Fight'N Rage deserves way more than 30 seconds of play.
It may have one attack button but that's no indication of whether the combat system is deep, and it definitely is. There's so much flexibility in the combo system and there are a bunch of different moves based on position, input direction, combo state, etc. On top of that, the stages have branching paths and eventually lead to multiple endings.
It's the best modern 2D beat-em-up that I have played - better than Scott Pilgrim, better than Phantom Breaker: Battlegrounds, better than Castle Crashers - and deserves a look by anyone who has any interest at all in the genre.
The Vectrex can be so frustrating. At least Jeff didn't run into the problem I typically do with mine, where it looks like the cartridge is working... then it boots to the built-in Mine Storm game. I'll happily take random corruption over that; at least it's obvious that there's an issue with the connection when that happens.
I actually think Spike is a little too easy to be a classic (you can play it for hours without it putting up much of a challenge), but boy oh boy does it make a wonderful first impression.
Total Carnage is actually very doable and a lot more fair than Smash TV. The trick is that the bombs give you a few seconds of invincibility to get out of bad situations, and you acquire them constantly. Meanwhile I'm convinced that a single credit clear of Smash TV was never intended and the fact that it is indeed possible is sheer happenstance.
It's such a bummer that shooters, at least the ones worth a damn, have been almost completely exclusive to Microsoft consoles over the past two generations. It seems nuts that a Japanese-ass genre has dominated consoles Japan historically hasn't cared much about.
Sucks, man.
Raiden was a windows-published game when it made it out of the arcades back in the 90s. I would imagine that there might be some deal or other business relationship still in place that gives microsoft publishing rights for this.
No, every Raiden but DX (which only got a home port on PS1) has been on multiple platforms and none of them have ever been published by Microsoft.
What's likely is that Microsoft gave MOSS a deal to make this (at least temporarily) exclusive. That's what happened with early shmups on 360, which cemented that platform as the home of the genre and prompted everyone else to release their shmups there because that's where the audience had gone.
I become sort of an evangelist for the games I love. I try to convince others to play them and then ask those people their thoughts about the games. I find it fascinating how many different perspectives and approaches there can be for a single game. I don't get offended if people didn't enjoy something that I love: I find it interesting when people dislike something that I adore, because that illustrates an approach to games very different from my own. And this works both ways: I pay attention to what games others really enjoy, ask them for recommendations, and try their favourite games out for myself.
As people on the Giantbomb IRC channels know all too well, one of my current favourite games is Dariusburst Chronicle Saviours. I'm happy to expound at length about how great that game is to anyone who will listen. Anyone want the pitch? :)
Cabinet 11 is actually a good choice if you want to see everything - that's the one the Shmups forum is using. That means pretty much everything will be unlocked in short order.
This game is ridiculously huge and it's disappointing that the Quick Look doesn't really touch upon that. CS mode has something like 300 stages in a branching, almost Super Mario World-esque map design. That first set that Jeff briefly looked at is the equivalent of Yoshi's Island 1 in SMW. Chronicle mode (inside AC mode) has thousands spread out across several hex-based maps.
The $60 price is absolutely justified. This game is so big and so good.
May be a dumb question for a shooter, but how's the variety in all those stages?
It's lots of subtle variations rather than wholly unique, individual levels. You might see the same pattern of asteroids, but the enemies around it will be different. You'll face a version of a boss with different patterns. You'll be using different ships with different constraints. Sometimes you'll start fully powered. Sometimes there will be no power-up or shield drops. That sort of thing.
This game is ridiculously huge and it's disappointing that the Quick Look doesn't really touch upon that. CS mode has something like 300 stages in a branching, almost Super Mario World-esque map design. That first set that Jeff briefly looked at is the equivalent of Yoshi's Island 1 in SMW. Chronicle mode (inside AC mode) has thousands spread out across several hex-based maps.
The $60 price is absolutely justified. This game is so big and so good.
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