|
Post by Discoalucard on Jan 1, 2015 22:05:11 GMT -5
www.hardcoregaming101.net/terracresta/terracresta.htmNichibutsu is a Japanese arcade developer which probably won't ring too many bells for most classic gamers. A division of Nihon Bussan, an electronics company, its most successful title outside of its native country was Crazy Climber, an obtuse but silly game about scaling buildings. Within Japan, though, they're well regarded as the creators of Moon Cresta and its successor Terra Cresta, two very well regarded shoot-em-ups from the early age of the genre. There are also a number of spinoff titles, such as UFO Dangar Robo and Armed Formation F, that use similar mechanics despite not technically being part of the series.
|
|
|
Post by vnisanian2001 on Jan 1, 2015 22:57:57 GMT -5
And now they have resorted to developing nothing but Mahjong games.
|
|
Lord Dalek
Full Member
WHY DOES HE HAVE A SECOND/THIRD/FORTH/ETC. FORM?!?!
Posts: 249
|
Post by Lord Dalek on Jan 2, 2015 1:02:13 GMT -5
I'm surprised they made non-mahjong games after Crazy Climber 2 actually...
|
|
|
Post by kingmike on Jan 2, 2015 1:58:04 GMT -5
Glad I'm not the only one that felt the music was different between the Famicom and NES versions of Terra Cresta. (though it feels more like a bug than something intentional) However I preferred the Famicom sound more. Nichibutsu made a Famicom game called Spirit Animal Genesis that looked pretty neat but it's quite disappointing it was (probably) canceled in favor of more mahjong games than even Japan probably needed.
|
|
|
Post by volcanon on Jan 2, 2015 4:00:17 GMT -5
Moon Cresta was released in 1980, not 1987. Otherwise it would be strange that it's successor was released two years before it was.
|
|
|
Post by arugulaz on Jan 2, 2015 4:18:06 GMT -5
I noticed that too. Not sure if that was my typo or Kurt's, but it's supposed to be 1980.
|
|
|
Post by jorpho on Jan 2, 2015 12:19:14 GMT -5
Also, the article text mentions the "Dragon 32" (don't hear about that every day...) while the picture caption refers to the "Dragon 64". Which is it?
Also, while we're on the subject, any idea where this came from? 'Tis one of my favorite feel-good exercise tracks.
|
|
|
Post by Discoalucard on Jan 2, 2015 13:22:38 GMT -5
Fixed up some of those date/system issues (it's Dragon 32 but will work on a Dragon 64 apparently). Also added the bits about them being on the PS4 Arcade Archives (which is Japan only AFAIK), and the difference between the sound chips in various revisions of Terra Cresta. I'd read the X68000 version lets you choose between the soundtracks but I'm not sure how.
|
|
|
Post by Leona Phoenix on Jan 2, 2015 16:16:02 GMT -5
Loving the random leotard lady on the Terra Cresta flyer. That sure has everything to do with the game.
|
|
|
Post by lanceboyle94 on Jan 3, 2015 4:56:10 GMT -5
While not a nitpick, and not exactly about the Cresta games, I'll clarify that BattleRound USA is actually the Japanese version of the Psygnosis game Rush Hour, also known as Speedster, so it's not even their own game. Nichibutsu published some Western-made games back then; they also released Ten Pin Alley (as Virtual Bowling), the barely known Explosive Racing (as X.Racing) as well as Andre Agassi Tennis and Super Off Road: The Baja.
Nichibutsu was getting odd.
Also, Terra Cresta is probably my fav game of theirs, so good.
|
|
|
Post by Elvin Atombender on Jan 3, 2015 11:22:28 GMT -5
True. So true, in fact, that I remember playing it in a bar in the late 80's and is still one of my favorite shoot em ups from that age.
|
|
|
Post by arugulaz on Jan 3, 2015 15:51:39 GMT -5
I was gonna mention that it's Malcolm "SHMUPS!" Laurie's favorite game too, but that wound up on the cutting room floor. (shrugs)
|
|
|
Post by voltagecontrol on Jan 3, 2015 17:12:06 GMT -5
Great article. Surprised Mag Max is not on this list. It's another Nihon Bussan/Nichibutsu game with a combining mechanic from the 80s.
|
|
Startling
Banned
A better gamer than all of you plebs
Posts: 54
|
Post by Startling on Feb 7, 2015 3:28:25 GMT -5
I don't think Nichibutsu is a separate division so much as it's simply a brand name, and one that's basically taken over the original name. It's kinda like how Falcom is technically supposed to be "Nihon Falcom".
Correct name of the game is "Formation Armed F" (it even has "armed f" in Katakana on the flyer... for some reason the "formation" part usually isn't included). This is something that was only noticed recently, somehow.
It seems silly to "criticize" a sequel so harshly for not doing a certain thing that its predecessor did, especially considering what Terra Cresta and its related games are. If branding is really so important here, note that "Moon Cresta" is followed by a "Terra Cresta", and games using Terra Cresta's system are named something completely different... what could "Terra Force" mean, then?
Putting Terra Cresta 3D aside (because I don't know anything about that game), the stereotypical Saturn bashing is really bothersome. I could go on and on about how the Saturn is more powerful than the PlayStation, how the lack of "proper" transparency effects is probably the least important thing ever (that is not why Saturn SotN is a mess and you know it), how pretty much everything Westerners know about the Saturn is a bunch of misleading memes, so on and so forth. I just don't understand how people can say the Saturn was a "failure" in 2015 and forever onward, especially when the Dreamcast is right there, and even then...
(Because this is necessary: I had neither Sega nor Sony consoles growing up, and I got a PS2 long before anything Sega; I still have never played a Saturn game. I just have a lot of respect for what Sega actually did and for, you know, facts.)
|
|
|
Post by arugulaz on Apr 19, 2017 3:38:46 GMT -5
Okay, so it wasn't just my imagination that this guy was a nitpicky, contrarian jerk.
|
|