Es muss für Entwickler Treasure – der Spielstory von Gradius V nicht unähnlich – wie eine Zeitreise vorgekommen sein. Da splitten sich 1992 18 Programmierer, unter ihnen Masato Maegawa,der spätere Treasure Gründer vom Software Entwickler Konami ab, um eines der brilliantesten Entwicklerstudios Japans zu gründen ….. Treasure.

Nur um 12 Jahre später, 2004 unter die Fittiche von Konami zurück zukehren, um eine bombastische Fortsetzung zu einer der berühmtesten Konami Shoot em up Serien aus dem Hut zu zaubern.

Treasure….. der Name ist Programm. Dem kann man sich gewiss sein.

Story

Vor langer Zeit wurde eine zerstörerische Lebensform, entsprungen aus den Tiefen des Weltraums, in einem langen, heftigen Kampf von der Gradius – Armee ausgelöscht.

Doch in einer dunklen und unerforschten Nische des Universums konnten einige Zellen dieser Lebensform auf unerklärliche Weise überleben.

Langsam, doch stetig, vermehrten sich diese Zellen und bildeten schliesslich einen ganz neuen Bakterienstamm.

Lange Jahre vergingen, und das Jahr 8010 ist angebrochen: Die Gradius-Ära.

Remember the good Old Times

Wenn man Gradius erwähnt, wäre es fast ein Sakrileg wenn nicht im gleichem Atemzug auch der Name Vic Viper fällt. Dieser schnittige Raumer welcher auch als Super-Raum- Zeit-Jäger bezeichnet wird ist der eigentliche Star dieser Shoot em up Serie.

Und jene hat eine ruhmreiche Geschichte zu erzählen.

Die Serie erschien 1985 erstmals in den Japanischen Arkaden. Eines der Besonderheiten bzw. Charakteristika von Gradius war und ist ein Raumschiff Upgrade System welches auch als Power Meter bekannt ist.

Im Spielverlauf kann man Power Ups sammeln um jenes System aufzustocken.

Das Power Meter bot einem die Möglichkeit, einerseits sein Raumschiff in verschiedenen Variationen zu Beschleunigen (Speed Up) oder diverse Waffensysteme (Missile / Laser etc.) an Euren Fighter zu installieren.

Der Gag an der Sache war, dass man selbst abwägen musste, wenn es sich lohnt das gerade aktive Power Up Meter zu aktivieren. Die im All verstreuten Power Ups springen nämlich beim einsammeln ohne vorrige Aktivierung auf das nächste Feld.

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SPEED UP I MISSILE I DOUBLE I LASER I OPTION I ?

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(Original Gradius Power Up Meter)

Sollte man nun lieber auf zweifache Geschwindigkeit hinarbeiten oder sich doch den Durschlagskräftigen Laser unter den Nagel reißen. Mit diesen durchaus berechtigten Hintergedanken bekam Gradius auch leichte Taktikeinflüsse verpasst.

Gradius V

“We wanted to work with someone who has knowledge in the area of modern shooting. We also wanted a partner that could understand the Konami spirit. Because we absolutely had to do this production outside, Treasure was the best choice.”

Osamu Kasai, Senior producer, KONAMI

Konami kündigte den fünften Teil der 2D Horizontal Shoot em Up Serie Anfang 2003 an. Ein Freudenfest für alle Liebhaber der klassicher Weltraum Ballerei. Sollte sich doch einer der ganz großen Pixelpioniere nämlich Treasure für die Programmierung verantwortlich zeigen.

Ihre späten Meisterwerke wie das äußerst brilliant clevere Radiant Silvergun (SegaSaturn) oder der in vielerlei Hinsicht spirituelle Nachfolger Ikaruga (Nintendo GameCube) sprechen Bände.

Vic Viper is back

Gradius V versetzt den Spieler ins Cockpit des Jägers Vic Viper T-301.

Eure Aufgabe besteht wie eh und je in der Vernichtung einer übelgelaunten Xenomorph Gruppierung.

Nach dem fein geschnittenen CG Intro welcher als kleiner Appetit Anreger sehr gut funktioniert, wird man nach Wahl des Schwierigkeitsgrades ins Waffenmenü des Shoot em ups verfrachtet.

Hier liegt es nun an den individuellen Geschmäckern, wie man das Power Up Meter arrangiert. Aus vier verschiedenen Anordnungen kann man sich eines für die kommende Weltraumhatz herraus picken. Wie immer hat dies alles Vor und Nachteile, doch bekommt man nach einiger Spielzeit ein gutes Handling für eine optimale Wahl im jeweiligen Abschnitt.

Weiterhin hat man die Möglichkeit das Spiel allein oder mit einem zweiten Mitspieler zu bestreiten. Ob nun allein oder zu zweit, auch Gradius V setzt Euch Massen an fiesen Gegnerhorden entgegen. Diese schwirren aus allen Rohren feuernd frei herum, greifen als kleine Gruppen an oder sind ganz einfach mit dem Level verwachsen.

Auch die Levelabschnitte selbst sind abwechslungsreich und teils aberwitzig genial designed. Ob nun im Weltall mit riesigen Planeten im Hintergrund, in mechanisch kühlen Abschnitten oder organischen Innereien, Gradius V bietet Abwechslung für Aug und Ohr

Super Grafik, krachende Explosionen ein treibender Soundtrack und Besinnung auf wundervolle Shoot em up Tugenden sind Argumente die den Genre Fan überzeugen.

Nur mit der richtigen Waffenauswahl und Einprägung der Angriffsmuster Eurer Feinde kann der Spieler das Ende des Games bewundern

Gradius V zelebriert Shoot em up Action in Reinkultur. Alle Freunde dieses Genres sollten sich dieses Highlight für die gute PS2 besorgen. Nie waren Emotionen in einem Videospiel lauter und besser verpackt als in diesem Nonstop Ballerinferno.

Probiert es aus und sagt Euren Fingern lebewohl. Gradius war ist und bleibt Kult !

© KONAMI

Gradius V Staff

System: PlayStation 2

Genre: Shoot em up      Release: Juli 2004 (JP)    Oktober 2004 (PAL)

Game Planning / Direction

Hiroshi Iuchi / Atsutomo Nakagawa

Executive Producer

Masato Maegawa / Michihiro Ishizuka

Producer

Yasushi Takano

Main Program

Atsutomo Nakagawa

Program

Masakazu Takeda

Music

Hitoshi Sakimoto

Wissenswertes

• Treasure holte sich für die Programmierung, noch Mitglieder von G.rev ins Haus. Dieses auf Arcade Titel spezialisierte Entwicklerstudio übernahm Teile der eigentlichen Programmierung und das Hintergrund Grafik Design.

Well I’ve been assembling the core components of a vertical scrolling shooter using various parts of the Hoth Strike game as a starting point. For the most part Hoth Strike came out pretty much as I’d planned it so it seemed like a logical starting point.
I’m keen to explore ways of scrolling rich content through the game window so as I’ve alluded to in earlier posts a 1942 style shooter seems like a good way to go.

Just now I have the bits you’d expect from any arcade game – title screen, ready state, score / status bar, keyboard controlled player ship, multiple rapid fire lasers, explosions, game over etc. In itself that’s the seeds of a game but I wanted to explore a new area in game design; staged content. So I also wrote a simple tile-based background scroller that repeats Scooby Doo style.
Currently I have created enough tiles to fill the game window with a static water texture.
The way I want the scrolling to work is fairly simple theory.

Each tile is 64 x 64. The game window is 384 x 512. I can therefore fit 6 x 8 tiles comfortably within the tile area.
But 8 rows of 6 tiles (48) isn’t enough since the tiles that fall off the bottom of the play area don’t reappear until they’ve fallen to their height beneath the play area. e.g. the canvas is 512px high. When the x,y of a tile is 0,513 I reposition it at 0 – tile height (i.e.  -64px). Using this approach I theoretically leave a glaring gap in the tiles.
So I need more tiles to fill the gaps to make the whole process seamless.

By effectively reusing these tiles I can create the illusion of a complex background scrolling through the game window.

Illustration to show the movement and re-use of background tiles within the game window. Click to enlarge.

So, stepping back to the tile dropping beneath the canvas height, I increment a tile marker each time this happens.
In a separate array I store which images are stored in each of the 6 tiles for the current tile marker.
Currently the only images are water tiles but I intend to create a wealth of different tiles.

In short then, when a row of tiles drops out of view I “re paint” them based on my level design and re-position them above the playing area such that they are about to reappear. All the time I am re-using the same 60 tile objects.

What falls out of the bottom of this approach is the need for a simple level editor.
An editor that allows me to create dozens (maybe more) of tile graphics and simply construct a level.
Currently each level is a collection of tiles with no other purpose than to look pretty. What I may implement is the ability to animate or alter certain tiles if the player moves over them. Not sure yet where the design is going to take me.

Finally a word on staging the action. Shooters like 1942 and Don Pachi use a staged approach that allows enemies to fly in at set intervals. This interval is not always based on the position that the game is in in relation to the background (some is since tanks moving along roads wouldn’t work otherwise), more it is in relation to the structured order of events. If a squadron of planes flies in formation and loops around inviting the player to attack it it may take the player 1 minute or 5 seconds to despatch them. If the staging was tied to the scrolling scenery then we’d soon see enemies bunching up on screen.

What I intend to create is a triggering of action based upon an “ideal” time (probably based on the incrementing tile marker) but more strongly dictated by whether or not the stage is clear for the action to take place.
More on that later.

Y3 Online Games

SteppenWolf Chapter 5 Episode 4
Tags: HT83 Games, Y3 games, Unrated games, Flash, Interactive Fiction, Adventure, 1 Player, Series, Role Playing, Puzzle,
Infomation: Save the boy from being eaten by the creature!
How to play: Arrow keys to walk Shift to run Ctrl to short jump Shift + Ctrl to long jump Space for action keys T to toggle the selected items I to open inventory
Free Play at http://www.y3games.net/

Zhang
Tags: HT83 Games, Y3 games, Unrated games, Flash, Adventure, Blood, 1 Player, Action, Magic, Killing, Sword, Fire,
Infomation: Jien and Lian are tasked to defend the city from Nian monsters. Can you help them save the city before it’s too late? This is an awesome slaying game. Good luck!
How to play: W / A / S / D – Movement. J – Attack. K – Destroy. See in-game instructions for special attacks.
Free Play at http://www.y3games.net/

Magic Sword
Tags: HT83 Games, Y3 games, Unrated games, Flash, Action, Beat Em Up, 1 Player, Sword, Fighting,
Infomation: Sidescrolling fighting. One key to slash, the rest of your moves are results of remembering combos.
How to play: W- Move Left A- Move Back S- Move Right D- Move towards I- Menu O- Unsummon Elf J- Attack K- Jump L- Block ;- Element Elf
Free Play at http://www.y3games.net/

Heman and the Masters of the Universe
Tags: HT83 Games, Y3 games, Arcade, Unrated games, Shockwave, 1 Player, Action, Platforms,
Infomation: Nice game based on the famous cartoons Heman!
How to play: ARROW keys to move SPACE to swing sword
Free Play at http://www.y3games.net/

Cross The Street
Tags: HT83 Games, Y3 games, Serving, Unrated games, Flash, Beer, 1 Player, Evade, Food,
Infomation: Serve your customers as a street waiter and get there orders across the street.
How to play: Use arrow keys to play the game.
Free Play at http://www.y3games.net/

Asterix y Obelix
Tags: HT83 Games, Y3 games, Unrated games, Flash, Collecting Games, Adventure, 1 Player, Obstacle,
Infomation: Help Obelix to pick up all the coins in Galia and avoid the wild boar and the roman soldiers.
How to play: Arrow Keys – Move. Space Bar – Punch.
Free Play at http://www.y3games.net/

Evil Switch
Tags: HT83 Games, Y3 games, Flash, Unrated games, 1 Player, Matching Game,
Infomation: Swap tiles to create matching sets of three or more. Sets (Combos) are removed and added to the soul saver (lower right). Extra bonus points awarded for soul saver combos.
How to play: Arrow keys- To select. Space bar- To rotate/choose selection.
Free Play at http://www.y3games.net/

Earth Rock Hunter
Tags: HT83 Games, Y3 games, ship, Unrated games, Flash, 1 Player, Action, Shoot Em Up, Rocks, Space, Spaceship, Educational, Flying,
Infomation: Earth has exploded and you must collect all the priceless rocks flying through space!
How to play: Arrow keys-To move. Space bar or mouse click- To fire.
Free Play at http://www.y3games.net/

Lone Faction 2
Tags: HT83 Games, Y3 games, Unrated games, 1 Player, Action, Flash, Shoot Em Up, Robots, Escape, Fighting,
Infomation: Help Bionic escape from the facility that created him.
How to play: Arrow key left- To move left. Arrow key right- To move right. Arrow key up- To jump. Arrow key down- Crouch. Space bar- To fire. Escape key- Quit. 1- Equip pistol. 2- Equip shotgun. 3- Equip rocket launcher.
Free Play at http://www.y3games.net/

Medicine Service
Tags: HT83 Games, Y3 games, Unrated games, Flash, 1 Player, Matching Game,
Infomation: You are a pharmacist and its your job to give your customer the right medicine they needed
How to play: Use arrow keys to move.
Free Play at http://www.y3games.net/

I’m inbetween game projects just now. Have been for some time. I keep picking up my adventure / RPG game idea and tinkering with it and then it all seems a million miles away from starting so I sit back in my chair and ponder other ideas. As much as I love the thought of getting my hands dirty with a large scale game it’s the smaller games that give me a real buzz as a game designer.

So I’m looking around and piecing together some ideas.

I’m currently thinking vertical scrolling shooter. The manic type. Think Ikaruga, Radiant Silvergun, Border Down; that kind of thing. They are the single reason I own a Dreamcast and it’s still plugged in and used. Manic shooters like this are just the epitome of awesome in my opinion. My all time favourite, Bangai-O, is just too mental. I couldn’t begin to think about the mechanics of representing something like that in JavaScript. But a vertical shooter might just be on the cards.

In my teens I was a huge fan of 1942 in the arcades. In recent years it’s undergone a few facelifts but ultimately it’s the same game. I’m pretty keen to use the model for my own shooter.

I put together a few tests for scrolling a patchwork static background that worked well. I refer to it as the moving stage. At various points on the stage I position sprites and scenery that slowly scroll in to view as the stage slides down through the play field. As soon as any adversary sprites hit the playfield margin (typically CanvasOrigin – 128px) they come to life and start to move in their own particular way.

Better still I put a starship (actually it was a helicopter since I wanted to animate it convincingly and I LOVE Border Down) at the base and had it shoot dozens of bullets around the screen at once.

Aliens would come in to view, fire their missiles and swoop off out of sight never to be seen again.

It was pure chaos and just what I’m after. The mechanics of a game like this are pretty simple. The skill is in the staging to actually make a decent game out of it.

More theory to follow as well as a working title for the game. Exciting times

Y3 Online Games

Grossology The Big Bug Blast
Tags: HT83 Games, Y3 games, Flash, Unrated games, 1 Player, Action, Shoot Em Up,
Infomation: Shoot the bugs as they continue to fill the screen in this sidescroller.
How to play: Arrow Keys – Move. Spacebar – Shoot.
Free Play at http://www.y3games.net/

SEO Game
Tags: HT83 Games, Y3 games, Unrated games, Flash, Collecting Games, 1 Player, Evade,
Infomation: Guide MoteurZine on his quest for Search Engine Optimization. Make your way through the different levels (Orange, Ask, MSN Live, Yahoo, and Google). Collect Search Engine Gold to score points. Get the key card to open doors to new levels. Avoid electronic enemies who will try to slow you down. PDA’s can be defeated by jumping on them but USB keys and Routers must be avoided.
How to play: Arrow left/right- To move. Space bar- To jump.
Free Play at http://www.y3games.net/

Abstract Sea
Tags: HT83 Games, Y3 games, Unrated games, 1 Player, Flash, Shoot Em Up,
Infomation: Fight your way to victory with this miniature ships.
How to play: W,A,S,D or Arrow Keys – Movement. Left Mouse Key – To shoot.
Free Play at http://www.y3games.net/

Gravity Vortex
Tags: HT83 Games, Y3 games, Flash, Unrated games, 1 Player, Shoot Em Up, Obstacle, Flying,
Infomation: Control gravity and move from the top to the bottom of the cavern as you fire your arm strapped gun.
How to play: Spacebar – Shift Gravity. Mouse – Aim / Shoot.
Free Play at http://www.y3games.net/

Hellephant
Tags: HT83 Games, Y3 games, Animal, Unrated games, Shockwave, 1 Player, Shooting, Mouse Skill, Evade,
Infomation: Shoot the flying big game hunter, demon mouse, and flaming lion.
How to play: Use arrow keys to move and mouse to fire. Shoot flaming peanuts and collect five shelled peanuts to clear level.
Free Play at http://www.y3games.net/

Appliances Run Amuck
Tags: HT83 Games, Y3 games, Collecting Games, Unrated games, 1 Player, Flash, Evade,
Infomation: Household appliances have taken over the world. Renegade appliances are working to destroy what civilization remains. You must defend civilization and take back the renegade’s greatest resource: their plugs. You will need to endure a gauntlet of tasks to save the world, avoid renegade appliances and watch out also for oil spills.
How to play: Arrow keys- To move.
Free Play at http://www.y3games.net/

Bravo Haetae
Tags: HT83 Games, Y3 games, Flash, Action, Arcade, Unrated games, 1 Player, Shoot Em Up, Food,
Infomation: It’s a Korean shoot em up game. You either choose between a boy or a girl and your enemy here is foods.
How to play: Use arrow keys to move and space
Free Play at http://www.y3games.net/

Monos Movilicense
Tags: HT83 Games, Y3 games, Collecting Games, Adventure, Unrated games, 1 Player, Flash, Shoot Em Up,
Infomation: Find the needed pieces to assemble the rocket. Pick up the bonus to get new weapons.
How to play: Arrow Keys – Move. Spacebar – Shoot. Ctrl – Launch Missiles.
Free Play at http://www.y3games.net/

The Blackout
Tags: HT83 Games, Y3 games, Flash, Unrated games, 1 Player, Shooting, Shoot Em Up,
Infomation: Suck the good red guys into your gun for power, avoid other blue guys and shoot them to keep from dying.
How to play: Mouse – Aim / Shoot. A – Absorb a Power.
Free Play at http://www.y3games.net/

Pelican Lost
Tags: HT83 Games, Y3 games, Flash, Unrated games, 1 Player,
Infomation: Play and enjoy lot of levels of great fun!
How to play:
Free Play at http://www.y3games.net/

Video Game Review
Vulgus
Arcade
1984
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom, SNK

Capcom isn’t notorious for having great shoot-em-ups but their first video game ever was a vertical shooter. Vulgus, co-published with SNK, was a solid arcade game that took in quite a bit of quarters back in the day. While there are more sophisticated shooters now, it still is an enjoyable diversion that provides a formidable challenge.

The idea is really simple. You’re piloting a ship that is fighting against an alien army. You have two types of weapons at your disposal: a standard blaster weapon and a more powerful rocket cannon. While you have unlimited ammo for your blaster, you only have a few rockets so you need to use them wisely and pick-up additional rocket ammo units when possible. The enemies attack in random patterns with the exception of one set that fly onto the screen and pause in a particular formation then fly off. Some enemies are more difficult to destroy than others and as the game progresses, their attacks patterns and tactics become more dangerous. This forces the player to take both an offensive and defensive position throughout the game. The game doesn’t really have levels although the backgrounds do change after a while. The object of the game is score as many points possible.

A notable thing about this game is that even though it was released in the mid-80s, the controls feel very fluid. Many games coming out of that era had controls that felt a little delayed or unresponsive. For a game like Vulgus where the action can get quite intense, the controls feel incredibly responsive. The controls never fail the player; you die because either the action is too frantic on the screen and/or you’re just not good enough. Even though the controls are not fully analog (it uses an eight-direction joystick), you wouldn’t know it as you can whip your ship around in any direction you need to survive.

The presentation is fine and it stands up well today compared to other shooters of that era. Despite its limited hardware architecture, the game would have been one of the nicer looking games on an 8-bit console had it been released for the home market (a NES semi-port was in the works but never released). The sounds are forgettable though as the in-game music can be a bit annoying since it’s just the same ten-second sequence played over and over again. The sound effects are pretty bad as it sounds like more like static than anything else. It sounds like noises that are coming through an AM radio that’s sitting under a tunnel. Although, the music doesn’t come into play much since survival is more important than taking some quality time to listen to the game’s soundtrack. You’re more likely to tune out of the music and focus more on the game.

It’s unfortunate that Vulgus never saw the legengdary status acquired by other arcade shooters like Space Invaders or Galaga because it really is a quality title. It has survived through various video game compilations, PDA software releases, and is available for download on the internet if you look hard enough. It’s a fun timewaster that makes for an enjoyable break-time game. It’s not exactly going to blow anyone’s mind due to its limited design but its challenging game play and easy controls make it a classic game in the shooter genre. It’s simple, but it’s simple fun.

☆☆☆

IREM zeigt nach der aufgetretenen Bug Verzögerung einige weitere Bilder.

Darüberhinaus wird auch der neue Kommandant und ein weiterer Bomber Type des Hex Feld Titels enthüllt.

Der Nachfolger R-Type Tactics II – Operation Bitter Chocolate, hatte ja im ursprünglich geplanten Japanischen Oktober Release, einige Startschwierigkeiten.

Die heutige Famitsu News enthüllt weiterhin einen immer noch nicht konkretisierten Release Termin des Tactical Games. November 2009 heisst es lapidar in der News.

R-Type Tactics II verlasse sich auf die bekannten Kontrollmechanismen des eingängigen Vorgängers, erweitere dies in der Fortsetzung aber um weitere neue Kommandos.

Auch wird es neue Einheiten im Sequel geben. Dazu ein erstes Bild der Bomber Unit (Kingusu Maindo).

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Die R Einheit Rw-9AD3 verfügt über eine Serienmäßige Wave Cannon, kann bei Bedarf aber auch modifiziert werden.

Der Kommandant der Erd Streitkräfte

Hier nun ein Bild von Claude Lau, dem neuen.

R-Type: Flash of the Void

Von der Hexfeld Perle R-Type Tactics II abgesehen, ist vor einigen Tagen auch das Gerücht über ein brandneues R-Type aufgetaucht.

IREM werkelt an einem Mini Game 3D Shooter, für das Japanische Home. Erste Bilder dazu, findet Ihr hier.

Ein bisschen seltsam finde ich die ganze Sache schon. Erst kündigt Kazuma Kujo Produzent der Serie, mit dem damaligen grandiosen R-Type Final, theatralisch dass Ende der Serie an und nun scheint es bei diesem Merchandise einen zweiten Frühling zu geben.

Hmmm verstehe wieder einer die Japaner ….. ^^

via Famitsu

© IREM

I can laugh at nearly anything whether it is silly, witty, parody, or satire. Arrested Development, Dumb and Dumber, any Will Ferell movie, the British office, or Hot Fuzz, they can all be enjoyed in different ways. Shoot Em’ Up falls into none of the above. It is a complete failure and a major disappointment. That is not because expectations were high, it is because the movie is just that damn bad. Not bad in the sense where you can laugh at it, but bad in the sense where you want to leave the theater before it is over.

This is an action/comedy/spoof where you can’t really question anything that happens because it is meant to be as ridiculous as possible. It succeeds in that aspect, but fails at being entertaining. This may be because the filmmakers were far to serious about not taking anything serious at all.

Right from the get go is an action scene that sets the tone the rest of the way. Smith (Clive Owen) is a stranger who battles 100 bad guys to rescue some random screaming pregnant lady (during which he delivers the baby and shoots off the umbilical cord with a gun) who the bad guys are after. He shoots an oil container and slides 50 feet on his back while shooting, taking out everyone around him. These types of scenes are repeated in increasingly ridiculous fashion. There is a shootout while Smith has sex with a prostitute named Donna (Monica Belluci), and a skydiving fight sequence, with each scene trying to top the previous one.

But there is no plot. These action scenes are piled on one another with little story to tie them together. Smith is a stranger who is caught up in some scheme where bad guy leader (Paul Giamatti) desperately wants to murder the baby Smith now has, in order for some bone marrow transplant to not happen while signing some sort of gun deal with a politician? It doesn’t make much sense at all, but even with fluff action pieces like Crank (which I liked), the story was coherent enough to follow.

The characters have quirks that are artificial and pointless. Smith eats carrots like Bugs Bunny, his hooker friend Donna is lactating, and bad guy Hertz (Paul Giamatti) gropes a dead woman’s tit in an attempt to suck on it. Not to mention the creepy bad guy who makes out with this dog, then tries to molest it later. None of this comes off as funny

The movie is meant to be stupid-funny but just comes across as terrible. Remember how bad the Wayans brothers were when they hosted the MTV Movie Awards awhile back? This film is almost that bad. This is Michael Davis’s (writer/director) theatrical debut, with all of his previous work released to DVD only. His resume includes the films Monster Man and 100 Girls. He also wrote the atrocity that is “Double Dragon”.

Even at its extremely slim 85 minute running time, it still feels way to long. You can only have so many action scenes until they start becoming a chore to watch, especially when there is no realism in anything at all. The acting makes as little sense as the plot. Monica Belluci comes across as someone who is speaking English for the first time, which doesn’t do anything to help her performance. Clive Owen seems like he wasn’t even trying. Maybe director Michael Davis told them to act bad on purpose.

This movie is a cartoon turned live-action cocaine induced fantasy, with a drug addicts wit minus the funny or entertaining bits. At absolutely no time did I enjoy watching this, and for the first time in many years, I debated walking out of the theater. If you can laugh throughout the movie, you may enjoy it. I however, did not.

Kurz vor dem Ende des Tages wollen wir euch noch eine neue Rubrik vorstellen; den Minigame-Mittwoch. Hier werden wir euch wöchentlich neue bzw. eigentlich eher alte Spiele präsentieren, die aufgrund ihres Kultstatus’ bereits eine kostenlose Online- oder Download-Auflage bekommen haben.

Den Anfang macht heute Contra, ein Arcade-Shooter aus dem Jahre 1987. Bis 2004 sind schon schon 10 Titel dieser Serie erschienen, allesamt von Konami publiziert und größtenteils auch von ihnen entwickelt. Wer mit dem Namen Contra nichts anfangen kann, wird vielleicht dennoch Probotector kennen. Es hat generell genau das Gleiche zu bieten, aber aufgrund von drohenden Indizierungen wurden die menschlichen Charaktere durch Roboter ersetzt. Contra wird als Vorreiter der seitwärts scrollenden Shooter bezeichnet und läutete somit die allseits bekannte Run ‘n Gun-Zeit ein.

Wie diese Bezeichnung schon vermuten lässt, stellt das Spiel eine Mischung aus Jump ‘n’ Run und Shoot ‘em up dar. Das Prinzip ist dabei natürlich ähnlich stumpf wie motivierend: man steuert seine Spielfigur (laut Cover wohl Arnold Schwarzenegger bzw. Sylvester Stallone alias John Rambo) durch – mit 2D-Hintergründen gestalteten – Levels, die sogar teilweise interaktive Möglichkeiten bieten wie beispielsweise das Zerschießen von Gegenständen. Ziel ist es natürlich währenddessen den massigen Gegnerscharen zu trotzen und dessen Geschossen auszuweichen, um keines der wertvollen (drei) Leben zu verlieren. Man muss also auf mehr achten, als man zuerst denken mag und dadurch erschwert sich das Spiel unheimlich – es ist also in zweierlei Hinsicht kein Kinderspiel.

Besonders aufregend und speziell gestalten sich die Begegnungen mit den Endgegnern, welche wirklich eindrucksvoll dargestellt sind und die es in mehreren Etappen zu besiegen gilt. Aufgrund des teilweise recht hohen Schwierigkeitsgrades empfiehlt es sich natürlich, das Spiel zu zweit im Koop-Modus zu bewältigen – damals wurde auf solche Modi nämlich noch wesentlich mehr Wert gelegt als heute!

Wer sich der Herausforderung stellen will, kann das mittlerweile online tun (allerdings wird dafür das kostenlose Java benötigt):

Contra alias Probotector online spielen!

Wenn eventuell gerade keine Lust auf einen Shooter besteht oder ihr einfach nicht weiterkommt, könnt ihr euch hier noch einen beeindruckenden Speedrun anschauen:

Feines Update zum kommenden portablen Shoot em up Fest Darius Burst ist eingetroffen.

Lest etwas über die verschiedenen Piloten, Waffensysteme, Levelabschnitte und einen ersten exklusiven Einblick in die Technoiden Endbosse.

Die Dengeki News enthüllte für alle Shoot em up Freunde, feines neues Ingame Material und weitere höcht interesannte Neuigkeiten. Hier ein kleiner Überblick über die komplette News ….

Die Piloten bei Darius Burst

Der Darius Burst Spieler, wird laut News über zwei verschiedene Units verfügen. Diese sind auch gleichzeitig von zwei verschiedenen Charakteren besetzt.

Ti2, ist dem ersten Unit zugeteilt. Was besonderst überrascht, ist die Tatsache, dass Ti2, eine AI (Artificial Intelligence) des Darius Raumschiffes ist. Tiatto, wie sie auch genannt wird, ist die Nachbildung eines legänderen Darius Piloten. Das linke Bild zeigt Ti2 im normalen Zustand. Das Bild daneben nach der Einspeisung ins Darius System.

Dem Unit 2 zugeordnet, beschreibt die News den zweiten Charakter alsTest Piloten der Puratika Liga. Diese Bezeichnung, steht für den Code Namen der dieser angehörigen Millitär Einheiten.

Ti2

Männlicher Pilot

Waffensysteme bei Darius Burst

Standart Schuss mit Missiles

Laser mit Raketen

Wave Shot

Die Darius Burst Zonen

Wie ich schon in der letzten News zum Titel erzählt habe, bietet Darius Burst, alternative Levelrouten, welche in verschiedene Zonen unterteilt sind. Auch hier gibt es erste Eindrücke der verschiedenen Stages des Shooters.

ZONE A (STAGE 1)

ZONE B (STAGE2)

ZONE C (STAGE3)

ZONE D (STAGE 3)

Die ersten beiden Bosse

Natürlich geizt die News auch mit ersten Bildern von den Boss Gegnern nicht. Hier seht Ihr zwei von Ihnen. Der erste wird Lightning Flamberge (Raitoningufuranberuju) und der zweite als Dark Castle (Jukyassuru Mirror) bezeichnet.

Alle weiteren Bilder (und das sind einige ^^) findet Ihr in obiger News.

via Dengeki Online

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