I upped to a 1Gz...not much difference at all :) I'm wondering however, what video card are you using?

On a side note I'll be posting my review of the game sometime this week. Game on!

[TheSmirk]

Guess theres alot of SHMUP fans! Not that I'm complaining :)

[jonjandran]

I didn't really care for it *ducks and runs for cover*

The music was so harsh and repetitive it literally gave me a headache.

And there was entirely to much action on the screen. Very overwhelming. I like a game where you can actually use your skill to evade the bullets,missles,etc.

And I had a little slowdown on my computer.
A Pentium 4 2.8 ghz , 64 meg Geforce and 80 gig harddrive.

I shall now go into hiding for fear that Gamereviewgod might smote me. LOL

[ECWSandmanECW]

I thought this game was pretty good and unique (Using a human instead of a ship), but like jon said, there is too much action going on.

[Gamereviewgod]

smote me

Um....Yeah...uh, that's, uh, just what I'll do...consider yourself smoted! Actually, I have no idea what the hell that means.... :embarrassed:

@ Zektor: I have no idea about my video card....sorry.

Yes, there is a ton going on at once, but that's why you get a shield. You need to know how and when to use it. If you just waste it when you feel slightly overwhelmed, your screwed.

[Stark]

I liked the theme and graphics of this shooter better compared to Battle Bakraid. However i died more often in this one for some reason. I need to play shumps more i guess. I have no slowdown problems running this game on my machine- P3-800 with 512megs ram using a NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti-4600 128meg graphics card and of course using the latest MAME .77.

[Sotenga]

Guess theres alot of SHMUP fans! Not that I'm complaining :)

Neither could I, because I'm a HUGE shmup fan! Great choice for this week's game. I'll write a detailed review later... ;)

[scooterb23]

This one really reminded me of Mars Matrix...bullets everywhere...little metal chips falling off of killed enemies.

I had a heck of a time with this one...mainly because I forgot it had a shield button. I don't think I'm past level 1 yet.

No slowdown at all on my 1.6 P4...256 Meg RAM 64 MB video card. WolfMAME .76. Must play more later :)

[IntvGene]

This one is quite different from Battle Bakraid for me too.

I love the visuals. First the nice hi-res, the colors and also the little touches, like guys falling from the enemy ships and hitting the ground :), and all the bits flying off the ships. I cant say that I love the style used here though, and for some reason, I just can't get into shooters where I am a guy flying around, compared to a ship.

The music and sound is very average. The BGM is really forgettable, as are the typical Japanese yells and moans. But, I didn't like Battle Bakraid's sound either.

I find it strange when shooters try to be more than they are. Like I give a damn about the story. I'm here to lay down massive destruction, not ponder humanity's destiny. I can't interact with the story anyway, so why do they make such a big deal out of it?

I like the three different characters you can choose, and they all play quite differently. I had the most success with the little girl with the hat, probably because of her speed. The three different buttons are also interesting, and I like the power-up shield/shot better than a normal bomb button. The secondary shot is also a nice addition letting you do some nice close-up damage.

It's an interesting choice, especially since we had a shooter just last week. I was maybe a little tired of shmups, so I also really didn't get into it. I'd give it a 7.5/10.

I didn't have any slowdown on my 1.2G with Mame32 .74, but I can imagine this game starting to tax people's systems.

[TheSmirk]

This game is awesome! I'm running it on a lowly P3-500 512RAM, and it runs great. I love the human fighters, and they are cool (unlike ChoAniki where they are so funny that its hard to play the game :D)

The gameplay is excellent, and I like that when you die, your "P" boxes are reachable, not making you re-power up all over again, helps keep the pace moving.
The music is decent, a little repetative, but I like that in SHMUPS, its kinda like a background mantra, to help you get into the "zone" ,some SHMUPS have great music but when you're being hit by a shitstorm of bullets, you don't necessarily need a dramatic, potentially distracting overature blaring in your ears..

graphics are crisp and very nicely done, from the ground soliders to the vehicles......this game is just alot of fun! Great pick this week!

[Sotenga]

ESP Ra. De., a joint venture of Atlus and Cave, is a shooter that will keep you on the edge of your chair. I would expect no less from the makers of one of my absolute favorites, DoDonPachi. It's a manic shoot-em-up, (or shmup) and in games like these, you must constantly evade projectiles from the gargantuan enemy forces. The words "wild" and "berserk" don't even come close to the challenge in this game. More on that later.

You don't control a ship, rather, you control a human. Not just any human, but a teenager with psychic powers. Hence, the ESP in the title, I guess. You can choose from three psychic psychos, each one with their different strengths and weaknesses. It's a common thing in Cave shmups for there to be no more or less than three ships/characters. There aren't many shooting games that allow you to take control of anything besides a spaceship, so there's lots of originality right there.

The graphics are among the most impressive that I've ever seen in a shmup. All sprites, no matter how small or huge, have an incredible amount of detail, and the animation is so smooth and fluid. It certainly gives Art of Fighting 3 on the Neo Geo a run for its money. The backgrounds are also beautiful and diverse, ranging from downtown to a shopping mall. It's very pleasing to the eye, and the colors aren't drab either.

The sound is grand in both music and sound effects. The soundtrack is full of techno tunes that, while impressive, don't really stick out in my head when I think of great video game music. However, it is good music to destroy pathetic not-psychic humans to. The sounds are excellent, to say the least. I love to hear the little screams from the small humans on the ground, trying to shoot you down. There's also a lot of machines to destroy. Explosions rock. :D

The game is pretty short, as there are only five stages. They don't really last too long, either. But if these stages are longer than most stages in other shmups, then I definitely wouldn't notice, as I often have lots of fun. Time indeed does fly when you're having fun, and my idea of fun is obliterating a titanic enemy battleship and the giant mech that flies out of it! I just simply LOVE bosses in ANY type of game, and shmups aren't an exception. One of the bosses is a psychic human just like you, and he's got several lifebars, each one a pain to drain. Then there's a multi-turreted battleship, a high-speed tank with several segments, and a mech that sorta acts like a 200-foot ninja. And the final boss? I'm not telling... hehehe. You'll be in for quite a battle when you find out what you're up against. :evil:

Atlus and Cave are known best for their quality shmups, and the insane difficulty that comes with them. Just imagine 200 projectiles of different shapes, sizes, and colors trying to bring down your character. It's a real pain, and I don't blame you if you can't dodge everything. If you're not talented at these types of games, I pray that you have at least ten dollars in quarters, or a working 5 button if you're playing on MAME. You know, whatever you press to insert coins... that button. :P

What an excellent shmup. Hey, Cave gave us DonPachi, DoDonPachi, Dangun Feveron, and Guwange, also freaking great shooters that I think you should check out if you enjoyed ESP Ra. De. I did, so I love 'em all. To my knowledge, this title never got translated to the Playstation or the Dreamcast, or any home console, so if you get the chance to play it in the arcades, don't pass it up. You certainly won't regret it. And if you can't find it in the arcades, then download it for MAME. Just find some way to play ESP Ra. De.

[BHvrd]

esprade : u42.bin 524288 bytes 0718c7e5 NOT FOUND
esprade : u41.bin 524288 bytes def30539 NOT FOUND


Wow, fun game!

[Gamereviewgod]

Somebody be havin' themselves a bad ROM....

[Ze_ro]

Ha ha! I've suddenly made everything confusing by resurrecting this topic! (At least, until buttasuperb picks a different game for the other topic, and the name gets changed). Since I wasn't in the MAME Club at the time this game was chosen, I'll at least provide my thoughts on it though:

I actually consider this one of my favorite shooters in MAME... not only are the graphics very nice, and the action intense, but the game never gets overly unfair. There are so many shooters out there where one hit kills, you lose all your powerups (except maybe one level), and there are bullets covering the screen with no refuge. I find that the small size of you character really helps you weave your way in and out of the maze of bullets a lot easier, and the shield/super attack ability really saves your butt when you use it properly (it took me forever to figure out how to even use it, let alone use it properly).

The bosses are very nicely done too, some of which are actual ESP'ers like your character, with multiple stages of "mental barriers" (or whatever) that you have to break down. I was surprised at the bloody deaths that the human boss characters got though.

Oh, and I'm playing it on my 400MHz, 128MB ram system... it stutters a bit at time, but is entirely playable. I was actually surprised at how nicely it ran.

Lastly, how are you supposed to pronounce the name? I often just call it "ess-PRAH-dee", despite the fact that that's obviously not right... Is "eee-ess-pee rah-dee" correct?

--Zero