Playing all of "Sega Saturn's Explosive Shmup Library"

[opa]

Thank you for the thoughts/comments, everyone.

Aw, man. I really really like Blast Wind, personally. I thought it was fairly inviting, and on the easier side for getting a decent way into the game without a lot of memorization; Kind of like Batsugun (or a lot of other Toaplan shooters).
I came tantalizingly close to a 1-ALL when I was playing it--*adjusts glasses*--11(!!!) YEARS AGO?
(viewtopic.php?t=43580&hilit=blast+wind& ... dc9261685a)

The audio mixing is certainly a bit of a problem. I still love the soundtrack on its own, though. Especially the end credits theme.

EDIT: The HG101 article from the top-scorer in that thread is worth a read too, I think: http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/blast-wind/
Basically arrives at a similar conclusion to yours, opa, but there's a lot of extra historical info along the way.

I made it to like stage 3 or 4 in Blast Wind without even really paying attention. One of the shot buttons is a homing attack. Just hold that down and swivel back and forth and you're practically safe most of the time. I mostly died because I got bored. lol
Eventually, I just turned it off. That song you posted is really cool though.

-

After Blast Wind I had to cleanse my palate by playing Deathsmiles and Mushihimesama.
I think I know what I'm playing next but I'm done for the day at this point. Probably will make a new post in a couple days or so.

[opa]

Sega Ages: Fantasy Zone



When I still collected retro games and systems, Fantasy Zone on the Master System was my re-introduction to the shooting genre. I found the game to be very challenging (even infuriating) but I kept coming back to it from time to time.

Sega Ages: Fantasy Zone is a port of the arcade original and seems to play just fine. Fantasy Zone is a side-scrolling shooter in the "Defender-style". You can choose to scroll left or right at-will. Your main objective is to destroy the "monster generators" that keep spitting out enemies. Once you destroy all of the enemy bases, a boss fight occurs.
The bosses take up a good third of the screen and they don't mess around. They like to spit a bunch of bullets at you while you try to shoot their weak points. Once a boss is defeated, they drop a load of coins for you to swoop down and pick up (and you'll need them!).

At various points during the stages, a red balloon floats on the screen. If you touch the balloon you enter the shop. In the shop you have the opportunity to spend money on new weapons, more powerful bombs, jet engines, and extra lives.

I really like the Master System Fantasy Zone for nostalgia's sake, but I have to give this version a pass. Your hitbox feels pretty big and that's made worse by the sheer number of things that can kill you on-screen. Everything except the floor can kill you.
The enemy patterns are also a thing of madness. They spin, circle around, and fly in from both directions. I feel like most of my deaths are from changing direction; enemies just appear right in front of you and it gets old really fast.

Maybe I just don't like the original Fantasy Zone? Entirely possible.

I'll just stick with the little 8-bit version that I'm used to.

Likes
-Same good ol' Fantasy Zone action
-Seems faithful to arcade version (if gameplay videos are acceptable to compare to)
-Bright, colorful graphics

Dislikes
-Very frustrating enemy patterns
-An obscene amount of crap on the screen that can kill you
-Really hard to make a "comeback" when you lose power-ups after death

Verdict: Pass

[pierrot]

Yeah, I like Fantasy Zone, but in so far as I'm willing to play it for a couple minutes every now and again. After three or four stages, I don't really find it fun anymore, lol.

[opa]

That's about as far as I can tolerate it as well. The enemies become particularly nasty as you get further and when you lose your power-ups you're too slow to react.

[o.pwuaioc]

I've never done a deep comparison, but all the Sega Ages games seemed faithful comparisons to me. I mostly played After Burn II and OutRun though. The arcade games were much, much harder than their contemporary ports, so Fantasy Zone being more frustrating than fun sounds right to me.

Side note: new avatar picture, huh?

[opa]

Yep. Elvira and the Party Monsters (1989). I try to take pics when I go play pinball. Elvira seemed avatar worthy. lol

[opa]

Any requests for this week? I've been kinda busy lately but I wouldn't mind some shmuppin' some evening.

[pierrot]

I would go for Batsugun, Battle Garegga, or Dodonpachi, if you want to play one of the real ringers.

Since you liked Soukyugurentai, you'd probably also enjoy Layer Section and or Layer Section II.

A couple of my personal favorites that are a bit further down the list are Cotton Boomerang, Salamander/2, Sexy Parodius, Gradius, Thunderforce AC, Sengoku Blade (these are all horis), and although it's not a typical shmup, Purikura Daisakusen.

[opa]

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll pick something once I get a chance to play.

[o.pwuaioc]

I'd say get some of the middling ones out of the way early, but do mix it up with some gems, too, so you don't get bogged down with mediocrity.

On a personal level, I'd be interested in hearing what you think of Thunder Force V, Shienryu, and Metal Black.