|
Post by Discoalucard on Nov 2, 2015 20:42:34 GMT -5
www.hardcoregaming101.net/ninjaspirit/ninjaspirit.htmMostly known for its excellent Turbografx-16 port, Irem's high flying ninja game has a great sense of style and tons of cool weapons. Also, this is the first standard HG101 review to be accompanied by a video! I wanted to do some "Inventory"-type videos like Derboo is doing, but wanted to cut my teeth on something a little less overwhelming, just to teach myself how to use the video editing software. I had forgotten about all of the European computer ports so it ended up taking longer than I'd anticipated. It's a little rough around the edges, but I think it turned out pretty well.
|
|
|
Post by surnshurn on Nov 2, 2015 21:02:51 GMT -5
Pretty good overall. I'm going to come out with criticism because I'm a big nerd:
I recommend getting a better microphone setup (one that reduces the static-y breath noise that comes through). Simply speaking through a filter material would help a lot for that (there's a name for that kind of filter that escapes me at the moment). Also: look into voice lessons - even a few short hours will open your eyes [or ears] to a lot of stuff that is going on in the recording.
You did a really good job balancing sound levels. I know that getting footage of other games and splicing them in is a ton of extra work, so good job there.
Nice work!
|
|
|
Post by Joseph Joestar on Nov 2, 2015 22:29:36 GMT -5
Haven't listened to it yet, but "pop filter" (although I haven't really noticed a benefit from using one).
|
|
|
Post by Leona Phoenix on Nov 3, 2015 4:14:21 GMT -5
In the article, it seems like "If the game feels too hard" was supposed to say "easy" instead.
|
|
|
Post by Neo Rasa on Nov 3, 2015 7:00:29 GMT -5
Ninja Spirit is official as fuck. Hagane fans should check it out, as that game is sort of a futuristic remake of it.
|
|
|
Post by Joseph Joestar on Nov 3, 2015 10:19:18 GMT -5
Ninja Spirit is official as fuck. Hagane fans should check it out, as that game is sort of a futuristic remake of it. I like Ninja Spirit because it's a horror-themed game on top of being a ninja game (kind of like Ninja Wars and Makai Tensho were horror-themed ninja/samurai movies). The soundtrack is one of my all-time favorites, it's really creepy and dark. That part at the end where you're falling into the pit where all the ninjas are trying to stab you is creepy for some reason as well.
|
|
|
Post by Neo Rasa on Nov 3, 2015 10:42:40 GMT -5
You should check out Musya: The Classic Japanese Tale of Horror, the weakest entry in the genre: www.hardcoregaming101.net/kusoge/kusoge-musya.htmI really do like that last part of Ninja Spirit a lot too, very atmospheric. I'm sure you've played Hagane and Samurai Ghost but if not check them out. Hagane starts out like a pure sci-fi game but gets more and more supernatural as it goes on. And Samurai Ghost is just rad as hell. The music isn't too great but the variety of enemies and backgrounds are nuts for a PC Engine game. I like the way the main character fades into existence in each level.
|
|
|
Post by Joseph Joestar on Nov 3, 2015 13:23:51 GMT -5
You should check out Musya: The Classic Japanese Tale of Horror, the weakest entry in the genre: www.hardcoregaming101.net/kusoge/kusoge-musya.htmI really do like that last part of Ninja Spirit a lot too, very atmospheric. I'm sure you've played Hagane and Samurai Ghost but if not check them out. Hagane starts out like a pure sci-fi game but gets more and more supernatural as it goes on. And Samurai Ghost is just rad as hell. The music isn't too great but the variety of enemies and backgrounds are nuts for a PC Engine game. I like the way the main character fades into existence in each level. Yeah, I love the Genpei Toumaden games. It's funny how metal he (Kagekiyo) looks in the promotional artwork compared to in the game, he looks like he'd be in one of those satanic clown makeup bands. In Samurai Ghost, my favorite metal moment was the boss that rode in on a flaming pig, then guts himself when you beat him.
|
|
|
Post by Elvin Atombender on Nov 3, 2015 18:03:52 GMT -5
Just wanted to add that the Commodore 64 conversion was coded by Chris Butler, who was specialized in portings from arcade machines: during his career he worked on games such as Power Drift, Commando and Ghosts N Goblins.
And I agree with Joseph Joestar on the soundtrack, it's fantastic.
|
|
|
Post by Neo Rasa on Nov 3, 2015 18:17:43 GMT -5
Low and slow is where it's at for ninja game music. The sewers in Last Ninja 2, Kazuki's theme in Samurai Shodown 4, the Tairong City music in Ninja Gaiden (XBox). I love that moodier stuff even for the most action packed games.
|
|
|
Post by Discoalucard on Nov 3, 2015 19:23:48 GMT -5
I recommend getting a better microphone setup (one that reduces the static-y breath noise that comes through). Simply speaking through a filter material would help a lot for that (there's a name for that kind of filter that escapes me at the moment). Also: look into voice lessons - even a few short hours will open your eyes [or ears] to a lot of stuff that is going on in the recording. Will grab one! Currently using one of these mics on the advice of the Back in My Play podcast: www.amazon.com/Blue-Microphones-Snowball-Condenser-Microphone/dp/B006DIA77ELearning the video editing software was easy, but the voice over was definitely the hardest part, I have no experience in this at all. I'm working on another set of video articles now (Space Harrier clones and other early 3D rail shooters), and when assembling the video, finding that I'm talking WAY too fast in a lot of my recordings, and need to start over.
|
|
|
Post by TΛPETRVE on Nov 3, 2015 19:25:04 GMT -5
Yeah, this game is pure ninja bazungolfness. Fast-paced, challenging, lots of audiovisual flavour, can't have a PCEngine/Turnografx without Ninja Spirit.
|
|
|
Post by Joseph Joestar on Nov 3, 2015 19:48:55 GMT -5
I recommend getting a better microphone setup (one that reduces the static-y breath noise that comes through). Simply speaking through a filter material would help a lot for that (there's a name for that kind of filter that escapes me at the moment). Also: look into voice lessons - even a few short hours will open your eyes [or ears] to a lot of stuff that is going on in the recording. Will grab one! Currently using one of these mics on the advice of the Back in My Play podcast: www.amazon.com/Blue-Microphones-Snowball-Condenser-Microphone/dp/B006DIA77ELearning the video editing software was easy, but the voice over was definitely the hardest part, I have no experience in this at all. I'm working on another set of video articles now (Space Harrier clones and other early 3D rail shooters), and when assembling the video, finding that I'm talking WAY too fast in a lot of my recordings, and need to start over. It's really weird, I've heard a lot of people having good luck with Snowball but mine didn't work so great - I used a Blue Snowball when I first started on GC9x and had a lot of problems with it (really quiet, to the point I had to be in kissing distance from it). I've been really happy with my Audio Technica USB/XLR cardioid microphone that I've been using for about 2 years; if you're ever looking for a pretty good, inexpensive mic you can get them for about $30-$50 on sale.
|
|
|
Post by llj on Nov 3, 2015 20:12:04 GMT -5
I always felt that Ninja Spirit was a bit of a horizontal-platforming pseudo shmup with its powerups and such yielding ever more screen-filling firepower. The bosses are graphically amazing. That first boss was famous for how often it was used to promote the graphical power of the TG16 in North America. Never mind the fact that he usually goes down in about 20-30 seconds even for newbies. I remember seeing that boss on TV and magazine ads everywhere promoting the TG16, even when they didn't actually identify the game that was used in those ads.
|
|
|
Post by spekkio on Nov 13, 2015 1:47:36 GMT -5
Also famous for being the game with the fastest clear-time on Game Center CX thus far.
Arino happened to get really lucky during that free-falling segment, in which you have to avoid an onslaught of ninjas. In fact, I seem to remember one point where he actually passes through one of the ninjas unscathed instead of instantly dying... at least that's what it looked like. Perhaps the game glitched in his favor.
|
|