View Full Version : PS2: Mobile Light Force AKA Castle Shikigami
yok-dfa
03-31-2006, 03:09 PM
Funniest thing happened today. I went shopping for some cheap PS2 games and found (among others) these 2 games (at two different shops): Mobile Light Force 2 and Caste Shikigami II (both PAL ofcourse). I get home start playing, and notice that both games are awefully similar. Did some researching and it turns out that Mobile Light Force 2 == Castle Shikigami 1 and Castle Shikigame 2 == Mobile Light Force 3. Kinda funny if you compare the label art. Really doesn't look like those games are sequals, or are related in any way :)
http://www.gamestop.com/common/images/lbox/280677b.jpg
http://images.play.com/covers/744943m.jpg
CYRiX
03-31-2006, 03:19 PM
that is extremely weird... lol
SNKFan75
03-31-2006, 03:21 PM
LOL...I hate it when that happens.
SNKFan75
whoisKeel
03-31-2006, 03:52 PM
It's the same deal here in the U.S. I have Castle Shikigami 2 and never really got into it. Some of the worst voice acting to ever grace a video game as well (Though there is an option to turn it off entirely). I have heard that Mobile Light Force 2 is not only inferior to its sequel, but also an even worse port/translation...and that box art *shudders*
The Castle Shikigami 2 US version has different box art than yours, but is the same for Mobile Light Force 2.
roushimsx
03-31-2006, 05:46 PM
I was pretty excited for Mobile Light Force 2. I'd seen a few trailers for the Xbox version and I'd seen plenty of screenshots, so I had a general idea of what I was in for.
Unfortunatly the end game just wasn't all that fun, and the localization job on top of that flat out sucked balls.
Castle Shikigami 2 improved on the original in pretty much every way, including adding a localization so amazingly bad (including leaving a few lines untranslated, resulting in some conversations that flip between japanese and engrish) that it instantly became one of my favorite guilty pleasures ever. The 2 player play in the game is second only to Ikaruga and the Takumi games.
Great graphics/presentation, too!
InsaneDavid
03-31-2006, 06:27 PM
What you have to remember is Mobile Light Force 2 released at $12 retail a few years ago. $12 for a quick port of a game that would never have gotten a US release otherwise = $12 well spent. I believe the original Mobile Light Force (PS1) was actually the first Gunbird game given the same quick port rename treatment? Probably not, I'm sure someone here knows.
Putney
03-31-2006, 07:00 PM
What you have to remember is Mobile Light Force 2 released at $12 retail a few years ago. $12 for a quick port of a game that would never have gotten a US release otherwise = $12 well spent. I believe the original Mobile Light Force (PS1) was actually the first Gunbird game given the same quick port rename treatment? Probably not, I'm sure someone here knows.
Yup MLF1 on PS1 is definitely the first Gunbird, given the same quick job (story scenes removed, etc). But for its price, I can't complain much.
XYXZYZ
03-31-2006, 07:54 PM
All copies of MLF1 must be gathered and burned, how dare they do that shit to the wonderful Gunbird! (On top of replacing two character's names with their own names! The worst of territorial urine.) My biggest gripe with these travesties are that the took out tate mode! MLF1 even has the option shown in the instruction manual, but it's just a blank space in the game! We hates it! We hates it forever!
roushimsx
03-31-2006, 08:38 PM
What you have to remember is Mobile Light Force 2 released at $12 retail a few years ago. $12 for a quick port of a game that would never have gotten a US release otherwise = $12 well spent. I believe the original Mobile Light Force (PS1) was actually the first Gunbird game given the same quick port rename treatment? Probably not, I'm sure someone here knows.
Negatron, good sir... $12 spent on a shitty port of a good game is still $12 down the drain.
Their hack up of Gunbird was one of the laziest and most puzzling I've ever seen. They bypassed the original intro video and the omake option from the menu, but left them on the disc. They removed all video modes other than "wobble", and they renamed two of the characters to their own names. MILF 2000! GOOD ONE!
I never really dug into the MLF2 disc to see if they left the story sequences on there as well, but it wouldn't surprise me if they did.
Even better, Jack of All Games denies having made any of the changes and blames all of the modifications on Four Winds or some such... I'll have to see if I can dig up the full scoop on that one.
About the best thing that can be said for the two games is that they didn't manage to create any game crashing bugs... sadly, the same can't be said for Sorcerer's Maze.
Beefy Hits
04-02-2006, 06:49 PM
I have a feeling Moblie Light Force One for PS1 will become rare.
chrisbid
04-02-2006, 07:11 PM
yeah, the translations are terrible, but who other than anime freaks really care about the story/characters in a shooter anyway?
roushimsx
04-02-2006, 07:52 PM
yeah, the translations are terrible, but who other than anime freaks really care about the story/characters in a shooter anyway?
Most shooter fans I know are more irked about the total removal of any viewing mode other than wobble. I don't understand why they felt the need to actually go out of their way to REMOVE features from the game.
GaijinPunch
04-02-2006, 08:51 PM
The MBL fiasco is a pretty well-hated jigg amongst shooter fans. I'm not a huge fan of the Shikigami series, and they've only gotten worse as they've gone on. As Naomi title, Shikigami no Shiro II is very fun, but graphically it is only so-so. Shikigami no Shiro III is now out on Taito's extremely crappy Type-X hardware (Gigawing Generations, Raiden III, etc.). Following in this really drab vein, Shiki III is.... very plain.
Here's the Shikigami III (http://www.gamengai.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1034) thread I have at gamengai. It's got some links to all sorts of media. I think somewhere in the forums I've got a link to videos of an ALL CLEAR run.
lordnikon
04-03-2006, 08:58 AM
Castle of Shikigami II is not Mobile Light Force 3. It is just Shikigami no Shiro II / Castle of Shikigami II. The Mobile Light Force name is not by any means considered the real names of these games. It should be ignored AT ALL COSTS, and should only be mentioned when accompanied by an asterix.
They completly butchered Gunbird on PS1, and Shiki 1 is almost just as bad on the PS2. They gutted out so many features, that even for the price, it still isn't worth it. It's like buying Super Mario Brothers, but the option to play as Mario is missing, and you can only play as Luigi.
Castle of Shikigami II actually made it onto the PS2 ok, except for the horrible translation, which is pretty hilarious if you actually read it. Other than that, the NAOMI translation is pretty much spot on. The covers for the NTSC-U/C and PAL releases are suspect, with the NTSC- U/C cover being more faithfull to the games artstyle. I don't know what is up with the PAL cover. It looks like a kung-fu shooter movie poster.
Don't even get my started on the cover art for GunBird (*MLF1) and Shikigami no Shiro 1 (*MLF2). Not only is the artwork terrible, but it doesn't even relate to the game at all. They took the A-Team, turned them into chicks and then stuck it on the cover. What the hell...
Castle of Shikigami II actually made it onto the PS2 ok, except for the horrible translation, which is pretty hilarious if you actually read it. Other than that, the NAOMI translation is pretty much spot on.
Here is a guy doing a Shikigami 2 translation (http://www.sgppresents.com/gallery/sns2) from the Shikigami no Shiro II Appreciate DVD and interestingly XS' translation wasn't as completely off base as one would think. Their voice acting still suck though (http://www.audioatrocities.com/games/castleshikigami2/index.html).
BTW (http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?t=5697), the story sequences has been removed in the European Play It release and there is no 60hz mode either so avoid that version. 505 Gamestreet (http://www.505gamestreet.it) was going to release the Xbox version of Shikigami 1 in Europe as ESP Fighters but it's gone from their site now. To bad as 505 usually does a far better job.
roushimsx
04-03-2006, 06:49 PM
interestingly XS' translation wasn't as completely off base as one would think.
Yea, from what I understand the translations were incredibly literal with no thought given to cleaning them up and having them make sense. It's as if someone just sat there with a japanese to english dictionary and translated the individual words and then called it a day. Barely a first draft.
Bless them for it, too!
My contribution!
My Name is Ko! (http://roushimsx.shackspace.com/SnS_II_Demo2.avi)
Conversation with the first boss as Ko (http://roushimsx.shackspace.com/SnS_II_Demo.avi)
Just some quick captures; didn't spend much time cleaning up the video and I was stuck playing with my head cranked to the side because my desk is too cluttered to flip my monitor right now :(
Still, comedy gold awaits!
lordnikon
04-04-2006, 10:48 AM
In the end atleast Shiki 2 made it onto the Playstation 2 in complete fashion. When no tate options or black vertical letterbox are available, and when they start stripping game modes, thats when I start to go nuts. (I can't stand the letterbox's that have artwork, so far the only one that works well with this is Radirgy.)
I have to admit, buying Castle of Shikigami 2 for $9.99 felt like I was robbing someone. I actually bought an extra one a few months later just because it was too cheap to pass up. I figured having a backup handy would be a wise idea.
Blitzwing256
04-04-2006, 11:11 AM
honestly I love the way mbl1 and 2 were done, they remvoed the parts I hate the most, I paid 3 and 5 respectively to blow shit up, not listen to whining japanese voices and bad cut scenes, for what it is its wonderfull (2 was kinda blah)
i'd like to see more shooters get that kinda release :-)
you can't knock milf2000 ;-))))