@Menchi187 Nah, that doesn't make any sense. If a tiny company can release Hello Kitty as a physical release on the system without any problems, a big company such as Capcom should have no problem getting a couple of roms on a 8GB card. Yet we get only half of the package, even though the release costs nearly double compared to many other phycial releases on the system. This is all on Capcom and Capcom alone. Wouldn't put it past them if they did this as a way to destroy the 2nd hand value of this as well.
Allright, since Vlambeer hasn't shown any interests in the Switch at all, I'll take on the responsibility of making my very own Nuclear Throne for Switch!
@Nintendoforlife Well that's more than welcome at this point in time. A couple of years ago, shoot em ups were pretty much dead. They got a bit of a resurgence with all those Cave games being ported to 360, but even that wasn't enough to sustain Cave to keep making arcade games. So when DoDonPachi SaiDaiOuJou released in 2012, it was their last and they moved on to phone games. But that didn't turn out very well either.
So seeing the genre having quite the resurgence on Switch, as well as PS4 to some degree (at least in Japan) is a nice change of pace for us old-timers. So yeah, seeing some new blood being injected into the shoot em up genre these past couple of years is truly a relief, especially when the games turn out to be so good. As it seems to be a genre that should be super easy to make games in, but instead it's somehow extremely hard to get them just right.
So yeah, the more the merrier. Let's hope the beat em up genre gets some quality games next.
BTW, haven't played this one before, but it looks really, really good.
Some indie shoot em ups seem a bit off at times. Well a lot do actually, but this one looks just right. Something that's not easy to accomplish. Looking forward to playing it.
I don't really want a ported down version of World myself. Just make Monster Hunter 5 (Portable) or whatever they want to call it and build upon the foundation laid by the 3DS games. Keep it as colourful as those games and just give us more of it, while building upon it's foundation and incorporating some of the ideas from World that work well.
Damnit! I can't even recall the last time I bought an Amiibo. I kinda think it might have been the original boy & girl as well as the squid from Splatoon 1. Or was it the plush Yoshi? Thought I was over all of this, but I really want these two!
@SLIGEACH_EIRE I actually wouldn't be surprised if this was more of request by Nintendo ala Bayonetta. The series appears to be completely dead. Nintendo systems don't have a dedicated racing game since the last F-Zero or Waverace or even ExciteTruck to some extent. So it fills a gap for sure. They seem to like the idea of bringing certain fan favourites back from obscurity that would otherwise remain dormant, so who knows.
Love for this to be true, but you realise that that's the worst possible picture you could have chosen to kill all the hype for it? Unbounded was total crap so you might want to go for one which brings a bit more nostalgia, like this:
@8-Bit_Superman Well it's a rather old house that needs a ton of work still, but it's out in the countryside with a nice garden and tons of wildlife, so I'm really happy.
@redd214 I had a ton of stuff packed up in boxes since I didn't have any room left. Only had the games I currently played out in cabinets. Sold my old place and bought a new home a couple of years ago. Got a bit more space now. Although less money to buy new games.
@8-Bit_Superman Well yeah, once you get over a couple of thousand of games, it's handy to have. Not to mention how it can be fun to reminisce when looking at which games you picked up in the early 90's and where. It really tells a whole story when it goes back far enough.
Looking at my exel list I have 32 physical Wii U games and already already 27 Switch ones with 8 or so that I still want to import from Japan as well as at least as many western version I still want to grab. Switch might end up being a combination of DS and Wii for me.
Also a quick shout to
The Pinball of the Dead
Game & Watch Gallery Advance
Kuru Kuru Kururin and Kururin Paradise
Elevator Action Old & New
It's Mr Pants
Double Dragon Advance
Metal Slug Advance
Phantasy Star Collection
Rhythm Tengoku
Klonoa G2
Karnaaj Rally
Guru Logi Champ
Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation 1 & 2
@Lroy Ah, I did not know that. Now looking back at it, the Sonic Wings influence is actually pretty clear, even in Strikers. Interesting! While I certainly prefer Strikers over Sengoku Aces, Sengoku certainly isn't a bad game. Far from it. It's just a little basic, but again, that makes sense. Got it on PS2, both the Japanese Psikyo packs (all 3 in fact ) and the PAL release. Speaking of those Psikyo Shooting Collections, I hope we get to see Dragon Blaze on Switch as well one day as it's probably my favourite Psikyo game and one of my favourite shoot em up. Absolutely brilliant game with an incredible atmosphere and gorgeous graphic design as well.
Absolutely brilliant game and a terrific port as well. I love it even more than the original game. Never played Striker 1945 III though, so I'm hoping we'll see that one soon as well.
@Lroy Yep and Strikers 1945 will get a patch to include controller config as well. Contacted them a couple of weeks ago about putting the option in all of their games and they responded that they would forward it to the development team. I'm so glad it's being implemented so soon as it makes not only playing with a regular controller even easier, it also makes a big different when playing with a stick.
Oh and 2 new games were teased as well, Sengoku Ace which is a very good shoot em up in the same style as Gunbird and Strikers, and Taisen Hot Gimmick, which is a mahjong game by Psikyo, which wouldn't surprise me if that one stayed Japan only. No idea if there exists an English version of or not. https://twitter.com/shmups/status/957904618104569856
@YamAsereht no problem. I haven't noticed sound issues so far besides perhaps a couple of frames where the game seems to hickup at times like it's loading in things, even though that doesn't make much sense. Then again, I was focussing mostly on gameplay and graphical issues as those stood out to me personally.
Been playing Strikers 1945 II for a bit now and I'm glad to say that so far everything has been absolutely perfect as far as I have seen. Looks and sounds just as it should and still plays like an absolute dream.
@Lroy I don't think anyone minds really as these kinds of topics are mostly quiet anyway.
The cord on the stick is 2 meters and 80 centimeter and does indeed plug into the side of the dock. It's generally good enough for most setups, but I use a USB extraction cord so I don't have to constantly plug and unplug it into the dock. It also helps to get the cord out of the line of sight as you can tuck it behind your TV cabinet and to the side instead of draping it over it.
I really like the joystick as well. It has a good feel and so do the buttons. Compared to Sanwa buttons and sticks, you will feel a difference however as those are way more sensitive than stock buttons. But so far I haven't felt the need to mod this stick like I do with all my others. I might in the future though. Already popped it open to switch around a couple of button placements so it makes more sense for arcade and Neo Geo games. I made it so that they go: ZL ZR L R A B Y X
instead of Y X R L B A ZR ZL
like they originally do. It seems like a very easy stick to mod with new parts as well. If you want to change the buttons around, you'll need to extend the cables to 2 of them though as they are cut to size and when putting X and Y from one side to the other, those cords are just a couple centimetres too short.
@Lroy You're welcome on the Zero Gunner post. I think Damo was going by his memory of how the original used to play back in the day, and human memory and recollection is a strange beast and rather fluid. I sure have found that out the hard way a couple of times. If I didn't put the two versions side by side, I would have missed most of these things at first as well and only would have noticed the invisible glitch as well as a feel that something might have been a little off with the controls and enemy health, but that would be it.
@Lroy Yeah, sadly they are separate games as far as the system is concerned. I think this might have to do with the publisher as the games have a different splash screen when they boot up. The digital version has a Farsight one and is probable the same as the US one. I think they self publish on the eshop. But the European physical version is published by System 3 and has a different startup with their logo and everything. No idea how the US physical edition works in this case or who published it there though, so I can't say if that one would be identical to the digital version or not.
An update might change the EU physical copy to bring it in line with the digital version though. At least, it should be possible to do so in principle. Not sure if it would be too hard to do this realistically at this point since we already have two separate versions out now.
@Lroy I've been going back and forth between the Switch version and the Dreamcast version for the past two hours now. And I'm sad to say that in this state, I can not recommend the game to anyone looking for an arcade perfect port, or anything that comes near it. There's quite a few problems here in fact. Starting with a minor one. The controls are too direct. I know what many will be thinking, how can controls be too good? lol Well, I'll try to explain. In the original the feeling of turning your helicopter has a bit of swing to it, or a bit of lag for lack of a better word. Not in controlling your helicopter though, only in the axis turning, which gives it a unique feel. The Switch version has none of this and turns on a dime, which feels a bit off if you're used to the original and strangely, doesn't feel as satisfying even though it's more direct.
But that isn't where it stops. In my 5th play for whatever reason all power up items disappeared. They didn't even seem to spawn when shooting down red enemies. A bit later the E-chips started doing the same thing, even though I could hear my chopper picking them up, and seeing the gauge fill up as well. So they were there, just invisible. Probably the same thing that happens with bullets in certain situations. Closing the games completely and restarting it fixed it, but it's bound to come back.
One main problem with the port is that the bullets are not on the top layer of the screen like in the original. The original seems to have sprites for bullets (for the most part), or at least that appear as sprites, could be flat shaded polygons or something. But they are always visible, no matter what happens on screen. Explosions, effects, power up items, enemies, you name it. They don't obfuscate the bullets. The ones that are clearly polygons are one that can be shot down, but even those are easy to see at pretty much any time.
Not so in the Switch version. Power up items as well as E-chips float on top of what's on the screen, including bullets. So you'll die several times going for power ups while not realising there was a bullet hidden underneath a cluster of them. That's one of the main problems here. Also even the bosses themselves can make bullets impossible to see due to certain effects if they are taking damage and such. Until the bullets pass over them, you might not see them and by then it might be too late.
I've played both versions at arcade difficulty (level 5) and there's a clear difference in the amount of bullets that enemies shoot. In the Switch version, there are way too few whenever you're fighting a larger enemy. Making the game even easier than it already was, and it's not a very tough shoot em up to begin with. Putting it on a higher difficulty remedies this a little, but that makes everything harder, not just bullet patterns...
And lastly, enemies do die too quickly. This might be a little hard to notice on some since the difficulty scales depending on which level comes first like with many Psykio games, but it's very clear on others and makes those encounters fall flat. It's not like bosses lasted ages in the original version. But due to this, making these brief encounters even shorter makes it stand out even moreso.
I don't think this game is beyond saving at this point and I certainly have a ton of respect for the people that worked on this port. With such a tiny team and no original code to work with, having to do everything from scratch, this would be quite a task for anyone. But it does need quite a bit of work to get everything working like it should. Most of the big stuff is already in place, so with some serious polish, this could be a top arcade game on the system. Even though it would still be more like a ported game to a home console like we saw during the 90's, with quirks and all, compared to an emulated version which is virtually identical to the original.
Still fun to play, but know what you're getting into if you do grab it. Weirdly, I don't really regret picking it up on Switch after all this, even though I'm disappointed that it isn't better.
@Lroy Hehe, yeah things got messed up a bit there, didn't it? I bought my physical copy of Stern about 2 weeks before the digital version went live. So I've been playing that a bunch. Heard there was an update that incorporated online leaderboards, but somehow the physical EU version didn't get that update last time I checked. I also read that 2 new download packs went live for Limited Edition version of Ghostbusters and AC/DC. as well as Star Trek and Mustang. But again, you can't seem to grab these for the physical edition. So I bought those LE tables and then the system told me I needed to download the free Pinball Arcade game on the eshop.... I did that and so I had 2 versions of the same game on my home screen. With possible future expansions of Stern Pinball Arcade as well as the regular Pinball Arcade coming to Switch in the coming months, I decided that I could just as well buy the other two packs to get everything digital since these are games that I love to always have with me no matter what game is in the card slot. So yeah. Ended up buying everything twice... lol
That being said, if they decide to releases separate seasons of the regular Pinball Arcade as physical copies, I'll do the same thing as I love having a game in my hands like the old days.
@Lroy Oh, same here. The Switch's library could consist of only arcade ports, tons of pinball table and Picross games and I'd still play it all the time.
@Lroy Puzzle de Pon was a game that I only ever played at the beach in one of the many arcades there during a long summer vacation in the 90s. I already have a PSone and played tons of Puzzle Bobble 2 Time Attack with a friend so when we came across something similar, I fell in love with the game and we returned pretty much every day to play it over and over. Over the years I forgot about the game as it never came out for any home system, till I got my very own AES in 2003. I went looking at all the games that were released for it and came across Puzzle de Pon and it's sequel. To my disappointment it only got an arcade MVS release. Another 4 years went by and I came across someone doing on-request conversions, all with original parts. And he had a policy to not throw anything away, so the sacrificial carts were modded with the AES game of the game as well. Pretty much swapping out the innards and printing quality labels for them. Even though they are very simple games, I'm so glad to have them both, yet I'd love to see them get an official release on Switch. My 20 year old self would have gone crazy at the thought of having these games on the go in perfect condition.
@Lroy You're thinking of Strikers 1945 Plus there.
Strikers 1945 II was on the second generation of Psykio's own arcade hardware.
Plus was on the NeoGeo MVS hardware.
Took this picture a while ago:
I had specific AES versions made of these games (with original parts) since they never were released at home.
Really hope we'll one day see actual home ports of all of these as they are brilliant.
oh that top one is Money Idol Exchanger. Plays a little like Magical Drop.
@Lroy It seem to be a universal game as it supports both Japanese and English, so our version will be identical to the Japanese one. I'm hoping that for some reason there was a day 1 patch or something and that person on Twitter somehow played the unpatched version, but that's probably a bit of a stretch. I'll be getting it anyway and see for myself how it holds up next to my Dreamcast version. Bit worried now though.
Sonic CD is not even a good Sonic game. Bought the game back in the day on Mega CD and it never felt right to me compared to Sonic1-3&Knucles. So Mania without a shadow of a doubt. It's pretty much a perfect Sonic game.
While not something for me personally, I can't help but love Nintendo when the go completely crazy like this. Creating something so off the wall that makes you wonder just how someone could come up with this. Simple joy and creativity rolled into one. It really does harken back to their toys of the 70's.
@EmirParkreiner I wouldn't be surprised if it got added to the EU shop tomorrow actually. Just checked myself and the game supports both Japanese and English so it's only a matter of flipping the switch to make it available to buy here as well. It's only 136MB as well so it takes it pretty easy on the SD card which is always a good thing.
@GrailUK Oh that's right. Very happy to finally see all 3 versions of Street Fighter III on consoles again. Can't wait to put some more time into Street Fighter Alpha 2 again as well. Always been my favourite. Oh and we're getting what's basically SNK Gal Fighters 2 as well this year. The one thing that would blow me away on the Neo Geo/fighting game front would be Hamster staring releasing Neo Geo Pocket games on Switch as well. Quite a few brilliant games on there as well.
@Lroy Sure, no problem. Always love having like minded people around. SW-8347-9726-5976 I get distracted quickly with new games so it's a bit of a scattershot looking at what I'm playing. Got a ton of games that I want to go back to and also just received notice that my Japanese copy of EDF 5 for PS4 has finally made it to Europe, so I'll be playing that a ton when it comes in as well.
I got a good deal on the arcade stick from a local online shop so I couldn't pass it up any longer. €108 instead of 150. Good quality stick as well and it makes playing all these arcade games a lot more fun for me as well.
Ooh double Psikyo surprise today! Grabbing it as soon as it hits the EU shop. Still have some funds on my Japanese one but I'd like to keep those in case something doesn't come over to Europe.
@OorWullie Ooh, I had no idea Strikers 1945 II was coming out next week already! And alongside Samurai Shodown 2? Wow, looking forward to grabbing those two as soon as they go up. I remember buying Strikers on Saturn back in the day for €90 in a little import shop that I used to travel to by train once a month. Such great memories. Things sure are a lot more convenient now.
Comments 483
Re: The Mega Man Legacy Collection 1 & 2 Are Headed To Switch On 22nd May
@Menchi187
Nah, that doesn't make any sense.
If a tiny company can release Hello Kitty as a physical release on the system without any problems, a big company such as Capcom should have no problem getting a couple of roms on a 8GB card.
Yet we get only half of the package, even though the release costs nearly double compared to many other phycial releases on the system.
This is all on Capcom and Capcom alone.
Wouldn't put it past them if they did this as a way to destroy the 2nd hand value of this as well.
Re: Video: Nintendo Labo Is Much More Than Cardboard, You Guys
Lol. That's the most perfect thumbnail I've seen in a long, long time.
Re: Code Your Own Games On Switch With The Return Of Petit Computer
Allright, since Vlambeer hasn't shown any interests in the Switch at all, I'll take on the responsibility of making my very own Nuclear Throne for Switch!
Re: Indie Shmup Steredenn Is Getting An Expanded Binary Stars Edition On Switch
@Nintendoforlife
Well that's more than welcome at this point in time.
A couple of years ago, shoot em ups were pretty much dead.
They got a bit of a resurgence with all those Cave games being ported to 360, but even that wasn't enough to sustain Cave to keep making arcade games. So when DoDonPachi SaiDaiOuJou released in 2012, it was their last and they moved on to phone games.
But that didn't turn out very well either.
So seeing the genre having quite the resurgence on Switch, as well as PS4 to some degree (at least in Japan) is a nice change of pace for us old-timers.
So yeah, seeing some new blood being injected into the shoot em up genre these past couple of years is truly a relief, especially when the games turn out to be so good.
As it seems to be a genre that should be super easy to make games in, but instead it's somehow extremely hard to get them just right.
So yeah, the more the merrier.
Let's hope the beat em up genre gets some quality games next.
Re: Practice Your Llama-Platforming Skills With Superola and The Lost Burgers, Jumping Onto Switch Soon
It's fair to say that there should be a law that states only Jeff Minter is be able to make games with Llama's in them.
Re: Indie Shmup Steredenn Is Getting An Expanded Binary Stars Edition On Switch
BTW, haven't played this one before, but it looks really, really good.
Some indie shoot em ups seem a bit off at times. Well a lot do actually, but this one looks just right.
Something that's not easy to accomplish.
Looking forward to playing it.
Re: Indie Shmup Steredenn Is Getting An Expanded Binary Stars Edition On Switch
@Nintendoforlife
At the point where each and every game for the system is a shoot em up, that might be a bit too much.....
for some, but not for me!
Re: Look, Capcom Knows You Really Want Monster Hunter World On Switch
I don't really want a ported down version of World myself.
Just make Monster Hunter 5 (Portable) or whatever they want to call it and build upon the foundation laid by the 3DS games.
Keep it as colourful as those games and just give us more of it, while building upon it's foundation and incorporating some of the ideas from World that work well.
Re: Guide: Bayonetta And Bayonetta 2 FAQ - All Of Your Questions Answered
@Timsworld Ah yes, the good old days when the site launched in 2006 and we were all 7 years old....... the memories!
Re: Splatoon 2's Pearl And Marina Are Getting Their Own Amiibo And They're Off The Hook
Damnit! I can't even recall the last time I bought an Amiibo.
I kinda think it might have been the original boy & girl as well as the squid from Splatoon 1. Or was it the plush Yoshi?
Thought I was over all of this, but I really want these two!
Oh well. You got me again, Nintendo.
Re: Community: Strap In Pilots, We're Looking For Shmup Top Guns
Sweet!
Re: Random: The SNES, Famciom And Mega Drive Are Reborn In These Custom Painted Gundam Figures
The Mega Drive looks really menacing and the Saturn looks like a total war machine!
Re: Data East Makes Its Debut On Switch Next Week With Gate Of Doom
Never played this one, nor have I seen it before which is quite surprising to me. Looks quite fun, so I'll be grabbing it next week without a doubt.
Re: Rumour: Ridge Racer 8 Could Be Exclusively Drifting Onto Nintendo Switch
@SLIGEACH_EIRE I actually wouldn't be surprised if this was more of request by Nintendo ala Bayonetta.
The series appears to be completely dead.
Nintendo systems don't have a dedicated racing game since the last F-Zero or Waverace or even ExciteTruck to some extent. So it fills a gap for sure.
They seem to like the idea of bringing certain fan favourites back from obscurity that would otherwise remain dormant, so who knows.
But that's all just speculation on my part.
Re: Rumour: Ridge Racer 8 Could Be Exclusively Drifting Onto Nintendo Switch
@Fuz Hey! You're right!
Totally forgot about that.
It's been way too long since I played the original. I think I'll boot it up this weekend.
Re: Rumour: Ridge Racer 8 Could Be Exclusively Drifting Onto Nintendo Switch
@Bunkerneath Well lucky for us, we're into illegal street racing here.
So bring on the higher than average polygon models!
Re: Rumour: Ridge Racer 8 Could Be Exclusively Drifting Onto Nintendo Switch
@Jamotello It's all about getting their priorities straight!
Re: Rumour: Ridge Racer 8 Could Be Exclusively Drifting Onto Nintendo Switch
Love for this to be true, but you realise that that's the worst possible picture you could have chosen to kill all the hype for it?
Unbounded was total crap so you might want to go for one which brings a bit more nostalgia, like this:
Re: Switch Now Has Three Times As Many Games as Wii U Did At This Point In Its Lifecycle
@8-Bit_Superman
Well it's a rather old house that needs a ton of work still, but it's out in the countryside with a nice garden and tons of wildlife, so I'm really happy.
Re: Switch Now Has Three Times As Many Games as Wii U Did At This Point In Its Lifecycle
@redd214 I had a ton of stuff packed up in boxes since I didn't have any room left. Only had the games I currently played out in cabinets.
Sold my old place and bought a new home a couple of years ago. Got a bit more space now. Although less money to buy new games.
Re: Switch Now Has Three Times As Many Games as Wii U Did At This Point In Its Lifecycle
@8-Bit_Superman
Well yeah, once you get over a couple of thousand of games, it's handy to have.
Not to mention how it can be fun to reminisce when looking at which games you picked up in the early 90's and where.
It really tells a whole story when it goes back far enough.
Re: Switch Now Has Three Times As Many Games as Wii U Did At This Point In Its Lifecycle
Looking at my exel list I have 32 physical Wii U games and already already 27 Switch ones with 8 or so that I still want to import from Japan as well as at least as many western version I still want to grab.
Switch might end up being a combination of DS and Wii for me.
Re: Premium Pool Arena Pops Up On The Switch eShop Today
I wish someone would make a Lunar Pool 2...
Re: Studio Pixel's Kero Blaster Will Be Shooting Up The Switch eShop Soon
wow, this is a very nice surprise. I've been hoping for a long time this would come to Switch, but didn't think we'd actually see it.
Re: Video: The 26 Best Game Boy Advance Games of All Time
Final Fight One, where are you?
Also a quick shout to
The Pinball of the Dead
Game & Watch Gallery Advance
Kuru Kuru Kururin and Kururin Paradise
Elevator Action Old & New
It's Mr Pants
Double Dragon Advance
Metal Slug Advance
Phantasy Star Collection
Rhythm Tengoku
Klonoa G2
Karnaaj Rally
Guru Logi Champ
Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation 1 & 2
Re: Review: Strikers 1945 II (Switch eShop)
@Lroy Ah, I did not know that.
Now looking back at it, the Sonic Wings influence is actually pretty clear, even in Strikers. Interesting!
While I certainly prefer Strikers over Sengoku Aces, Sengoku certainly isn't a bad game. Far from it. It's just a little basic, but again, that makes sense.
Got it on PS2, both the Japanese Psikyo packs (all 3 in fact ) and the PAL release.
Speaking of those Psikyo Shooting Collections, I hope we get to see Dragon Blaze on Switch as well one day as it's probably my favourite Psikyo game and one of my favourite shoot em up.
Absolutely brilliant game with an incredible atmosphere and gorgeous graphic design as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBmEHOARqag
Re: Review: Strikers 1945 II (Switch eShop)
Absolutely brilliant game and a terrific port as well.
I love it even more than the original game.
Never played Striker 1945 III though, so I'm hoping we'll see that one soon as well.
@Lroy Yep and Strikers 1945 will get a patch to include controller config as well.
Contacted them a couple of weeks ago about putting the option in all of their games and they responded that they would forward it to the development team.
I'm so glad it's being implemented so soon as it makes not only playing with a regular controller even easier, it also makes a big different when playing with a stick.
Oh and 2 new games were teased as well, Sengoku Ace which is a very good shoot em up in the same style as Gunbird and Strikers, and Taisen Hot Gimmick, which is a mahjong game by Psikyo, which wouldn't surprise me if that one stayed Japan only. No idea if there exists an English version of or not.
https://twitter.com/shmups/status/957904618104569856
Re: Review: Zero Gunner 2 (Switch eShop)
Well some good news for sure. They are working on a patch to fix most problems.
https://twitter.com/shmups/status/957904094252875781
Re: Review: Zero Gunner 2 (Switch eShop)
@YamAsereht no problem.
I haven't noticed sound issues so far besides perhaps a couple of frames where the game seems to hickup at times like it's loading in things, even though that doesn't make much sense. Then again, I was focussing mostly on gameplay and graphical issues as those stood out to me personally.
Been playing Strikers 1945 II for a bit now and I'm glad to say that so far everything has been absolutely perfect as far as I have seen.
Looks and sounds just as it should and still plays like an absolute dream.
Re: Review: Zero Gunner 2 (Switch eShop)
@Lroy I don't think anyone minds really as these kinds of topics are mostly quiet anyway.
The cord on the stick is 2 meters and 80 centimeter and does indeed plug into the side of the dock. It's generally good enough for most setups, but I use a USB extraction cord so I don't have to constantly plug and unplug it into the dock. It also helps to get the cord out of the line of sight as you can tuck it behind your TV cabinet and to the side instead of draping it over it.
I really like the joystick as well. It has a good feel and so do the buttons.
Compared to Sanwa buttons and sticks, you will feel a difference however as those are way more sensitive than stock buttons.
But so far I haven't felt the need to mod this stick like I do with all my others.
I might in the future though.
Already popped it open to switch around a couple of button placements so it makes more sense for arcade and Neo Geo games.
I made it so that they go:
ZL ZR L R
A B Y X
instead of
Y X R L
B A ZR ZL
like they originally do.
It seems like a very easy stick to mod with new parts as well.
If you want to change the buttons around, you'll need to extend the cables to 2 of them though as they are cut to size and when putting X and Y from one side to the other, those cords are just a couple centimetres too short.
Re: Review: Zero Gunner 2 (Switch eShop)
@Lroy
You're welcome on the Zero Gunner post.
I think Damo was going by his memory of how the original used to play back in the day, and human memory and recollection is a strange beast and rather fluid. I sure have found that out the hard way a couple of times.
If I didn't put the two versions side by side, I would have missed most of these things at first as well and only would have noticed the invisible glitch as well as a feel that something might have been a little off with the controls and enemy health, but that would be it.
Re: Review: Zero Gunner 2 (Switch eShop)
@Lroy Yeah, sadly they are separate games as far as the system is concerned.
I think this might have to do with the publisher as the games have a different splash screen when they boot up.
The digital version has a Farsight one and is probable the same as the US one. I think they self publish on the eshop.
But the European physical version is published by System 3 and has a different startup with their logo and everything.
No idea how the US physical edition works in this case or who published it there though, so I can't say if that one would be identical to the digital version or not.
An update might change the EU physical copy to bring it in line with the digital version though. At least, it should be possible to do so in principle. Not sure if it would be too hard to do this realistically at this point since we already have two separate versions out now.
Re: Review: Zero Gunner 2 (Switch eShop)
@Lroy I've been going back and forth between the Switch version and the Dreamcast version for the past two hours now.
And I'm sad to say that in this state, I can not recommend the game to anyone looking for an arcade perfect port, or anything that comes near it.
There's quite a few problems here in fact.
Starting with a minor one. The controls are too direct.
I know what many will be thinking, how can controls be too good? lol
Well, I'll try to explain. In the original the feeling of turning your helicopter has a bit of swing to it, or a bit of lag for lack of a better word. Not in controlling your helicopter though, only in the axis turning, which gives it a unique feel.
The Switch version has none of this and turns on a dime, which feels a bit off if you're used to the original and strangely, doesn't feel as satisfying even though it's more direct.
But that isn't where it stops. In my 5th play for whatever reason all power up items disappeared. They didn't even seem to spawn when shooting down red enemies. A bit later the E-chips started doing the same thing, even though I could hear my chopper picking them up, and seeing the gauge fill up as well. So they were there, just invisible.
Probably the same thing that happens with bullets in certain situations.
Closing the games completely and restarting it fixed it, but it's bound to come back.
One main problem with the port is that the bullets are not on the top layer of the screen like in the original.
The original seems to have sprites for bullets (for the most part), or at least that appear as sprites, could be flat shaded polygons or something. But they are always visible, no matter what happens on screen. Explosions, effects, power up items, enemies, you name it. They don't obfuscate the bullets.
The ones that are clearly polygons are one that can be shot down, but even those are easy to see at pretty much any time.
Not so in the Switch version.
Power up items as well as E-chips float on top of what's on the screen, including bullets. So you'll die several times going for power ups while not realising there was a bullet hidden underneath a cluster of them. That's one of the main problems here.
Also even the bosses themselves can make bullets impossible to see due to certain effects if they are taking damage and such. Until the bullets pass over them, you might not see them and by then it might be too late.
I've played both versions at arcade difficulty (level 5) and there's a clear difference in the amount of bullets that enemies shoot.
In the Switch version, there are way too few whenever you're fighting a larger enemy. Making the game even easier than it already was, and it's not a very tough shoot em up to begin with.
Putting it on a higher difficulty remedies this a little, but that makes everything harder, not just bullet patterns...
And lastly, enemies do die too quickly.
This might be a little hard to notice on some since the difficulty scales depending on which level comes first like with many Psykio games, but it's very clear on others and makes those encounters fall flat.
It's not like bosses lasted ages in the original version. But due to this, making these brief encounters even shorter makes it stand out even moreso.
I don't think this game is beyond saving at this point and I certainly have a ton of respect for the people that worked on this port.
With such a tiny team and no original code to work with, having to do everything from scratch, this would be quite a task for anyone.
But it does need quite a bit of work to get everything working like it should.
Most of the big stuff is already in place, so with some serious polish, this could be a top arcade game on the system.
Even though it would still be more like a ported game to a home console like we saw during the 90's, with quirks and all, compared to an emulated version which is virtually identical to the original.
Still fun to play, but know what you're getting into if you do grab it.
Weirdly, I don't really regret picking it up on Switch after all this, even though I'm disappointed that it isn't better.
Re: Review: Zero Gunner 2 (Switch eShop)
@Lroy Hehe, yeah things got messed up a bit there, didn't it?
I bought my physical copy of Stern about 2 weeks before the digital version went live.
So I've been playing that a bunch.
Heard there was an update that incorporated online leaderboards, but somehow the physical EU version didn't get that update last time I checked.
I also read that 2 new download packs went live for Limited Edition version of Ghostbusters and AC/DC. as well as Star Trek and Mustang.
But again, you can't seem to grab these for the physical edition.
So I bought those LE tables and then the system told me I needed to download the free Pinball Arcade game on the eshop....
I did that and so I had 2 versions of the same game on my home screen.
With possible future expansions of Stern Pinball Arcade as well as the regular Pinball Arcade coming to Switch in the coming months, I decided that I could just as well buy the other two packs to get everything digital since these are games that I love to always have with me no matter what game is in the card slot.
So yeah. Ended up buying everything twice... lol
That being said, if they decide to releases separate seasons of the regular Pinball Arcade as physical copies, I'll do the same thing as I love having a game in my hands like the old days.
Re: Review: Zero Gunner 2 (Switch eShop)
@Lroy Oh, same here.
The Switch's library could consist of only arcade ports, tons of pinball table and Picross games and I'd still play it all the time.
Re: Review: Zero Gunner 2 (Switch eShop)
@Lroy Puzzle de Pon was a game that I only ever played at the beach in one of the many arcades there during a long summer vacation in the 90s.
I already have a PSone and played tons of Puzzle Bobble 2 Time Attack with a friend so when we came across something similar, I fell in love with the game and we returned pretty much every day to play it over and over.
Over the years I forgot about the game as it never came out for any home system, till I got my very own AES in 2003.
I went looking at all the games that were released for it and came across Puzzle de Pon and it's sequel.
To my disappointment it only got an arcade MVS release. Another 4 years went by and I came across someone doing on-request conversions, all with original parts. And he had a policy to not throw anything away, so the sacrificial carts were modded with the AES game of the game as well. Pretty much swapping out the innards and printing quality labels for them.
Even though they are very simple games, I'm so glad to have them both, yet I'd love to see them get an official release on Switch.
My 20 year old self would have gone crazy at the thought of having these games on the go in perfect condition.
Re: Review: Zero Gunner 2 (Switch eShop)
@Lroy You're thinking of Strikers 1945 Plus there.
Strikers 1945 II was on the second generation of Psykio's own arcade hardware.
Plus was on the NeoGeo MVS hardware.
Took this picture a while ago:
I had specific AES versions made of these games (with original parts) since they never were released at home.
Really hope we'll one day see actual home ports of all of these as they are brilliant.
oh that top one is Money Idol Exchanger. Plays a little like Magical Drop.
Re: Review: Zero Gunner 2 (Switch eShop)
@Lroy It seem to be a universal game as it supports both Japanese and English, so our version will be identical to the Japanese one.
I'm hoping that for some reason there was a day 1 patch or something and that person on Twitter somehow played the unpatched version, but that's probably a bit of a stretch.
I'll be getting it anyway and see for myself how it holds up next to my Dreamcast version.
Bit worried now though.
Re: Feature: The Most Exciting Indie Games Coming to Nintendo Switch In 2018
Now if only we could convince Vlambeer to bring Nuclear Throne to Switch...
Re: Which Is Better - Sonic Mania Or Sonic CD? Iretrogamer's Power Team Debates It Out
Sonic CD is not even a good Sonic game. Bought the game back in the day on Mega CD and it never felt right to me compared to Sonic1-3&Knucles.
So Mania without a shadow of a doubt. It's pretty much a perfect Sonic game.
Re: D3 Publisher Primes A Salvo Of Switch eShop Titles
That's quite a few titles.
Hopefully an Earth Defense Force game by Sandlot is next on their list.
Re: Twitter Reacts In Typically Hilarious Fashion To The Nintendo Labo Unveiling
@Henbush Oh my! lol
Re: Hands On: The Future Of Gaming Is Cardboard, Thanks To Nintendo Labo
While not something for me personally, I can't help but love Nintendo when the go completely crazy like this.
Creating something so off the wall that makes you wonder just how someone could come up with this.
Simple joy and creativity rolled into one. It really does harken back to their toys of the 70's.
Re: Zero Gunner 2 Stealthily Launches On Japanese Switch eShop
@EmirParkreiner I wouldn't be surprised if it got added to the EU shop tomorrow actually.
Just checked myself and the game supports both Japanese and English so it's only a matter of flipping the switch to make it available to buy here as well.
It's only 136MB as well so it takes it pretty easy on the SD card which is always a good thing.
Re: World Heroes 2 Brings The Pain Next Week On Switch
@GrailUK Oh that's right.
Very happy to finally see all 3 versions of Street Fighter III on consoles again. Can't wait to put some more time into Street Fighter Alpha 2 again as well. Always been my favourite.
Oh and we're getting what's basically SNK Gal Fighters 2 as well this year.
The one thing that would blow me away on the Neo Geo/fighting game front would be Hamster staring releasing Neo Geo Pocket games on Switch as well.
Quite a few brilliant games on there as well.
Re: World Heroes 2 Brings The Pain Next Week On Switch
@Lroy Sure, no problem. Always love having like minded people around.
SW-8347-9726-5976
I get distracted quickly with new games so it's a bit of a scattershot looking at what I'm playing. Got a ton of games that I want to go back to and also just received notice that my Japanese copy of EDF 5 for PS4 has finally made it to Europe, so I'll be playing that a ton when it comes in as well.
I got a good deal on the arcade stick from a local online shop so I couldn't pass it up any longer. €108 instead of 150.
Good quality stick as well and it makes playing all these arcade games a lot more fun for me as well.
Re: Strikers 1945 II Drops Its Payload Next Week On Switch
@Shiryu Well it's Psikyo, so yeah, it's aliens.
It's always the aliens......
Re: Zero Gunner 2 Stealthily Launches On Japanese Switch eShop
Ooh double Psikyo surprise today!
Grabbing it as soon as it hits the EU shop.
Still have some funds on my Japanese one but I'd like to keep those in case something doesn't come over to Europe.
Re: World Heroes 2 Brings The Pain Next Week On Switch
@OorWullie Ooh, I had no idea Strikers 1945 II was coming out next week already! And alongside Samurai Shodown 2?
Wow, looking forward to grabbing those two as soon as they go up.
I remember buying Strikers on Saturn back in the day for €90 in a little import shop that I used to travel to by train once a month.
Such great memories.
Things sure are a lot more convenient now.
Re: World Heroes 2 Brings The Pain Next Week On Switch
@Axlroselm Agreed. I hate how Nintendo keeps forcing us to buy this stuff! >