Sidearms

[MotoRoaderMike]

As you may or may not know, I am a BIG Capcom fanatic. This is NOT one of my top favorite games that they've made, but not many of the Capcom games ported to the TG16 were released in America, and if I had to choose between this and Forgotten Worlds, I'd go with this. Forgotten Worlds is probably SO MUCH more enjoyable when playing the original arcade machine. Anyway, this game is part of a genre that's referred to as "Jet Pack Hero" games. It started in 1985 with "Section Z", and then this, and then "Forgotten Worlds". Like I said, the game isn't one of my all-time favorite Capcom titles, but still, it's a great game. I already got it in the Capcom Classics Collection Vol 2 for PS2 and Capcom Classics Remixed for PSP, but I'd like to own the TG16 one sometime in the future.

[esteban]

I like this game. The power-up system feels out of place (since I associate it with 1942) and could have been better, but that's a minor quibble.

The US HuCard should be cheap and I think it is worth it. If you ever get CD capability, you should get Sidearms Special. The Red Book soundtrack is nice and they have a special version of the game included as a bonus. Perhaps this will only appeal to hardcore fans of the game, but I think it is nice.

[RuninRuder]

I'd owned SideArms for years and never really played it much because I didn't like the control scheme, weapons system, and washed-out graphics.  But just a few weeks ago I finally sat down and played through it, and I ended up enjoying it.  It's a tough, fast-paced game with decent music. 

It definitely has its fair share of flaws.  It's ugly, and it reuses bosses that were pretty lame in the first place over and over again.  But when it comes right down to it, the action is satisfying. 

[esteban]

I'd owned SideArms for years and never really played it much because I didn't like the control scheme, weapons system, and washed-out graphics.  But just a few weeks ago I finally sat down and played through it, and I ended up enjoying it.  It's a tough, fast-paced game with decent music. 

It definitely has its fair share of flaws.  It's ugly, and it reuses bosses that were pretty lame in the first place over and over again.  But when it comes right down to it, the action is satisfying.   

The "bosses" are uninspired, as you said, but their repetition is the worst part. At least it isn't as bad as Legendary Wings (NES)! Talk about repetitive!

Anyway, not to derail this topic, but it just occurred to me that the horizontal shooter segments of Monstair Lair (CD) are repetitive like those found in Legendary Wings (NES). We had discussed Monstair Lair in your thread recently, and I was recently playing Lifeforce (NES) and I realized how awesome Konami handled the shift in genres.

Also,  to further derail this topic, it occurred to me that MotoRoaderMike liked / wanted The Legend of Hero Tonma. I think he also stated he liked Data East? Well, even if he didn't, I wanted to hear folks talk about how great Karnov was and how Tonma could have benefitted from stealing a few ideas from it.

Now, let's get back on topic.

Random thought: Sidearms is neat because has many "classic" Capcom elements (i.e. the hidden point-bonus items --1942, Gunsmoke, Commando, etc.)

Random question: Several years ago, I tried to find the Japanese Famicom version of Section Z. Does it exist? Is it hard to find?

[nat]

Sidearms is a classic, plain and simple.

The graphics are a little washy and *do* appear dated, but that's the end of the cons for me.

I've only owned the TG version for a short while but I find it gets pretty hard roundabout the third level. Maybe I just haven't played it enough.

[Ninja Spirit]

I'd owned SideArms for years and never really played it much because I didn't like the control scheme, weapons system, and washed-out graphics.  But just a few weeks ago I finally sat down and played through it, and I ended up enjoying it.  It's a tough, fast-paced game with decent music. 

It definitely has its fair share of flaws.  It's ugly, and it reuses bosses that were pretty lame in the first place over and over again.  But when it comes right down to it, the action is satisfying.   

Random question: Several years ago, I tried to find the Japanese Famicom version of Section Z. Does it exist? Is it hard to find?

Famicom Disk System only. You can also save on that version too.

[ParanoiaDragon]

I actually love the Turbo version of Forgotten Worlds, it has a superior soundtrack, & it looks very close to the arcade version, especially when you compare it to the Genesis version.

[ccovell]

What do you guys mean by washed-out?  I find the graphics to Sidearms to be extremely crisp, colourful, detailed, and high-resolution (as Capcom often pointed out on their game boxes.) 

[Joe Redifer]

Be sure to get SideArms Special which I believe is a Super CD game.  It has some sort of Jesus Mode or something.

[RuninRuder]

The "bosses" are uninspired, as you said, but their repetition is the worst part. At least it isn't as bad as Legendary Wings (NES)! Talk about repetitive!

Anyway, not to derail this topic, but it just occurred to me that the horizontal shooter segments of Monstair Lair (CD) are repetitive like those found in Legendary Wings (NES). We had discussed Monstair Lair in your thread recently, and I was recently playing Lifeforce (NES) and I realized how awesome Konami handled the shift in genres.

Legendary Wings looked really cool in Nintendo Power.  I was so disappointed when I bought it and it ended up sucking.  Like you said, it was so repetitive. 

For me, the shooter king as far as shifting gears goes is Thunder Force II.  I know a lot of babies hate the overhead levels, but I loved seeing how fast I could blast through them, and the sidescrolling stages were practically precursors to Gate of Thunder.

[ParanoiaDragon]

Be sure to get SideArms Special which I believe is a Super CD game.  It has some sort of Jesus Mode or something.

That would be BC mode, which is supposed to sort of a prequal.  And it's a regular CD IIRC.

[Tatsujin]

side arms is a very nice port and i believe the pce-port is the only one which was released back in the 16-bit age. the colorpalette was, as usualy well used by NEC-Avenue and it shines in a almost accurate capcom arcade style. it's also quite tough in later stages. im not that good on that one

[TR0N]

Sidearms is a classic, plain and simple.

The graphics are a little washy and *do* appear dated, but that's the end of the cons for me.

I've only owned the TG version for a short while but I find it gets pretty hard roundabout the third level. Maybe I just haven't played it enough.

Agreed.

I've beat SideArms on the TG16 and it's not a easy feet at all.

[rolins]

Not overly hard i think. Just keep playing until you've memorized exactly where the enemies appear, and take them out before they overwhelm you. The best way of beating this game is to use the shotgun when going through the stages. It's the perfect crowd control and even cancels out enemy bullets too, but it has lousy firepower and it's short range. So for any of the bosses, like that carousel in the first stage, switch over to the 3-Way.

[OldRover]

It took me about 6 months to master Sidearms, about the same amount of time it took me to master Sinistron. The key to victory is the Shotgun...Shotgun + Alpha = unstoppable. Once you're into Stage 4, if you lose your Shotgun then you're as good as dry toast in Ethiopia (yeah yeah, bad joke, sue me). For the bosses, here's a detailed strategy I developed (I don't know what the regular bosses are called):

Type 1 Boss (level 1): Use the 3-way to deliver a serious pelting to this ugly mofo while stopping incoming homing missles.
Type 2 Boss (level 3 and 5): Again, stick with the 3-way for good damage and bogey-killing. This guy takes a beating though. Much easier than his arcade counterpart.
Type 3 Boss (Level 6, 7, 8, and 9): Switch to the laser cannon (Mega Ballistic Laser)...you have to take this guy out FAST and the laser cannon is as strong as it gets. Watch out for his charging attack and dodge the best you can. If you get killed, run into him when you respawn for an extra dose of damage.
Type 4 Boss (Level 2): The first of the weird rotating bosses, this one shoots normal shots at you. Shotgun ftw.
Type 5 Boss (Level 4): The second of the weird rotating bosses, this one shoots lasers at you. Use the laser cannon to take it out quickly. This is the only one of the rotating bosses you fight that you have nothing available to block its shots.
Type 6 Boss (Level 9): The last of the weird rotating bosses, this one shoots homing missles at you. Three-way shot on rapidfire will put this one down quickly.
Nemesis-10 (Final Boss): Use Shotgun + Alpha or you'll be toast in mere seconds from the sheer amount of firepower this thing has. You'll also have to find one of the two safe spots on the screen where you can continuously deal damage, block shots, and not get hit all at the same time.

[RuninRuder]

Type 5 Boss (Level 4): The second of the weird rotating bosses, this one shoots lasers at you. Use the laser cannon to take it out quickly. This is the only one of the rotating bosses you fight that you have nothing available to block its shots.

If you position yourself in the bottom-right corner of the screen before he appears, he won't be able to touch you with those lasers.

[CrackTiger]

What do you guys mean by washed-out?  I find the graphics to Sidearms to be extremely crisp, colourful, detailed, and high-resolution (as Capcom often pointed out on their game boxes.) 

Yeah, I love the detailed coloful sprites. It was nicely shaded graphics like that everyone I knew back then was looking for in 16-bit games. It may look "dated", just  like the arcade, compared to the best of the later PC Engine games, but it still looks a hell of a lot better than so many other PCE games from its time that nobody knocks the visuals of.

[Tatsujin]

copy that!

[esteban]

Random question: Several years ago, I tried to find the Japanese Famicom version of Section Z. Does it exist? Is it hard to find?

Famicom Disk System only. You can also save on that version too.

Crap, that's why I couldn't find it. Crap, the FDS is a barrier to my dream! I don't have the time nor the money to deal with the FDS.

You say you can save your progress with Section Z FDS? Do you know how it works? For example, are there checkpoints by stage? How about continues? Point me to a FAQ, if necessary . Thanks in advance (yes, I'm too lazy to look this up myself).

-------------

Back on topic:

runin: Thunderforce II is great, but it never seemed like a singular, cohesive game to me. The shift between overhead and horizontal always felt like I was shifting to another, completely separate game. Now, this is not necessarily a bad thing, especially because TFII competently delivers both parts of its shizophrenic self. I like it!

However, if I were to evaluate hybrid games on their "cohesiveness", then I would put the likes of Lifeforce (NES) and Blaster Master (NES) or Contra (NES) well above TFII.

Again, I'm really not knocking TFII, because it's great and refreshing. I don't value cohesiveness over everything else: it's simply one lens to evaluate a game.

everyone: Has anyone here played Sidearms' "black and white mode" and / or "slow-motion mode" for the entire game? Is it possible?

Also, I recall some folks having a technical discussion about these modes. What is actually going on here? Were these modes implemented for fun, or did they help the developers in some manner (i.e. I suppose slo-mo could be useful in this regard)?

[nat]

everyone: Has anyone here played Sidearms' "black and white mode" and / or "slow-motion mode" for the entire game? Is it possible?

Also, I recall some folks having a technical discussion about these modes. What is actually going on here? Were these modes implemented for fun, or did they help the developers in some manner (i.e. I suppose slo-mo could be useful in this regard)?

Are these accessible on the cartridge version or just the CD? How do I access them?

[Ninja Spirit]

Random question: Several years ago, I tried to find the Japanese Famicom version of Section Z. Does it exist? Is it hard to find?

Famicom Disk System only. You can also save on that version too.

Crap, that's why I couldn't find it. Crap, the FDS is a barrier to my dream! I don't have the time nor the money to deal with the FDS.

You say you can save your progress with Section Z FDS? Do you know how it works? For example, are there checkpoints by stage? How about continues? Point me to a FAQ, if necessary . Thanks in advance (yes, I'm too lazy to look this up myself).

Don't know about all that, I just played the ROM and after the title screen there's a Zelda type data screen.

-----

Sidearms arcade being 1cc'ed!!!

[esteban]

everyone: Has anyone here played Sidearms' "black and white mode" and / or "slow-motion mode" for the entire game? Is it possible?

Also, I recall some folks having a technical discussion about these modes. What is actually going on here? Were these modes implemented for fun, or did they help the developers in some manner (i.e. I suppose slo-mo could be useful in this regard)?

Are these accessible on the cartridge version or just the CD? How do I access them?

I've done it with U.S. HuCard, but I'm sure it works with Japanese HuCard and CD as well. I grabbed this from a cheat site:

Sidearms
Monochrome mode:
Press Up + I + II + Run at the title screen.
Slow motion:
Press Down + I + II + Run at the title screen.

I haven't verified this info, but I can the working code in an old magazine if necessary.

I've only fiddled with these modes myself... I never actually considered playing the entire game until today!

[ccovell]

Yeah, neither mode is very interesting.  The Slow-Motion mode is not even that; more like a strobe-effect mode since the game plays at regular speed, but all the scrolling and sprites are updated at a much lower framerate.

I have no idea what the purpose of this really was.  Any ideas?

[esteban]

Yeah, neither mode is very interesting.  The Slow-Motion mode is not even that; more like a strobe-effect mode since the game plays at regular speed, but all the scrolling and sprites are updated at a much lower framerate.

I have no idea what the purpose of this really was.  Any ideas?

I have ideas, but they're goofy.

1. The developers implemented the modes just for the hell of it.
2. Monochrome mode was for the developers who were programming the game on their laptops out in the sun. It provided the contrast they needed with their poorly-backlit LCD screens.
3. Strobe-mode provided a less-hectic display of the action, allowing folks to check sprite positioning and the flow of the game with less distractions.
4. The developers wanted future generations to ask, "Why?" This thread is proof that they have succeeded.

5. Personally, I think that these modes could have been used to create a special end-of-game montage (as other games had done and continue to do... the beginning of Neutopia II, etc.): black-n-white + slow-motion gameplay footage with ending credits and ending music! That's my final answer!

EDIT: Also, monochrome could have been used to create some interesting demos of gameplay for the "attract mode"... well, this point is debatable . I don't know if B&W demo mode would have been enticing, unless it was used for dramatic effect (i.e. where demo eventually fades into color) or, I could see B&W gameplay being used as a kool backdrop for a "high score" screen...

[OldRover]

If you position yourself in the bottom-right corner of the screen before he appears, he won't be able to touch you with those lasers. 

Ooh, good to know. I'll give it a try next time I play.

I have no idea what the purpose of this really was.  Any ideas?

I read somewhere awhile back that it was of historic value...like a tradition of sorts. No idea what it's tied to or where it originated, but Sidearms isn't the only game to have these two very specific modes.

For the record, I have played thru Sidearms in black-and-white mode, but the other mode (which has a name, I just don't know it, it's in Japanese) is virtually unplayable.

[Mr Bonk]

Does anyone have the ost (in mp3) for this I like it better from the HuCard than the CD version, the same as the R-Type Hucard is way better than that CD Complete version..

[Tatsujin]

sorry, at the moment no hucard but https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=2440.0

voilà

[CrackTiger]

Does anyone have the ost (in mp3) for this I like it better from the HuCard than the CD version, the same as the R-Type Hucard is way better than that CD Complete version..

I've got both Side Arms and R-Type's soundtracks in mp3 right here-

https://www.superpcenginegrafx.net/music.html


Side Arms was recorded from real hardware, but R-Type is the one soundtrack on my site that was recorded from emulation(soon to be replaced by the real thing).

Yeah, neither mode is very interesting.  The Slow-Motion mode is not even that; more like a strobe-effect mode since the game plays at regular speed, but all the scrolling and sprites are updated at a much lower framerate.

I have no idea what the purpose of this really was.  Any ideas?

I think the tricks just break the game.

I got those two "modes" as well as a 4-in-1 screen mode occasionally when my Kisago got bumped while playing a game or it just wasn't lined up correctly at the start.

There are other games with glitchy 'tricks' like those, but I think thats all they are.