#0012 – Last Hope: Pink Bullets – 2009 – Dreamcast – NG:DEV.TEAM – Shmup

How does "in a few days" turn into an entire month?  When it's summer, that's how!  Too many games, too much work, too many projects!  Anyway, I've been able to put some playtime into all of NG:DEV.TEAM's games for the Sega Dreamcast, and this is the first of three mini-reviews.  No promises this time on when the others are coming.

Last Hope: Pink Bullets is technically an updated version of the original Last Hope, but it's kind of wrong to think of it that way.  It's not like this version is a bugfix release for major flaws or game-breaking glitches.  Really, it's more of a case where the original game was not very well received and the designers took a step back and tried to make their game more fun.  Specifically, the original Last Hope was perceived as being unreasonably difficult.  And when I say 'unreasonable' I mean cheap.  The list of new features in Pink Bullets include such things as higher ship speed, instant respawn, a more powerful protection unit, pink enemy bullets, and "overall less hard difficulty [sic]".  Most of those are alterations to general design choices rather than updates and fixes.

On the other hand, don't worry if you're wondering if Pink Bullets will be too easy for you.  It's not.  The game is still tough - R-Type tough - where success is based on level memorization and preemptive maneuvering rather than sheer reflexes.  I play a lot of shmups, but they're usually of the later, mid-90s style. Not quite bullet hell, but a lot twitchier than these sorts of games.  In other words, Pink Bullets hands me my butt on a silver platter.  A lot like DUX, but that's a different review.  I'll admit that this is wholly due to the lack of serious time I've put into the game so far, but I have to say it like it is.  Buyer be warned: Last Hope isn't really a pick up and play game.  If you want to get far on it without credit spamming, be prepared to replay the stages until you have the hazards and enemy patterns memorized.

The good thing is that Last Hope is a very enjoyable game to put time into if you're so inclined.  The prerendered sprite graphics are reminiscent of other Neo-Geo shmups like Pulstar and Blazing Star, with bright lighting glare patches and fluid animations.  The backgrounds sport a more hand-drawn, pixel art look, but the overall vibe is more coherent than you'd expect.  The music is especially good.  The game's OST is mellow and catchy.  If you were into '80s and '90s European PC games you know what to expect, but the execution is very slick and well produced.  If you've got a lot of money to spend, you wouldn't go wrong picking up the soundtrack album.

I'll leave it to you to check out videos of the gameplay for a better feel of how exactly Last Hope plays.  Or, as I said, you can just think of it as R-Type for your Dreamcast with some tweaked features and brighter colors.  I will say that using the protection unit didn't come easily to me, but I grew to love it after I realized that it makes you nigh-invincible to oncoming bullets as well as inflict huge damage to enemies.  The beam chain scoring multiplier definitely makes the game much more complex if you're going for score, but so far I can barely clear the stages - much less worry about racking up a big multiplier!

Pink Bullets is the definitive release of NG.DEV:TEAM's very first game, and it plays well on the Dreamcast with either a pad or a stick.  It works with VGA (and looks fantastic) and isn't that expensive anymore because of the recent reprint.  Unless you're specifically into R-Type style games or Euroshmups it's a little hard to recommend buying this one over the stable of Dreamcast (or, more generally, Saturn) shmups already available, but it's a solid approach to a subgenre of shmups that isn't very well explored on the system post-2001.  And if you already have most of the must-buy shmups for the platform, well...what are you waiting for?

NG:DEV.TEAM's Newcomer Bundle

NG:DEV.TEAM has been the premiere indie games company for both the Neo-Geo and the Dreamcast since their first release in 2006.  That's not quite as dramatic as it sounds, since they have no competition on the Neo-Geo and very little (recently) on the Dreamcast.  NG:DEV.TEAM's trilogy of action games are certainly flawed and highly controversial in certain communities, but there's no denying that they have a level of polish that outstrips other Dreamcast indie titles such as Cool Herders, Rush Rush Rally Racing, and even DUX.  This year will hopefully see the release of Duranik's stunning Sturmwind for Sega's "Console That Could", and maybe then NG:DEV.TEAM will get some competition.

Until then, we have the recent Dreamcast release of GunLord to celebrate, and how better to celebrate than with a series of reviews?  The Newcomer Bundle is a great way to pick up all of NG:DEV.TEAM's games for Dreamcast, and the pricing isn't bad, either.  With the package you get the best versions of all of the company's games: Last Hope: Pink Bullets, Fast Striker 1.5, and the aforementioned GunLord.  My copy arrived yesterday, and though I'd played burned CD-Rs of Last Hope and Fast Striker before, it was great to support the company and bag some legit copies to satisfy my inner collector.  I'll also be getting Redux: Dark Matters and Sturmwind later this year or early 2013 when they release, so look out for more Dreamcast indie reviews on this blog in the future.

My Newcomer Bundle arrived quite quickly from Germany via DHL Airmail, and in general I was pleased with the construction of the actual products.  GunLord suffered from a notably cheaper DVD case than the other two games, but these are all universal-sized inserts.  The first thing I did was switch out the box for a higher-quality commercial-grade case from an old DVD movie.  Fast Striker and Last Hope were fine as-is.  The CD art and manuals are glossy, offset printed, and full of great art.  The GunLord manual especially has some amazing boss art and a two-page spread with cherry blossoms and dragons (you can see a bit of it below).  I think I still prefer the Limited Edition art for the cover, but I didn't want to shell out for it.  C'est la vie.

I also recently got a Hori Sega Saturn stick modded with a Sanwa lever and buttons as well as an additional Playstation 1/2 plug, so playing these arcade-style games was a real treat.  Just use the Total Control 3 for Saturn -> Dreamcast controller compatibility or Total Control Plus for PS1/2 -> Dreamcast.  At any rate, I'll be posting a few reviews for these games in the coming days, so just keep an eye on this space.

Saturn Metal Slug: Another Look

Nazca's first Metal Slug game stands tall as an inherently pure experience.  The numerous sequels added on more and more 'stuff' - new Slug designs, new weapons, new enemies, and even new afflictions like Zombie and Fat modes.  The original game continues to impress even now with its sheer focus.  The levels are short and sweet, with a difficulty balanced so that even mere mortals can attempt 1cc runs.  It might not have as many bells and whistles, but it's clean arcade fun that never feels cheap or bloated.  I might be in a minority when I say this, but I'll take the first Metal Slug game over Metal Slug X or Metal Slug 3 every time.  Since I'm also a huge retro Sega fan and a ardent Saturn enthusiast, it should be no surprise that I've put more than my fair share of time into Metal Slug for Sega's 32-bit console.

You don't hear much about the Saturn port of Slug 1, but when you do you'll usually get a few people saying how it suffers from tremendous slowdown - "almost as bad as Metal Slug 2", they'll say.  I never quite agreed with them, but I could understand where they're coming from.  Anyone who's been introduced to Metal Slug through emulation or compilations on the PS2 or Wii probably doesn't realize how much slowdown there was on the original Neo-Geo hardware.  So when you see Metal Slug Saturn grinding into Matrix-style bullet time halfway through the first level - and you're comparing it to the silky emulation experience - then it can be a big downer.

Pictured above is the way that Metal Slug Saturn was meant to be played.  Thing is, very few people ever actually have!  Most people who are playing Metal Slug on their Sega Saturn are using one of the two expansion cartridges pictured below:

On the left is the official Sega 4MB RAM cart (HSS-0157), created at the request of Capcom late in the Saturn's lifespan.  It provides 4MB of additional memory space for the console to use with intensive arcade ports.  On the right is one of the many variants of perhaps the most popular Sega Saturn expansion cart - the unofficial Action Replay Plus from EMS.  This cart offers import support, cheats, backup save storage, as well as both 1MB and 4MB RAM modes.  Basically everything except burned/pirate game support, all in a single cartridge.  You'll notice that neither of these cartridges is the one that was intended for use with Metal Slug Saturn and displayed in this post's first picture, the HSS-0150 1MB RAM cart:

This cart is almost identical to the 4MB RAM cart pictured above, except that it was created at the request of SNK instead of Capcom, it predates the 4MB RAM cart by a few years, and it offers a fraction of the memory expansion.  Makes it sound like the 4MB cart is better, right?  Well, no.  You see, while most games that work with the 1MB RAM cart also work with the 4MB RAM cart, several games run into problems when they try to address the extra memory.  Some of the games have really obvious issues.  Samurai Spirits III and IV, as well as the Real Bout Fatal Fury games, have corrupted graphics.  You can't miss it.

The Action Replay Plus switches between 1MB and 4MB modes as needed by the game, and it seems to be the perfect solution.  1MB for your SNK games that need it, and 4MB for everything else.  The problem is that when it comes to Metal Slug Saturn, neither the Action Replay Plus nor the 4MB RAM cart work correctly.  Worse yet, the issue that Metal Slug has isn't nearly as obvious as corrupted graphics.  It's slowdown.  And now we come to the reason why Metal Slug Saturn has a worse rep online than it really deserves.

If you're playing Metal Slug Saturn with any cartridge other than the HSS-0150 1MB RAM cart, you're not doing it right.  Both the Action Replay Plus (I own the last revision released, with the dual 1MB/4MB modes and the fixes for Vampire Savior) and the HSS-0157 4MB RAM cart introduce additional slowdown despite seeming to work with the game just fine.  This is really obvious with some simple tests.  Load up the game with a 4MB cart or an Action Replay and check out the slowdown in two crucial areas: the Mission One boss and the section with the boats in Mission Two.  You'll notice how much slower it runs than when you use the official 1MB RAM cart meant for the game.  Here are the areas I'm talking about (click for bigger versions):


Hopefully this clears up some of the misconceptions about the Saturn port of Metal Slug.  It's really a great version, far better than the Playstation version (also on PSN) due to the 1MB RAM cart support and the Saturn's built in memory advantage.  In terms of slowdown, it's actually very close to the original arcade performance - once you stop using the wrong expansion cartridges.  With the AES version of this game selling for $3,000 or more when it appears, the Sega Saturn version of Metal Slug is about as good as it gets if you want a physical, standalone release.  This is especially handy since many retro gamers probably already own a Sega Saturn but might not own a Neo-Geo MVS or CD system.

It's probably important to note that Metal Slug only came out for the Sega Saturn in Japan, which means that running Metal Slug on a Sega Saturn using the intended 1MB RAM cart (as explained in this post) is going to require one of a few different routes:

1) A region modchip installed in a US or EU Saturn.
2) An actual JP region Saturn.
3) A properly region-patched ISO of the game used in conjunction with a backup modchip.

I'd recommend Racketboy.com (especially the forums) as a great starting point for any Saturn modding adventures.  A friend and I were able to install a switchless region mod in my US region Model 2 Saturn without too much sweat and blood, and it's definitely an awesome thing to have considering the strength of the JP Saturn library.

Burning the Library of Alexandria

I'm not sure if it's really dawned on people yet that the retro gaming world suffered a horrific blow this January. I'm talking about the fall of Megaupload and the subsequent abandonment of Snesorama.us - a crippling one-two punch to the archival of classic video games as an art form.

If you're unfamiliar with the whole situation, Megaupload was one of the most popular file lockers on the internet from 2005 until January of this year.  In addition to countless legal files and personal content, Megaupload was the host of choice for pirates and file-sharers the world over.  You almost couldn't run a Google search for an album, movie, or game without turning up dozens of blogs and forums dedicated to uploading digital content to Megaupload.  Kim Dotcom's brainchild offered it all - huge file limits, nearly unlimited download speeds, unobtrusive ads, and short wait times.  There were even freeware utilities (JDownloader) designed to make Megaupload and its imitators completely automated affairs.

One of the communities that eventually grew around Megaupload was Snesorama.us.  The site started out as a small-time ROM outlet, offering the same throttled direct downloads of illegal ROMs that countless other sites in the early 2000s served up.  Thanks to the encouragement of the site administration, however, the site's forum members began uploaded games to file lockers and cataloging them by platform, genre, and file type.  It was a limited effort at first, but - thanks to some mysterious kind of obsessive internet zeitgeist - it turned into one of the greatest retro community archival efforts in recent memory.

At the height of its popularity in late 2011, Snesorama's tireless volunteers had uploaded essentially complete sets for every system under the sun to online file lockers - mostly Megaupload and a few others.  PSX, PS2, Xbox, Gamecube - you name it. Most importantly for retro gaming, the site offered a stunning variety of Sega CD, Saturn, Dreamcast, PC-Engine CD, and NeoGeo games.  The site was a digital Library of Alexandria for retro gaming, allowing curious gamers to experience the most impossibly obscure games for obscure systems.  Want to play Stellar Assault or Hyper Duel for the Sega Saturn, but don't want to spend $200+ to import it used from a Japanese game shop?  Snesorama.  Want to experience insanely rare, impossible-to-find games like many of the PC-Engine CD releases?  Snesorama.

Even more amazing than its archival effort, Snesorama was home to a variety of homebrew and original hobbyist efforts for older systems.  TuxtheWise's Dreamcast Resurrection project offered streamlined Dreamcast ISOs with re-ordered, optimized file layouts that actually provided better performance than the original retail GD-ROMs.  The original Xbox's vast array of hard-to-find, grey-area homebrew projects such as the fantastic Streets of Rage Remake v5.0, Quake 1, 2, and III: Arena ports, Beats of Rage mods, and obscure emulator builds were all easily available as well.

The point of all this is that - regardless of your beliefs on file-sharing and copyright law - Snesorama and Megaupload together had achieved something that isn't even attempted by the video game industry at large: a meaningful archive of video game history.  Bits and boards are rotting as the months turn to years, and only certain privileged retro games are seeing re-releases in newer mediums.  But even then, petty legal conflicts are changing the very nature of the games we know and love.  Yes, Crazy Taxi is on XBLA, but what's Crazy Taxi without the Offspring soundtrack?  The only way to truly preserve these games is to preserve the original releases in timeless digital formats, accessible to future generations.

Snesorama was working to achieve that.  But a combination of media panic and corporate greed led to the shutdown of Megaupload and the destruction of a retro gaming heaven.  While some of those rare games and homebrew projects maintain an Internet presence through other sites, many others existed on Snesorama/Megaupload and nowhere else, and are lost...for now.  There certainly is no alternative that provides the same level of documentation and organization that Snesorama featured in its prime.

Please understand that I'm not condoning piracy of modern consoles and other media.  I see sharing ISOs and ROMs of old, abandoned games as largely a victimless crime.  When you download an ISO of Thunder Force V for the Saturn - a game that is out of print in all formats - who are you hurting?  Even the aforementioned Japanese resellers coexisted with sites like Snesorama - there will always be a collector community that demands physical copies to satisfy their desires.  The digital duplicates live on for everyone else.

This is an issue that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.  When I consider the number of legal obstacles (and apparent lack of interest) that are hindering large-scale archival and preservation of video games through official channels, the cynic in me is already looking for the next Snesorama.