Cool Japanese jamma games I should be on the lookout for?

Malice95

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Cool Japanese jamma games I should be on the lookout for?

I just saw a bit of video from SaminVA showing RayStorm a jamma
space themed shooter. I never played this before but the videos look really
cool.. I gotta get it.

What other cool japanese titles are out there I should check out?

Fighters? Space themes? Stuff I would have never seen in an arcade in the
USA?

Dont get me wrong.. I LOVE the classics.. My entire collection..
but some of the 3d stuff from the 90/00's is really cool
 
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There are dozens of great ones, but I'll suggest a few to start... Check out Xevious 3DG, Don Pachi, Zing Zing Zip, Guange and Game Paradise (a shooter where you're fighting arcade games).

I know guys hate MAME, but this is what it rules for... Checking out these oddballs or refreshing your memory on a game that is being discussed that you haven't played before.
 
There are dozens of great ones, but I'll suggest a few to start... Check out Xevious 3DG, Don Pachi, Zing Zing Zip, Guange and Game Paradise (a shooter where you're fighting arcade games).

I know guys hate MAME, but this is what it rules for... Checking out these oddballs or refreshing your memory on a game that is being discussed that you haven't played before.

No mame hate here.. I'm actually playing ray crisis right now because of it.

Really cool game. What other suggestions guys? Mame has 3k+ games..
Kinda tough to find something cool by just poking around.
 
any cool forward facing (stra wars type) 3d space shooters? Everything suggested so far is really cool but all seem to be top down.
 
Guwange, Progear and DoDonPachi. I'm abit meh towards other cave titles due to difficulty and expense...but these titles are awesome as far as shooters go.

Tom
 
Viper Phase 1 - new version -
Donpachi
DoDonpachi
Guwange
ESP.Ra.De
Truxton (II)
Nebulas Ray
Progear
Darius Gaiden
G-Darius





Look at my Vaps profile , I'm an addict
icon_awe.gif
 
That boss is insane. Can anyone translate what the woman (game) was yelling/saying?

Scott C.
I am not sure what they are saying but the laughing is pretty funny though.

ESP.Ra.De is another really good game. It is one of the less expensive Cave PCBs ($250) but it is a great game.

 
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Most of the cave games are hard to come by (and expensive to boot), but they are REALLY cool. If you can't stomach to cost, but own an Xbox 360. The following arcade ports can be played on a US system:

Deathsmiles (received a full US release)
Deathsmiles 2X (as a digital download title from the online store)
Mushihimisama Futari 1.5 (Japanese import, region free, cheap)
Espgaluda 2 (Japanese Import, region free, low price now)
Guwange (Xbox live download from online store)
Eschatos (non-Cave vertical shooter region free Japan import)

Japan region locked titles:

DoDonPachi Resurrection 1.5 (Japan release, comes with 1.5 mode download code)
DoDonPachi Resurrection Black Label (Japan release)
Akai Katana Shin (really awesome Japan release)

To play the "region locked" games, you need to have a Japanese 360. I have ALL of the above games, with the exception of Guwange, as I did not feel that it would play well on my arcade cabinet setup that runs the Japanese Xbox 360 hardware. Espgaluda 2 and the US release of the original Deathsmiles are inexpensive and DEFINITELY worth checking out if you have a US 360...

ALSO, and this is important. If you have a 360, you need to just go ahead and download "Ikaruga", and next week (on the 15th) you will be able to purchase "RADIANT SILVERGUN" from the live store, which is the "spiritual predecessor" to Ikaruga, and is absolutely, positively, one of (if not THE BEST) shooters of ALL TIME...

Lee
 
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ALSO, and this is important. If you have a 360, you need to just go ahead and download "Ikaruga", and next week (on the 15th) you will be able to purchase "RADIANT SILVERGUN" from the live store, which is the "spiritual predecessor" to Ikaruga, and is absolutely, positively, one of (if not THE BEST) shooters of ALL TIME...

I'm gonna be a party foul here, but "of all time" is HIGHLY debatable.

I'd recommend the OP just go into either game under the impression that they are just good shmups and leave it at that.
 
I'm gonna be a party foul here, but "of all time" is HIGHLY debatable.

This is not just my "personal opinion", but the opinion of most die hard Shmup fans. I didn't say it was "THE" but "one of, if not THE" best shooters of all time. What shoot 'EM ups do you personally feel are any better?
 
This is not just my "personal opinion", but the opinion of most die hard Shmup fans. I didn't say it was "THE" but "one of, if not THE" best shooters of all time. What shoot 'EM ups do you personally feel are any better?

I'm not trying to pick an argument or play grammar nazi over something small, but you are implying it is THE best with that statement. It's not a strong way of saying it, but it is being said.

I am mostly with you, in that I think it is in the top spots for best shmup. I just don't think Ikaruga deserves that spot. Instead of doing this the classic shmup-discussion way of "name drop titles and scrutinize each others choices", let's actually explain our opinions on this one game. I'm gonna bullet point, cause no one wants to read a review and we're derailing as is:

OP STOP READING HERE

Good
-clever system
-strong level design that totally understands the system (it's Treasure...this is where they shine as a design team...even "enh" systems become great because of how they design around them)
-Just the right difficulty

The One (and crucial from my perspective) Bad
-99% of the game's patterns are pre-determined.

Figuring out patterns is a major chunk of playing shmups. They're quick puzzles that you need to figure out by repetitive trial and error (so you can impress friends by making it look like you figured it out on the fly ;P). Where Ikaruga mis-steps is that it isn't organic. You figure out a pattern and you're done. There are very few situations where the AI alters the pattern based off of things that are not planned. Patterns rarely come at the player with the AI changing trajectory or timing based off of where the player is. When the game is so heavily slanted towards pre-determined patterns with so few AI/Independent based bullet patterns...I'm sorry, it gets boring.

Going back to "name drop style": You may not agree, but Mars Matrix is my shmup measuring stick. Clever system. Very strong level design that plays off of the system. Great difficulty and the big kicker when comparing this to Ikaruga: just enough balance between the two styles of pattern generation to keep things interesting. If it mis-steps, its that the hitbox can be a little "Cave-like" and not being hit by physical enemies is a little awkward. I can go back and play Mars Matrix over and over and over, over the same early stages I blasted through with ease for the last ten years and still have fun. When I clear something in a game like Ikaruga, it feels like a chore if I have to replay it to get to the point where I am having trouble. Even if I try to up my combo strings to try and make what I am replaying more challenging, it's just not interesting once you've cracked the over all pattern.

Speaking of patterns in shmups, I'm also a HUGE fan of Parsec 47. A lot of people don't consider it Kenta-Cho's best game, but...holy shit...it is a fantastic mixture of the two bullet pattern generating philosophies.

OP YOU CAN START READING NOW

Back on topic: OP should check out Ikaruga. Just go into it as if it were a recommended shmup. You'll walk out of it a fan.

2 cents...plizonk!
 
I'm an idiot. You were talking about Radiant Silvergun weren't you? DUH! FART! Nevermind me.
 
I'm an idiot. You were talking about Radiant Silvergun weren't you? DUH! FART! Nevermind me.

Yes! I WAS talking about Radiant Silvergun. I'm with you on Ikaruga. It is entertaining and all, but it certainly is NOT as good as RS, in my opinion. There is just something very "special" about that game that is hard to describe. The fact that it was done on what many consider to be "weak hardware" just goes to show that design and creativity can go a LONG way...

Lee
 
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