A funny little comparison between Earth Defence Force 2017 (X360) and the new Earth Defence Force: Insect Armageddon, by Prinnysquad from NTSC-uk's epic thread on the games (NSFW language used).
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I've only played the second in the series, Global Defence Force as it was called in Europe, or Chikyū Bōeigun 2 (THE地球防衛軍2) as my PS2 import copy was called (hereafter EDF2). It was a budget game, part of the Simple Series in Japan, but despite this I regard EDF2 as one of the best games of the PS2 generation. It was unashamedly fun, and at times quite epic (you could blow up literally EVERYTHING). America from what I can tell only ever received the 3rd game, subtitled 2017, on X360, which wasn't as good as the 2nd. My PS2 version had 2 characters, over 300 weapons and 71 stages, whereas the X360 version, while improving on the PS2's visuals and frame rate, only had one character, with over 150 weapons and 53 stages. So you never got jetpack girl, which was probably my favourite of the two on PS2 since she could fly and reign down destruction on enemies like a lithe angel of death.
Regardless, all three games were extremely enjoyable despite their budget (and some would say kusoge) quality. Even though the US missed out on the best in the series (EDF2) in favour of the cut-down 3rd, every country in the world had official access to what was a lot of damned good silly fun - some of the best, most ridiculous fun you're likely to have had since the glory days of arcades.
The series was originally developed by Sandlot, who have now outsourced development over to a Western developer. Most people were sceptical of this, and Prinnysquad on NTSC-uk made some rather humorous arguments against it. Obviously you can filter what images you use in order to make a specific point, so the above comparison shots are staged, but I think it's rather indicative of... something? Vicious Cycle Software are known for making shovelware, and as pointed out they seem to have missed the point of EDF. They've spoken about trying to fix the original game, and are including fancy lighting and shaders and other graphical nonsense, new and improved physics, a complicated shop system to buy weapon and armour upgrades, and all spread over a measly 3 campaigns of 5 missions each (15 missions compared to EDF2's 71 - which means they'll probably be nauseatingly long). Enemies are small and there are less of them onscreen at one time. It's also very brown. All I wanted was low-budget insanity with hundreds of mile-high insects and all the crazy weapons and stages from EDF2 (the broken nature of the physics added to the game's charm - it's precisely what I liked about the game). Actually, I would have settled for a straight port of EDF2.
So I ask HG101 - which of the two images do YOU prefer? Thanks to Prinnysquad for providing fuel for this entry, and making me laugh with his epic NSFW comments.
EDIT:
Did a quick Google. Colette Bennett of Destructoid totally, utterly GETS IT.
"Watching giant robots collapse and die is semi-orgasmic."