Big Game Matchup FIVE

[esteban]

SSS is fun (for the reasons Mr. Covell already stated) -- if generic. Yeah, SSS is generic. But it is a competently executed game (mechanics, control, etc.) that really outshines a lot of the standard shooters you'll find on other systems. This is not a testament to SSS's greatness, perhaps, but to the sad lot of generic shooters out there that didn't have the basics nailed down, let alone some polish.

I don't know if it's all that competent.  I mean, as I alluded to earlier, they COMPLETELY wasted the I button.  Surely it could've been used to add something to the gameplay--a bomb, a special weapon, weapon switcher, whatever.  I can think of a LOT of vertical shooters, for the PCE and other systems, featuring control schemes that made much better use of what was available.

I don't think the control scheme / mechanics are groundbreaking, but I definitely think that the control is tight and precise. Plus, using SELECT to adjust speed was a great formula to continue using. I don't mind that there isn't a reserve of bombs in SSS. Isn't that a pointless use of a button anyway?

Tangent: I wouldn't mind pushing "RUN" or "SELECT" for the occasional times I'd resort to using a bomb. Plus, even though the bombs that we *do* find in SSS cannot be saved (delayed gratification), they do provide some (however slight) superficial instant gratification (akin to collecting the blinking gel in BL). SSS would be too easy with a bomb reserve, anyway.

I like how Button I switches the defense orbs around the ship in SSS. I know you don't like it, but it never struck me as a totally lame system. Dedicating prime real estate to a button that is rarely used (i.e. bomb) seems much more wasteful, IMO (naturally, this is the control scheme you'll find on most shooters, from Tiger Heli to Truxton). I never did understand that. Personally, if I had had a say in control schemes, I would have prioritized Buttons I and II for shooting (main weapon) and adjusting speed. Bombing should be relegated to the select or start button, since it is rarely used. I adjust speed all the time in games (it's fun!).

Tangent: Before magicengine.com forums lost a year's (or 2 year's?) worth of threads, I was compiling a list of games that "benefited" from the 3-button PCE pad (Button III is simply a re-mapped Select / Run button). It was fun experimenting with games to see if the third button helped, or was simply a novelty.

Runin does a great job choosing games for these match-ups, as far as I am concerned.

Thanks, although maybe not this time, judging by the votes thus far.  I thought there were more Dragon Spirit fans here since I always seem to get swarmed by them whenever I make a negative comment about it.  But it's funny to see it get wrecked, and even funnier considering that I seem to be its sole "supporter," haha. 

I haven't looked at the votes, so I guess I'll have to vote for the underdog (I did that last time, with Splatterhouse!). One of the reasons we (few) Dragon Spirit fans defend the game here is because most folks trash it!

Of course, I found it quite amusing that you voted for DS !

[nat]

Personally, if I had had a say in control schemes, I would have prioritized Buttons I and II for shooting (main weapon) and adjusting speed. Bombing should be relegated to the select or start button, since it is rarely used. I adjust speed all the time in games (it's fun!).

I think SELECT is perfect for "selecting" your ship's speed. Maybe I'm in the minority, but I always set the speed to either the fastest possible or second-to-fastest and leave it. I'll slow it down on the rare occasion I need to navigate in very narrow spaces I think I'll overshoot otherwise. Rest assured this is a very rare occasion.

[Turbo D]

same here   

[esteban]

Personally, if I had had a say in control schemes, I would have prioritized Buttons I and II for shooting (main weapon) and adjusting speed. Bombing should be relegated to the select or start button, since it is rarely used. I adjust speed all the time in games (it's fun!).

I think SELECT is perfect for "selecting" your ship's speed. Maybe I'm in the minority, but I always set the speed to either the fastest possible or second-to-fastest and leave it. I'll slow it down on the rare occasion I need to navigate in very narrow spaces I think I'll overshoot otherwise. Rest assured this is a very rare occasion.

I guess I just have too much fun changing speed for the hell of it. I do the same thing with changing weapons for the sake of variety -- it's more interesting to me.

[Turbo D]

I love how you can make the ship super fast. I hate shooters with lame slow ships, it takes away from the experience.

[Black Tiger]

I've barely played much of either game, so my super prejudiced vote goes to SSS.

[runinruder]

Since runinruder is clearly a Dragon Spirit lover, maybe he wants to buy my unopened NIB copy and put it behind glass.

I'll trade you my dirty, cracked SSS chip for it.   

I like D.S.'s tunes better (stage 6 kicks ass)

Yeah, that stage 6 tune is very good, by far the best track in either of these games. 

I like how Button I switches the defense orbs around the ship in SSS.

After you grab a second orb power-up, they revolve around the ship by themselves.  So we're talking about what often amounts to a few seconds of manual orb placement with the I button.  Since you can make them revolve even after grabbing just one power-up by holding down the I button (you might need to turn turbo up to do it, I forget), and that phase will be brief anyway, they might as well have just let the orbs revolve automatically and used the I button for something more interesting and useful.  Bombs were just one alternative I mentioned.  (And I think that deciding when and where to use bombs is a better gameplay element than five seconds of manual orb placement, especially since most people just make the orbs revolve and don't just let them sit there anyway). 

Of course, I found it quite amusing that you voted for DS !

 

   Yeah, I don't want any more grief from Dragon Spirit fans after this.  I was its lone "defender" when everyone else just stood around and let it get hammered and humiliated (by another shitty game, no less). 

 

[ccovell]

I don't hoot and holler while playing SSS, that's for sure...

That's because you don't play it in すげ~ぜっ!! mode like I do! 

[Tatsujin]

You're nuts.  SSS is really playable and gets hectic especially in the later stages (stage 6, of course) where there's shit flying around everywhere and I find myself hooting and hollering as I avoid projectiles.

Dragon Spirit never was much fun, with an oversized and underpowered main "ship" making the game frustrating to play.  The only version of DS that I actually enjoyed (and finished!) was the NES version.

how true. never went really into dragon spirits, since the sprite is too clumsy and fat. SSS is without any doubts superior and offers unequalled opportunities.

[esteban]

After you grab a second orb power-up, they revolve around the ship by themselves.  So we're talking about what often amounts to a few seconds of manual orb placement with the I button.  Since you can make them revolve even after grabbing just one power-up by holding down the I button (you might need to turn turbo up to do it, I forget), and that phase will be brief anyway, they might as well have just let the orbs revolve automatically and used the I button for something more interesting and useful.  Bombs were just one alternative I mentioned.  (And I think that deciding when and where to use bombs is a better gameplay element than five seconds of manual orb placement, especially since most people just make the orbs revolve and don't just let them sit there anyway).

Like I said, it isn't groundbreaking, but at least it's not used for bombs!

Plus, I thought that the orbs spun around faster when you held down the button. Woo hoo

Anyway, I still maintain that 5 seconds of orb manipulation vs. 5 seconds of bombing are pretty insignificant uses for a button. It would be much more satisfying if a jingle played when the button was pressed. I' only half-joking.

jjjjjjjjjjjjjmj

[runinruder]

Anyway, I still maintain that 5 seconds of orb manipulation vs. 5 seconds of bombing are pretty insignificant uses for a button.

Bombs, when implemented properly, have a lot to do with strategy in a shooter.  Play through Super Raiden and tell me that bombs only occupied five seconds' worth of your decisions.  The brief orb manipulation in SSS is entirely irrelevant; even the few seconds you have "control" of them mean nothing as to whether you ultimately win or lose (read my previous post again for explanation why).  And for the third time, bombs were just one possible alternative; I'd prefer plenty of other possibilities too since the "use" of the I button they decided on is completely worthless.  By the way, the orbs spin faster when you pick up additional orb power-ups.     

[nat]

To be perfectly honest, before this dialogue I never even knew you could orbit those orbs manually and I never had any trouble with the game.

Talk about a useless function! I can't really imagine anywhere it would've benefitted me to know that. I agree with runinruder-- what a waste.

I want to change my vote now. 

[Keranu]

I agree with what Steve has said regarding the subject.

[Turbo D]

Bombs are for the weak  I don't like to spin my orbs, I change their position according to the situation.

[SignOfZeta]

I own, and love both games. But I like SSS more.