With the incredible success of Virtua Fighter (at least in Japan), Sega capitalized on the 3D fighting game craze as quickly as possible, developing vaguely similar titles like Fighting Vipers, Sonic the Fighters, and Last Bronx, the last of which we have a very detailed article on. Entries in those series were released a few months ago on the PS3...except for Last Bronx, which apparently got the short end of the stick in the popularity contest. Still, it was popular in Japan back in the mid-90s, enough that it spawned a rather sad direct-to-video movie. Predating any of these games, we also have Sega's Dark Edge as part of the "noble failures" department, a 3D fighter using 2D sprites. It's borderline unplayable, but fascinating to see and play nonetheless, just for the crazy 3D effects they try to pull off.
Hotline Miami was one of 2012's indie darlings, and for good reason - it's one of the most stylish games ever made, taking the 80s Miami vibe of Grand Theft Auto Vice City and pumping it beyond 11, then melding it with an overhead stealth/action shooter which demands near-perfect reflexes. Meanwhile, Eryi's Action is a Japanese title published by Nyu Media which is much friendlier on the outside, but is (intentionally) platformer hell on the inside, similar to other masochistic titles like I Wanna Be The Guy and Battle Kid.
Your Weekly Kusoge is Spectral Force Genesis, wherein we take some time to pummel Idea Factory just a little bit more. The latest Game Club 199X episode features Blackthorne, Blizzard's early attempt at a Prince of Persia/Flashback-style of action-platformer. And the iOS shooter page has been updated with Platypus (a clay-themed shooter that also saw release on the PSP), Cobra Strike, P-47: The Phantom Fighter, Blazing Star (an excellent Neo Geo shooter which really needs its own article here someday), and Spacestorm.
"Connexion" and "reflexion" =/= "connection" and "reflection".
ReplyDeleteI don't understand why the last bronx article mentions the brilliant room stage and metalic verisons of characters multiple times but never features a screenshot of them. The article makes it seem like they are such a big deal that not having screenshots of them is a huge oversight.
ReplyDeleteThat's because I'm the one who took screenshots of them and I'm pretty awful at the game, so was unable to access it.
ReplyDeleteExcellent article about Last Bronx, one of my favorite fighting games. I'd like to say that you can feel free to link my video about the artbook on this game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvB3DDBl8jg&feature=youtu.be
ReplyDeleteXtal Sword was the same dev who churned out the free browser flash game "Jinsei Owata No Daibouken" an ASCII-based platformer which takes cues from several classics, but mostly borrows SE and other aspects from the Rockman series.
ReplyDeleteEryi's action is somewhat of an upgrade of JOND.
Incidentally, "Syoban" is a typo. It's actually "Syobon", taken from the fun little 2ch emote that stands for disappointment and denial.