StarCreator
Member
Caladrius cleared customs earlier this afternoon. Hoping for arrival tomorrow but Saturday morning is more likely. Just in time for a local meetup!
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Shoot the Core! - Gaf Shoot em Up (aka Shooter/SHMUP) Reference Thread
- Thread starter fatty
- Start date
Hyper anime shooting. So close, yet so far. MOSS revealed the DLC for the game today. A 8-bit sound pack, and character portrait icons.
http://caladrius.mossjp.co.jp/dlc.html
Some of that arrangement sounds harsh as beeps and clicks, but I'll grab it to show my support since there is also a post on the front page that thanks people who worked on the game and the fans who bought it. MOSS CEO is essentially pulling the anti-Fujino.
Character portraits are alright, but I don't think I'm ready to retire Tsukiko Joshima just yet.
http://caladrius.mossjp.co.jp/dlc.html
Some of that arrangement sounds harsh as beeps and clicks, but I'll grab it to show my support since there is also a post on the front page that thanks people who worked on the game and the fans who bought it. MOSS CEO is essentially pulling the anti-Fujino.
Character portraits are alright, but I don't think I'm ready to retire Tsukiko Joshima just yet.
Whoo! Bring your J-3DS as well since I wanna try out Kokuga multi-player.
My Caladrius is still in JFK but should be in by saturday morning, I imagine. Gettin' amped reading impressions on shmups. Skippable story elements, short. Sounds great.
StarCreator
Member
Do I need to own anything to play Kokuga on it?
Just the the single cart, which I'll bring. It has download play with up to four players with the host cart I think.
iconoclast
Member
This was fun to watch. It seems like they've made a lot of improvements to just about everything. Boost looks way more fun than Simple Mode, and all of the little system and pattern adjustments should make Original Mode a better game, too. Hope I get to play it some day!
iconoclast
Member
T3-Kamui should be playing Battle Garegga live at Stunfest soonish: http://stunfest.fr/stream/?video=xyut1p&quake=stunfest-2
NAK will also be playing God Mode in Mushihimesama Futari Black Label afterward. (Both of these guys are the WR holders)
I'm dead tired at the moment but I need to stay up to watch NAK play.
NAK will also be playing God Mode in Mushihimesama Futari Black Label afterward. (Both of these guys are the WR holders)
I'm dead tired at the moment but I need to stay up to watch NAK play.
adversesolutions
Member
NAK is gonna kick a hole in God Mode.
I'm so glad the guys made it one piece, and looking forward to seeing them show France what this shit is about.
They're gonna have to call it Stuntfest next year!!
I'm so glad the guys made it one piece, and looking forward to seeing them show France what this shit is about.
They're gonna have to call it Stuntfest next year!!
gunstarhero
Member
Nice! Just saw Kumui leave a Coke can on the fire button and walk away for a few minutes during the 3rd stage boss battle in BG!
Hysterical.
adversesolutions
Member
Last day of Stunfest streaming coming up in about 7 hours. For US folks very early morning.
I believe it will be NAK on Mushi Futari and TAC on SDOj.
All times France time.
(Player order may differ)
Sunday
12h : TAC : SDOJ
14h15 : NAK : Mushi Futari
I believe it will be NAK on Mushi Futari and TAC on SDOj.
All times France time.
(Player order may differ)
Sunday
12h : TAC : SDOJ
14h15 : NAK : Mushi Futari
StarCreator
Member
Are these streams going to be available for later viewing?
cross post from my tumblr
Loving playing on a tated crt so much, the comfort of no lag is definitely favourable. Been putting in solid time on this setup and I'm very very close to that DDP DFK 1CC now ^_^
mezurashiiakedo said:
My STG setup currently,
HRAP 2 with full Seimitsu (LS-32-01 Stick & PS-14-GN / ps 14 d-n Buttons)
19” HP CRT with Trinitron tube
nike box
Hooked up too to the Xbox 360 via Xtokki for CAVE joints and too a laptop running shmupmame, both through VGA. Looks beautiful on this display, just currently awaiting delivery on a mini SLG to complete the setup.
Loving playing on a tated crt so much, the comfort of no lag is definitely favourable. Been putting in solid time on this setup and I'm very very close to that DDP DFK 1CC now ^_^
gunstarhero
Member
Just got my copy of DUX 1.5 for the Dreamcast!
Havent played the original, but apparently it had bugs that 1.5 fixes.
Only got to play it for 20 minutes - but from what I played, it's a really relaxing version of RType with a Fantasy Zone inspired color palette. The game seems to focus on chains for score, which from what I can tell is simply using your charge shots on long lines of enemies.
Game seems really easy so far, but that's not a complaint at all. It's probably a easy 1cc, but I'm hoping the challenge comes with getting a high score.
My only gripe right now is I cant stand the fact that your ship dosen't animate when turning up or down. It's not a big deal, but it bugs the shit out of me.
Hopefully will spend some more time with it tonight - but so far, so good.
Final Release Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqG-4SfBjUg
Havent played the original, but apparently it had bugs that 1.5 fixes.
Only got to play it for 20 minutes - but from what I played, it's a really relaxing version of RType with a Fantasy Zone inspired color palette. The game seems to focus on chains for score, which from what I can tell is simply using your charge shots on long lines of enemies.
Game seems really easy so far, but that's not a complaint at all. It's probably a easy 1cc, but I'm hoping the challenge comes with getting a high score.
My only gripe right now is I cant stand the fact that your ship dosen't animate when turning up or down. It's not a big deal, but it bugs the shit out of me.
Hopefully will spend some more time with it tonight - but so far, so good.
Final Release Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqG-4SfBjUg
sixteen-bit
Member
Jesus. I hate to sound negative but that's a very ugly looking game.
gunstarhero
Member
It's definitely different looking, but I wouldn't call it ugly. It's a nice change of pace in this genre, but I can see why it's design isn't for everybody.
Canadian Psycho
Banned
Would a kind soul please link me a list of all the US (disc releases only - I would consider an XBLA download only if it is a major title of the genre that is not available anywhere else without modding or importing a system) 360 shooters? I feel like binging, but I need to know the breadth of this possible new phase, lol. I'd love to know what are the must haves and the ones to avoid too (disclaimer: not a big fan of little Japanese girls, but if the gameplay is excellent, I won't mind). Maybe I'll even consider moving on to region-free Xbox games afterwards.
P.S. I've always loved shmups, but around the time Mars Matrix and Giga Wing 2 were released back in the day I lost interest because the multitude of bullets on the screen overwhelmed me. (My favourite shooters ever are Thunder Force 3/4, Darius Gaiden, Galactic Attack, Gradius 3, Space Megaforce and (NES) Gun.Smoke, to name just a few. I love big catchy and/or over the top BGM as well; a great soundtrack is a big plus). But I have grown more curious towards "manic" style shooters, in great part due to browsing this thread every now and then.
P.S. I've always loved shmups, but around the time Mars Matrix and Giga Wing 2 were released back in the day I lost interest because the multitude of bullets on the screen overwhelmed me. (My favourite shooters ever are Thunder Force 3/4, Darius Gaiden, Galactic Attack, Gradius 3, Space Megaforce and (NES) Gun.Smoke, to name just a few. I love big catchy and/or over the top BGM as well; a great soundtrack is a big plus). But I have grown more curious towards "manic" style shooters, in great part due to browsing this thread every now and then.
For US it is pretty slim, but there are a lot of imports that are region-free and cheap now that they have budget rereleases doubling the catalog. Definitely look at XBLA...quite a few excellent ports like Silvergun but also a lot of unique titles like Trouble Witches.
NA Disc-based:
Raiden Fighters Aces
Raiden IV
Deathsmiles
Otomedius Excellent
Akai Katana
NA Games-on-demand:
Deathsmiles IIX (untranslated)
NA XBLA:
Aegis Wing (pulled)
Ikaruga
Triggerheat Excelic
Omega Five
R-Type Dimensions
Raystorm HD
Space Invaders: Infinity Gene
King of Fighters: Sky Stage
Guwange
Strania (plus DLC sequel)
Trouble Witches
Bangai-O: Missile Fury
Radiant Silvergun
Sine Mora
Region-free Japan releases (playable on NA systems no problems):
Mushihimesama Futari (also has a Platinum release)
Espgaluda II (only the standard edition; also has a Platinum release)
Muchi Muchi Pork and Pink Sweets two-fer (got a Cave The Best budget rerelease)
Bullet Soul
Eschatos (includes two extra Wonderswan shooters; got a Wonder Price budget rerelease)
Ginga Force
-> Indie Games channel also has a half-dozen exceptional titles. Don't have a full list but look for things like Revolver 360, Shoot 1-UP, Snops Attack!, etc.
NA Disc-based:
Raiden Fighters Aces
Raiden IV
Deathsmiles
Otomedius Excellent
Akai Katana
NA Games-on-demand:
Deathsmiles IIX (untranslated)
NA XBLA:
Aegis Wing (pulled)
Ikaruga
Triggerheat Excelic
Omega Five
R-Type Dimensions
Raystorm HD
Space Invaders: Infinity Gene
King of Fighters: Sky Stage
Guwange
Strania (plus DLC sequel)
Trouble Witches
Bangai-O: Missile Fury
Radiant Silvergun
Sine Mora
Region-free Japan releases (playable on NA systems no problems):
Mushihimesama Futari (also has a Platinum release)
Espgaluda II (only the standard edition; also has a Platinum release)
Muchi Muchi Pork and Pink Sweets two-fer (got a Cave The Best budget rerelease)
Bullet Soul
Eschatos (includes two extra Wonderswan shooters; got a Wonder Price budget rerelease)
Ginga Force
-> Indie Games channel also has a half-dozen exceptional titles. Don't have a full list but look for things like Revolver 360, Shoot 1-UP, Snops Attack!, etc.
Canadian Psycho
Banned
Quick and comprehensive, thanks!
Is there some sort of consensus about the ones to avoid and the ones to get? For instance, I see Futari mentioned a lot whereas Otomedius Excellent doesn't seem as highly praised as the Cave offerings, etc.
Also, is DoDonPachi Resurrection as highly regarded as DDP on Saturn (or is it the same game, but in HD?)?
Is there some sort of consensus about the ones to avoid and the ones to get? For instance, I see Futari mentioned a lot whereas Otomedius Excellent doesn't seem as highly praised as the Cave offerings, etc.
Also, is DoDonPachi Resurrection as highly regarded as DDP on Saturn (or is it the same game, but in HD?)?
Of those five NA disc titles, yeah, Otomedius would be the one to avoid. The other four are tops...with maybe Raiden IV middling.
Generally, Futari is considered the best shmup release on 360. Raiden Fighters is probably my personal favorite, though.
Resurrection is a different game entirely from straight Dodonpachi which appeared on Saturn/PS1. All different games and goes: Donpachi (the best!), Dodonpachi, Dodonpachi DOJ, Dodonpachi Resurrection.
Resurrection is not available in NA, but it does have a region-free euroland release, which can be imported for $20.
Generally, Futari is considered the best shmup release on 360. Raiden Fighters is probably my personal favorite, though.
Resurrection is a different game entirely from straight Dodonpachi which appeared on Saturn/PS1. All different games and goes: Donpachi (the best!), Dodonpachi, Dodonpachi DOJ, Dodonpachi Resurrection.
Resurrection is not available in NA, but it does have a region-free euroland release, which can be imported for $20.
sixteen-bit
Member
DoDonPachi II Bee Storm not mentioned... it's better that way, lol.
Jrpgfanatic
Member
Otomedius is certainly more simple than Cave games from a technical standpoint, but if you're a fan of Gradius and either like or can deal with anime girls riding ships in skimpy clothing, you may want to pick it up anyway. I've seen new copies of both Deathsmiles and Otomedius in the Walmart bargain bins for $20 over the last month or so.
StarCreator
Member
We didn't get to expose him to the wonders that is DDP2 this weekend! (Unless it happened while I was asleep...)
Canadian Psycho
Banned
I know it's been going on for several years already, but I am EXTREMELY surprised that the 360 has been the generation's go-to console when it comes to shooters. First, aren't every Western consoles (Microsoft) a huge flop in Japan? Is there a big enough enthusiast market to even sustain the genre in spite of that? In the "shocking fact" department, for me, it ranks up there with the Dragon Quest 9 announcement for DS back in the day. (Keep in mind that I have just slowly been coming back to the genre.)
I'm always on a lookout for a copy since I've got a PGM. The labels are always so trashed and peeling, though. But the game changes hands a lot and I see many go up for sale.
sixteen-bit
Member
It's less about being a ubiquitous console and more about the platform holder letting them release games on the system. AFAIK, the only options for Cave were Xbox 360 or no home port at all.
Canadian Psycho
Banned
Fair enough, but are Cave at least profitable as it is? They seem to be the kings at the moment, but street cred is generally not enough. I'd hate for them to go the way of Raizing/Psikyo and close shop.
shaowebb
Member
Otomedius is a hit or miss title with folks honestly. I own it and I've personally witnessed some rage induced by it with various people I had play it. Its balls hard.Its like Gradius in that aspect.
Tons of stuff just popping up, pattern memorization for stages necessary and a strong emphasis on powering up and very precise shooting. Not only that but bosses get bored and LEAVE if you don't beat them very quickly. This forces you to point blank them and take risks so they dont really get easy or old. Its either a hit or a rage inducer.
Its got a lot of characters and I highly recommend getting the DLC character Kokoro Belmont for her awesome tools (dat whip and ax).
hibachifinal
Member
don't forget ketsuipachi. ha.
(and Ketsui for that matter, which is getting a PS3 release soon!)
(and Ketsui for that matter, which is getting a PS3 release soon!)
Canadian Psycho
Banned
Gradius Galaxies: yay or nay? Seems to have been outsourced (was it US or Japan developed?). I used to have it, but I was unimpressed at the time (it's been a while).
sixteen-bit
Member
Do you think Galaxies worth $5 loose?
Caladrius is good times, indeed. Just bought the 8-bit soundtrack for it! Sounds more 16-bit-ish though.
Speaking of non-mainline Gradius titles. The Wiiware Gradius Rebirth is quite fun and worth a check-out!
Canadian Psycho
Banned
It's definitely worth $5. I don't know if it's worth $20+ complete though.
I have never played Gradius Gaiden before. I own the Collection on PSP and will finally able to try it once my brother sells me his system this summer. Looking forward to it, as I love Gradius 3 on SNES.
adversesolutions
Member
Yes, I believe the Stunfest folks are encoding video as we speak. Should be up sometime this week, so I'll throw up a link when they go live.
Whoa, RS4 in the thread. Sup bro
Just FYI, I would personally not recommend Caladrius over many of the other existing shooters on the 360. If you haven't played Mushihimesama Futari or Muchi Muchi Pork!/Pink Sweets, those are my personal top 2 for the system and definitely a better starting point than this one.
I've been playing Caladrius for about two days now. In terms of an overall review, I would say it's passable. I like how the stages are structured and how you have to use the multiple weapons in your arsenal to kill every enemy on screen. That's fun, and well done.
The UI is pretty and responsive...achievements decently balanced.
The negatives however weigh this release down IMO. Painfully long boss fights which require essentially rote memorization of patterns. CAVE, Grev and other bullet hell shooter companies use a similar formula but there is usually more freedom in how you can deal with the patterns thrown at you. Not so in Caldrius. If you try to improvise in these patterns, you'll probably get clipped due to the relatively large hit-box.
Slow ship speed. Argh, SO slow. I realize that this "weighty" feel is part of the Moss playstyle, but it just isn't for me. I like dashing around the screen and blowing shit up. Plus there are boss patterns where you get "followed" by certain bullet patterns, and your ship is sometimes too slow to actually dodge through them...
Durability on enemies too high. It seems like it takes way too much firepower to kill even small and some mid-sized enemies. Regular tanks seem to take about 5 shots whereas in other shooters they'd be dead in 2. This is sort of grating, especially on the later stages.
Despite all that I am sticking with Caladrius because I do appreciate some aspects of it, I just would advise anybody who isn't a die-hard shooter fan to skip it. Personally I'm curious to see what they do for the upcoming (July/August?) arcade release to see how much energy I'll put towards the game.
I probably wouldn't be this down on Caladrius, but Crimzon Clover recently came out in arcades and is absolutely blowing away the competition. I've been dumping coins into it since Saturday, and any other shooters that came out in the meantime (like Under Defeat HD+) are just falling by the wayside...
Speaking of the Caladrius Achievements. A nice touch is that on XBOX live Website Version the Achievement List automatically translate to english. First time I've seen that on a Japanese-only release for a shooter.
Edit: never mind. Looks like it was the Google Chrome browser that automatically did it. Shows how little I know about computers :-(
Edit: never mind. Looks like it was the Google Chrome browser that automatically did it. Shows how little I know about computers :-(
Yes, I believe the Stunfest folks are encoding video as we speak. Should be up sometime this week, so I'll throw up a link when they go live.
Whoa, RS4 in the thread. Sup bro
Just FYI, I would personally not recommend Caladrius over many of the other existing shooters on the 360. If you haven't played Mushihimesama Futari or Muchi Muchi Pork!/Pink Sweets, those are my personal top 2 for the system and definitely a better starting point than this one.
I've been playing Caladrius for about two days now. In terms of an overall review, I would say it's barely passable. I like how the stages are structured and how you have to use the multiple weapons in your arsenal to kill every enemy on screen. That's fun, and well done.
The UI is pretty and responsive...achievements decently balanced.
The negatives however weigh this release down IMO. Painfully long boss fights which require essentially rote memorization of patterns. CAVE, Grev and other bullet hell shooter companies use a similar formula but there is usually more freedom in how you can deal with the patterns thrown at you. Not so in Caldrius. If you try to improvise in these patterns, you'll probably get clipped due to the relatively large hit-box.
Slow ship speed. Argh, SO slow. I realize that this "weighty" feel is part of the Moss playstyle, but it just isn't for me. I like dashing around the screen and blowing shit up. Plus there are boss patterns where you get "followed" by certain bullet patterns, and your ship is sometimes too slow to actually dodge through them...
Durability on enemies too high. It seems like it takes way too much firepower to kill even small and some mid-sized enemies. Regular tanks seem to take about 5 shots whereas in other shooters they'd be dead in 2. This is sort of grating, especially on the later stages.
Despite all that I am sticking with Caladrius because I do appreciate some aspects of it, I just would advise anybody who isn't a die-hard shooter fan to skip it. Personally I'm curious to see what they do for the upcoming (July/August?) arcade release to see how much energy I'll put towards the game.
I probably wouldn't be this down on Caladrius, but Crimzon Clover recently came out in arcades and is absolutely blowing away the competition. I've been dumping coins into it since Saturday, and any other shooters that came out in the meantime (like Under Defeat HD+) are just falling by the wayside...
Thanks for the brief impressions adverse. I kind of expected all those negatives myself. Those are classic home console shmup mistakes. Nothing gets my goat more than popcorn enemies that soak up bullets. Too bad the arcade version if following the home port. I hope they at least listen to feedback and release a "balance" patch or something in the future. (Still waiting on my copy to show up.)
MOSS put up the final boss profile for Beelzebub.
http://caladrius.mossjp.co.jp/boss6.html
#Boobs
adversesolutions
Member
One thing that's cool about Caladrius is that it has a couple score-based achievements. Too many shooters neglect this nowadays, but as an achievement whore, I eat it up.
There are achievements at 5, 8 and 10 million. Basically as long as you can make it to Stage 4 you can probably unlock them. But that Stage 3 boss....good luck with that shit lol
You can sort of see the easy adjustments they'd make for the arcade release. All enemy durability dropped by 2 hits, boss durability lowered, much faster ships added etc. I actually picked up the latest version of Arcadia this morning and it has an interview with Moss about the arcade version where they mention making a lot of "Adjustments".
In this sense, I agree with you and want to hope that the 360 version is a beta test of sorts.
Also, that Beezlebub character is apparently the true final boss, unlockable in Stage 6 per certain conditions. Probably pretty tough to get to given that the normal game on its own is really difficult.
============================
In other news, some recent shooting swag I picked up:
Caladrius LE signed by the director Hoshino-san and Yoshimi Kudou (soundtrack composer IIRC). I guess they did a signing at the shop I pre-ordered it at, pretty cool
Caladrius postage stamps (pre-order bonus lol)
The coolest 3DS ever
I can make it to Stage 3 only...less than one million. I tried all the different difficulty levels and there does not seem to be too much difference. Even Very Easy got very hard at Stage 3. I did feed the credits to Unlock the Boss Rush mode. All shooters need a Boss Rush mode.
No way I'll get all those Achievements. Probably top out at 500 points like most of the 360 shooters.
No way I'll get all those Achievements. Probably top out at 500 points like most of the 360 shooters.
Thanks for the impressions, adverse. I'll wait and see if they patch up the arcade release (and bring those changes home) before picking up Caladrius. As it stands I'd sooner get Ginga Force, I think, but even that won't be for a bit since I just recently picked up Eschatos and think I'd get into that more.
so many STGs. Everything gets left in the dust once SDOJ gets here, though.
Sorry if this has been covered (I'm a bit behind), but has there been any mention of a home version of the Nesica Crimzon Clover?
so many STGs. Everything gets left in the dust once SDOJ gets here, though.
Sorry if this has been covered (I'm a bit behind), but has there been any mention of a home version of the Nesica Crimzon Clover?
adverse,
A little confused on some things on Caladrius.
I was playing and halfway through I seemed to be able to get hit and not die. Is that a function of powering up with the Ether chips? Also, what makes you get Ether chips at the end...sometimes I get two and sometimes I get three to spend at the end of the level? This is the highest I've gotten my levels:
What's more. I thought I was only up 1 million but really it was sub 10 million as I was reading the score wrong. The last run I had I scored about 20 million, got to level six and almost beat Beelzebub. It never gave me the chance to input my initials and my score did not post :-( But I did unlock Stage 6 for Score Attack. Kinda strange as I even got the True Last Boss achievement.
Anyways, I got this close to beating her:
A little confused on some things on Caladrius.
I was playing and halfway through I seemed to be able to get hit and not die. Is that a function of powering up with the Ether chips? Also, what makes you get Ether chips at the end...sometimes I get two and sometimes I get three to spend at the end of the level? This is the highest I've gotten my levels:
What's more. I thought I was only up 1 million but really it was sub 10 million as I was reading the score wrong. The last run I had I scored about 20 million, got to level six and almost beat Beelzebub. It never gave me the chance to input my initials and my score did not post :-( But I did unlock Stage 6 for Score Attack. Kinda strange as I even got the True Last Boss achievement.
Anyways, I got this close to beating her:
ExitPlanetDust
Member
It's pretty brutal.
Canadian Psycho
Banned
Regarding Thunder Force V, which version does shooter GAF recommends? Generally, the PlayStation version seems to come out on top, but I'm wondering if it's not due in part to the fact that it was the version most here played. (I know it's 3D and all and the Saturn doesn't usually handle it as well as the PS, but there are exceptions.)