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What's Not so
new.. |
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It's finally here! R-Type Delta was released in the UK last week, and I've just managed to get my grubby paws on a copy. Apart from the slightly disappointing European sleeve artwork compared to the Japanese release (not sure how the US version fares in this respect) it's not bad at all for a PAL release, with minimal letterboxing and as far as I can see all the features of the import game ie. Gallery, Wallpaper options, Battle report screens etc. are intact, much better than the UK version of R-Types which had some similar features cut. The game is the first in the R-Type series to feature true 3D polygonal graphics, and although it arguably does not quite reach the exceptional standard |
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of Square's Einhander (still the King of 'old-school'
polygon PS shooters in my opinion) it is still an awesome
title indeed, and captures the classic R-type 'feel'
remarkably well for a non-sprite game. One thing that
struck me though was how totally outclassed the original
R-9 fighter is in this new game by the two new optional
fighters - the new RX 'Albatross' and R-13 'Cerberus'
come equipped with some stonking weaponry which rather
blows away the old-style ship and leaves it looking a
little obsolete. Time for the scrap heap for the original
R-9 perhaps? Nah.. Maybe not.. ;) Also after cutting my
way through assorted enormous and highly unfriendly
Mechanical Bydo craft on the first stage my ship seems to
have a bit of a problem with..erm.. wasp nests.. The
walker Guardian ship thingie on level three is awesome
though, this level reminds me a little of the famous
Mothership encounter |
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Thurs May 20th GigaWing
Preview |
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On the
rare occasion that a games producer releases an
old-school arcade shoot-em-up nowadays, there is often a certain amount of interest shown in gaming circles if only because such titles are an exception to the current trend towards 3D arcade experiences. And when the company concerned is none other than Capcom, whose long lineage of original and classic shooters earns them a rightful place in the Top 5 favourite softcos of many a long-term shoot-em-up fan, you just know it's going to be a good game. Gigawing is the first shooter released by Capcom since the highly rated 19XX appeared 3 years ago. Using the same SPS2 system and development team as the latter title, Gigawing promises to deliver a full-on old-fashioned, seat-of-the-pants blast replete with the Capcom stylishness us gamers have come to love. Further screenshots and info can be found on a Preview page for the game here. Gigawing should be hitting arcades around now, and if you know of a machine in the UK yet, drop me an e-mail and let me know its location, I'd love to play it! The same thing applies if you know where I can find a 19XX machine nowadays in fact! ;) |
A site that has kept me chuckling for quite a while recently is the excellent and very witty UK Resistance gaming page, which has a slight Sega/Dreamcast bias, but don't let that put you off if you are not a Sega-phile like myself.. the site is well worth taking a look at, especially now it seems to have gone OTT taking the mickey out of the Star Wars Episode I hype-machine and Sega's US Dreamcast Ad campaign amongst many other probably quite justifiable and deserving targets. All good clean fun, and hilarious stuff to boot.. ;) |
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'Yeah, very stylish, very clever, very post-modern and arty, looks good on the ad company's CV, but what the f**k are you selling? What's the product? WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY? For God's sake, it's happening again. IT'S HAPPENING AGAIN! Put the bargain buckets on stand-by...' UK Resistance |
Wed May 19th Layer
Section (Rayforce) Review Another excellent review by Zach,
another great shoot-em-up. While US |
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That game was Taito's prequel to Raystorm
- Layer Section - which was known in the arcades as
Rayforce, and released by Acclaim in the US and Europe
under the dubious title of (..drumroll please..) Galactic
Attack. All I can say is that this Saturn title is
in all honesty the best vertical shooter ever released
for the Saturn outside of Japan, and I would have no
hesitation in recommending it wholeheartedly to any fan
of the genre. Go read the review right away, and don't come back
till you understand the greatness that is this game. Off
you go! ;) |
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Sun May 16th Raiden
Project Review Zach Keene's Raiden Project
(Playstation) review is now up in DAM Reviews. |
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Apparently so! Looks like a
driver Mame 0.35
beta 12 and the Air Buster |
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Mame Beta 0.35 Beta 11 has been
released! (see Mame Homepage). Newly supported games which
caught my eye include Terra Force (a personal fave and a
must download!) and UFO Robo Dangar - these two are the
third and fourth games in Nichibutsu's Moon Cresta/Terra
Cresta series. Another addition to this release of Mame
is Prehistoric Isle 1930 - an early SNK shooter featuring
Biplanes vs Dinosaurs which I only vaguely remember in
the arcades but is rather good fun. Thanks to Malc of SHMUPS! for that info. Also in the new
release are Nichibutsu's Armed Formation F, a decent
top-down shooter, and Cabal, the forerunner to Wild Guns. A new version of Raine (v0.20)
was recently released including support for a further 16
games including Arkanoid 2 and cute platformer New
Zealand Story, plus some interesting looking shooters - Earth Joker, Ashura Blaster, Galmedes, Fighting Hawk and Space Invaders 95. The last game in particular
looks cool, being to the original Space Invaders what the
Parodius games are to the original Gradius games, check
out the screenshots on the RAINE
Hompage!
Eeek..Aliens in drag..Freaky.. |