Side Scrollers.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Tue Feb 03, 2004 3:12 pm

OK, the point of this thread is research. For something I plan on doing in the future.

I'd like to talk about side scrollers for a second. Specifically, ones in SPACE.

But let's start off with a simple question -- do you, the assembled and mighty masses of Jolt Country... prefer side scrolling games where your ship goes up (and down), or left to right? Galaga or Vanguard?

bruce · Post by **bruce** » Tue Feb 03, 2004 4:01 pm

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote: I'd like to talk about side scrollers for a second. Specifically, ones in SPACE.

But let's start off with a simple question -- do you, the assembled and mighty masses of Jolt Country... prefer side scrolling games where your ship goes up (and down), or left to right? Galaga or Vanguard?

Well, if it's a <i>side</i> scroller, that pretty much answers the question. And Galaga doesn't exactly scroll, narmean?

I basically prefer vertical shooters to sidescrollers though, if that was what you were asking.

Bruce

Worm · Post by **Worm** » Tue Feb 03, 2004 4:15 pm

Oh, man. You don't know how much background I've got here. First I've got to say if you really like SHMUPs (Shoot 'em ups) you really should wrangle yourself a Saturn Battle Garegga, Strkers 1945 I and II, Donpachi, Dodonpachi, NiGHTS(Not much shooting but possibly the BEST side scroller type game ever), Sexy Paradious, and Darius Gaiden (Though put to shame by the Darius up on Underdogs).

http://dynamic5.gamespy.com/%7Eshmups/s ... /index.php Is a great resource you can find high score boards there and everything.

Though Phoenix is possibly better in every single way when compared with Galaga. Maybe I'm just a cunt though.

EDIT: Oh, and Radiant Silvergun

Jethro Q. Walrustitty · Thu Feb 05, 2004 1:32 pm

Vertical scrolling is still scrolling. And, the background of stars in Galaga scroll. Not very well, but they do.

The best scrolling depends on the orientation of your screen. On a standard TV - wider than it is tall - horizontal scrollers are the best.
On an flipped arcade monitor - taller than it is wide - vertical scrollers (like Thundercade, which ate more quarters than I'll ever admit) were the best.

Which is better overall? Neither, they both have their good and bad games.

Best side-scroller ever? Probably "Lords of Thunder" for the TurboDuo, "Gate of Thunder" being extremely good, too (and more of a "space" one.) Anyone who likes side-scrollers does themself a disservice if they haven't checked out that Turbo side-shooters - the Turbo had the best shooters and RPGs of its era.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Thu Feb 05, 2004 1:38 pm

A TG16 is pretty easy to emulate then, right? These things exist? I am almost posit---- ah, that's right. I have Cadash for the .... shit. I want to say for the TG16 as a ROM, but it may be Sega CD. Can't remember.

Anyway, do you have ROMs for those two games, Jeff?

Lysander · Post by **Lysander** » Thu Feb 05, 2004 6:08 pm

Edited by ICJ -- mix in a line break, goddammit.

Ahem.

Allow me to field this one.

As a person who grew up doing very little but playing games like Overkill, Galactica, Galaxia, Defender, Kilo Blaster, Major Striker, Raptor, Galla-galla-ding-dong, Soul Feese, and probably a bunch others that I can't remember, I have come to a conclusion. Namely, that there were a fuckload more vertical scrollers than horrizontal ones.

(Kilo Blaster really doesn't count; its the standard "clear the screen of baddies"--except that the screen doesn't *move*. You're stuck there until you murder everything. Its still, technically, a verticle scroller--as is Gallactica and Gallaxia--because you shoot up at the ships near the top.)

I cannot understand *why*, as I have always found games where the game moves around you to be incredibly frustrating; whatever you're doing is undershot by the urgency of "Okay, I'd better get to this one quick, otherwise the next ones'll show up and the screen'll get too crowded. Oh, shit, did I get that powerup?" Hell, even Soul Feese--the one game that I have ever played where you are always moving towards the end of the level but *sideways*--was terrible about this, and knew it; some of the most common enemies were huge triangle barriers that would kill you on contact, and the only way to get through them was mash the fire button fast enough to blow up the "power generator" in the center. The designer of that feendish deathtrap should be dragged out of his house and beaten. A lot. With sticks.

I mean, shit, even Overkill -- while they did force you to maneuver through two-centimeter-fucking-wide areas while shooting at things -- didn't block the thing completely and make you shoot the barrier up to continue. But I'm rambling.

Overall, I like horrizontal sidescrollers -- specifically, my ideal game of the scrolling sort is Defender, where nothing at all moves unless you want it to, except that you damn well want it to, because if you aren't very, very watchful, the little basteeches're gonna pick up a human somewhere.

Games where the scenery moves around the player are disorientating, frustrating, and pretty much completely pointless; why *can't* you just hit reverse? Or, to get technical, turn around and go forward to slow down? Its the thing that always killed me about Rebel Assault; why the fuck can't you just maneuver yourself so that you can just sit there motionless and shoot the shit out of those fucking Star Destroyer shield generators where there is nothing shooting at you and finish that level in thirty seconds?

Because the game designers had to get finnicky.

Bastards.

Worm · Post by **Worm** » Thu Feb 05, 2004 7:41 pm

Bond, I'm not fucking reading that.

I mean I'm sure you guys want to be all swift and shit but if we are only going over Space SHMUPs there are a few essentials.

Gradius: One through four all are fucking amazing. Wonderful little power-up system fun game that required helluva skill. Though it's all about beating the game and there really are no high-scores. Oh, and Gradius V looks slicker than shit on a slope of frozen Crisco.

Lifeforce/Salamander: Just like Gradius without the same power-up scheme, but guess what? JUST AS FUCKING FUN! It also goes from top-down to side-scrolling.

Cho Ren Sha 68k: Go over to The Underdogs and download the fucking thing. You deserve it, champ. Has fun scoring system and great graphics for what it is using.

Axelay: This is another great game much like Lifeforce, can't remember if it has three modes or two. I think it has two.

Oh, right here, right in the middle of this shit I'm going to mention something. You are totally neglecting some of the BEST SHMUPS EVER by saying only space, as most of the best are WWI-X nonsense. Battle Garegga, 194*, Raiden, Aero Fighters, A billion other things I can't recall.

Phoenix: Wasn't this the first SHMUP with boss milking? Your score depending on hard you wanted it not how far you could get.

Die Slave: Another damn good game. I just like intense games, nothing much more than that to mention some cool bosses.

Warning Forever: More like a toy. It's just boss after boss after boss but has some cool ideas for the bosses. Also good for getting up to par.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Fri Feb 06, 2004 1:11 pm

I see that the word "shmup" has taken the imagination of the country by storm.

Is there a "shoot 'em up" that does indeed have the word "shmup" in its title?

Because if not, I am TOTALLY using it.

Jethro Q. Walrustitty · Wed Feb 11, 2004 2:56 pm

Jonsey: Both games I mentioned are CD games.

That being said, I believe that they can be found. It's common to find the Turbo CDs in a format that has the data in an .iso file and the music in .mp3s, which some (all?) of the "big" emulators can handle.

CD game systems since then could take a few hints from the layout of the Turbo CDs. They had an audio track (so if you put it in a regular CD player, you'd hear a warning before it started blowing out your speakers), then a data track, then more music tracks. This made them virtually impossible to copy. Last I checked, you have to pretty much rip them track-by-track then write your own .cue file and burn them with CD-R Win or whichever. Just copying them with any normal copying program (including CD-R Win) would fail miserable.

Anyways, there are quality Turbo emus out there. The two big ones, I think, are Magic Engine and... HuGo maybe? Magic Engine is supposed to be the best but is not free.

I like the "...of Thunder" shooters as they were as "busy" as you would want a side-scroller to be without being the ridiculous excessiveness of today's Japanese shooters where you spend your whole time dodging 5,000 pieces of "Kix" cereal all at once. They were also pretty universally hailed as the best ever when they were released, so it wasn't just me.

Worm · Post by **Worm** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 7:34 pm

Look, if you can't dodge the 5000 pieces of Kix cereal well collecting the medals (You have to grab them the second they glitter too) that drop so you form a point chain you fucking suck. Satans Hollow was just as intense as the nip's games so just stop bitching.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Thu Feb 12, 2004 1:02 pm

Worm wrote:Satans Hollow was just as intense as the nip's games so just stop bitching.

Jesus! I'd really like us to have one active thread on this BBS unclogged from rampant racism. How about this one? Starting ....

----------> Here. Deal?

Worm · Post by **Worm** » Thu Feb 12, 2004 2:30 pm

I just saw "nip" on caltrops and thought I'd throw it out. I've got some Gospel music to listen to though.

Lex · Post by **Lex** » Fri Feb 13, 2004 8:57 am

He can't help it, he's Jewish.

Worm · Post by **Worm** » Fri Feb 13, 2004 10:31 am

Wait, am I? Well you're a fucking euro. I'm going to get that recognized as a regular insult in the states, shouldn't be too hard. Is it really even rascism if I'm just using rascist terms but not actually hating anyone?

Jack Straw · Post by **Jack Straw** » Fri Feb 13, 2004 11:10 am

What are you on about, Worm? You hate everyone.

Jethro Q. Walrustitty · Fri Feb 13, 2004 12:50 pm

Eurotrash is the preferred term, I thought.

In the French movie "Taxi 2" (directed by Luc "Fifth Element"/"Leon AKA The Professional" Besson), a racist police chief programs a voice-activated supercar to turn on when he says "ninja" and turn off when he says "nip."

Pretty funny movie, actually. As is the first. I have the third, just haven't gotten around to watching it yet.

Yuso Toopid · Post by **Yuso Toopid** » Sat Feb 14, 2004 11:50 am

I has been telling you, ROND EYES, to not be making the fun of my people. But still you doing it. What am I to be thinking?
You have not the compassion that expecting from Americans.
Now I calling my uncle SONY and telling him to sell for very high prices to you disturbing people. My country wil become more the richer because of only you
Ah-hahahahahaha I laughing at you soon to be poor.
Now I go and drink my sake and watch wrestling on tv.

Worm · Post by **Worm** » Sat Feb 14, 2004 12:55 pm

Jack Straw wrote:What are you on about, Worm? You hate everyone.

Well, not because of their race or creed. Just because they are detestable aside from that.

Side Scrollers.

Side Scrollers.

Re: Side Scrollers.