Compile shooters

[RuninRuder]

Obviously, I'm referring to the 16-bit era here. 

If I were being "objective," I'd pick Spriggan, as it's the most well-rounded effort of the ones listed.  But my personal favorite is Blazing Lazers.  Yeah, it earns points for having one of the sweetest shooter soundtracks and being a nostalgic marvel.  But I maintain that its last few levels are more intense and exciting than any other stretch of vertical shooting that can be found on old-school platforms. 

Here are some quick thoughts on the others:

MUSHA - The first four stages are great, especially the ravine and storm sections.  The last three are pretty boring, especially the revolting "field" level.  Following suit, the rock music makes an impression early on but degenerates into mush later. 

Robo Aleste - I actually haven't played this one.  I've heard good things and I'd probably like it, but I'm not enticed enough to go ahead and purchase a Sega CD, which has no other titles that interest me. 

Space Megaforce - This is a horrible game with excruciatingly long (not to mention easy) levels.  It focuses on typical SNES technological goofiness, preferring to dabble in spinning space stations and the like rather than in impressive bosses or frantic action.  It also features some of the most laughable shooter concepts (scaling planets?) and awful music (save for stage 4).   

Spriggan - Again, this is the most well-rounded 16-bit Compile vert.  The "make your own weapon" system allows you to create and tote some awesome armaments, the graphics are very good (especially in the lava stage), the music fits the action well (particularly the creepy tune in the "bug/worm" level), the action is steady, and the bosses are quite huge.

Sylphia - It feels a little different, but yes, it's a Compile shooter, and it features reliable Compile-style weaponry.  It's a very good game with a cool cast of mythological enemies and a great techno soundtrack.  The graphics for the backgrounds could have been a lot better, though. 

[CrackTiger]

I haven't played much of these games outside of Sylphia and Blazing Lazers, so Sylphia gets my vote since its more fun for me. 

[Seldane]

What the hell is Space Megaforce? This horrible abomination of a title needs to be killed off forever.

Super Aleste is the best Compile shooter, obviously.

[TR0N]

I voted for Blazeing Lazers stll no, Guardian Legend or Zanac for the poll ?

[ParanoiaDragon]

Actually, I think Super Aleste IS Space Megaforce, but I could be wrong.

[RuninRuder]

I haven't played much of these games outside of Sylphia and Blazing Lazers, so Sylphia gets my vote since its more fun for me. 

Ever play Sylphia on the hardest difficulty level?  The projectile count becomes INSANE, but it still manages to be very playable and a lot of fun. 

I voted for Blazeing Lazers stll no, Guardian Legend or Zanac for the poll ?

Like I said in the first post, I'm inquiring about the ones from the 16-bit era. 

Actually, I think Super Aleste IS Space Megaforce, but I could be wrong.

It is.  Seldane's just being facetious.  He's right that Megaforce is an abomination--but not in name only.   

[CrackTiger]

I haven't played much of these games outside of Sylphia and Blazing Lazers, so Sylphia gets my vote since its more fun for me. 

Ever play Sylphia on the hardest difficulty level?  The projectile count becomes INSANE, but it still manages to be very playable and a lot of fun. 

I voted for Blazeing Lazers stll no, Guardian Legend or Zanac for the poll ?

Like I said in the first post, I'm inquiring about the ones from the 16-bit era. 

Actually, I think Super Aleste IS Space Megaforce, but I could be wrong.

It is.  Seldane's just being facetious.  He's right that Megaforce is an abomination--but not in name only.   

I haven't played Sylphia in years, but now it'll be the next PC Engine game I play through (on the hardest difficulty of course). 

[Tatsujin]

i will go with seirei senshi spriggan sc'91

[Joe Redifer]

Power Strike. 

[termis]

Out of the ones I tried (all on list except Sylphia and Space Megaforce), I say Spriggan for the excellent music and good power-up system.

[Nazi NecroPhile]

I voted for Sylphia.  The controls aren't as tight as Spriggan, but the nature / mythological themes make the game different enough to stand out as my favorite.

[Tatsujin]

Power Strike. 

then, why not with the much better part II of it?

[rolins]

I voted for Blazeing Lazers stll no, Guardian Legend or Zanac for the poll ?

I'll vote for Xevious: Fardraut Densetsu... oh wait, that too isn't listed. 

[guyjin]

i know we're talking about 16 bit games, but The Guardian Legend pwns all of these. 

[esteban]

I had to go with BL / GunHed because I think it's a great game, despite some of the dull stretches.

I haven't played Spriggan in ages, but I was disappointed with how easy I found it to be. I don't remember much from the game, and thus it wasn't a memorable.

As a kid, it took a bit of practice before I could beat the final stage (the boss rush corridor)... so BL has left more of an impression.

It's hard to judge games that you first played a different stages of your life, though!

I won't comment on the other games, but I liked them as well. I know Space Megaforce is hated... that's the only one I haven't played. I want to, though. I don't think it will be as bad as folks make it out to be.

[Joe Redifer]

Power Strike. 

then, why not with the much better part II of it?

Well for one I've only played Power Strike 2 once or twice in an emulator.  From what I remember it was COMPLETELY different than the first one, the music wasn't anywhere near as good, but the graphics may have been better.

[Kitsunexus]

I like Space Megaforce, for all you haters who say it's slow, here's some news:


IT'S EXACTLY THE SAME SPEED AS PULSTAR.


And last I heard, Pulstar isn't really hated.

[GUTS]

Pulstar is shit too.

[nat]

Gunhed/ BL.

[Kitsunexus]

Pulstar is shit too.

Too hard for you? LOL!

[PCEngineHell]

Pulstar isn't shit,but I do like Blazing Star more but both are awesome to me. I love that ex R-type crew Aicom. They could do no wrong.

[Seldane]

I know Space Megaforce is hated..

Only on this board. That is a legendary game, but people hate everything on the SNES here for... obvious reasons, so... I wouldn't trust anyone here in that department.

[Kitsunexus]

I know Space Megaforce is hated..

Only on this board. That is a legendary game, but people hate everything on the SNES here for... obvious reasons, so... I wouldn't trust anyone here in that department.

I don't hate SNES, it's honestly my favorite console.

[CrackTiger]

I know Space Megaforce is hated..

Only on this board. That is a legendary game, but people hate everything on the SNES here for... obvious reasons, so... I wouldn't trust anyone here in that department.

We probably have as many Turbo/PCE haters as SNES haters on this board. 

[PCEngineHell]

I don't hate the Snes either,but it wasn't godly. As far as shooters go on Snes I like Super R-Type,R-Type 3,Axley,Gradius 3,U.N. Squadron, and  a few others. I also think the Snes,when the programmers were on their best could produce a good fighting game port like Power Instinct or Fighters History. I also liked Mortal Kombat 3 for Snes,along with a few others. I loved Chrono Trigger. For the longest time it was my favorite RPG. I also love Pilot Wings and F-Zero and the vast majority of generic beat'em ups by Jaleco and Super Double Dragon by Technos. Konami titles on the system seemed to about all be good games.

[RuninRuder]

I think that two or three of the SNES fans around here are just too sensitive.   

Seldane cries in his pillow every time someone makes a negative comment about a "legendary" SNES game, but the fact remains that "haters" like GUTS and me are more than willing to give credit where credit is due.  GUTS has said numerous times that he loves some of the SNES RPGs, and I've been arguing that Super Castlevania IV bests Rondo of Blood for years now. 

Now, that Emerald Rocker guy is definitely an SNES-hating troll... but he also hates every HuCard game ever made, so it basically evens out. 

We'd all be more than happy to praise "legends" like Space Megaforce and Zelda III but... we don't like them.  We think they suck, and we have no qualms with poking fun at them. 

Contra Hard Corps destroys Contra III.  Deal with it.   

[JoshTurboTrollX]

Contra Hard Corps destroys Contra III.

ooh, I think I just threw up in my mouth


I voted for Blazing Lazers, mostly cause I'm mostly familiar with that game.  I had Robo Alest for Sega CD, but didn't really care for that one too much.  Pretty ho-hum average shmup.


Me?- I'm a lover of all the 16-bitters.

[PCEngineHell]

Contra Hard Corps destroys Contra III.

ooh, I think I just threw up in my mouth

Man yea I totally hated Contra Hard Corps. I mean,a fucking werewolf and a mini might robot on your team,that was laughable at best. Contra 3 Alien Wars had  a certain seriousness about it that was lost with Hard Corps.

[GUTS]

Yeah Pulstar is hard, but its not good hard, just bad design hard.  Blazing Star on the other hand is my favorite shooter of all time.

I agree on Contra Hard Corps being much better than III, those overhead levels on III ruined the whole game.  The werewolf guy and girl in Hard Corps were gay, but the little robot guy rules!  He has a dope machine gun and a hover jump that opens up new strategies for beating bosses that you can't use with the normal guy.  Plus the game doesn't have any mode 7 bullshit like III to ruin the flow (seriously, those levels were terrible even back when the game came out).  Its just huge awesome boss after boss with short kill-everything in sight segments in between, I don't see what there is not to like.

[Kitsunexus]

Blazing Star on the other hand is my favorite shooter of all time.

I agree on Contra Hard Corps being much better than III

Sir, I whole heartedly agree with you on both points.

[PCEngineHell]

Yeah Pulstar is hard, but its not good hard, just bad design hard.  Blazing Star on the other hand is my favorite shooter of all time.

I agree on Contra Hard Corps being much better than III, those overhead levels on III ruined the whole game.  The werewolf guy and girl in Hard Corps were gay, but the little robot guy rules!  He has a dope machine gun and a hover jump that opens up new strategies for beating bosses that you can't use with the normal guy.  Plus the game doesn't have any mode 7 bullshit like III to ruin the flow (seriously, those levels were terrible even back when the game came out).  Its just huge awesome boss after boss with short kill-everything in sight segments in between, I don't see what there is not to like.

The goofiness of the game. I am not into that kinda stuff for the most part,unless it is like Gunstar Heroes or something along those lines. I was pretty pissed at Hard Corps after seeing how comedic it was compared to previous Contra titles. I didn't really have  a problem with the overhead stages in Contra 3. It kept the game closer to Super C in keeping with having overhead stages.

 Hard Corps and its sequels Contra: Legacy of War and C: The Contra Adventure are not even considered cannon in the Contra series.They have a retconned story made around Ray Poward and his lame Task Force Suck which all other members seemed to get killed/written out except him in the story line. All these changes were due to the former team leaving to form Treasure after Contra 3. They tried to rebuild the series with Shattered Soldier,which had  a extremely serious story again and was hard like past titles,but then people whined and bitched and so they got Neo Contra in return for all that. Neo Contra,like Hard Corps,has talking dogs,too much humor,and makes no attempt to take the series seriously.

I will probably die of old age before I see a original Contra title again that is like 1-3.

[Kitsunexus]

Hardcorps has an AMAZING soundtrack though.

[RuninRuder]

Shattered Soldier is my favorite Contra, actually.  Good, tough gameplay with great bosses. 

I pretty much agree with GUTS on Hard Corps vs. Contra 3.  Those overhead scenes in 3 are horrible.  I think the sidescrolling scenes are also lame, though.  Hard Corps is tougher, has better bosses and music, and delivers a heck of a lot more action.  It's definitely goofy in some ways, but that doesn't detract from the enjoyment I get out of the action itself. 

[ParanoiaDragon]

I think I like Neo Contra more then Shattered Soldier ultimately, even though, originally, when I played a demo of it, I thought it was terrible

[Joe Redifer]

Contra Hard Corps ... I don't see what there is not to like.

How about the music?  It's awful and some of the worst sounding to be heard on the Genesis.  I guess it's trying to sound like heavy metal guitars or something, but instead it sounds like a chorus of kazoos.  Also how about the color?  Oh wait, there hardly is any.

[PCEngineHell]

Contra Hard Corps ... I don't see what there is not to like.

How about the music?  It's awful and some of the worst sounding to be heard on the Genesis.  I guess it's trying to sound like heavy metal guitars or something, but instead it sounds like a chorus of kazoos.  Also how about the color?  Oh wait, there hardly is any.

Yea the music and graphics were pretty much bland or garbage over all. I thought it was funny they tossed hard Corps levels into the GBA remake of Contra 3 and people were wondering wtf was up with every other level looking like ass. No real die hard Contra fan would prefer Hard Corps over Alien Wars. The people who tend to like Hard Corps and its sequels more then Contra,Super C,and Contra 3 tend to not be real heavy Contra fans,because they tend to hate or at least dislike something or another about the first three games,esp the arcade versions of Contra and Super C. Hard Corps is a drastic change from the first 3 and shares little of nothing in common other then the title name and a few borrowed ideas from the previous Contra teams exploits.

[Joe Redifer]

I think the first few levels of Gunstar Heroes outclasses them both.

The graphics in Hard Corps are dull, but they do move fast and well due to Blast Processing, which is more power than most humans can handle.  As for having a serious storyline and whatnot, it's hard to take any game "seriously" when you have a guy running on spinning helicopter blades.  Not serious, but certainly cool.  I also prefer Contra III since it isn't as unreasonably difficult.

I'd like to try out the GBA version, but ROMnation has some sort of voting nonsense to access the GBA games so I can't get to them.

[JoshTurboTrollX]

I will argue the top-down levels in Alien Wars.  I thought they were alot of fun.  And it was another way for them to show off the almighty mode 7 zooming effects.  I know when I first played that game back when it came out- I was like WOW!!!  We're spinning the entire screen!!  And there SO easy.  It usually takes like 30 secs to beat one of those levels, and then your back to those blistering speed Kick Ass Levels that we all know and love!!

[GUTS]

Hey I absolutely love Contra and Super C, I just can't stand Contra III's terrible overhead levels because they were just boring and pointless; free roaming does not belong in a Contra game (if they had been like Super C's overhead levels then I would have liked the game much more).  Hard Corps is my favorite though because of how much crazy stuff it throws at you, no two levels are the same and all the bosses are super creative and unique.  I personally think the graphics are great because of how much is going on and how intense the action gets, so the lack of color never bothered me.  The goofiness of Hard Corps was also something I kinda liked, hell I thought the best part about Neo Contra was how insane the game was (running on helicopter blades, the talking dog, etc).

And Gunstar heroes is awful, it shouldn't even be compared to the old Contras.  That stupid dice maze is the worst idea Treasure has ever had, it completely ruined the game for me, I've tried playing through Gunstar so many times only to get bored and frustrated at that stupid part ever single time.

[Kitsunexus]

Contra Hard Corps ... I don't see what there is not to like.

How about the music?  It's awful and some of the worst sounding to be heard on the Genesis.  I guess it's trying to sound like heavy metal guitars or something, but instead it sounds like a chorus of kazoos.  Also how about the color?  Oh wait, there hardly is any.

You're dumb, it's trying to sound like 90's techno (think the Prodigy or Praga Kahn) and it mostly succeeds.  ESPECIALLY ON THE FIRST LEVEL! ^________^

[PCEngineHell]

Lol the music sounds nothing Like Praga Kahn or Lords of Acid. They are contrastingly different types of techno.
As for Prodigy,I have not listened to them much. Mostly their most well known moments were from the Smack your Bitch Up song and that other one Breath with the music video with the run down room and them trying to look scary.
That music video was so lame. Ended up looking like a shooting gallery near a skid row housing establishment with a bunch of guys in a serious need of a heroin fix. The spastic movements by the lead guys was due to the withdraws. The alligator being a hallucination from those who got access to the good stuff.
Don't ever compare bad horrible game techno to the good stuff. I am going to assume some here don't even know who Praga Kahn or Lords of Acid are,so here are some links to videos.
Praga Kahn

Lords of Acid

Joe was right,other then pops and klik sounds,it does sound like a chorus of kazoos on Hard Corps.

[Kitsunexus]

Praga Kahn pwns, I have most of their CDs. But their side project, Lords of Acid was ABSOLUTELY terrible. It's shock-dance, and it's not very good. The other PK side project, the Immortals, were VERY good, even if they only made one song ("Techno Syndrome" a.k.a. "That Mortal Kombat techno song with all the orchestra stabs").

And I meant the CHC soundtrack was similar to Praga Kahn, not sounded exactly like it. I'm surprised you can't hear the similariites.

As for the Prodigy, Fat Of The Land (which is where Firestarter and Smack My Bitch Up comes from) is very good, however it's the most mainstream. I'd advise you to check their early CDs, like "Music For The Jilted Generation" and "Experience". Do not listen to ANY of their albums after Fat Of The Land, you will be SEVERELY disapointed.

As for the Contra Soundtrack being made up of kazoos, even though the YM2612 is related to the DX100, techno is just not a genre FM does very well. Here's an Adlib PC soundcard doing some techno. I don't think didgerdoos and banjos are staple techno instruments. FM just isn't made for techno, and vice versa.

So don't be too hard on it. ;)

[PCEngineHell]

LOL I wasn't being hard on the Genesis hardware,I was being hard on the game. Yuzo Koshiro and many others have been able to produce perfectly fine techno out of the Genesis YM chip. I also happen to like Lords of Acid more then Praga. Praga stuff tends to be all sweet and nice. The louder,more vulgar trashy stuff is more appealing to me then what he produces. I have heard most of Prodigy albums at least once. I was just making reference that those 2 songs were the most known on wide scale in the USA...

I don't like anything Prodigy produced,so I never was a repeat listener to any particular album of theirs,and I prob never will. Thats just personal preference however. Many others will love them and thats perfectly fine. Also,Lords of Acid is no longer a side project of Praga Kahn. They are their own entity now,and have been for many years. They had their own side project Digital Orgasm infact,but they did not do the heavy sex fueled stuff under that name really.

[Kitsunexus]

I used to have the Lords Of Acid CD, "I Sit On Acid", it didn't really click with me, it sounded kinda cheap. I can take vulgarity and sex, I just don't like cheap beats from a TR-909 imitator. Is their newer, non-PK stuff better? I'd be willing to re-try them if they got out of their 4-on-the-floor house motif, and maybe moved into some breaks.

I DID laugh at and love "I must increase my bust" though, that song = fun.

[PCEngineHell]

They have had more rock type stuff worked in over the years,and then some outright silly stuff like for one of  the Austin Powers movie that was not much like anything they had done before..

[Joe Redifer]

And Gunstar heroes is awful, it shouldn't even be compared to the old Contras.  That stupid dice maze is the worst idea Treasure has ever had

That's why I said the first few levels.  Or did you selectively skip that part of my sentence just so you could rip on the dice maze?

You're dumb

Cry me a river.  Oh wait.  You're already doing that since I cut down Hard Corps' grainy, scratchy music.

[Kitsunexus]

You're dumb

Cry me a river.  Oh wait.  You're already doing that since I cut down Hard Corps' grainy, scratchy music.

Actually, I'm crying you an aquifier, which is an underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock or unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, silt, or clay) from which groundwater can be usefully extracted using a water well. ^_^

[esteban]

I also happen to like Lords of Acid more then Praga. Praga stuff tends to be all sweet and nice. The louder,more vulgar trashy stuff is more appealing to me then what he produces.

I prefer LoA over Praga as well, but even then, VoodooU is the only really awesome album. Every track is golden. Lust is a poor runner-up, with some great tracks, but a lot of rather generic stuff / stretches.

I still have (I hope!) some tour shirts with the huge-golden-dildo-clad-lady. I could never wear that shirt in public today (even back in the day, I could only wear it to certain places).

I was incredibly disappointed by their third(?) album... I tried to find it online, but I couldn't find it (the booklet cover is white -- or is it brown? -- with BARELY legible text printed in a light gold. What album is that? I think it is "Our Little Secret" but the cover art doesn't match... maybe I bought a remix / compilation album. If my CD's were unpacked I'd give it a spin right now.

/tangent

[PCEngineHell]

I don't remember if it was the third album positively or not but I think so,Our little Secret had  the blonde woman on the cover in the striped shirt and the tint of the cover was orange,or beige or something. Our Little Secret was ok,but it did have a few pretty dull tracks on it like Pussy which was downright silly,reminding me of Two Live Crews silly tracks they would have now and then. Every band has its low points though,or just tries to do something new to take  a break from the same ole,same ole.

[Keranu]

Voted Blazing Lazers.

Fighting about million sprites on screen = good graphics and the cheesiness of mode 7 is a waste of time.

EDIT: Techno bands are cool, uhuhuhuh.