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Sky Force Little Iphone Review
(26 posts) (7 voices)-
Posted 1 year ago #
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I found some YouTube footage of one of the Sky Force games, played on a non-iPhone cell phone (the game was originally released in 2005). The footage was said by the person who put it up to be of the final, toughest stage. I watched it and thought, "This is as hard as the game gets?" It really didn't look like much of a challenge. I wonder if that's because it was originally for cell phones, made easy to accommodate crappy controls. Anyway, maybe it won't be a straight port to the PSP; hopefully, the developers will enhance it for the Minis release and make it worth playing on an actual gaming system.
Either that or the footage I saw was a poor portrayal of the game. Really, though, the footage I've seen of 3 upcoming scrolling shooter Minis ports from iPhone, Alien Invaders 2, Apache Overkill, and Sky Force, have all been disappointing, to different degrees. And yet, they all seem to have positive reviews. Not sure what to make of it all.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Freelance
MemberWell according to another review I've read (yes, I did some research), it is a really easy game for SHMUP vets but still very fun to play. It has several difficulties though, so I dunno what diff that reviewer was playing. At any rate, this game to me looks a lot more interesting than Apache Overkill.
Posted 1 year ago # -
If anyone has been waiting for this game to come out to get their vertically scrolling shooter fix, I note that the PS Blog's "The Drop" for this week notes that Shienryu will be arriving in the PSOne Imports section tomorrow. The game had a budget-priced North American release in late 2002 by Natsume (as Gekioh Shooting King). It's a 1999 port of a 1997 arcade game, which was first ported to Sega Saturn; it seems the Saturn version is generally considered superior.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Gekioh : Shooting King?... I own that game for the PS1, it's a nice game with a few fun modes e.g. Gothic mode, Hard mode and Retro mode. ;)
Posted 1 year ago # -
Freelance
MemberOh I guess I wasn't too clear in my post. I meant to say that I had enough money to get either a $20 PSN card or to preorder Sims 3 Late Night. I went for the latter as when the last expansion came out, EB only had one copy left (which I nabbed) when I went there after work. Then I come home and see all the new crap on PSN store that I wanted (I forgot to check the update yesterday).
I only needed five more bucks to get PSN card though which I managed to scrape up, so I bought the werewolf theme (which is kickass) and Shienryu (any game with 'dragon' in it can't be all bad). I'll probably get the dragon and werewolf theme for the PS3 too.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I played Shienryu for a good while yesterday. Seems like one of the better balanced vertical scrollers I've come across. I got to Stage 4 on the first credit, but I couldn't beat the final boss, in Stage 8 (checkpoint-based continues for him, rather than the "pick up where you left off" type). Lots of retries, but I just couldn't survive all his bullet patterns. The game has many interesting modes to explore, but there's one thing about this game that really sucks: there's no saving. So, you'll have to either remember or write down your high scores (I was just shy of 3.5 million in easy (nurui) mode, and somewhere in the 2 million zone in hard (muzui) mode; in that mode where each enemy is only 1 point, I got to something like 530). It's odd, too, because the Memory Stick ends up with a save game file.
Still no vertically scrolling shooter Mini, but next Tuesday will be "Minis for North American shooter fans" day. WARNING! A pair of side-scrolling shooters REVISED ACE ARMSTRONG + WTF?! is approaching fast!
Posted 1 year ago # -
I need to correct what I wrote above. I think that I must have gotten to Stage 4 on the second or third credit, because playing Shienryu again last night, I could absolutely not pass the second stage boss within the first credit (normal mode). And, I topped out at less than 1.7 million points, which I think was my score the first time I played. What does it mean when you try for a few hours but can't match your very first score???
Anyway, Sky Force's Minis version has had absolutely no news since that reveal of its screenshots. The developer's site has not even a single mention of the game; heck, even the screenshot reveal is not mentioned anywhere. The site still only lists mobile phones as Sky Force's platforms. Maybe FuturLab will end up with the first vertically scrolling shooter Mini.
Posted 1 year ago # -
"in that mode where each enemy is only 1 point, I got to something like 530"
The game refers to that mode as “Stingy Mode” enemies worth 1 point.
I personally like “Retro” and “Gothic” modes. ;)Posted 1 year ago # -
Heh, the version in the PS Store is the original Japanese version, so the mode names are different. The Stingy Mode is "せこいりゅう" ("sekoiryuu," means "stingy dragon"), while I think what you're referring to as "Retro" and "Gothic" are "ふるいりゅう" ("furuiryuu," meaning "old dragon," this being the one with the yellowed tint and film scratch effects) and "ノロイリュウ" ("noroiryuu," meaning "slow dragon" or perhaps "curse dragon," this being the one that looks and sounds like a horror movie), respectively. I rather enjoyed the JIENRYU mode (Game Boy-ish graphics), and I thought I did fairly well surviving that horror movie mode, with its huge sprawls of slow-moving bullets. Anyway, I liked this more than I did Strikers 1945 Plus. Both are too hard for me to really do well, but Shienryu feels better. I'm kind of curious for Sky Force because I just wonder if I could actually 1CC it. The footage I've seen of the other platforms' versions made it look kind of easy (not really a good thing, but I might actually reach the end on one credit!). FuturLab's yet-to-be-named shooter, on the other hand, I'm pretty sure will not be a cakewalk.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Another import PS1 vertically scrolling shooter is hitting the North American PS Store tomorrow, Sonic Wings Special. This was a 1996 Saturn/PS1 title that "combined features" (not sure what that's referring to) and characters from the previous Sonic Wings (I-III, 1992-1995) arcade games. An interesting feature of this game is the ability to save between levels. I found a 1CC full run through the game on YouTube, which took a little under 20 minutes. Based on that footage, though, I don't know if I'll be getting this title; something about it just doesn't seem all that fun compared to other scrolling shooters, despite the interesting save feature.
But, seriously, MonkeyPaw Games' import PS1 scrolling shooters are stealing the show before any Minis vertical scrollers have even arrived! Devs, they're going to saturate your consumer base at this rate! Maybe you should devote some budget to bribing them for "unforeseen delays."
Interesting bit of trivia: staff who worked on the first game of this series founded Psikyo, a now-defunct developer of many 90s scrolling shooters, including the Strikers 1945, Gunbird, and Sengoku series.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Freelance
MemberI heard about that earlier today, as well as the big Atlus sale on the PSN tomorrow...and that blows because I have no money right now. I spent the last bit of it on a CD last week. Sucks to be me. It doesn't help that SWS has a TATE option either.
P.S. I've always wondered why the DS barely has any SHMUPs. The PSP has quite a fair bit of them now.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I've always wondered why the DS barely has any SHMUPs.
I think part of it has to do with the DS not getting that many retro collections, hence not building up an audience for them. I know of Namco, Atari, Konami, and (now) Intellivision collections for the DS. Meanwhile, the PSP has Namco, Atari, Konami, Capcom, Midway, Taito, EA, Sega, and SNK collections, some companies with more than one. Perhaps the PSP's larger screen and greater data capacity was a factor for those.
Still, the DS has a few standouts, like the Nanostray series from Shin'en, plus Treasure's Bangai-O Spirits. There's also that recent indie DSiWare release, Cosmos X2, which is probably the most retro-flavored. Speaking of DSiWare, I wonder if Sky Force will get a port there. The game ran on 2005 cell phones, so I'd say the DS must be quite more than capable. The vertical orientation of the dual screens also makes the game more "native" than the widescreen-adapted Minis port . . . strange that they announced the Minis port yet have not said anything about DSiWare.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Freelance
MemberOkay so I managed to scrape up some cash and got Sonic Special Wings. I got one problem with it though. In TATE mode the direction buttons doesn't adjust to the new view, making it unplayable for me. Pressing 'up' and 'down' makes the ship go left and right, for example. I couldn't find any menu that configures the pad, just the buttons. Lame. Guess it's an oversight on Monkeypaw's part. A patch would be nice but I doubt that's gonna happen.
I thought of getting one of the Nanostray games at one point, but never did.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I think you're missing something here; that's not an oversight. This is a PS1 game, not a port to the PSP. It does not reconfigure the controls when in TATE mode because you are supposed to rotate your TV (or lie down on your side) and then use the same control configuration. If your TV happens to be stuck to your controller, you're just out of luck. :)
So how is SWS? I haven't decided to get it, so far.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Freelance
MemberIf that's the case why did they leave the feature in, unless they couldn't. It's weird that they'd tout it as a 'viable' feature on their website although it's impossible to play it that way.
SWS is pretty fun. There's lots of charcters to choose from and they all have different weapons and specials. Although I like SHMUPs I haven't played many games in the genre so I can't really say if it's better than most others.
Now that I think about it I suppose you can still play it that way if you don't actually turn the PSP vertically. You'd just be seeing the action sideways.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Freelance, don't forget that PS1 games from the PS Store are also playable on PS3s, not just PSPs. A PS3 owner would have less of a problem with the TATE mode than a PSP owner (especially if he actually has his HDTV on a rotating wall mount!).
Have you tried SWS's most unique feature (among scrolling shooters, anyway), saving between levels?
By the way, I don't know if you're aware, but the vertically scrolling PS1 shooter Gunbird is on the US PS Store, under its localized/bastardized name Mobile Light Force. That US version stripped away all the story portions, though, which is why I never got it myself. It's actually been in the US PS Store for a long time, but I never brought it up here because, well, I rarely think about it. :) Oh, and Mobile Light Force is completely unrelated to the PS2 game released in the US as Mobile Light Force 2; that game is Shikigami no Shiro (Castle of Shikigami, also a vertically scrolling shooter). Both games just happened to get localized by the same soulless company, who decided to pretend they had their own shooter IP with Charlie's Angels cover pictures.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I found some YouTube footage of one of the Sky Force games, played on a non-iPhone cell phone (the game was originally released in 2005). The footage was said by the person who put it up to be of the final, toughest stage. I watched it and thought, "This is as hard as the game gets?" It really didn't look like much of a challenge.
I got Sky Force last night and played it for a while on my PS3 (the PSP is suspended in the middle of Ys right now). It's better than the impression I got from that YouTube footage last year; it turns out that was actually footage of the sequel, Sky Force Reloaded, which has a triple-spread-shot weapon, allowing the player ship to shoot enemies that aren't directly in front of it (hence why the game seemed kind of easy). The Sky Force we have as a Mini is not a pushover. Perhaps it's more difficult than the original vertical-screen game, since there's probably less time to react to things appearing on the screen from the front, while more enemies and their bullets can now fit across the wider field of play. Of the 8 stages, I could not complete Stages 7 or 8 without dropping the difficulty down to Easy (I'm talking about when you start at those stages directly; conceivably, they might be easier to beat if you start from an earlier stage and [survive and] have your weapons powered up by the time you arrive at the last stages). On my best run, I started at Stage 1 (Normal difficulty) and made it partway into Stage 6, for a score just over 500K.
Good elements: The game has a well executed presentation, with colorful graphics, a non-intrusive blend of 2D and 3D elements, and fitting sound. Despite the mandatory autofire, which is particularly annoying at the beginning when it's slow, the game plays well.
Bad elements: Some graphics are hard to see: gray enemy missiles and the humans awaiting rescue in particular are hard to distinguish from the background, and yellow enemy missiles look the same as your own and can thus be confusing. Clouds occasionally obscure your view of the action, leading to unfair deaths. The enemy destruction requirement in order to count as having completed a level is a little disappointing, mostly in that the game really should let you know when you arrive at a level boss whether you should give up (because you didn't kill enough of the underlings earlier); instead, it lets you spend several minutes killing the boss before telling you, "Sorry, you're not tall enough for this ride." Weapon variety is minimal, just single/dual straight shots and sporadic homing missiles, and the special laser weapon has the same limited number of shots even when you pick up multiple laser power-ups.
Worst element: While well executed, the game is not particularly memorable. It simply doesn't have anything standing out for it. The nondescript bosses don't have very interesting patterns (and aren't very numerous, either, as I can only remember 3), yet take a lot of hits; the boss fights are therefore kind of boring. The gameplay overall, including stage design, is good, but it's also monotonous. The only memorable portion of the game is Stage 6, in which you have no weapons and must simply evade large amounts of enemy fire until the end of the stage (hence it's also the only stage without a destruction percentage requirement). It's unfortunate when a stage where you're not shooting anything stands out far more than any of your climactic boss battles.
To conclude, here's my ranking of the Minis scrolling shooters I have (note that I don't have Who's That Flying?! or Apache Overkill):
1. Flying Hamster (best overall)
2. Ace Armstrong vs. the Alien Scumbags! (best boss fights)
3. A Space Shooter for 2 Bucks! (best production)
4. Sky Force
5. Earthshield (yes, I know it doesn't really scroll)
10. M.O.Z.O.X. Space SalvagerPosted 11 months ago # -
confuletlyf
Membergood review onmode, I'd been looking at this but am gonna pass. Weapon upgrades are the reason to play scrolling shooters, imo.
Your rankings there, did you give Flying Hamster such a high score due to graphical appeal? I was going to pick it up but the gameplay videos made it looks so fast that deaths would feel like bad luck instead of missed shots. I couldn't find much other video for it. Is it always ridiculously fast (I really want FH, it looks beaut)and I love that you put MOZOX at 10th place out 6.
Posted 11 months ago # -
OT: confuletylffldskfjlm where are you from?
Posted 11 months ago # -
In Sky Force, the single and double shots each have something like 4 levels of power, increased by picking up power-ups (not sure if 1 power-up = 1 level increase). You acquire the double shot in Stage 5, I think; that moment when your firepower goes from max-power single shot to min-power double shot is a little disheartening, much like when you go from one weapon to the next in the Darius games. The double shots' bullet pairs have too much space between them, I think; you can actually shoot around certain small targets.
Aside from that, though, the game just has missiles (which, as far as I could tell, don't get any upgrade from acquiring further missile power-ups) and the limited-ammo laser cannon.
It isn't just Flying Hamster's graphics that make it rank highly (though the game's overflowing personality is mostly what puts it above Ace for me). It also has great level and boss fight designs as well, plenty of variety in settings, enemies, and enemy attacks, and the soundtrack is lots of fun. I do wish the secondary weapons would last longer. I'm not sure which gameplay videos you're talking about, but the game isn't overly fast . . . with the exception of the high-speed section of one stage. I think that's a Gradius trademark they're channeling.
Ironically, I think I've actually spent less time playing Flying Hamster than all the other scrolling shooter Minis I have except Earthshield and M.O.Z.O.X.. There are good reasons, though: Ace is pretty difficult if you're trying to reach the end; ASSf2B! requires grinding for money; Sky Force forces you to retry levels if you don't wipe out enough of the enemy.
Weapon upgrades are the reason to play scrolling shooters, imo.
I'm of a different opinion. What I like in a scrolling shooter is some interesting aspect to its gameplay that you can explore. For example: Gradius' power-up system and option wingmen; R-Type's indestructible remote weapon (took me a while to figure out how to properly play an R-Type game); Image Fight's auxiliary guns that you can configure to point opposite your direction of travel (and also throw!); Xevious' part-bombing, part-shooting combat; Darius' branching stages. I note that several modern scrolling shooters have no weapon upgrades (but they still have special weapons).
conf-kun's profile claims he's in Ontario, Canada.
Posted 11 months ago # -
To fix the Sonic Wings control issue, you have to go into the PSP menu (hit the home button). There tou can customize the controls, including the directional buttons and analog. When I play it in Tate, I usually set bombs to a trigger, rapid fire to the analog, and rotate the control pad directions so that it's correct. It works great!
Posted 11 months ago #
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