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Klatrymadon

Rei BENSER PLUS
(he/him)
I guess the rights to a lot of them must be up for grabs - that Vasara collection came more or less out of nowhere, too, and a Breakers one is in the pipeline. Here's hoping for Galmedes!

Edit: Here's one to watch. Looks incredible, and it's only been in development for three weeks.
 
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Klatrymadon

Rei BENSER PLUS
(he/him)
The focus on ship selection is interesting, since I seem to recall Kujo saying that Final's extensive hangar would be de-emphasised here in favour of a smaller selection of carefully balanced ships, a bit like in III or Delta. Maybe they decided "fuck it, could be the last one, let's go berserk again". The gameplay clips look great, but I really hope to see more physical/environmental dangers to contend with in the stages as the project progresses - Delta and Final did away with contact damage for walls, but they didn't throw out bottlenecking and gauntlets to be negotiated, etc. These are R-Type's bread and butter.

Edit: Darius Cozmic Revelation LE stuff:

  • Hardcover CE Box /w Magnetic Latch
  • Arcade Cabinet Papercraft
  • 2x Darius Arcade Flyer
  • DARIUS THE OMNIBUS III CD by Zuntata
  • Retro Arcade PCB Cardboard Box
  • 4x Acrylic Art Cards
  • Silver Hawk Acrylic Stand
  • Region-free Blu-Ray Documentary
  • Hardcover Book

I really wish I had the will power to dismiss the idea of buying a third Darius LE full of stuff I don't need.
 
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Zef

Find Your Reason
(He/Him)
R-Type has always been the one and only shmup I hold in higher regard than Axelay, but I've never been able to "beat" any installment except Super (and even then, only on Medium). Heck, my performance in Delta and Final can be basically summed up as "lol" and I've never even seen their final stages anywhere other than Let's Plays. I doubt Final 2 will buck that trend, but by gum I'ma play it and I'ma enjoy the punishment.

Speaking of lol

nbvwdto.png


Fishy!

(Bydo 1A3 can't possibly be healthy for the pilot.)
 

Klatrymadon

Rei BENSER PLUS
(he/him)
There's activity on the R-Type Final 2 stream right now, if anyone can watch it. I'm not sure what it's about but I'm staying tuned in the hope of catching some footage!

.

Edit: And a Cotton Reboot trailer! Shaping up to be a lavish Tengo Project-style remake. 2021 is going to be a monster year for shmups.
 
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Regulus

Sir Knightbot
Skimming the stream, I didn't see that much in the way of new footage. The first person launch sequence looks pretty neato, though. VR-9?

Other cool things:

-The hangar the fighter launches from in the opening appears seems to be a UFCS-05 Jormungandr, the smallest (and probably most useful) carrier ship from R-Type Tactics.
-It doesn't show up in any of the hangar or gameplay shots, but you can spot the R-9/0 "Ragnarok" in the lower right on the "title" image. I wasn't really worried that it would be absent, but it's good to see it back.
-Yuki and Takayuki Iwai are back for the soundtrack - they also did the R-Type Final and Tactics OSTs.
 

WildcatJF

Let's Pock (Art @szk_tencho)
(he / his / him)
deathsmile.jpg



---

Also, M2 has confirmed an entirely new Aleste game, GG Aleste 3, will be a part of their Aleste Collection release for consoles and the Game Gear Micro.


---

Also also, more on the Cotton remake:

 
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Kishi

Little Waves
(They/Them)
Staff member
Moderator
I'm not one for Deathsmiles, but this has me hopeful for more Cave games coming to Switch in the future. Likewise, GG Aleste 3 probably still isn't enough to get me to bite on that collection, but I'll be interested to see more of it (M2 has roots in Game Gear development, after all).

Cotton Reboot! is looking good. I see they're giving it Systems that didn't exist in the shmups of 1991, an arranged soundtrack by an all-star cast of composers, and some nice new pixel art.
 

spines

cyber true color
(she/her, or something)
tried playing cotton 2 at the barcade once, and it was pretty fun, but the lack of autofire made it really hard to stick with for more than 20 minutes at a time. gimme that (and i can't imagine it won't have it) and we're already 80% of the way there. looks nice.

akai katana is by far my favorite cave hori, but the enduring reputation of the game seems to be kind of a flop. and i understand capcom have some kind of rights on progear. i'd love to see some of their vertical games, obviously, but that seems like a lot more of a stretch, especially for the first go; much like on the 360, it just makes sense, unfortunately
 

Klatrymadon

Rei BENSER PLUS
(he/him)
Gradius III (AC) is coming to PS4 and Switch via Hamster's Arcade Archives. If it has the "wait" options from the PS2 version I might be tempted to start practicing it again!

An Akai Katana port would be great, and it definitely deserves some time in the sun. I wasn't that keen on the original version but Shin is a banger. It has one of their most accomplished scoring systems and I'm amazed more people weren't completely hooked on it...
 
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WildcatJF

Let's Pock (Art @szk_tencho)
(he / his / him)
Some gameplay of Darius Cozmic Revelation:

Looks great! So hyped I got the Collector's Edition
 

Dracula

Plastic Vampire
(He/His)
I've heard lots of good things about Deathsmiles but I'm not sure if I can stomach the whole visual package. It looks...feverish.
 

Riot.EXE

Fighting Game Enthusiast
(He/Him)
I've heard lots of good things about Deathsmiles but I'm not sure if I can stomach the whole visual package. It looks...feverish.

It's not that bad. It's more just "SPOOKY HALLOWEEN LAND" stuff. Like, "Nightmare before Christmas" but somehow scarier and cuter at the same time. You won't feel like a grimey sleazeball playing it.
 

WildcatJF

Let's Pock (Art @szk_tencho)
(he / his / him)
I REALLY enjoyed my run of Darius II. I'm not playing these for mad skills or anything, but I was loving the music and enemy design and the feel of the ship in this. A marked improvement on Darius (which I also started up but didn't quite get through over the weekend).
 

Dracula

Plastic Vampire
(He/His)
It's not that bad. It's more just "SPOOKY HALLOWEEN LAND" stuff. Like, "Nightmare before Christmas" but somehow scarier and cuter at the same time. You won't feel like a grimey sleazeball playing it.

That was part of it, but it's also that there's just so much going on.
 

keurig

AO Tennis no Kiseki
(he/him)
GG Aleste 3 looks fantastic. I've never actually played any of the Aleste games so I'm wondering if maybe the collection might be a good starting point? Well aware that there's games missing but I kinda want to play 3 after watching that trailer.
 

Kishi

Little Waves
(They/Them)
Staff member
Moderator
I recommend playing Aleste 2 on your nearest MSX2 emulator if you want to know what it's all about.
 

spines

cyber true color
(she/her, or something)
deathsmiles is a blurry and virtually incomprehensible mess on cabinets and a weird prerendered nightmare with the recaptured hd graphics, seriously hideous in every incarnation

it's a cave game so all you need to see is the purple shit anyway
 

demi

(She/Her)
The time I played Deathsmiles I was still really impressed with its visual design: the bosses are all absolutely wild, and the backgrounds let CAVE flex on a unique perspective that we don't usually get to see from them in other vertical titles. I have mostly played the 360 port on a crt, and while a far cry from my favorite CAVE title it's still a very fun game.
 

Kishi

Little Waves
(They/Them)
Staff member
Moderator
R-Type Dimensions EX is half-off ($7.50) on Switch for another week. I was never too excited by the 2.5D gimmick, but you can also just play the first two games as they were, and this is yet the only way to play any R-Type on Switch.
 

Klatrymadon

Rei BENSER PLUS
(he/him)
Darius Cozmic Revelation Famitsu DX Pack announced. It comes with a Mega Drive cartridge for Darius Extra Version (which I'm assuming means the Hidecade port has been updated to be more in line with the arcade Extra Version). There will also be an Amazon Prime Day version.

It's 6,800 yen for the regular edition, and 16,800 yen for the special edition. G-Darius HD and Darius Burst ACEX+ will be available separately on the eShop for 3,800 yen each. I was really hoping I could stop being an absolute mark for Darius LE nonsense, but I need that cart.
 
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Kishi

Little Waves
(They/Them)
Staff member
Moderator
Whereas I'll be waffling for ages just to justify spending 40bux on G Darius à la carte.
 

Klatrymadon

Rei BENSER PLUS
(he/him)
Yeah, I've been surprised at how hefty the download prices are; even the Console version of the last collection is nearly £50 here. Serious whale fishin'.

I'm trying to look on the bright side, though - in going for these Cozmic LEs I've had to commit more to pruning my existing games and sell stuff just to pay for this absurd, decadent rubbish.

Edit: streamed footage of the G-Darius port:


Columbus Cirlce are also doing a run of the MD carts.
 
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Ludendorkk

(he/him)
G-Darius is the one to get, no? (I don't have much experience with Darius outside playing the big cabinet at Galloping Ghosts)
 

ShakeWell

Slam Master
(he, etc.)
G Darius and Darius Gaiden are generally considered the best of the series (at least, I consider them as much).
 
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