Getting the no-savestate 1CC on this? Coolest arcade achievement in a long while.

What really had me coming around on this game is the intricacy of the enemy AI - each sub-type has multiple ways they'll initiate attack against you based on environmental geometry, your positioning, whether or not you've bumped them, etc. And yet how these enemies behave is always consistent on a level-by-level basis, your memorization and commitment to a plan of action is always rewarded and repeatable. Impeccable, intensely-replayable level design with a punishing but plentiful lives system makes this one of the most exhilarating games to master.

Shinobi III is the game to play if you want to live out the cinematic, acrobatic ninja fantasy, but this is where's it's at for the mindgames, the routing, and that up-close martial arts struggle.

PC-E CD: 7/10
Sega CD: 6.25/10

I played the PC-E version last year and didn't know how to express how i felt about it, so I kinda defaulted to 'its raw' as a safe catch-all. I replayed it today via the Sega CD port, which really put into perspective the issue I have with this - and by extension, a LOT of 16-bit CD action games.

Lords of Thunder is loud and gorgeous, filled to the brim with deliciously-glorious buttrock and power metal, and hordes of giant mini-boss-type creatures to lay waste on. It's a stark contrast to Gate of Thunder, Red Entertainment's prior faux-TF game, which tried to refocus the gameplay of the TF formula at the expense of visual creativity and memorability. But ironically, Lords of Thunder is similarly forgettable, even though it shouldn't be! I could remember every inch of TF2-5 like the back of my hand, even before I learned those games like a madman, but not here, and I think it's a problem with the weapon system of all things. I notice playing TF that every sub-wave of enemies is best fought with one of your selectable directional shots, and that little bit of locomotion gets your mind thinking about those enemies as tangible, resistible forces. In Lords of Thunder, your shot is picked at the start and they all function VERY similarly, and most of the time you won't even use it when you can just slash through shit. That kind of combat autopilot is enough to make everything in this game feel like an evanescent wisp in the air. Like, oh cool, a burning cerberus jumps at me and blasts me with fire, but I can just keep holding A and mince it. Even against an easy no-name TF, I'm having a mental back-and-forth - oh, I'll use homing so I can get out of the way, I'll use wave so i can cover the destructible projectiles it's throwing at me. And when nothing is happening on screen I'm still mentally reading myself, using the environment as a cue for what might hit me next. Again, nothing like that with Lords of Thunder. My brain is off the whole ride. All four armor types should've been weapons you alternated between, and they should have more distinct functionality from each other. This one-weapon-per-stage restriction feels like an arbitrary forced replay value gimmick.

And then there's just this horrible feeling of dissonance between the aesthetic and the actual weight of the gameworld - god it's so HOLLOW. I felt so similar about Robo Aleste, it's how rich, intricate and hi-fi the music is against the lo-fi crunch of the pixels and sound effects - or lack thereof, it feels like there's barely any impact sfx here. This incongruent presentation immediately signals the artificiality of the world and takes you out of it, it's a thing I see in so many early CD games that's totally absent from anything PS1-onward.

So without the mechanical and immersive hooks of Thunder Force, you're left with all the ameteurish ends of TF's game design - enemies that bum-rush you without a chance to react but die as soon as you glare at them, environmental hazards you can't avoid unless you already know they're coming, and a general lack of resistance from oncoming waves for 80% of the time.

What cemented this was playing the S-CD version, which heavily neuters the difficulty and feels like its missing some sound and colors. My ass was fucking yawning through this shit! Honk-shoo-ing and mimimi-ing, even!! While shit like this is playing in the background!! Fundamental mistakes get blown right open by the little issues in this rushjob, the total lack of roleplay or player projection all made sense.

Don't take this as a total condemnation of Lords - if it looks cool to you and you like PC-E shmups, you'll probably find something worth celebrating here. It's arguably the most impressive-looking shooters on the console, but if we've learned anything from the last 3 gens of gaming, looks can be deceiving.

Replayed for a Difficult Mode 1CC

Technosoft's project furthest from their comfort zone, eschewing their sci-fi horizontal setpieces for vertical on-foot fantasy shooting, with more traditional fleet-like swarms of enemies - and it has some of their tightest game design for it. The density of each level is very impressive. My favorite part of the game is the weapon system - the usual TF alternate shots are unlocked from the first four bosses, are permanent upgrades, and each have a screen-clearing charge shot. They're not equally balanced (you can get by mostly with the 3-way spread and its orbital bomb super), but all very fun to experiment with like any other Technosoft game.

My main critique is the difficulty: Pretty easy until around the stage 6 boss, and then those last couple fights are make-it-or-break-it. This also introduces the problem with its healthbar system; theres no incentive to practice earlier stages because unlike other shmups, there's no power ups or lives to carry with you to the later sections. The solution would be buffing the early-game stages in difficulty or replacing the healthbar with hearts or lives, maybe something like BM Daiginjou where all damage takes away lives but they're as plentiful as HP would be in other genres.

Happy 2024!

Fantasy Zone MD's a great port of the original, and playing it side by side with Super on the same console really highlights the differences between the two. Never realized how heavily the feeling of bullet hell was evoked from the raw density of microscopic bullet waves - compared to Super, much more reserved and of its era but with larger hitboxes and less movable space. As always, M2's customization bells and whistles are greatly appreciated.

I guess my problem w/ this port is there's nothing new to see or do here? Hideki Konishi's other supported M2 port, Darius (and its upgrade, Extra) is this definitive version of a game whose quality varied greatly across ports: The 26 bosses, rebalances, and boss rush were all finally in one convenient spot. By contrast, Fantasy Zone is hardly different from any other versions you've played, and the portjob doesn't add any Genesis-y juice to its flavor. I would've preferred if they finally ported R Type Leo like they proposed in the past, or any other shmups that had been under-represented.

Some games are good. Some games are bad. Some games are Adventurous Boy. Ah, Adventurous Boy, what is there to be said about this classic that hasn't already been said? The graphics are full of color and gameplay has many types of things to do. It is a seminal archetype for many of a genre to follow and respect. We would not have such titles as Dodonpachi DOJ and Touhou 6, without the foundational brilliance of Adventurous Boy. Now, that is not to say Adventurous Boy is a perfect game - in fact, it is far from it. The collision detection is not good? It is not good because if it was good, I would be winning all the time. And the bombs are like, old game bombs, because they do not work right. A good video game should have bombs that make you smart, not bombs that let you be stupid and jock. No stupid and jock in video games. Let's just say,,, Adventurous Boy has not aged well.

But! There is just something magical about Adventurous Boy, you know? It makes me feel things that I cannot describe. They do not make video games like they used to. Do not ask me my opinions about JRPGs or oil tariffs.

it's ugly and chunky and runs bad and feels bad and aaaaauuuggghghhhhghghgghghh

it's not even like the enemy design is that bad but it's just like, objectively worse than all the games its ripping off.

piko interactive owns this now if that's any indication of its quality

I expected this to be worse, since articles usually talk about it in the same sentence as the MD's bootlegs and eurojank. It surprised my expectations, but still isn't good, y'know? It has an odd mechanic where you can switch between a forward and spread-esque shot, and depending on how many shields you have, those weapons will switch into other forms. There's actually some situations where it's practical to take damage in order to switch to a lower-tier weapon with better range for the job. Could be a pretty novel game if there was more effort put into the enemy patterns, and the music didn't sound like it was using stock Sonic 2 instruments.