X-strike Podcast

[Jakanden]

Glad I am not the only one who was scared shitless by Return to Oz as a kid

[Zeiram]

Okay, someone needs to get off of their ass and create the "Legend of Zelda: Master of MacGuffins" game cover/poster now.

I have paid ZERO attention to Skyward Sword so the only thing I know about it is the gold Wii-mote tie-in. The titular sword is also a Hookshot, right?

[shadowdancer21b]

Glad I am not the only one who was scared shitless by Return to Oz as a kid

Dude, I'm surprised it was never labelled as a horror!

[Reznor]

Okay, here's the answer the grand Episode #58 Ultima question.

You can get almost all of the Ultima Series on GoG.com at the following links:

Ultima 1, 2, and 3: $5.99

Ultima 4, 5, and 6: $5.99

Ultima 4: FREE

Story-wise: 1 and 2 are pretty fucked up. And not really in a good way. 3 is where things started to get sorted out into a "good" story. 4 is the prime meat of story begins. And it only gets better from there. Keep in mind, each of these games pick up the story almost right where you left off from the previous game, and you could even load your character data from the previous game to continue onward. (i.e. Install Ultima 6, load savegame data from Ultima 5)

Graphics-wise: It's really old PC shit, and isn't good until Ultima 6. And Juese, the SNES port of "Ultima 6: The False Prophet" is the one that's almost 99% true to the original PC version. If anything, I really like the SNES way of playing it. And it's somewhat rare, too.

But the game that brought all of the Ultima collective storylines together and went for awesome was so long, they decided to split it into two separate games. And they are Ultima 7: The Black Gate and Ultima 7: Serpent Isle. We're talking classic isometric view RPG goodness here. These two games combined took me over 3 years to finally complete in their entirety. The bitch of it is, to run in their original forms is a pain in the ass on a modern system. The SNES "port" of this is so completely and utterly butchered, it looks like it came out of a pig's ass.

Enter Exult. An open-source "engine" of sorts. A bunch of nerds got together and completely reversed-engineered the original gamefiles, and made it possible to play these awesome games together on Windows, Mac, Linux, and I shit you not, I can play this quite well on my Android phone. (Fuck yeah, slide-out keyboard)

However, you still need to own a copy of the original gamefiles themselves to be used with Exult. I recommend finding a copy of the "Ultima Collection" on Goozex, or even Amazon. This collection includes "Akalabeth" a.k.a "Ultima 0". (It's REALLY OLD. End of story) Also, it has Ultima 8: Pagan.

HUGE NOTE: I will help anyone install and configure to play these games on pretty much anything. Shoot me a private message, and we'll talk.

Ultima 8 is the attempt at a Super Mario Brothers game. It's an alright game, but it's a radical departure from the rest of the classic gameplay with companions.

Ultima 9 is an abortion of a game. Richard Garriott had no hand in making it. It fucking sucks.

[Ekkebus]

Maybe I'll make it my business to give Ultima IV a shot next year...that seems like it might be a good place to start.

[Jakanden]

Dave, how dare you disregard Cave shooters like that. Wood and I will find you at MAGFest.....oh yes we will.

[dave auto]

Heh, I'm sorry, Jak, didn't mean to be hatin' It's just, uh... part of the show's new format, where the character of "Dave" makes broad, unfair generalizations for the sake of provoking controversy

Sadly, I won't be at MAGfest this year, but hopefully the next time we meet, I can give you and Wood the opportunity to school me on some of the finer points of shooters that I might be unfamiliar with. Namely, anything that's not Gradius or R-Type

And until then, all irreverence aside, I am completely ignorant of Cave's output, and would welcome some suggestions about which modern-day shmups are considered essential-plays.

[Jakanden]

Aw man, gonna miss you at MAGFest =(

My personal favorite Cave shooter is Mushihimesama Futari (which is not region locked), although ESPGaluda 2 (also unlocked) is nearly as good. Objectively, ESPGaluda II is the better game due to the Kakusei mechanic, the overall level design and a better scoring system, but I find Mushifutari to be more fun, especially in Ultra mode. I had recently picked up Pink Sweets/Muchi Muchi Pork dual pack and wasn't super impressed by either. They are fairly outdated and do not hold up well, especially compared to the newer games.

For some good info on some of the Cave shooters and how they differ from each other, check out HG101:

Ketsui: http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/ketsui/ketsui.htm
Guwange: http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/guwange/guwange.htm
ESPGaluda I and II: http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/espgal ... galuda.htm
ESP Ra. De.: http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/esprade/esprade.htm
Deathsmiles I and II: http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/deaths ... smiles.htm
Muchi Muchi Pork: http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/muchim ... hipork.htm

As far as Radiant Silvergun vs Ikaruga, I am on the Radiant Silvergun side. I find it to be a deeper system due to the multiple weapons which can be leveled up and far more enjoyable boss battles. That might just be me though =)

[Ekkebus]

Mushihimesama Futari won my heart over the course of the past few MAGFests. I'll admit that the differences between a lot of bullet-hell/Cave shooters is very nuanced but when all the elements of the game click together, you can really feel it which is why Mushimiesama stuck out to me...to the point where I asked Jakanden what the hell it was called so I could get a copy. I actually don't particularly care for Guwange but Deathsmiles 1 is a lot of fun.

Its not a Cave product but Mars Matrix for Dreamcast always stuck with me as well. My favorite of the early bullet hell offerings.

And seriously Dave have you not spent any kind of series time with the Darius series? G Darius in particular is phenomenal. UN Squadron for SNES is also a classic. Do I smell a scrolling shooter retrocast that needs to happen? I think I do.

[Wood]

Ok, I would really love to join you guys on a retrocast, as I friggin love scrolling shoot 'em ups! I can even mention other ones, such as boogie wings and Lords of Thunder.

[Jakanden]

Ok, I would really love to join you guys on a retrocast, as I friggin love scrolling shoot 'em ups! I can even mention other ones, such as boogie wings and Lords of Thunder.

Lords of Thunder is full of win and has an awesome metal soundtrack to go with it

[shadowdancer21b]

Scrolling Schmups you say? How about Sol Divide? A fantasy-themed side scroller with melee attacks and spells? Or Tengai AKA Sengoku Blade? Those are Saucesome (containing awesome sauce).

[Wood]

I also cannot forget to mention Philosoma. Interesting shoot'em up that changes the gameplay, from sidescrolling, to vertical, to behind the ship, to in front of the ship. What makes it really good in my eye is just how creepy the game gets as you progress.

Einhander. It came out during that magical time when Squaresoft could produce games that aren't even RPG's and still be amazing.

[shadowdancer21b]

Besmirch the name of Benimaru and you will face my wrath...in GAME!

[Ekkebus]

Benimaru fucking sucks.