Dreamcast Import Help [Archive] - Retrogaming Roundtable

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07-10-2006, 11:12 AM

Enixis

07-10-2006, 11:32 AM

In order of preference

1. Ikaruga (released over 3 years ago)
2. Under Defeat (released this year)
3. Border Down (released over 3 years ago)

Julio III

07-10-2006, 01:54 PM

I would say Psyvariar 2, or maybe Ikaruga.
Ikaruga has lots and lots of depth and the levels are quite different however Psyvariar 2 is the one I keep going back to over and over and over again.

I only own 4 myself (the 2 above, Under Defeat and Radirgy), they're pretty expensive, and i plan to buy Shikigami No Shiro 2 soon, or maybe Trizeal, its gonna be pricey.

Julio III

07-10-2006, 01:56 PM

Just thought of something that could be helpful. Yakumo of RetroCore has done a Dreamcast Shooting Special which has videos of all the dreamcast shooters in it (well, apart from the two 2006 releases which he's reviewed in the later RetroCore episodes). Its pretty good just to see what the different games are like although he's failed to get the game systems properly on a couple of them. You can go to www.segagagadomain.com and follow the link to RetroCore or search for retrocore on www.archive.org. Its probably about an hour long video and it worth watching.

CosmicMonkey

07-10-2006, 02:09 PM

Get Under Defeat. It's an old skool shooter with very, very flash new skool graphics.

The are other good shooters on the DC (Zero Gunner 2 is ace), but if you just want a straight forward blaster that looks absolutely incredible, go for UD.

smork

07-10-2006, 02:40 PM

Well, you gotta consider price if ou're only getting one, then. For example, Ikaruga is great, but it's also probably the 3rd most expensive DC shooter (#1 and #2 are Border Down and Bangaioh are the most expensive). The cheapest would have to be Gunbird 2 or Gigawing. For the cost of one Ikaruga, you can get 2, maybe 3 cheaper shooters.

My personal favorite of the DC shooters is Zero Gunner 2 -- it's a great heli shooter. Under Defeat is also good. Radilgy is nice, too -- but definitely not to everyone's taste. Should be able to find any of those 3 for around $50 or so. Gunbird 2 is also one of my faves, but very hard. I'd avoid Gigawing 2 and Mars Matrix since they are "non traditional" shooters and may not be to your taste.

I'd say get ZG2, then if you have a GC get Ikaruga, since it can be gotten for $20 in places (ignore those eBay prices and cheak a few stores. I see it in stores all the time for $20ish). I do like Bangaioh as well, but i'd stick to the US version since it's inifitely cheaper.

milhouseOFpain

07-10-2006, 04:01 PM

I am planning on buying one of the recent
Japaneze shooters for dreamcast.
(released in the last 3 years)

1 I can only afford to buy one.
2 I am not a hardcore shooter fan. I want something that isn't crazy hard.

My question to those of you who have played them

Which one would you buy?

Any input would be appreciated.

i would go with Under Defeat if you are going to get one of the "recent" DC shmups. its probably the best package of tolerable difficulty and nice graphics.

personally i like Mars Matrix and the other bullet wave style of games.

you only live about 2 hours away. if you come to St. Louis i will let you try them all...for a small fee :D

Sweater Fish Deluxe

07-10-2006, 11:15 PM

Well, there doesn't seem to be any consensus at all about what you should get. I would either second the recommendation of Psyvariar 2 or just say get Shikigami no Shiro 2.

The two games are somewhat similar games in my opinion, not that their themes or presentations are at all alike, but terms of difficulty and addictivity. Both are just about right as far as difficulty goes and both also use variations on a play mechanic that involves being rewarded for maneuvering in close to enemies or their fire. That play mechanic combined with the mild difficulty make them highly addictive. I'm not saying they're easy, just that their difficulty level is perfectly right to allow you to explore the buzz systems and get the feel for them. Psyvariar 2 has really great graphics, bright and colorful almost to the point of abstract psychedelia, which only enhances the addictiveness of the gameplay system. Personally, though, I prefer Shikigami no Shiro 2 a little more, I think its gameplay is a little more meaty and I like the variety of characters.

In my opinion Border Down and Ikaruga are quite difficult, so I wouldn't recommend either of those if you're want something to relax with.

Ikaruga features a gimmicky play mechanic like Psyvariar 2 and Shikigami no Shiro 2 (though not similar to the buzz system those ones use), but it's just too unforgiving to really be able to suck me in and addict me, though I must admit that they few times I've had really good runs in the game have hell of exhilirating. It seems like most of the people who do well in Ikaruga have strictly memorized exactly what to do when, I don't like that, I like to be able to improvise in a shooter.

Border Down I haven't played as much. It seems like more of an old school blaster style shooter than the gimmicky shooters we've seen more of recently. It doesn't seem as hard as Ikaruga has been for me and who knows maybe I just need to play it more for everything to fall into place.

Chaos Field and Trizeal are both uninspired, unimpressive and generally disappointing. No one has recommended either of those yet and for good reason.

I actually haven't yet played Under Defeat. I've heard some really great things about it and I'm looking forward to it. Who knows, maybe it's the best of the bunch. More people seem to be recommending it in this thread anyway.

...word is bondage...

Canadianzombie

07-10-2006, 11:47 PM

I've got almost all the DC shooters and Under Defeat is by far the best, the graphics are phenomenal and the game play isn't impossibly difficult. I'd have to agree with some of you that say some of the DC shmups are damned hard, for some reason developers thought that everyone had reflexes of a rabbit.
Cheers
MArk

GaijinPunch

07-11-2006, 10:58 PM

How anal are you?

Ikaruga has it all. Beautiful graphics, tolerable difficulty, the soundtrack won't make you gag either. Replayability galore. Fantastic Naomi port.

Border Down: Also a quality Noami port. Graphics are pretty impressive for a 3D game made by a small company, but not quite as impressive as Ikaruga. The game's rank system sucks though, and can turn off the non-hardcore. Soundtrack has ups and downs.

Shikigami II: Another great Naomi port. Graphics are somewhat lame, like all the Shiki's, but has loads of bullets (the most on the DC, next to Gigawing 2) and a really small hitbox. Cool scoring system and shitloads of characters.

Zero Gunner 2 & Gigawing 2 are also great ports. Gigawing and Mars Matrix are the two that are considered poor ports (resolution issues), but still fun games.

Gunbird 2 and Twinkle Star Sprites are great fun, support their native resolutions (so means they wont' work on a VGA Box, FYI) and are really cheap, and really expensive, respectively.

diskoboy

07-11-2006, 11:27 PM

Ikaruga gets my vote.

I didn't really enjoy Radilgy. Haven't played Border Down.

07-15-2006, 11:21 AM

Thanks for all the help!!

I ordered Under Defeat

I appreciate the input. :)

smork

07-15-2006, 01:00 PM

Thanks for all the help!!

I ordered Under Defeat

I appreciate the input. :)

Hope you like it! Actually, I'm sure you will....

Julio III

07-15-2006, 01:55 PM

Thanks for all the help!!

I ordered Under Defeat

I appreciate the input. :)

Good choice, have fun with it.

Suddenly I feel the urge to play it now...

Oh, and if you don't already know, the best way to play these vertical shooters is through a VGA box and then tilt your monitor on its side for full screen TATE goodness

roushimsx

07-15-2006, 03:41 PM

Good pick on Under Defeat, that game is awesome. I recorded a crummy run of the first stage (http://www.roushimsx.com/sa/Under_Defeat_Stage_01.avi) a while back if you want to see what you're getting yourself into...the game is the bee's knees.

Shikigami no Shiro 2 is pretty fun, too...but you may as well just pick up the US PS2 release of it for under $10 at Walmart.com. As a bonus, it has the most hillariously bad localization ever.

Border Down is the heat, but sadly was made in pretty limited quantities (LE was 2,000 pieces and the Standard Edition was 3,000 followed up by another 5,000) and costs an arm and a leg now. IMO it's worth the asking price, but you may as well spend some time feeling out the rest of the DC shmup library first.

I felt Radirgy was enjoyable (and far better than Chaos Field) but it doesn't compare to Under Defeat or Border Down.

Sweater Fish Deluxe

07-15-2006, 04:08 PM

Thanks for all the help!!

I ordered Under Defeat

I appreciate the input. :)
Heh, so did I, actually. I'd been wanting it every since it released, but this topic made me finally get it. It's on "sale" at Play-Asia for $60, which is better than $70, I guess.

Finally my copy of Cosmic Smash will have another DC game in a DVD case to keep it company.

...word is bondage...

07-16-2006, 01:40 PM

what is cosmic smash?

Is it english friendly?

.

Julio III

07-16-2006, 02:25 PM

Sweater Fish Deluxe

07-17-2006, 10:48 PM

what is cosmic smash?

Is it english friendly?

.

Cosmic Smash is very English friendly, in fact i think all the text is in English. Anyway, its kind of like a futuristic squash meets breakout kindof game with graphics that remind me of Rez. Very limited but also great fun. It commands quite a high price though
I didn't know it was getting expensive. It was a budget game when it released. I got it for $30 including shipping, which is a good deal, I'd say. But if it's going for much more than that now, I'd recommend a pass on it. I've never been able to "get into the zone" with Cosmic Smash, which seems to be the point of the game, to get to that point where the controls are just fluid and intuitive and you're racking up big points while polishing the morror of your mind. Those kind of games are my favorite. They're the whole reason I love games, but like I said, I just can't get there with Cosmic Smash no matter how much I play it. It almost always feels like I'm just on the verge of getting there, but it never happens. The key inputs for doing the more complicated tricks are just not intuitive enough and controlling the ball is just to hard so gameplay is erratic rather than a fluid steady pace like it should be, this also makes setting up the flashy combos damn near impossible. Overall, it's a good game, but definitely flawed and not worth any big bucks.

AQs for the language, Cosmic Smash actually changes its in game text to match the language you have set in your DC's BIOS. Rez and a couple other games do the same thing.

...word is bondage...