New DREAMCAST game shipping THIS WEEK

[fishsandwich]

a
The Naomi arcade shooter UNDER DEFEAT by G.Rev is shipping today! I got my e-mail this morning. I was a bit disappointed by the odd style of Radilgy (the last shooter released before this one.) I didn't care for the boss-only format of Chaos Field, either. I'm looking forward to the return of the crazy-good graphics and action of the earlier Dreamcast shooters. Give me some more Trizeal, Shikiigami II, Giga Wing 2, Psyvariar 2, Zero Gunner 2 (one of my all-time favorites, and this looks a lot like it!), Mars Matrix, or Border Down!

Is this the last "official" release? Anyone know? Will the shooters continue to trickle out? (there are still plenty of Naomi shooters to convert) or is this the last one?

I know there will be "releases" for years to come, but we may be seeing the end of the official Dreamcast games. I know there is an ongoing arguement as to what constitutes an "official" release and I'm not touching that one.

Who's getting this one? Post your feeling about it once you play it!



Here's the poster...
http://www.grev.co.jp/ud_ac/image/poster.jpg

And some screenshots...
http://image1.play-asia.com/350/PA.54324.002.jpg

http://image4.play-asia.com/350/PA.54324.005.jpg

http://image4.play-asia.com/350/PA.54324.007.jpg


Videos...
http://am.sega.jp/utop/closeup/under_04.html
Website
http://www.grev.co.jp/ud_ac/

[Captain Wrong]

This one looks a bit more to my liking also than the recent releases. I'll probably pick it up when I get the scratch.

I must say, I love the fact that the DC is becoming *the* haven for shmups. Dead system my ass. LOL

[Captain Qb]

Owh, What a sexy poster..
And of course screenshots looks good to me.


And, Is this the last DC game..? Someone told me.. -.-

[le geek]

Got it preordered, hopefully it plays as good as it looks. :)

Cheers,
Ben

[Julio III]

I've got mine pre-ordered. So should be posted tomorrow. Of note is that the game comes in a DVD style case not a jewel case like most Dreamcast releases. The standard edition has a red cover whilst the limited edition has a different cover design which has a white background.

Looking forward to playing it - may fire up Radirgy tonight in anticipation

[SegaAges]

Where are you guys ordering these games from?

I am super interested in buying some of these shmups (I seriouslly need to buy more).

[Rockman Neo]

Just to get this off my chest, but "shmups" is by far the stupidest abbreviation I've ever heard.

Now that that's out of the way, I'll be getting this...eventually.

[fishsandwich]

Where are you guys ordering these games from?

I am super interested in buying some of these shmups (I seriouslly need to buy more).

I get my stuff from www.play-asia.com, but www.ncsx.com is just as good. There are several others.

I was disappointed to hear this is coming is a DVD case. There goes my perfect little row of shooters! Oh, well. Maybe I'll make my own case. Is this one on GD-rom or will is be on CD?

[keiblerfan69]

Once again I wish I had a job so I could afford it.

[Julio III]

Its definitely a GD-Rom.

The 2 big Japanese import sites are www.lik-sang.com and www.play-asia.com

However, for this, I ordered off Yakumo, who runs www.segagagadomain.com a brilliant Saturn and Dreamcast site.

Apparentely it is the last game to be pressed onto a GD-Rom although G-Rev have stated that they would like to release more on the Dreamcast so what that means is anyone's guess...

[le geek]

I was disappointed to hear this is coming is a DVD case. There goes my perfect little row of shooters! Oh, well. Maybe I'll make my own case. Is this one on GD-rom or will is be on CD?

Bah! Just pick up Cosmic Smash to go with it :)

[kainemaxwell]

Seems a bit cheaper to order from play-asia. I'll pick this up soon!

[Captain Wrong]

Just to get this off my chest, but "shmups" is by far the stupidest abbreviation I've ever heard.


Why do you say that? Shoot 'em ups = shmups. What's stupid about that?

[roushimsx]

Got the email yesterday saying it'd been shipped out...so I probably won't get my copy for a good few days (maybe in time for the weekend, if I'm really lucky). I can't wait.

G-Rev quickly became one of my favorite shmup developers when they did Border Down (best hori ever), and the individual team members' previous work has just been fantastic (i.e. G-Darius). One thing that really has me going about Under Defeat is the new replay feature where you can watch your run through from more cinematic camera angles. Fuckin' a.

I ended up buying the limited edition, but in hindsight I really wish I had gotten the limited edition with the poster. Anyone know the dimensions of that sucker? It probably would have looked nice on the wall with my Dodonpachi Daioujou poster.

On a tangent, I really hope Senko no Ronde Rev X comes out in the US at some point, or at the very least that it doesn't have any region coding on it :( That game looks absolutely ninja and it pains me that unless the 360 gets hacked all to hell like the Xbox did, it's unlikely that I'll be able to play it within the next few years :(

[diskoboy]

Looks good, I just wish they'd make something else than a shmup for the DC.

I'm overloaded with shooters, here...

[GaijinPunch]

I guess I'll spoil it for anyone that's not played it yet. As everyone knows, these are the guys that made Border Down.

While this does look a bit like Zero Gunner, it plays a lot different from any Psikyo game. The ship does rotate, but basically, it rotates w/ the joystick, and will hold it's position if you keep firing. It feels much more natural that Zero Gunner's rotation. That's about where it and Zero Gunners common points cease though.

While gameplay is pretty much 2D, there are 3D elements. Tanks and shit on the ground can actually hide behind buildings and whatnot. You have to wait for them to pop out before shooting them, or of course, shoot the buildings.

If you've been playing Cave games for the last year (raises hand) then this will feel VERY empty to you. There's often only 10-20 bullets on screen at once, compared to Mushihime-sama's 8 million. Of course, the hitbox is about the size of the ship, not 2x2 pixels, so it's still challenging.

Finally, the point I'm really not keen on is the really gay ranking system (if I understand it correctly). Basically, the fewer remaining ships you have, the more your score is multiplied. That's to say, you will get a much higher score if you die twice on the first stage, then clear the game on your last remaining ship, compared to if you no-miss cleared the game. I prefer being rewarded for surviving, not being punished. I have ordered the game, but it will not hold a special place in my heart I'm afraid.

I've not played the home port yet obviously, so am not sure of what bonuses will come with it.

[fishsandwich]

Its definitely a GD-Rom.

Ah, good. I don't know why, but GD-roms make me feel better. I'm sure the ROM will be floating around the net come this weekend but at least someone will have had to put in a little work to make it play on a regular CD.

I miss the Saturn. That bitch did NOT like playing copies (I mean "back-ups") without serious cohersion.

[roushimsx]

Holy shit, guess what came in the mail today?

http://img55.imageshack.us/img55/8238/10043244ih.th.jpg (http://img55.imageshack.us/my.php?image=10043244ih.jpg)http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/5861/10043257ur.th.jpg (http://img59.imageshack.us/my.php?image=10043257ur.jpg)http://img55.imageshack.us/img55/6206/10043275lf.th.jpg (http://img55.imageshack.us/my.php?image=10043275lf.jpg)

That was fast. Now I just need to get an arcade stick for my PS2 and I'll be golden.




Ah, good. I don't know why, but GD-roms make me feel better. I'm sure the ROM will be floating around the net come this weekend but at least someone will have had to put in a little work to make it play on a regular CD.

I miss the Saturn. That bitch did NOT like playing copies (I mean "back-ups") without serious cohersion.

Haven't all of the official Dreamcast releases been GD-ROMs? I thought the only ones that were kicking out CDs were the games released by Goat Store.

I like Dreamcast's ability to boot CD-Rs, because it allows people to play imported games easier. Of course, optimally neither the loophole nor the region coding would have been there in the first place...but...eh.... what can you do? Now that the Dreamcast is a dead console, it allows people to experience large parts of the library, much like what emulation did for the SNES and Genesis.

If that means more people I can talk to about Dreamcast games, then I'm all about it :) (espeically if they're into shmups....yum!)

[segagamer]

I have to agree with Rockman Neo, in that I don't like the word "shumps" either.

[Captain Wrong]

I have to agree with Rockman Neo, in that I don't like the word "shumps" either.

Why?

And AFAIK, every "official" DC game is a GD-Rom.

[Julio III]

Holy shit, guess what came in the mail today?

http://img55.imageshack.us/img55/8238/10043244ih.th.jpg (http://img55.imageshack.us/my.php?image=10043244ih.jpg)http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/5861/10043257ur.th.jpg (http://img59.imageshack.us/my.php?image=10043257ur.jpg)http://img55.imageshack.us/img55/6206/10043275lf.th.jpg (http://img55.imageshack.us/my.php?image=10043275lf.jpg)

That was fast. Now I just need to get an arcade stick for my PS2 and I'll be golden.

That was seriously fast! Where did you order from?
I notice you got the limited edition of Under Defeat but not the SegaDirect edition with the poster.

I'm still dissapointed about the whole presentation - ie. white cover not red, especially as it seems the poster is like this. And the DVD cases and no separate case for the soundtrack. It was an expensive buy so I'd just wanted everything to be just so

[roushimsx]

That was seriously fast! Where did you order from?
I notice you got the limited edition of Under Defeat but not the SegaDirect edition with the poster.


I ordered from Play-Asia, but this is the fastest I've ever received something from them. Normally it takes at least another day or two. Color me happy :D

The version with the poster sounded neat, but I couldn't find any dimensions for the poster online and I wasn't sure how the poster was going to be shipped; if it was folded up then it wouldn't be worth getting framed and matted. If it was too small then it wouldn't look very good on the wall next to my Metal Slug 3 and Dodonpachi Daioujou posters, and if it was too big then I wouldn't have anyplace to put it, let alone having to worry about paying for the frame.

here's some scans through the shrinkwrap:
http://img125.imageshack.us/img125/1567/underdefeatfront6zp.th.jpg (http://img125.imageshack.us/my.php?image=underdefeatfront6zp.jpg)http://img125.imageshack.us/img125/7828/underdefeatback0yf.th.jpg (http://img125.imageshack.us/my.php?image=underdefeatback0yf.jpg)

I don't plan on opening it until I actually have time to play it, and I'm sure someone else will post higher quality scans soon...but hey..pretty artwork!

Also came with a sticker!
http://img125.imageshack.us/img125/7346/underdefeatsticker2yv.th.jpg (http://img125.imageshack.us/my.php?image=underdefeatsticker2yv.jpg)

[Rabid Peanut-Butter]

I recieved my Radigry and Under Defeat yesteday as well (though from NCSX, not Play Asia). I actually like the DVD case but it does pain me that it no longer matches the rest of my Dreamcast games. OCD for the loss. :(

I'm really impressed with both games actually. Under Defeat looks GREAT! And I like the 3D camera you can look at while it's paused. I definitely see myself spending alot of time with both of these. I am kinda disappointed that they reused the futuristic looking font from Border Down. Oh, well... 'tis a trivial matter. Both of these games have menus that are in full english for those that are wondering.

[fishsandwich]

I recieved my Radigry and Under Defeat yesteday as well (though from NCSX, not Play Asia). I actually like the DVD case but it does pain me that it no longer matches the rest of my Dreamcast games. OCD for the loss. :(

I'm really impressed with both games actually. Under Defeat looks GREAT! And I like the 3D camera you can look at while it's paused. I definitely see myself spending alot of time with both of these. I am kinda disappointed that they reused the futuristic looking font from Border Down. Oh, well... 'tis a trivial matter. Both of these games have menus that are in full english for those that are wondering.

Mine is not here yet. I want it!!! I've been reading up on it and it sounds phenominal. I read that you can see a replays from different 3-D angles? That is too cool!

I don't know why I'm slightly upset this came in a DVD case (ok, I do know... I've got OCD.) I know I'm not the only one. I'd make a scan of the box and reduce it down to CD-case size so it would fit into my collection better, but I know someone will beat me to it AND do a far better job than I could ever hope to do. I'll be lookinging for it...

I hope it comes today. It's like a mini-Christmas or birthday.

:bday:

[ubersaurus]

Mine came today, rather unexpectedly.

It's definitely a fun shooter, although I'm still perplexed on a few parts. What am I picking between at the beginning of the game? What do these "cannon" and "rocket" power ups do?

Nevertheless it's good shooter fun, and the soundtrack is pretty nice too.

[ubersaurus]

Mine came today, rather unexpectedly.

It's definitely a fun shooter, although I'm still perplexed on a few parts. What am I picking between at the beginning of the game? What do these "cannon" and "rocket" power ups do?

Nevertheless it's good shooter fun, and the soundtrack is pretty nice too.

Oh, well, I've figured it out. The 3 boxes at the beginning are the "how to play" guide, and the vulcan, cannon, and rocket powerups change what weapon your option uses, along with how fast it respawns and dies.

Rocket is oh so wonderful for boss fights.

[Rockman Neo]

Just to get this off my chest, but "shmups" is by far the stupidest abbreviation I've ever heard.


Why do you say that? Shoot 'em ups = shmups. What's stupid about that?

I don't really know. "Shmup" just sounds like an alternate name for a hobo, at least to me. Or maybe because it sounds similar to the word "chimp." I'm not sure.

Man, I remember the good old days, when people called them "SEUs." Granted, that's stupid too, but at least it doesn't sound like a vagrant/neanderthal.

[Leo_A]

When were they ever called SEU's? I've been around this hobby for 20 years, and online over a decade, and that's a new one for me.

Shoot 'em ups and shmups both look and sound stupid. Calling them shooters is just fine and what normal people do.

[Rockman Neo]

When were they ever called SEU's? I've been around this hobby for 20 years, and online over a decade, and that's a new one for me.

Shoot 'em ups and shmups both look and sound stupid. Calling them shooters is just fine and what normal people do.

Maybe the term "SEU" was only used by members of VGC.

And yes, I like the shooter classification the most, although I've seen people misinterpret Chaos Field for a first-person shooter because it was mentioned as a "shooter."

Deep within the depths of a local GameStop...

Someone: *grabs Chaos Field* Hey, what's this game?

Me: That's a shooter. Never played it, though.

Someone: Holy crap, an FPS for the GameCube!?

Quite funny, actually. LOL

[Damaramu]

I've always referred to them as shooters; FPS....well, first-person shooter.

Those games look like serious fun. I might have to start importing for my DC...or just buy a JP Dreamcast. Hmm.... x_x

[roushimsx]

I recorded a quick tate'd video today, but the quality isn't quite as nice as I'd like...I'll use DScaler to record the next one, I guess.

Looks like it didn't deinterlace properly, though it looks somewhat acceptable in motion. Also, my desk is too cluttered to rotate my monitor, so i had to rotate the controls and try to play it like a horizontal shmup (not too easy for me to do that :( ), in case you're wondering why i'm flying all weird.

Under Defeat Stage 1-1 (http://www.roushimsx.com/sa/Under_Defeat_Stage_01.avi) (34.4mb, 3:36, 480x640)

Shame no video capturing program allows you to rotate the window so that I could do full resolution captures without having to flip my monitor to play :( I know the idea has been suggested in the DScaler forums, but I don't believe any work has been done on it (you're really reaching to support a niche of a niche fanbase with that one)

[fishsandwich]

Ok, I FINALLY got this game. It took a while... that's what I get for being cheap and getting the cheapest shipping. At least play-asia did a fine job with packaging, as usual.

I must say I haven't enjoyed a shooter this much since... well, since a few Dreamcast shooters ago. DAMN I wish I could turn my TV on its side and play in TATE mode! That would be so awesome I'd crap my pants. No really. This game plays and looks awesome. Whoever it was that said that the Dreamcast hardware really belonged in the LAST generation of consoles (PSone, Saturn, N64) was seriously disturbed or just a hater. The smoke effects, in particular, are fantastic. I don't care how many RAM equipped N64s or Saturns you have... there no way a last-generation machine could come even close to duplicating the high-resolution graphics in this game. This is PS2/GameCube/X-Box territory, no doubt about it.

Is Under Defeat the last "real" Dreamcast game? I hope not, but I fear it is so. It's a great way to go out, though.

[CosmicMonkey]

This game is utterly amazing. If you own a Dreamcast, buy it.

[Julio III]

This arrived yesterday in a huge oversized SegaDirect box that felt really empty. Thoughts on the bonuses - the sticker wouldn't actually look bad if you stuck it on your Dreamcast, not that I'm going to do that. The poster is nice, about the size I expected, and has that nice red cover art, not the LE's white art. Now to decide what to do with it. The DVD case feels classy though the spine looks cheap. Haven't listened to the soundtrack CD though but then I would have preferred one to Radirgy than this - especially because all I hear in Radirgy is explosions and there's no option to alter sound effects/music levels like there is in Under Defeat.

So, I played the game for a good 2 and a half hours as it tells me (I love it when games keep track of the time played). Enjoying it so far. It feels very "old school" compared to the other Dreamcast shooters I've played even though it feels fully 3D, what with the rotation and everything. I kind of have a problem with the size of the hitbox (don't really know where it is) and squeezing through gaps and also you can't go fully to the edge of the screen which has killed me a couple of times. I also hate the way the game pauses just before you get hit (or this could be me expecting a smaller hit box and it just pauses when you get hit).

[Julio III]

Oh, and I'd heard so many good things about the graphics but never was that impressed with screenshots and videos but thought I'd wait to see how it looks in the flesh. Well, I play this game in TATE mode through a VGA monitor and well, maybe its just the art style but at the moment I'm not overly impressed with the graphics. Maybe my opinion on this will change but for now its just kindof there. Maybe when I take some time to view some of those replays (like the camera angles - wish there were more...)

[ubersaurus]

The hit box is pretty much the part of the copter right under the rotor's center. So long as that doesn't get shot, you're alright.

[CYRiX]

Blah no way I'm spending over 50 bucks for a new dreamcast game. Remind me when it hits the 30-40 mark.

[ClubNinja]

Just to get this off my chest, but "shmups" is by far the stupidest abbreviation I've ever heard.


Why do you say that? Shoot 'em ups = shmups. What's stupid about that?

I don't really know. "Shmup" just sounds like an alternate name for a hobo, at least to me. Or maybe because it sounds similar to the word "chimp." I'm not sure.

Man, I remember the good old days, when people called them "SEUs." Granted, that's stupid too, but at least it doesn't sound like a vagrant/neanderthal.

As noted in another post above, I absolutely hate that FPS games are now just "shooters". Clearly, "Shmups" are shooters, and were so first.

That said, Shmups is actually very close to something I call MsNinja (don't ask), so I've taken to calling them "Shumps". See that? I just reversed two letters and BAM, it's a whole new word.

[kainemaxwell]

I want to get, hope it'l work on my DC.

[fishsandwich]

I want to get, hope it'l work on my DC.

Do you have a boot disk? It runs great on my shitty, beat-up, fell-off-the-floor, tried-to-replace-the-shell-and-failed, later-generation American Dreamcast. I've had a few games that just wouldn't play on it (a couple of older Japanese games and Taxi 2 come to mind) but this one booted up just fine.

:D

[kainemaxwell]

I want to get, hope it'l work on my DC.

Do you have a boot disk? It runs great on my shitty, beat-up, fell-off-the-floor, tried-to-replace-the-shell-and-failed, later-generation American Dreamcast. I've had a few games that just wouldn't play on it (a couple of older Japanese games and Taxi 2 come to mind) but this one booted up just fine.

:D
Yeah I've got the boot disc. Also a 1st gen DC.

[ubersaurus]

Blah no way I'm spending over 50 bucks for a new dreamcast game. Remind me when it hits the 30-40 mark.

Chances are it won't. These late-era dreamcast games tend to maintain their price, or go higher. Just look at Border Down, g-rev's last game.

Sides, it's no worse than spending 50 bucks on an xbox, ps2, or cube game. Same generation.

[CYRiX]

damnit. lol

[robotriot]

I've preordered it as well, with cheaptest shipping option though. Still haven't received it yet - damn you Austria and your stupid toll fees D:

[whoisKeel]

Ahh...got mine today finally. I played it for an hour or so and I really like it. It has a very old school shmup feel to it. I only played it for an hour (59:08 :)) and got to stage 1-3 and it certainly isn't manic so far...which is welcome in my book (I like the manics, I'm just so bad at them). I've been hearing alot of people complain about the pause when you die, but I don't mind it, I actually kinda like it...shows you what you died from, and it is very brief. There's a good bit of slowdown so far, not that it grinds to a halt or anything, but it is definitely noticeable.

Edit: another thing I like so far about this game is the continue scheme. When you die you respawn right where you are, but when you continue, you respawn at a previous checkpoint. So you still have to beat those bosses with the 3 lives (configurable) that you're given!


Mine came today, rather unexpectedly.

It's definitely a fun shooter, although I'm still perplexed on a few parts. What am I picking between at the beginning of the game? What do these "cannon" and "rocket" power ups do?


For anybody wondering here's how it works as far as I know.

When you start a new game, you can flip between 2 or 3 pages and it is showing you how to play (it even says tutorial). Then you pick either Normal or Reverse.

With normal, when you press left (and aren't firing) you aim left. Then when you start firing you'll be aiming left. With reverse (which I like better) it is the opposite. Stop firing and move left, you'll be aiming right.

There's the red bombs which are self explanatory.

Then there's 3 "options" which are little ships that help you out (as in options in other shooters). There's green, yellow, and blue I think. All the power-ups refer to how your option works.

Vulcan - the option fires just like your normal fire.

Cannon - a bit more powerful, fires every second or so.

Rocket - mega hit, does lots of damage, but only fires ONCE whether you hit something or not. You'll see little red targets come up and I think that's how you aim the rockets. Does quite a bit of splash damage and chain reaction hits for lots of points. Seems to be the best for bosses.

Now the way the option thingy works is there's a little green/red bar at the bottom left of the screen. When it goes all the way left (empty) you have to STOP firing till it charges back up (pretty quickly). Now when you start firing again the option will appear. The option is timed by the bar, or fires once (rocket), or takes too much damage, it disappears.

[ubersaurus]

The final stage of this game, and the final boss itself, are fantastic bits of shooter magic.

Best weak point ever, might I add LOL