Everybody loves desert graves: Let's Play UN Squadron!

This game has such a great flow to the stages. I say vidja.

Mickey, because I never could figure out his special ability when I rented it, but whatever it was it just had to be better than androgi-boy.

And screenshots.

Mike, I demand that my vote for video count as five votes, on account of I recorded 8 Eyes for you.

I know that was a bet or a dare or whatever, but honestly, I kind of feel like you still owe me one.

For an action game, seeing screenshots from this or that part of a given stage but not how they fit together is disorienting, and just generally a bad fit for accurate pacing and the like. And this goes at least double for shoot'em-ups. So, video.

It should count for 8.

It's less amazing when you hear it all the goddamn time.

And what's with that Canadian accent, eh?

You know I love you, Mike. :-*

Shin, because if he doesn't earn money flying missions, how else is he going to buy his freedom? Get the poor guy home to his girl, will ya? It's not like Mickey and Greg want to be anywhere else but in a war zone. And video, please.

Still my favorite shooter and a fine example of a licensed game done right.

Greg because I got to show love for my fellow Northern Europeans and screenshots because I don't really watch video LPs (sorry video people)

I think I have to change my format non-vote to video, because I just don't know if you can do a shooter justice in stills.

If you're really not pressed for time, you could probably just take screenshots from your videos to show off the highlights of each level and do a light LP in stills....

Wow, this is turning out to be a pretty close race. I'll keep the voting open until I get home tonight, so you still have a chance to make your voices heard. And no voting twice, shivam.

You...you can do that? Damn, my hat is off to you sir. And for everybody else: don't expect me to be nearly as good at this game as Lucas is!

Talk of Carrier Air Wing is always welcome in my thread, friend. It does make me sad, though; a port of CAW to a modern console with online co-op is something that I want desperately to happen, but it never will.

I accept your utlimatum, good sir, at least for now. But UN Squadron is so full of great quotes that I doubt I'll be able to resist using a few others before I'm done.

I vote you play as Shivam. Twice.

i wasn't voting twice, i was merely letting the poster ahead of me know that i had indeed voted for shin.

USA USA USA!

Also MCBanjoMike should do video and screenshots! Best of both worlds! It isn't as if the man has a job or a life or anything outside of TT!

Thanks, but I could only do it back when I was a kid with no internet access and only a handful of good games (the same era when I purposely one-lifed Life Force and accidentally one-lifed Contra). Now it's just a post for the Embarrassing Atrophy of Basic Skills thread =( I'm hard pressed to get through the Wolf Pack before my first death or without grinding for the Thunderbolt these days.

Also, if I'm remembering correctly Shin's vulcan doesn't just level up faster, it can also go two levels higher than Mickey or Greg's; though it takes forever to get that high and you can only take advantage of this with the two most expensive planes, so Pretty Boy is still useless. Admittedly, it's been so long since I played the game all the way through, much less as Shin, that I'm not positive about this.

Edit: I take that back. I just played a game as Greg , and he not only got up to level 7 vulcan (highest supported by any of the planes) but he also did it by the middle of the game. So yeah, Shin's just useless.

But... but I only voted against video because I'm browsing TT from a computer with no sound.

Well folks, it seems the mob has spoken: videos for everyone! Sorry, Luddites, I'll see if I can't get some bonus features up here in a more texty format for you to enjoy once in a while. In the meantime, did you know that YouTube is accessible from most modern smartphones and iDevices? It's true! Maybe you can get caught up on the bus or something. We also had a majority vote for Mickey, much to my surprise, although Greg also made a pretty respectable showing. I might do a quick video with him just to show how useful his ability is, as well as the amazing Happy Greg portrait that you see upon finishing a mission.

For now, though, it's time to start working on the videos! It will probably take me a few days to get the technical side of things ironed out, so please be patient. In the meantime, however, I do have a little something prepared for you all:




UN Squadron has the most epic introduction I have ever seen for a shooter. Rather than assault you with quickly-cut shots of explosions and character portraits, like most games in the genre, this intro takes a cinematic approach that is nothing short of grandiose. It also gives us our first taste of the delightfully wonky translation that we will soon be seeing more of.

"Lucky they found me!"

You folks just bask in that for now, and I'll try to get some real content all up in here before long. See you in the briefing room!

Did you just call me a Luddite!?!? That's. . . that's. . .
Oh. . . right.

Carry on.

I think he does get slightly more per power-up (it's a 1-99 scale if memory serves), but, yeah, pretty much useless since money's the limiting factor in this game, not necessarily experience or whatever.

If you're doing videos, try and link to footage of the actual aircraft as well.

I can't wait until we get to that ceiling boss, because that thing was a candy-coated bitch. Much harder than the final boss, which could be defeated by the simple application of napalm.

I love this game so much, and I am also glad to see the vote went to video.

I was under the firm impression that Mickey gets extra items from the weapon refills. Shin's ability isn't useless either. The first half of the game isn't risk free, and it isn't easy to nail every enemy before they escape. Also, a personal trick I came up with is to intentionally suicide on the forest level so you can replay it and gain more money from kills. It's risky because you are throwing away lives, but grinding is basically inevitable near the end anyway.

One interesting way to expand the replayability is to limit yourself to a single midrange plane for the whole game (making an exception for that annoying ceiling boss). This is especially so given that normally one has a tendency to find an optimal progression of planes and use the same ones each time.

After watching your other video I totally expect an Irish flute rendition of a song from this game.

Here we go, folks!



Many hours of free time gave their lives to bring you the first part of this LP. Now that I have the technical side of things figured out, though, I don't think it will take me nearly as long to record future updates. I'm still a little new to the world of video LPs, so any constructive criticism you folks can offer would be appreciated.

Now that we have a few levels to choose from, where should we head next? Your choices are FOREST, DESERT, OCEAN or WOLF PACK. Wolf pack? Hey, if you want to find out what that is, then there's only one thing to do: VOTE TODAY!

I really wanna see those trees blowing up in FOREST but I say go after WOLF PACK first.

Do the Level 2 shots look like teeth to anyone else?

I say let's go for WOLF PACK, just because I'm curious.

I love this game. When I rented it as a kid, my dad liked to watch me play it - mainly because since he was an aviation buff, he'd tell me what every enemy was. ("And there's an SR-71 Blackbird...and it's laying eggs.")

Also, a slight inaccuracy in the video - there's a fourth, harder, "Gamer" difficulty.

Yay! Extra content for the director's cut of the LP! (consisting mainly of swearing at me)

As for the vote: I'd like to see the ocean, because I really like that level. I'm sure that none of the other mobile enemy forces will attack your base in the meantime!

I vote for Wolf Pack because it's the most fun to play with the Crusader.

I hear the OCEAN is nice this time of year.

It's not the forest level without the A-10.
I forgot what the desert level is, so I vote for that.

I want you to show us what happens when the enemy gets close, so no Wolf Pack. They are mercenaries, like us!

It's not quite on the same level as the opening of Gradius II PCE—but then, nothing is.

Forest and Ocean aren't maximum fun without the A-10, so interdict the Wolf Pack now.

Or knock off some trucks in the meantime.

I really like how that guy's tie is tucked into his shirt.