I typically only last about 30-60 seconds in most bullet hell games I've tried, but I do so enjoy them. I'm terribly conflicted, however, as $5 is a bit much for me to spend on a game I already know I'm no good at. Still, it's a maybe for me. Looks great.
I haven't followed MAME in a long time, but I don't think it's emulated. Last I heard recently they only just got the last generation Cave hardware working...and they're holding that out. That said there's a kind of spiritual precursor on the old hardware, ESP Ra De. The mechanics are completely different, but they both have the "ESP" in the name and involve people flying around shooting things. Yeah $5-10 is a great deal assuming it's well done. Hell $70+ for console games is great considering before they put them out the only way to play was either emulation (which won't get any recent games) or the arcade PCB. Old old generation Cave games (in MAME) used to be around $200*, newer ones $300*, and the current stuff (used) is anywhere from $400-500, or iirc $2500 new. *Collectors have jacked up the market though. I got Ketsui back in 2004 for $330, while last I saw it it was pushing $1000. Cave stuff tends to be a lot more forgiving than it looks...up until stage 3 or 4 usually. It's not to hard to get to stage 3 with a little time and effort. ...I've heard Espgaluda II was hard though, big difference from 1 where a lot of people considered that one of their easiest games.
my bad, i meant esprade for mame. but theres also a few great bullet hell games for mame as well. espgaluda 2 has a xbox 360 version
Exactly... a bargain considering the Arcade pcb is 850 bucks! http://www.arcadeshock.com/items/cave-complete-kits/espgaluda-ii-complete-kit-by-cave-brand-new-espii-cave-detail.htm Seriously, this is such a huge welcome surprise. I always thought it would be insane for Cave to port over a shooter on the iphone. I am so excited to see that they are seeing a market..and hope to see more ports soon. The entire Cave library is amazing. I was floored when I first purchased Street Fighter IV. Now this.
Wow $850 for a complete set sounds...pretty good actually. Maybe all these ports (on whatever systems) can help push pricing down enough so I can get some newer games.
This is day 1 for me, without question. In part because I'm so looking forward to it, and in part because I want to support the cause. Not only for Cave games on the iPhone, but to show support for US releases of Cave shmups on the 360. I'm going to be pre-ordering Death Smiles for the 360 as soon as that's possible.
Worldwide release afaik: http://www.cave-world.com/en/games/espgaluda2.html Languages: Japanese/English Normal price: $8.99 (America/Canada), £5.49 (England), 6.99 (Europe) Launch Sale price*: $4.99 (America/Canada), £2.99 (England), 3.99 (Europe） Release Date: April 10th (Saturday) *I've heard from others the sale will be three days, then goes to normal price along with the demo coming out.
How many levels are in the game? What's so unique about it? I love schmups and this one looks very nice from the videos, but at $5 sale or $8 normal price it must be really special. Do they charge the higher price because of the successful console version, or is it technically and graphically more advanced somehow?
I'm in the 'I can't believe this is happening' camp to be honest. It seems so completely surreal that they'd completely port this to the iPhone. The english Cave World site has a 'Coming Soon 2010' section as well. Cave, get Arika onboard and (properly) port DDPDOJ. I will buy. I will buy twice.
Cave effectively invented the Bullet Hell subgenre as we know it back in 1995, with the release of DonPachi. They've been refining that formula ever since. They're effectively to Shmups what Valve are to the FPS or Blizzard is to RTS. ESPGaluda 2 is one of their best. Beautiful graphics, great music, near-perfect balance, and a really complex scoring system that rewards risky play, using your special abilities to make enemies deliberately flood the screen with bullets, but then using their death explosions to convert them into point items.
April 10th can not come fast enough. Who else will be checking hourly (or more) on that day? EDIT: and OpenFeint as well? This is going to be a long last half of the work week....
It's arguable that Batsugun was the start of it all back when Cave were mostly Toaplan, but that's pretty much it.
