EmirParkreiner

Got Panzer Dragoon, and it's good fun.
However, i hope they'll add an option of changing the controls without going back to the title screen. I had to do this twice, once to invert the controls so it plays like StarFox, and a second time to tone down the sensitivity down because the default aiming sensitivity is way too high.

@Mdhoover
I toned the aiming sensitivity down to 0.8, the default setting is definitely a tad too high.

Bubble Bobble physical, maybe i'll download that Chaos Code fighting game, it looks pretty cool.

Anyway, i'm still playing last weeks Dezatopia.

The Switch version is the best anyway.
An English dub is nice, but the better performance is more important.

Excellent choices, i particularly like Blazing Star and Aero Fighters 2.

@Drack911
Thanks!
Sounds like Nintendo needs to update the game with a function to switch the mayor.

@Northwind
Well, that's definitely weird and surprising, i didn't even know it was possible.

I'm wondering, is this really one island per console, or is it per account?
Every other game i know creates new save files for new accounts.

Nah, i'll stick to my Hori Real Arcade Pro.
The only complaint i have with that one is that it isn't possible to use it wireless.

Dezatopia just came out and it definitely deserves a review!
It's a GREAT shmup, but without any coverage from a big site like NL it might fly under the radar.

Also, i'm really curious what NL's reviewers think about Quad Fighter K (known as Kyogeki Quartet Fighters in Japan).
It's even still a Switch exclusive, yet you never reviewed it.

Played a lot of Dezatopia so far, it's great, really up there with the best new shmups this generation, which are Rolling Gunner and Radirgy Swag imo.

I'm really curious what NL will write about Dezatopia and Radirgy Swag.

I really don't get how you can give this a 7/10 after being so absurdly harsh on the Psikyo collections and Sisters Royale.

If YOU (like you wrote) had trouble to understand the scoring in this game, i think it's fair to assume that it's simply not well designed.

The lack of a feeling of impact when destoying an enemy you described is also definitely there and feels very underwhelming.

Also, while the graphics and art direction are certainly good, i think you got a bit carried away with your Gradius V nostalgia - yes, the game looks good, but certainly does not match the class of the late Gradius games (or Ikaruga and Sin & Punishment 1&2, which largely share Gradius V's art direction).

Fürther, i agree that the graphics are easy to read as far as enemy bullets are concerned, but to differentiate If something was in the background or an object i could collide with i often had to shoot at it.
Also, the way the camera slightly changes it's angle during movement is irritating in my opinion.

I really don't see how a generally mediocre game like this is supposed to be a better choice then barebones versions of great games (Psikyo) or Sisters Royale (which really does not have a lot of substantial flaws considering the stupid bobblehead art direction can be considered a matter of taste, RPGs get away with it all the time). All because of input lag nobody notices without technical means (or when playing Loop 2 on hard)?

I'm very happy that The Good Life was finally confirmed for the Switch, that's definitely a must-have title for me, and i hate playing games on PC.
It would also have been weird not to put it on the Switch considering Swery fans already need a Switch for Deadly Premonition 2.

Another positive surprise for me was B.ARK, it was about time someone realised that shmups can be attractive for more then just the hardest of the hardcore.

I'm very confident in this one, Deadly Premonition is a classic.

Omega Fighter is my favourite so far.
I hope we'll soon get Parodius.

Nice, i wasn't sure about this one, but now i'll definitely give it a chance.

@RonDale
I'm sorry, but "being able to route properly on the second loops of the hardest difficulty" really, really is not a useful litmus test for the broad mainstream audience that will read this review.
Also, you seem to have forgotten how barebones many previous Psikyo ports were.
For the type of people who play on normal difficulty and default settings these versions are a MUCH better choice then the Dreamcast version of Gunbird 2 or the PS1/PS2 versions of Strikers 1945 I&II, which also offer no extras, actually less options and look terrible on a HDTV.

I'm not saying CityConnection/ZeroDiv shouldn't be encouraged to improve with updates, or that a little blurb about the input lag shouldn't be mentioned for the few hardcore competitive shmup players that read this, but giving the game a 5/10 on a site like this just pushes people away that would enjoy these and would not even notice the lag.

I understand these versions are not ideal for people who dream about western shmup players getting competitive with the top 100 JP players, but for everyone else, yes, they are excellent choices.

@MotionMan @infernogott
Yes, these are exactly the same versions as the downloads. The reviewer is way too sensive about input lag because he is a competitive player. 90% of people will not notice the input lag at all.

They really, really need to work on their communication. One Tweet a week should not be too hard.

@MarkMSX
Hey, i remember you're a fan of training modes.
Guess what the recent update added to all versions of Darius I, II and Gaiden!

G Darius is great, but i really wonder what else they want to put on this collection. Maybe Metal Black?

Honestly, the flaw with this review is explained right here in the review:

"Imagine a concert pianist has to play a song, but moments before getting on stage he learns that the piano he is playing on has an extra delay between the keys and the strings, so he’ll need to press and release every key 116.69 ms earlier than he had been rehearsing for months."

Sorry @MarkMSX , you wrote your review as if the audience here wanted to become concert pianists at Strikers 1945.
Do you really that's the case?

Of course, it is good to mention that there is relatively high input lag for the 2% who care because they are Strikers 1945 concert pianists, and for the the other 2% who are naturally sensitive enough to notice, but the way you focus on it in this review is problematic because this is a non-issue for 90% of the audience.

You're just confusing people with it, just look at the baffling "I have the eShop version and did not notice input lag, was it added to the physical version?" comments.

I'll put this as blunt as i can: For the average gamer, for 95% of the readers of this site, these are better versions of these games then the PS1/PS2/DC versions, they won't notice the input lag at all and the games certainly look a lot better on a HDTV (where normal console gamers actually play).

On a sidenote, writing City Connection (and perhaps Zerodiv depending on how that team was integrated) emails about the input lag might actually lead them to work on an update, they (Zerodiv before being bought) updated the games mutiple times in the past and reportedly reacted to suggestions players send in emails.

On another sidenote, now i want tickets for that Strikers 1945 III piano concert.

I had a lot of fun with Gunblade NY & LA Machineguns in the Wii, so i think i will give this one a chance.

@TYRANACLES
Castlevania Chronicles was a PS1 remake of Castlevania 1 (NES).
Castlevania Rebirth (WiiWare) is a remake of Castlevania The Adventure (GameBoy).

A Switch version of this game definitely needs to happen.
I'm also happy to see Rolling Gunner getting a arcade release.

We really need to get back to the old release order of arcade release first, console release a year later for shmups.
Phones and Steam turned out to be a failure for shmups, serious shmup developers should simply give up on those platforms.

I don't know, something like this would have been exciteing in a console with a serious lack of shmups like PS3 or Wii U, but on a system with tons of good shmups like ESP Ra De, Psikyo collections, Darius collections, RXN, Sisters Royale, Rolling Gunner, Blazing Star, Game Paradise, Radirgy Swag, Psyvariar Delta, Blazing Star, Ghost Blade HD, Aero Fighters 2&3 or Ikaruga it looks somewhat unnecessary.

I could write a rant about how Namco should treat the Switch better, but i'll just stay calm and buy Samurai Shodown which is the superior game from what i've heard anyway.

...When it comes to RPGs, you mentioned how fans complained about a PC port that was based on a phone port, but i don't think that is a fair comparison to Hamster.
Hamster is a lot like Nintendo's Virtual Console on Wii/Wii U/3DS or Sony's PS1/PS2 classics on PS3 - these got tons of straight emulation RPG releases and nobody ever complained about Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, Suikoden and others not gaining any signifikant features.

The comparison with Fighters has other problems.
The games where the fighting game community asks for certain features while casual fighting game players ask for other features are new games that can sell hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions of copies at full retail price.
It's absolutely reasonable to expect the developers to deliver everything and cater to all audiences.

A standalone release of a 25 year old shmup with a ton of polish and features for 60$ is really, really hard to sell to anyone outside of a very small niche audience.
I prefer them, but i think more simple releases are not necessarily unhealthy for the genre when they help to introduce new gamers who wouldn't spend 60$ on a 90s/early 2000s shmup and when they make games available on modern platforms that would never get the M2STG treatment anyway.

I might elaborate further on my opinions on this (important) topic, but it's getting late and i'm getting tired.

Anyway, i hope you'll also review Aleste Branch, Strikers 2020, R-Type Final 2 and Cotton Reboot.

@MarkMSX
Well, don't get me wrong, i personally definitely prefer a full-featured, polished version of a shmup at a higher price over a barebones version at 8$.

If Blazing Star or Strikers 1945 III/1999 got M2STG-style standalone premium releases i'd buy them in a heartbeat despite already having the barebones versions on the Switch.

However, i think your position of seeing everything below M2STG-standard as lacking without considering price or question if something is a standalone release or a collection is unrealistic.

You mentioned yourself how some people might consider the pricing of the various versions of Darius Cozmic Collection as problematic, but at that same time i feel you would have given a higher score to a standalone release of Darius Gaiden if it offered features like Garegga Rev.2016/Ketsui Deathtiny/ESP Ra De Psi.

I understand the frustrations about how the mainstream sees shmups which you talked about in your recent video, but i don't think your comparisons to Fighters and RPGs are 100% accurate... (will be continued)

@StrikerXL
If you only get one of the 2 sets, get the arcade one.

I really admire your passion for the genre Mark, but your complete disregard for how commercial releases actually need to be commercially viable is frustrating.

I'm sorry, but it should be obvious that asking for M2STG-style features for anything but full priced standalone releases is completely unreasonable.

Darius Cozmic Collection Standard Edition is a collection with multiple versions of 3 games, how in the world should it offer the same amount of features as EspRaDe or Garegga at the same price?
Why even ask for arrange modes when Darius I&II already come in multiple versions and arrangeing Gaiden would obviously be a much taller order then arranging something with 5-7 stages.

The Psikyo releases cost what, 8$ per game and even less in the collections? It's completely bizarre to compare those to a ~50$ standalone release.

Sure they don't offer a ton of additional features, and particularly not the features you want - but i'm confident there is a huge audience that is happy about the excellent way the games handle Yoko mode with border illustations that adapt to the player's character and outsourced HUD elements.

Great choices all around!
I wonder if there will be a guest from Soul Calibur sooner or later.

I strongly recommend Back Bird to any Fantasy Zone fan.

About the scanline discussion here, i generally think it's not a good idea to use them for screenshots. It would have been better to take "normal" screenshots and describe the scanline filter in the text.

Code of Princess definitely deserves some attention Here.

So Travis Touchdown and the Space Invaders still have a chance... phew.

I'm very disappointed, i hoped for Space Invaders or Travis Touchdown, and i certainly would have preferred Dante over yet another Fire Emblem character.

Nice, i assume this means there might be also a chance we'll get a parodius soon.
Also, it's generally great to see Hamster bringing more 90's stuff.

I guess it's Dante, which is ok, but it should be mentioned that there are 3 Space Invaders.

I hope for either Travis Touchdown or the Space Invaders.

The 3 is definitely a hint (3 Fingers, three question marks).
It could mean the 3 types of Space Invaders, or NMH3, or DMC3...

I hope they also do this in Germany, i have drift on 2 of my 3 left Joycons, but so far i've been too busy/lazy to contact Nintendo about it.

I remember they fixed my Wii for free far out of warranty when it couldn't play dual layer discs (Smash, Sakura Wars...).

@Custom1991
I mean that from a journalistic perspective it's good thing that NL is reporting on JP-only releases instead of focusing on mainstream stuff they get spoon fed by publishers or stupid filler articles.

Of course it's always sad that some good games don't get international releases, but that only makes it more important that websites like NL report on these games that might get overlooked otherwise.

Nice to see another import review so shortly after Esp Ra.De.!
2020 is starting really well on NintendoLife, this is the stuff i want to see.

@N64-ROX @Coach_A
The important thing to remember is that Psyvariar Delta is the best shmup on the Switch.

(At least until they make a Delta version of Psyvariar 2)

Great article! I'm particularly glad Psyvariar Delta (which is still the Switch's greatest shmup in my opinion) and ESP Ra. De. were included.

I'm also happy about all the Psikyo love in this article, i think Gunbarich should have been included, too.

@MarkMSX
I think while i appreciate what Esp Ra.De. Psi has to offer, it has to be said that Psyvariar Delta also has a lot of similar features (a training mode that lets you select parts of stages, a mode that allows you to record replay and lets you fast forward when watching them, a lot of info on the borders in Yoko mode...) while having 3 versions of the game and 4 soundtracks (and all 4 of those are amazing).

Rolling Gunner definitely deseves more attention then it got, it's WAY better then some shoot'em ups that people talk more about just because they had better marketing (Devil Engine, Freedom Finger...).

@Moistnado
I don't know why NintendoLife chose to show a video of the upcoming PS4 version, the Nintendo Switch version is available since June 2018 so it clearly came first.

Using a screen orientation like this is normal for a vertically scrolling shoot'em up and has nothing to do with phones, it has to with arcade cabinets with vertical screens.

As has been pointed out, the next thing we need from Irem is not R-Type 1 or 2, which are available on the eShop as R-Type Dimensions, but R-Type Leo.

@Moistnado
This is a Switch exclusive that will get ported to the PS4, developed by one of the greatest shmup developers, i don't see where you get your cynism.

I think the version in Konami's eShop Arcade Collection is good enough for me.

Wait, as far as i know, Darius Plus (TG16) was not included in any of the JP versions!?