davyK wrote:

Followed RType Final with my other PS2 purchase reason. Gradius V

This (to me) still looks absolutely gorgeous. Still one tough game too. Absolutely glorious stuff and I would love to see what Treasure would do with Parodius in a modern machine.

Man a Treasure Parodius on a modern console would have me dripping like a fucked fridge. I loved Parodius, so crazy, couldn't help but smile.

I'm just waiting for my middle age gaming recovery, I have little appetite to play anything these days

JP PS2 arrived today.

A silver slim.  Some scratches on top but I couldn't care less about that as long as it works. Apart from that it's in a nice clean condition.

So all being well get this going tonight.

DDP DOJ is on the slow boat from Japan so won't be here for a week or two.

It's a disgrace that something as classy as Gradius Gaiden on PS1 didn't get a Western release. It's a pretty mainstream series and its omission from EU/US libraries is hard to fathom - apart from the blind love affair with 3D at the time.

Nice, also rotated screen, win

Sturmwind coming to Steam and modern consoles.

I have this for the Dreamcast and it's a lovely game. It's quite old fashioned and it's a hori Euro-shmup - but it's one of the few games I've played in the last few years where I've wanted to see what the next level looks like.

The design is great. It's a bit "set piece" in nature and initially suffers from "what hit me?" syndrome but it's still really enjoyable. Some of the controls for the weapons require handling skills and are satisfying.

The is an EX version. The original had one or two places were you could sit and milk enemies breaking the score attack nature of the game (you get a code in the DC version for submitting to a website). So maybe that is fixed.

Lots of levels in the DC game - 20 odd if I remember right - with progress saving. And there's a 7 level arcade mode with no continues which acts as a taster menu. We can probably expect more in this.

Level 7 of the arcade mode.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asSlvRd8Dtk

I played Shikhondo for first time on my PS4 the other day. It’s very meh.

Have a repro cart of Musha given its bonkers price. Don't see me trying to activate that code...

Arrived a bit earlier than anticipated. PS2 Espgaluda. In immaculate condition.

davyK wrote:

Sturmwind coming to Steam and modern consoles. I have this for the Dreamcast and it's a lovely game. It's quite old fashioned and it's a hori Euro-shmup - but it's one of the few games I've played in the last few years where I've wanted to see what the next level looks like. The design is great. It's a bit "set piece" in nature and initially suffers from "what hit me?" syndrome but it's still really enjoyable. Some of the controls for the weapons require handling skills and are satisfying. The is an EX version. The original had one or two places were you could sit and milk enemies breaking the score attack nature of the game (you get a code in the DC version for submitting to a website). So maybe that is fixed. Lots of levels in the DC game - 20 odd if I remember right - with progress saving. And there's a 7 level arcade mode with no continues which acts as a taster menu. We can probably expect more in this. Level 7 of the arcade mode. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asSlvRd8Dtk

Out on steam now.

Making progress with Raiden III.

Have been practicing individual levels using the score attack mode. Up until this week my score was around 6m with a 1 credit run usually ending in level 3 or 4 at best.

Broke 10m today - got to the level 6 boss.

The game has an expert playthough to watch but it's set at the arcade level which is nightmarish - requiring deep memorisation of paths and point blanking large enemies because of the bullet speed. However it has given me a tip to beat the 1st phase of the level 6 boss which I haven't been able to implement myself yet but a 1CC on easy now feels doable. The 1st phase of the boss features sets of slow moving indestructable orbs fired at you which act as a barrier against your fire so you are forced to sit at the side - which is bad - or go around them which has its own risks. It's important to dispatch that phase as quickly as possible. The expert run bombs the 2nd phase but I can manage that at the easy level without resorting to bombs - although me losing a life during that 1st phase does lower the rank.

btw - looking around the web this game is generally accepted as a tough bitch simply because of that bullet speed and ship speed. Even easy is considered a decent achievement for intermediate level players like myself.

The Raiden series is also guilty of little bastard popcorn snipers that come on the screen at the low corners and fire off a few bullets. A great many lives are lost to them so you have to memorise them at the higher levels and some of the boss fights where the wee buggers appear too.  Holding onto the homing missiles if you can helps too - but a big part of the skill requirement of this game is making sure you don't pick up the wrong weapon token which can screw up a run really easily.

I wish you could stream this stuff, Davy. I'd definitely tune in.

What are you playing on?

Is there such a thing as a video capture card that works with RGB SCART?

An OSSC is the obvious solution I suppose and use HDMI capture.

Was looking at the OSSC - it might be a better bet as it would cover most consoles I have, and could be used to work with a modern TV should CRT not be an option in the future. It isn't prohibitively expensive.

Would still need to get a capture card of course.

Ghetto in the meantime.

A wee snippet of me playing.

A replay of Raiden III level 5 in score attack mode. Just miss breaking 1.5m.

I balls up the boss on the first pattern which is annoying as its pedestrian after that. Me losing a life will have dropped the rank too.

This game is infuriating. It looks easy but drop concentration for half a second and you are screwed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pvy25NntUI0