Incline Shoot'em up goodness (review and discuss)

[Great Deceiver]

Every Mega Drive Shoot Em Up REVIEWED!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLB4W-8pZos

Another megaproject from Shmup Junkie premiering right now.

I really like this guy. He puts out detailed, well-researched videos without being completely autistic. Good editing, too. Plus, he's a decent player. Thumbs up

 

[Great Deceiver]

I've been playing the MD version of Tatsujin/Truxton for the past couple of days. This is one of those games that I never really played that much back in the day (never owned it), and years later I played a little bit of the arcade version in MAME and could never get past stage 2. It's really fucking hard. I decided to play the MD port all these years later and it's surprisingly good, it was done by Toaplan themselves and visually it's pretty close (bombs look a little worse and there's more slowdown, but otherwise very solid), but most importantly, it's a lot easier than arcade. I could see myself getting a 1cc, but I'm not sure I'll put in the time because the last stage is complete bullshit and the game has one additional aggravation that really pisses me off to no end: the enemy bullets are the same colour as the best powerup shot (lightning), so it's much much harder to dodge while you're shooting because you can't see a lot of the time.

Since the ship's hitbox is so huge, you're probably not supposed to dodge and weave bullet patterns; Tatsujin is obviously a game of memorization (enemies spawn behind you and they shoot when you get close, almost suicide bullets but not quite). There's probably some sort of trick or position you can maintain in bosses where you don't get hit, but I don't like that type of design.

Another interesting aspect is that since I played a lot of Slap Fight a few months back, the similarities are very obvious to me now. Enemy patterns, music (done by the same composer, Masahiro Yuge) , enemy movement (especially the large horizontal enemies that move on a "track" in the background and the little pods that shoot you), etc.

I think Slap Fight is just a much better game overall, though. The MD version is even better than the arcade.

 

[Falksi]

SHMUP Junkie is a top lad, and his vids are mint. I agree with a good 60-70% of his ratings too, which is more than can be said for most reviewers. I've been pestering him to check Atomic Runner out for months, so was well chuffed to see it get a good shout.

I've been playing the MD version of Tatsujin/Truxton for the past couple of days. This is one of those games that I never really played that much back in the day (never owned it), and years later I played a little bit of the arcade version in MAME and could never get past stage 2. It's really fucking hard. I decided to play the MD port all these years later and it's surprisingly good, it was done by Toaplan themselves and visually it's pretty close (bombs look a little worse and there's more slowdown, but otherwise very solid), but most importantly, it's a lot easier than arcade. I could see myself getting a 1cc, but I'm not sure I'll put in the time because the last stage is complete bullshit and the game has one additional aggravation that really pisses me off to no end: the enemy bullets are the same colour as the best powerup shot (lightning), so it's much much harder to dodge while you're shooting because you can't see a lot of the time.

Since the ship's hitbox is so huge, you're probably not supposed to dodge and weave bullet patterns; Tatsujin is obviously a game of memorization (enemies spawn behind you and they shoot when you get close, almost suicide bullets but not quite). There's probably some sort of trick or position you can maintain in bosses where you don't get hit, but I don't like that type of design.

Another interesting aspect is that since I played a lot of Slap Fight a few months back, the similarities are very obvious to me now. Enemy patterns, music (done by the same composer, Masahiro Yuge) , enemy movement (especially the large horizontal enemies that move on a "track" in the background and the little pods that shoot you), etc.

I think Slap Fight is just a much better game overall, though. The MD version is even better than the arcade.

Yep, totally agree. I think that extra ease of access is much needed to get into it, the arcade version's coin-gobbling setup is annoying.

Never noticed that about Slap Fight though (been years since I played it mind). Will have to compare at some point.

 

[Great Deceiver]

I had never played Atomic Runner and it's indeed a very interesting game. I checked out the arcade version too, and the MD port is just way better. Funnily enough, I played for hours without knowing you could turn your guy back. I'll put more time in it for sure.

This video also introduced me to Undead Line, which is really great and reminded me of an old Konami favourite of mine from the MSX days called Knightmare, except Undead Line is turbocharged and on crack. Apparently the X68000 version is way better, too. I'll have to check it out at some point.

 

[Falksi]

Recently played Panzer Dragoon: Remake and really enjoyed it. It's super simple, pretty easy, and only offers the typical fairly repetitive experience which on-rails shooters do, but for what it does it's a fun blast.

This made me laugh though...

Yet they give Starfox 64 3D a 9/10 when that too can be completed in around 2 hours...

https://www.ign.com/articles/2011/09/02/star-fox-64-3d-review

 

[Great Deceiver]

The X68000 version of Undeadline is way, way easier than the MD one. It's practically a different game. There's a huge life bar and there are some extra levels as well.

The scrolling seems choppy though (there's also some horizontal scrolling in addition to vertical), so that's a minus in my book. It could be an emulator thing, I dunno. Still, very interesting. I can see myself playing both versions.

The MSX version is very impressive, especially since it's on MSX 1 (apparently it was MSX2 only). However, it's not really very playable now because there's a ton of flicker and the scrolling is quite choppy. You can remedy these issues through emulator options, though, with overclocking and removing the sprite limit - I'm sort of a purist in these cases and prefer to play the game as originally intended, but in this case I'll gladly sacrifice accuracy for playability.

Overall, the home computer versions feel like more laid back, "console" games whereas the MD version feels like a brutal arcade shmup.

 

[Valestein]

Every Mega Drive Shoot Em Up REVIEWED!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLB4W-8pZos

Another megaproject from Shmup Junkie premiering right now.

I'm watching this now:



I've never played any turbografx/pcengine(besides Rondo of Blood), but i'm going to look into finally emulating it and i just might get a PC engine usb controller for extra IMMURSHUn.

 

[Great Deceiver]

Lords of Thunder remains a must play, especially if you like Vinnie Moore-style guitar metal.

The PCE was a great shmup machine.

 

[Great Deceiver]

As I suspected from the choppy scrolling, the X68000 Undeadline refreshes at 55hz.

Running a Retroarch X68k core and enabling the "sync to exact framerate" option on a Gsync monitor I can now play it as intended. The standalone emulators I tried (XM6 Type G/XM6 Pro) didn't have the option for perfect sync.

Plus, I get aspect ratio correction and great shaders. Win. I'll definitely play this version, I like it better than the MD one already. Not as brutal but more varied, with better music and graphics. And extra levels.

As an aside, I never really emulated the X68k before, but I tried some of Capcom's CPS1 ports and they're completely arcade perfect. Of course, the ports came years after say, the MD ports (Daimakaimura came out in 94 for the 68k, 4/5 years after Sega MD port). Anyway, this must have been quite the machine back in the day. The Akumajo Dracula remake is great, I only played it when it was ported to the PSX.

 

[Falksi]

Honestly, when I read the majority of people say the SNES is the best console ever, all I can think is "you like easy games and don't enjoy blowing things up"

I'd take both the SEGA Megadrive and PC Engine over the SNES. Sure there's a few good RPGs on SNES, but the PC is my go-to RPG machine and that decimates it. The PC Engine does not get the respect it deserves.

 

[Great Deceiver]

Another MD/Mega CD shmup I didn't know about is Android Assault: Revenge of Bari-Arm (1993). I played through it earlier today and it's a very good choice for beginners to 1CC, as the early levels are quite easy, the game looks great and there's a killer soundtrack (sounds a little bit like Gate of Thunder).

The last couple of levels ramp up the difficulty nicely and the final boss is great. Bosses in general are pretty big, featuring detailed sprites and interesting patterns. This game has a "hold" mechanic where if you don't press the shot button, the shot power increases. Your ship can also get upgraded 3 times, and the final powerup is a mech form, which trades maneuverability (huge hitbox) for increased firepower - it also charges the shot faster. So a lot of the game is based on dodging and waiting to fire a charged shot. It's interesting.

I'll try playing on Hard next.

 

[Great Deceiver]

I don't know why, but I've been strangely hooked on Undead Line ever since I found out about it. I've since played all versions of the game more at length (1CCd the MD version albeit on easy, working on a normal clear), here are some more thoughts:

- The computer versions (especially the X68k one, which is a refinement of the MSX2 one without the glaring problems like insane sprite flickering and terrible slowdown) are more sophisticated (3 characters to choose from, with different secondary abilities -block, invisibility, jump - you can even multiclass in the X68k one), and the X68k version has 2 extra levels.
- The MD version is more streamlined, but this isn't necessarily a negative. This extends to details such as chest placement - in the computer versions, chest powerups are predetermined and fixed, whereas in the MD version you cycle through 2 different classes of powerup in each chest. So making a recovery is easier, but on the other hand, the computer versions force you to choose other weapons due to availability on each stage/routing (on the MD version the spread dagger is simply the best weapon and it's not even close, you'd be handicapping yourself with any other). This makes the game more complex and harder to learn. In addition, each character fares better with a different weapon - for instance, the Wizard is pretty good with the Option (the egg powerup). The X68k version has a sword which is pretty cool, it's very bad early on (melee range), but when you fully power it up it's great, with a screen-long projectile that goes through enemies.
- Even though the computer versions are more sophisticated, as I said, the MD version is more playable. Though the X68k doesn't suffer from too much slowdown, the gameplay in general is just a lot less fluid. Also a lot more punishing, especially having to know where the fairies are on the levels. If you don't level up in this game you can't deal with the later levels because there's a rank system and it builds up.
- There's an extra button in the MD version, which calls a projectile-clearing orb around your character for a few seconds. You only get 3 of these across all lives, they don't replenish, and you can't refill them in any way that I could find. So better to save all 3 for the bullshit final level.
- There are mid-level bosses in the MD version that are completely absent in the computer versions. They are cool, too. The computer versions' levels seem longer overall, though.
- As I wrote before, the computer versions have a much bigger life bar compared to the MD version (which only gives you 3 hits). This in theory should make the game much easier, but the clunkiness makes the difficulty go up. The bosses are also much less readable in their attack patterns, and bullets are harder to react to. In addition, one of the powerups you can get in the MD version is a bubble shield, which is similar to the golden armour of the computer versions, but it's much easier to get (available in more chests and on command; in the other versions, there's only one golden armour per level in one specific chest, afaik). This powerup lets you absorb 3 hits before taking a point of damage, which means it's probably the most important item in the entire game. Another curious difference is that the yellow (invincibility) potion lasts much longer in the computer versions, probably over twice as long.
- Music wise, all versions are fucking great, even the MSX2 one (one of the rare games to use the MSX-MUSIC FM synth addon). I think I prefer the X68k versions of the tunes, but I can't really say. This is my favourite track:

MD version:

X68k version:

MSX2 version (FM):

Anyway, I love this game now and I'm sure I would have loved it if I played it back in the day. It's one of those cases that really drive home the point for emulation/preservation. I'm thankful that I got to play it. I'll probably try to 1CC all versions eventually.

Here's an X68k screen:

And here are some MD screens:

This is a Dracula type midboss that you fight in 2 different levels.

Though the game was only released in Japan, there's an English translation patch, which works perfectly.

 

[Falksi]

I don't know why, but I've been strangely hooked on Undead Line ever since I found out about it. I've since played all versions of the game more at length (1CCd the MD version albeit on easy, working on a normal clear), here are some more thoughts:

- The computer versions (especially the X68k one, which is a refinement of the MSX2 one without the glaring problems like insane sprite flickering and mega slowdown) are more sophisticated (3 characters to choose from, with different secondary abilities -block, invisibility, jump - you can even multiclass in the X68k one), and the X68k version has 2 extra levels.
- The MD version is more streamlined, but this isn't necessarily a negative. This extends to details such as chest placement - in the computer versions, chest powerups are predetermined and fixed, whereas in the MD version you cycle through 2 different classes of powerup in each chest. So making a recovery is easier, but on the other hand, the computer versions force you to choose other weapons due to availability on each stage/routing. This makes the game more complex and harder to learn. In addition, each character fares better with a different weapon - for instance, the Wizard is pretty good with the Option (the egg powerup). The X68k version has a sword which is pretty cool, it's very bad early on (melee range), but when you fully power it up it's great, with a screen-long projectile that goes through enemies.
- Even though the computer versions are more sophisticated, as I said, the MD version is more playable. Though the X68k doesn't suffer from too much slowdown, the gameplay in general is just a lot less fluid. Also a lot more punishing, especially having to know where the fairies are on the levels. If you don't level up in this game you can't deal with the later levels because there's a rank system and it builds up.
- There's an extra button in the MD version, which calls a projectile-clearing orb around your character for a few seconds. You only get 3 of these across all lives, they don't replenish, and you can't refill them in any way that I could find. So better to save all 3 for the bullshit final level.
- There are mid-level bosses in the MD version that are completely absent in the computer versions. They are cool, too. The computer version's levels seem longer.
- As I wrote before, the computer versions have a much bigger life bar compared to the MD version (which only gives you 3 hits). This in theory should make the game much easier, but the clunkiness makes the difficulty go up. The bosses are also much less readable in their attack patterns, and bullets are harder to react to.
- Music wise, all versions are fucking great, even the MSX2 one (one of the rare games to use the MSX-MUSIC FM synth addon). I think I prefer the X68k versions of the tunes, but I can't really say. This is my favourite track:

MD version:

X68k version:

MSX2 version (FM):

Anyway, I love this game now and I'm sure I would have loved it if I played it back in the day. It's one of those cases that really drive home the point for emulation/preservation. I'm thankful that I got to play it. I'll probably try to 1CC all versions eventually.

Here's an X68k screen:

And here are some MD screens:

This is a Dracula type midboss that you fight in 2 different levels.

Though the game was only released in Japan, there's an English translation patch, which works perfectly.

Some top info there dude.

I've never played any of the other versions, so appreciate you posting as it saves me having to try them just to find inferiority.

It is a cracking game which has an undoubted addictive quality. Not may games manage to kick your ass as a newbie to it like this does and still stay more-ish, but Undeadline really hits the spot.

 

[Great Deceiver]

Oh, I would definitely recommend that you try the other versions. They have a charm of their own and as I wrote, they are more complex/sophisticated. However the gameplay is a little iffy. It's like the MD version is the version that would have come out for arcades if UL was ever an 80s arcade game, does this make sense?

It's very easy to run the MSX2 version too, there's a great browser-based emulator called WebMSX (https://webmsx.org/) - just click on the Drive A icon and it'll ask you for a file, use this:

Spoiler

https://www.planetemu.net/rom/msx-msx2-various-dsk/undeadline-1989-t-e-soft

You can disable the sprite limit and overclock the emulator to 7mhz which makes the game run well.

The X68k version is more tricky, as the emulators aren't really user friendly, but you can try this one, it worked alright before I figured out how to run the Retroarch core, which was considerably more complex: https://mijet.eludevisibility.org/XM6 Pro-68k/XM6 Pro-68k.html

The game comes on 3 discs:

Spoiler

https://www.retrostic.com/search?search_term_string=undeadline

and you need to mount the first & second simultaneously to play. It's not too hard to figure out, but if you need any help let me know.

 

[Great Deceiver]

Hey what happened to Licorice? Nutmeg

 

[Sukhāvatī]

Neat and free little shmup.

 

[Sukhāvatī]

Free little 4-way shmup.

 

[Nutmeg]

I've been playing Thunder Force 4, Serei Senshin Spriggan and Dennin Aleste on repeat. Not as intense or deep as the best competitive arcade games, but very enjoyable comfort gaming. I love the aesthetic. The latter two are precursors to Mahou Daisakusen (or Sorcer Striker), which is similar in its pacing tbqh, so if you love that, I think you'll find these very enjoyable.

 

[Nutmeg]

as I said, the MD version is more playable. Though the X68k doesn't suffer from too much slowdown, the gameplay in general is just a lot less fluid

Undead Line is great. Definitely belongs to the whole Japanese 1st generation otaku take on D&D aesthetic I mentioned in the post above. Especially the computer versions, and especially the MSX intro. And yes the music is amazing on all versions.

I haven't actually played the MSX original, so I can't comment, but I share the same general sentiment w.r.t. the Megadrive and X68000 ports.

One thing I found is that when emulating the MD version, the screen remains black between levels, even after the next level starts, till I press a button. Do you get the same thing? Along with the lack of an animated intro and the character and character building omissions, it makes me think it was less a case of streamlining and more a case of just not enough dev time.

I actually prefer the X68Ks chests to MD's almost Twinbee like cycling, esp. cause of the weapon balance. But yeah X68K feels more like your character is walking through mud and there's issues with inconsistent damage feedback and the like.

No perfect version, but no bad version either. Ah well.

 

[Nutmeg]

I just 1CC'd Serei Senshi Spriggan (emulated via libretro's Beetle PCE core via Retroarch) on my first 1CC attempt (as opposed to enjoying the game casually) on normal difficulty.

It was very enjoyable.

The weapon system is like Soldier Blade's, except different color combinations yield different weapons. Like in Soldier Blade, you collect up to 3 orbs of different (or same) colors, newer orbs replacing the least recently collected after that, and bombing using up the most recently collected. It's simpler than I describe it, and quite a cool system.

Unlike Soldier Blade, getting hit doesn't remove an orb and thus power you down, but rather kills you outright or destroys your shield if you have one. Shields are obtained via special shiny or multi color orbs that appear less frequently than standard weapon (or power up) orbs.

Three blue orbs or three orbs of mixed red and blue colors are the most powerful combinations, some (including myself) might say overpowered. These combinations allow you to cancel almost every bullet in the game with large fire or water balls that spin speedily and endlessly around your mech. Nevertheless there are still many parts of the game where that won't be of much help. For example, stage 3 and 5 have a wealth of collision hazards, and there's a few sections in stage 4 (IIRC) where your defenses will get overwhelmed by massive fire power if you're not aggressive enough. The biggest threat is the stage 5 mid-boss which fires lightning bolts and homing orbs that are uncancellable. I lost a few lives to him, but managed to pull off a recovery. Stage 6 and 7 (final boss) also forced me to lose a few and many lives respectively, as the screen can quickly fill up with homing bullets of various sorts that corner you, also 1CC nerves in the latter case. The game is extremely generous with bombs (which are also your weapon power, as explained above), shields and extends, so recovery is not only possible, but probable, although not guaranteed.

In fact, this sums up the game's difficulty, very generous and not overly punishing, but still demanding the player's attention, alertness, and the mobility of the mech in their control. Reminds me of something like the first 4 Elemental Master levels on Normal, but over 7 levels. Or more aptly, like all the stages of its descendant game Mahou Daisakusen, sans the final boss rush.

Audio-visually, the game is amazing. Amazing music, great Japanese voice acting, cool little late 80s a-n-i-m-e style cutscenes, intro and credits, and pixel art that matches. Someone called it Evangelion (the mechs) meets Lodoss War (the backgrounds and enemies) and that's a great way to describe it (and Spriggan precedes both of those! (the latter's a-n-i-m-e form anyway)).

I rank the game highly, and recommend it with the simple caveat that I do so as an enjoyable adventure, not a serious arcade challenge that will demand you draw routes through levels and plan resources like e.g. its great grand child Armed Police Batrider. I can't speak for the higher difficulties, but I can say I'm interested in trying those out at some point too.

Score

Stage 6 music really gets you pumped up for it, v. nice effect paired with the intense gameplay and also after the villain gives his (skippable) speech through the super computer you destroy at the end of stage 5.

 

[SlamDunk]

Classic Silkworm game on the Internet Archive.

https://archive.org/details/Silkworm_1989_Virgin_cr_Defjam_CCS_SP

 

[Nutmeg]

Get good in shmups with 11+1 16-bit classics, ordered by difficulty according to shmups community forums. Goal here is to get the 1-ALL (1st loop, all levels) 1CC (1 credit clear, or rather, a 0 continue clear) on default settings unless otherwise noted.

Sylphia
Winds of Thunder
Elemental Master
Soldier Blade
Musha Aleste
Elemental Master (Mania)
Biometal
Macross: Scrambled Valkyrie
Axelay (Hard)
Salamander (PCE) (Beginner 2-ALL)
Nexzr (Hard) or Eliminate Down
Thunderforce 4

Along with better 16-bit arcade ports, which you could try tackling next on their default then "arcade" difficulties (e.g. Mr. Heli, Gradius 2, Kyukyoku Tiger and Forgotten Worlds for the PCE) this would be kind of the "background" most Japanese players would have had in the mid 90s when graduating to gesen (arcade) stuff, I'd imagine.

 

[Nutmeg]

And I got the Gunnac 1CC on normal. As usual, emulated using Retroarch. Not much of an achievement. It throws a lot of resources at you.

Nonetheless, the game is very aggressive. Most of the stages are typical Compile spam, as I've come to appreciate Compile level design (lol, really there's no other word for it, when comparing to more careful layouts in contemporary games, even derivatives like Soldier Blade), save stage 6 which has terrain hazards in the form of long solar flare beams cutting off your vertical movement entirely. Almost all the bosses are forgettable. Tree level boss (stage 5?) can be dangerous if you don't have a weapon that does much damage laterally, and the final boss demands quite a bit of movement. Actually, I'm quite fond of both forms of the final boss. Very nice patterns.

Unlike with Spriggan, I actually didn't get the 1CC on my first attempt here, and "practiced" the final stage a bit before giving it a second shot. By practiced I mean just figured out the path of least resistance strategy is to spam resources all the way to the end, and then I retrofitted this "strategy" to the penultimate stage as well. Each life gives you 4 bombs, and you'll have something like 12 lives by stage 7 (second last) even if you haven't been playing that well. It feels cheesy, but a nice touch is that bomb spam isn't wholly a get out of jail free card, as you are *not* invulnerable for the duration of the bomb.

Visually, very cute designs all around, backgrounds, enemies, your ship, the shop, the opening and ending cut scenes. Music is OK but completely forgettable.

This was actually one of the first Japanese shmups I played (my childhood had just one shmup, Raptor on PC). I remember when I first played gunnac, I used to get filtered at the water stage. I've come a very very long way since then. Felt good to return to the game and have it be a mostly breezy experience.

Score:

Spoiler

I have quite a few 1CCs now:

Gunnac
Battlemania Daiginjou
Spriggan
Musha
Sylphia
Soldier Blade
Winds of Thunder
Elemental Master
Axelay
Biometal
Batsugun Special (1-ALL)
Armed Police Batrider (Normal Course)
Flying Hawk
Repulse
Raiden Fighters 2 (with Fairy)
The Firemen

 

[Great Deceiver]

Nutmeg Serei Senshi Spriggan is indeed amazing and much better than Dennin Aleste for the Mega CD. I haven't 1CCd it yet but plan to in the future.

One thing I found is that when emulating the MD version, the screen remains black between levels, even after the next level starts, till I press a button. Do you get the same thing?

Yep, same here. Black screen w/ music until I press a button.

Anyway, just 1CC'd the Mega CD version of Lords of Thunder on my first go without even trying - it's pathetically easy, much much easier than the PCE version, mostly because for some reason they made the melee attack obscenely overpowered in this build. It's a shame, because the mix for the (awesome) soundtrack is much better here. The guitars on the PCE-CD version soundtrack sound like a direct line recording (as opposed to mic'd off a cabinet) and sound very harsh to my ears.

Another significant change is that there's hitstun when you get hit. I don't like it - breaks the flow of the game. If there was a way to use the Mega CD tracks in the PCE version, that would be the best version of the game.

 

[Gastrick]

Does this analogy work? 3CC is like beating the game on normal, and 1CC is like beating the game on hard.