Vanark

[Discoalucard]

www.hardcoregaming101.net/vanark/vanark.htm

I found this randomly at an EBGames a few years back for $3, and decided to give it a shot. It's basically a pretty decent rail shooter

The levels are a bit boring compared to better games like Starfox 64 and Panzer Dragoon, but the graphics are pretty decent, and the action itself is very well done. I convinved Vysethebold to buy it awhile back, although I dunno if he ever got around to trying it out. (Definitely a give it a shot!)

[crithit5000]

GRAMMAR/TYPO/MISTAKE POLICE

Third paragraph, missing word:

the first stage has you squaring off [against] a gigantic robotic bee who shoots a huge laser out of its stinger.

Fourth paragraph, bad wording:

Here, you must use a radar to track down and kill enemies, similar to the Colony Wars games

'A radar' sounds a bit robotic, even though it is technically correct. A better sounding sentence would probably read, 'Here, you must use your radar...', or 'Here you must use a radar device...' To me, it sounds more natural flowing than 'a radar'.

I <3 HG101, but after reading a few older entries last night I came to the conclusion that a copy editor is really needed here to fix some oversights and other whatnot. I feel the stuff here is written better than what professional media outlets put out, but the errors hamper things just a tad. Just an observation.

Also, I want to play this game.

[Discoalucard]

Well, this section is all for first drafts - mostly so people can pick up on stuff like this.

Some of the old ones before this process, though, are indeed kinda bad. Any in particular?

[crithit5000]

As an example, this is all from the Alex Kidd article.

First paragraph, missing words:

I've always felt bad for Sega back during the Master System days, [during/in] the mid-to-late 80s.

Second paragraph, missing + unnecessary words:

Regardless, Alex [is/was] the prince of the planet Aries, and it's his job to kick ass and the do the usual good guy deal.

Third paragraph, misspelled word:

If you can finish the final level, where you have to jump overs [over] pits while avoiding spiked ceilings AND flying dinosaurs, then a true gaming champion you are.

*Debatable* Fourth paragraph, possible missing word (either way this is correct, and is more of a matter of taste):

For some reason, major boss battles don't occur normally like [in] any other game.

Sixth paragraph, missing word:

The graphics are bright, colorful, and full of detail, and the music [is] horribly catchy.

Seventh paragraph, missing comma:

On the right[,] take a gander at the punk rocker who shoots skulls out of its ass.

Ninth paragraph, missing comma:

Unfortunately[,] both parts are completely terrible so it doesn't exactly work.

Ninth paragraph, wrong word:

The action stages control poorly, and you can only take one hit before you're tosses [tossed] back to the beginning of the stage.

Eleventh paragraph, missing word:

You jump over lakes, you dodge other bikers, [and] you pop wheelies on the appropriately marked spaces. It's lame.

Twelfth paragraph, missing word:

This is generally a good thing, if it [were/was] not for some very niggling exceptions.

Fourteenth paragraph, misspelled word:

Alex's girl is kidnaped [kidnapped], and he's turned into a ninja by some god to go save her.

Fourteenth paragraph, merging of two words:

It also has the honor of the least-bad American Alex Kidd boxart [box art] - although that smiling sun still gives me the shivers.

No, I don't have too much free time...I just spend what little I have very poorly, and I have a tendency to be a stickler for little details.

[Discoalucard]

Oh man the Alex Kidd one in general is a horrible mess, I drastically need to overhaul that one. I think that was like the second one I did, after Compile (which is also a mess, though a bit less so.) Thanks though, this will be a good start!

Copy editing is generally a difficult and thankless job, and I quite frankly suck at it, so any help is definitely appreciated.

[vysethebold]

I can vouch for that, too. Copy editing is no fun and I'm not good at it either.

[Blake Casimir]

Always to find another Starfox-alike, there aren't enough. And props to you all for being grammar nazi's. With all the horrendous games journalism out there, it's nice to know that HG101 is keeping up the usual, toweringly high standards.

I'm not sure if it's been mentioned somewhere on these boards, but the GBA has a Starfox-style rail shooter called Star X, which may be worth covering here. It's not great, the controls are iffy, but it really does accomplish "Starfox on a GBA".

Edit: And there's something strangely satisfying about discovering an old PSX game that no-one seems to know about. I'm sure there are still many diamonds in the rough for this system. Galerians might be another potential candidate.

[crithit5000]

I don't know why, but for some reason I actually enjoy it. But I also enjoy formatting HTML, CSS, PHP, maintaining databases, and numerous other things people find boring as shit, so...yeah. Glad to help in any way, I guess.

[vysethebold]

HTML is fun, I have to agree. Regular copy editing just takes me a long time to do. I mean I enjoy it and I get the job done, it's just more difficult than it looks.

[YourAverageJoe]

I don't care about thanks, but I'd do anything to make HG101 even better.

I'd like to try copy editing for this site.

[elektrolurch]

Well, I think the introduction of the article misses something:
On-Rail-Shooters were auite popular on (DOS) PCs in the mid 90ies when CD Roms became a thing. Think of Cyberia 1+2, Rebel Assault 1+2, Chaos Control, and many more.
I don't know how they hold up today though, if at all, since they (for the most part) rely on crappy fmvs.

[Discoalucard]

Those are a different type of rail shooter though - those are more like FMV games, as opposed to games that grew from Space Harrier and Starfox.

They...hold up poorly, to say the least.

[elektrolurch]

Jul 12, 2016 9:07:37 GMT -5 Discoalucard said:

Those are a different type of rail shooter though - those are more like FMV games, as opposed to games that grew from Space Harrier and Starfox.

They...hold up poorly, to say the least.

Ok, interesting to know. I kinda like Starfox64. I thought of playing rebel assault 2 aigan, I still have the original CD from back in the day. I remember loving it, and it being somewhat varied in gameplay......But it has been a long time and technology moved on.
I honestly never thought about there being 2 categories of rail shooters, but yeah, it makes kinda sense to think about them as two lineages, I guess.