Treasure

[Rambo M]

Fun crowd, eh.

Regarding the Gunstar page, you guys got caught up in the moment and let several things slip:

-Being able to take on the first four stages in whichever order you please

-Your energy is restored and pumped up by 20 after clearing each stage

-The hilarious Smash Daisaku or Colonel Red or whatever he's called ("HE HE HE HE HE!!")

-Shoot, even the co-op information missed the boat until the sequel's page. I didn't think anyone could gush at length about Gunstar and leave THAT part out Don't forget partner throwing and that if one dies, the other must sacrifice half their energy to get them back.

Kinda pointless, but i'd argue Green is less "wiz pilot" and more "exceptionally badass ninja". See: final stage.

[Vendaval Este]

Great read, I enjoyed this recent overhaul of Treasure articles.

[onoff456]

Jun 28, 2008 8:22:36 GMT -5 Smithee said:

It's one of the few games I would recommend playing through emulation. One reason is that you can creatively map the controls however you wish, but also because there are so many different pads to choose from you can find the one just right. Plus it's free, and I don't have a Wii.

Yup emulation (like PJ64 or 1964) sounds like a better place to try this game. Personally that would be the "definite version" where to play this game.

[mooman1]

Jun 18, 2008 18:53:49 GMT -5 Discoalucard said:

I'm glad I got NullDC working, the pictures of Bangai-O and Ikaruga look gorgeous.

Can you share your sources for getting the blasted program running well? I'm stumped, and emulation is something I've been doing for a long while, so I'm extremely frustrated. Sorry if the SOOPER-SEEKRIT sources were posted elsewhere, I've not the time at the moment to read through the five or so pages of proast to find a potential link.

EDIT: the link to Light Crusaders from the Alien Soldier page is busted.

[thefunkyredcaboose]

Just wanted to say that without these articles I never would have picked up Mischief Makers. It is great.

Looking forward to Bangai-O on the DS!

[spirasen]

Rakugaki Showtime

It's almost like a coloring book come to life - even when standing still, the scribbles continue to animate, like a coloring books come to life.

Isn't it redundant to mention "like a coloring book come to life" twice? And "like a coloring books come" in the second part of the sentence does not sound right.

but it sure it fast!

*But it sure is fast!

[Nester the Lark]

Just wanted to point out that in the Radiant Silvergun/Ikaruga article, the "Page 2" link in the navigation bar links to page 1. This error exists in both the top and bottom navigation bars on both the first and second pages.

[ommadawnyawn2]

@the Light Crusader article
The article on the whole is pretty good and has some unexpected info (such as the Genesis song cover), but I thought you were too harsh and without backing up your criticism at times, while other times you were just plain wrong.

"in an infuriatingly slow dialogue bubble sequence"
Sure, but the intro is very short and afterwards you can manually speed up any dialogue in the game.

"The map and item screens are simplistic, but legible and relatively user-friendly."
What would you change about them? I though the map system was great, on par with games like Super Metroid except for the fact it doesn't show save points, shops and healing fountains. The inventory is great as well, very large, with clear icons for each item and you can even sort it. You could also toggle an auto-use feature for healing items, something I don't think I've seen before on MD or SNES. Only issue I had there was the lack of a discard feature.

"It just doesn't quite work, and the objects also feel a bit too light."
I agree that the physics have problems, but the issues can be pinpointed better so let's do it: You can't move objects in the cardinal directions, can't pull objects, and there are some issues with objects stacked on top of each other not behaving intuitively (the character doesn't stick to a barrel placed on a moving platform, for example). Objects feeling light is generally a good thing from a gameplay standpoint, though it does look odd when you can push NPCs around, at the same speed, and without reactions.

"Add to this a weapon swing that is nearly impossible to aim and you have a recipe for disaster."
The only issues I could find is that swinging left or right gives you more reach than the other directions and that you can't stand still and aim+swing like in Diablo, but that would've required six button support.

"The elemental magic system could have been interesting, but in practice it is too random. Like Gunstar Heroes, there are four elements - air, fire, earth, and water - and you can combine them to make specific spells. There are fifteen different types altogether, ranging from attack to healing spells, but not all combinations work, so everything is just an exercise in futility and ultimately, frustration."
It's not random at all? These are the combos, from a gamefaqs guide:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|NAME: | ELEMENTS REQUIRED: | DESCRIPTION:
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|Wind | AIR | Throws a wind slash |
|Fire | FIRE | Throws a fireball |
|Earthquake | EARTH | Creates a small earthquake |
|Heal | WATER | Heals David 10 HP per use |
|Fire Wind | AIR,FIRE | Throws heat-seeking fireball |
|Thunder | AIR,EARTH | Casts a lightning bolt |
|Ice | AIR,WATER | Freezes an enemy |
|Meteor | FIRE,EARTH | Throws giant boulder |
|Cure | FIRE,WATER | Cures poison |
|Guardian | EARTH,WATER | Fairy protects David for short while |
|Needlecrack| AIR,FIRE,EARTH | 5 lasers shoot outward and forward |
|Confuse | AIR,FIRE,WATER | Spinning fireballs decimate enemy |
|Turn Undead| AIR,EARTH,WATER | Instantly kills the undead |
|Shield | FIRE,EARTH,WATER | Shield protects David for short while|
|Judgement | AIR,FIRE,EARTH,WATER| Unblockable damage to all enemies |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The only issue is with the confuse spell, which from what I've seen doesn't confuse enemies at all. You could argue that the guardian fairy isn't very effective, but it isn't random or non-functional. You could also argue that the spells don't scale with the game's challenge, but it's a different sort of issue. 


"What's more, the save spots are few and far between, and your foes are of considerable strength."
This makes it sound like the game wasn't played that much. There's one per floor, and one town portal per floor which becomes marked on the map when found, and there's even an item on the second floor that lets you teleport to any town portal room at will and infinitely though it is hidden (the sextant).
It's also easy to go back and farm for food, and the inventory is very large. Money is pretty scarce up until the goblin battle arena, but you can get 110 gold drops from the lilypads early on, so if you grind for a bit on those you can get the Relayer sword which is very strong.

[Discoalucard]

I fixed some of that stuff (though much of it isn't wrong so much as poor word choice - I think the word the author wanted was "arbitrary", in that the effects don't make a whole lot of sense unless you experiment, rather than "random").

[drpepperfan]

Translated interview with the head of Treasure from 2001, primarily about Ikaruga. shmuplations.com/treasure/ It's pretty wonderful to see the motivation and aim behind Treasure.

[ommadawnyawn2]

Jan 3, 2016 17:55:57 GMT -5 Discoalucard said:

I think the word the author wanted was "arbitrary", in that the effects don't make a whole lot of sense unless you experiment, rather than "random").

Ok, but spells are cheap and it's usually obvious what happens right away. When it's not you can read the manual for a tip. 

I still think it's wrong to say that it's "nearly impossible" to aim your sword swing, it's just that the range and hit detection are a bit inconsistent. 

[1983parrothead]

Fill-in-Cafe's Mad Stalker + Capcom's Alien VS. Predator arcade inspired Guardian Heroes, which Panzer Bandit was designed by one of Mad Stalker's main designers. He later used Panzer Bandit's elements in the fighting and belt scroll Phantom Breaker games before retiring.

Treasure also used Edward Randy to create Gunstar Heroes, and Image Fight for Radiant Silvergun and Ikaruga.

[vetus]

I don't know if it has been mentioned before but there are rumors that Squaresoft threatened lawsuits against Treasure for infringing on Ex Calibur's design that looks like Cloud.

[drpepperfan]

Translations of 3 short Alien Soldier interviews with Hideyuki Suginami and Masato Maegawa shmuplations.com/aliensoldier/

[8 Bit Dreams]

Thought I'd share this link to a Retro Gamer article. Enjoy.

The Making of Radiant Silvergun