Thunder Force V, Glimpse of Shooter Heaven

To enjoy this review fully you'll need to put on a pair of nostalgia specs. If your monitor becomes a bit finicky and rough around the edges, don't fret, that's just the early 1998 resolution: a way-back realm of low polygons and rough CG compression.

Today we enter the house of PlayStation. Pop the flap open, place the black disk onto the reel—make sure to hold it by its sides—and press in the circular Power button. Let's begin our venture into another classic shooter: Thunder Force V.

Touted as the greatest shooter series amongst its numerous fans, Thunder Force V first came out on Sega Saturn in 1997, and got its well deserved PS1 port the following year. Thunder Force V deserves its spot in the limelight for three reasons: it has wickedly articulate mechanical designs—a la Gundam, lots of gnawing skirmishes, and a kick-ass hard-rocking soundtrack.

I was going to write how utterly and undeniably awesome Thunder Force V is, but as soon as I started playing it an unprecedented nostalgic feeling swept over me.

It's 1998, I'm 18 and chilling at my friend's house. He tells me to check out this new Japanese shooter he just got, and plumps the game disc into his PS1. He takes a few steps towards me to hand me a controller, but accidentally trips on the system's power cord, pulling the entire PS1 off of the TV shelf...

We spent the next 20 minutes trying to secure a near busted flap so the laser would read the disk. Two well placed Hobby Japan magazines later, and we're finally playing Thunder Force V. An hour into the game, we're staring at the screen mesmerized by the game's up-beat tempo, iconic design, while thumping our feet to some of the most irresistible rock/metal tunes to grace a video game.

I wasn't kidding when I told you to put on those nostalgia specs.

Playing shooters on the PS1 was almost ceremonial in my friend circles. Because everyone I knew had their system “chipped” to play imported and copied games; our combined game libraries were overflowing with obscure titles. We'd play games before and after school, sometimes popping into a friend's abode at lunch or during a spare class.

Sometimes the good ol' Playstation would get finicky and not load certain games, or unplugging a controller would delete the memory card, but that didn't matter to us. Replaying games would mean more time spent with our favourite hobby. Sometimes we would stop playing to scrounge for some leftover pasta in the kitchen—which we would usually overcook due to not paying attention. Most times though, it was all about gaming till dawn.

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Getting together for some gaming was a familiar scene for the entire PS1 life cycle. It was a time of socializing in smaller less intrusive groups. And a time when the gaming industry was at the pinnacle of innovation—not technologically by creatively. Although I do not resent today's focus on sharing of our digitized persona, I do believe that to appreciate something artistic to a greater length one must observe and share the experience of it with another person present. Passively playing video games with close friends seems to be a forgotten hobby these days. Luckily my PS1 is still spinning all its games.

I hope you enjoyed spending time dodging bullets in the Den of Shooters. If you're curious about this often overlooked genre of games check out my feature on the origin of shoot 'em ups: Inside The Bullet Hurricane.  

Developer: Technosoft

Publisher: Technosoft, Working Designs

Platform: Sega Saturn, PlayStation

Genre: Shooter

Released: 1997

Raiden 3: Den of Red Thunder and Blue Lightning

Hi there reader. Do you like score-based vertical shooters? Are your digits dexterous enough to withstand onslaughts of virtual bullets? Is your PS2 getting kinda lonely sitting between its two fresher siblings?

If you answered yes to even one of those questions, you're cool enough to glide with the dual player lightning called Raiden 3. Place your PS2 vertically, unravel its controller cords, and sit down comfortably. Time to ride the lightning.

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The Raiden series is probably the most recognizable arcade-style game in shooter history. One or two players control either the red or the blue ship, and blast away clusters of enemy spacecraft. This formula has served the series well since its 1990 inception, and Raiden 3 is no different.

This is the type of game in which you'll spend many lives trying to figure out enemy patters. You'll chase elusive floating weapon upgrades. And you'll dodge waves of bullets shot from fleets of futuristic war machines like jets, choppers, submarines, spaceships, and huge menacing bosses. It's fun. It's frantic. And the best part: it can all be shared with another player, because the game can be played simultaneously.

All the classic Raiden weaponry is here too: the Vulcan shot which spreads broad, the piercing blue laser that's injected with lightning for good measure, and the good ol' Proton blast used to incinerate foes in a sweeping wave. There are also three different missile types and, of course, your ship is equipped with a projectile clearing, and very destructive, cluster bomb(s). Unleash the payload and let 'em rust in peace!

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Although the game is 2-D, all moving sprites and all the structures in the backgrounds have been skillfully sculpted with polygons—adding surprising depth to the scrolling battlefields. All the battlegrounds are scenic and enjoyable to fly by: beaches, cities, asteroid colonies, and metallic fortresses with confining corridors; everything in the game is well detailed and clearly defined. I almost feel bad for shooting down all those shiny jets and impressive bosses.

When two players are playing simultaneously, the screen can become splattered with bullets decreasing visibility and amplifying the inertia. This is what classic shooting action is all about. If you or the person you're playing with is new to shooters, the game has several difficulty levels that can either, ease you in, or grind you down.

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After finishing a stage, you can select to practice on that stage or try gunning for a higher score; you may even choose to fight any boss after beating the game once. There's a gallery of production artwork, and a feature to watch your saved replays. All the options make the game very user friendly and re-playable. For some added wackiness, I recommend the Double Play Mode where one player can control two ships with one controller.   

Classic arcade games like Raiden 3 are all almost gone and forgotten. I found my copy while cottaging in a small lake-side town, and payed $10 for it. It was worth every dollar. Anyone who still recalls the lure of the arcades will get a kick out of this classic. Filled with fast-paced action, easy to understand mechanics, and armed with catchy techno-synth tunes, Raiden 3 will take you on a memorable flight. Don't be afraid to clip your wings, and shoot down all incoming ships.

Developer: Moss Ltd.

Publisher: UFO

Platform: PS2

Genre: Vertical Shooter

Released: 2007 (US)

hardcoregaming101

R-Type III: Legendary Lightning Strikes

A vortex of dark matter swirls fast as its secret curtain is forced to part. Inside it, a graceful dark-blue pulse of the Ion Hub appears. The throbbing energy source blows out plasma in an organismic explosion of hidden cosmic synergy.  

Stars begin to fade as each piece of the Anti-BYDO Dimension Drive assembles, piece by piece, onto the core of the Ion Hub. In mere seconds an entire frame appears. Metal twists and bends, encasing the vital BydoChip components: cockpit, wings, and thrusters glow, signaling a release of stored energy.

With a swift thrust of its anti-matter engine the R-90 soars to skirmish once more.

gamespot.com

R-Type III: The Third Lightning was released in 1993. This SNES exclusive is rightly considered to be the greatest of the R-Type series. Nineties shooters were a staple of the 16-bit era, some were good, some not so much, others quite unique. This game belongs to the fourth kind: absolutely brilliant. 

To stop the BYDO Empire invasion you take control of Earth's deadliest vessel: R-90 Ragnarok. Just like in every R-Type game before it, the R-90 is armed with an indestructible spherical attachment called the Force: a living weapon that can operate independently from the main ship.

Having a free-floating module injects strategy into the regular shoot-'em-up formula. By positioning the Force behind or in front of the ship, players can take out enemies by trapping them in a cross-fire. If the screen fills with too many projectiles the Force can be attached onto the rear or front of the ship, and act as an impenetrable shield. You can select three different Force modules, with each one having different weapon power-ups and effects when detached.

Blue Pow

The game has six challenging stages which crank the difficulty the farther you progress. Each stage has memorable and unique mechanics that hinder your flight: moving corridors, acidic droplets that eat away parts of the level, giant furnaces spewing fire, plots of enemies, and direction-reversing shifts in specific spaces. The foes come relentlessly, and often fill the screen leaving a speck of space for movement. Speed-ups are scarce. Meaning, it's sometimes prudent to start the game from the beginning hoping your nerves hold up.

Each level has a distinctive ecology, mirrored in its enemy design. The vivid backgrounds have an amazing degree of depth, clarity, and detail -- quite uncommon for 16-bit shooters. This is the only shooter I know that scrolls, forwards, backwards, up and down. In the third stage, you fly downwards a mechanical tunnel, then move forwards and up. The level ends with a spider-like boss that can freely ascend and descend the tunnel's walls. Madness!

Alien(s) R-Type Style

The end level guardians are all hideously monstrous abominations spawned from the seed of man-made BYDO organic weapons. These rampant and vicious foes were initially made to propel man's universal dominion over the universe, but now stand in your way ready to devour. The BYDO bosses are unmistakable. There's, H.R. Giger's Alien-influenced, Dobkeratops; something somewhat reminiscent of reproductive organs called Gomander, the elusive Mother Bydo, and many more. (See R-Type Wiki.)

And there's the music... Incredible. Clearly arranged by an imaginatively deranged musical mind. My best description would be: catchy progressively rocking tunes, filled with Jazzy elements  that flow through percussive bass grooves. Inspired by techno, industrial, rock and Eastern influences. It's something totally unique, and at times, very energetic--especially the boss music. The cartridge is filled with must-hear arrangements that will imprint its sonic forces on your ears long after you get blown to bits by this classic's difficult onslaught.  

The game is hard. Really hard. I'm not sure if I'm a patient person by nature, or if this game made me very... meticulous. Either way, you can spend many hours playing this game, and that does not even mean you'll get to the end of the Advanced Mission scenario. R-Type is a long running series with its own extensive lore, and Third Lightning is one of the best in that gorging embryo of wickedness. A must play for any fan of side-scrolling shooters.

Developer: Irem

Publisher: Irem

Platform: SNES, Game Boy Advance, Virtual Console

Genre: Shooter

Released: 1993

hardcoregaming101

Blastin' Away Lords of Thunder

Cold November currents come upon us and bring corroded winds. Something wicked begins to stir. Lords of Thunder must be near.

Time has come for rain, rigid cold, and tornadoes to instill fear. Kick-ass classic shooter action elevate this sphere.

Elemental Armour Awaken!

 

Released in 1993, Lords of Thunder is a shooter that has ascended to the pinnacle of classic 2D gaming. Are you ready for a furiously fast, ball-crushing, heavy metal ride, that will incinerate your mind?

In this side-scrolling shooter, you adorn a magical flying armour of your legendary ancestors. Have cool and rip through the skies to thwart your enemies plan to revive "The Dark One." No need for elaborate tales -- this is a 90s game tried and true.

Before blasting off, you can select from six stages and four different armours: wind, water, earth and fire. Each armour has different types of attacks and packs a massive screen-clearing projectile. Picking the right armour for a specific stage is key to smoothly progressing through this bullet grinder.

mojenintendo

The game has very distinctive and vibrant style influenced by medieval fantasy themes. While a bit static, the backgrounds are clear and smooth. And the varied enemies you'll encounter add another layer of visual flair to pull your eyes in. A whole kingly court of biological and technological life is here: fire dragons, wizards, knights, living vyvern gondolas, and huge armoured-clad demonic bosses all await your blade.

The game's pacing is fast, with hectic patterns of baddies stuffing the screen. Your armour has a weapon power/life bar, but those can be drained rather quickly in the harder stages. To balance the difficulty, you can collect gems from fallen foes to power up your main weapon, or buy additional lives and shields. The ability to shop for upgrades before each stage is a marvelous idea and a cool feature that injects strategy into this title.

nintendoworldreport.com

While most shooter games use various techno/industrial musical schemes, this game has a very dedicated and awesome soundtrack. All tracks in Lord of Thunder sound as if played by a professional band. Furiously fast rhythm guitars, pulsating bass, crushing drums and dizzying solos are all part of this game's repertoire of sound. No mere chip-tune music in this venture, just balls-to-the-wall heavy metal.

My only complaint is that the sound FX can drown out the music at times. Oh well, there's always music test in the option menu. If arcade style shooters are your thing, this is a game you'll definitely want to play often, and loud. For mere $8 bucks you can get this game on Wii Virtual Console, and establish your own thunderous hegemony. Go ahead, capture this lightning in a bottle. I dare you.

quebecgamers.com

destructoid.com

Developer: Hudson Soft, Red Entertainment

Publisher: Hudson Soft

Platform: TurboDuo, Sega CD, Virtual Console, PS Network

Released: 1993

Genre: Shooter

Stars and Zombies: Resident Evil Umbrella Conspiracy

Today, a series of violent and gruesome murders stirs the silent mountain town of Raccoon City. To end the rumours surrounding the bizarre attacks, the Special Tactics And Rescue Service are deployed to investigate the mountain community.

Resident Evil: The Umbrella Conspiracy is a novel based on the PS1 survivor horror game: Resident Evil. And like the game, the book illustrates the fate of the S.T.A.R.S. team as they try to survive inside a mysterious mansion filled with zombies and deadly puzzles.

Are the S.T.A.R.S. doomed to fail their first mission?

titanbooks.com

A novel based on a video game? Yup. I didn't quite know what to make of it at first too. But being a huge fan of Resident Evil games, I decided to give the book a lurk. What I found within was a surprisingly well-written recreation of the video game in its entirety.

Let's dine on expressive penmanship tonight.

The first Resident Evil game is known for horrific critters, and intense survivalist moments that come from a memorable cast trying to solve a mystery inside a cryptic mansion. The book recreates those settings in great detail:

“It looked abandoned from the outside, the weathered wood and stone of the giant mansion crumbling and dark. The full size of the structure was cloaked by the shadowy, overgrown hedges that surrounded it, isolating it form the forest. A massive outset front porch presented double doors, their only option...”

This descriptive narrative carries through the entirety of the book, dragging you into the dark horrors of a zombie filled opulent mansion. Where each door opened reveals more mystery of a strange T-Virus and the fate of its, aimlessly shambling, flesh-eating creators. Unlike the game where you play with only one chosen character, the novel focuses on several key characters: Chris, Jill, Rebecca, Albert and Barry.

S.D. Perry has crafted a chilling mystery by choosing to write the story through several narratives—mostly Chris, Jill and Rebecca. This first-person account of events allows for character specific commentary, which adds some unexpected deviation from the script set by the video game.

“And if you don't pull your head out of your ass and start being more careful, you're going to join them—another torn and lifeless body crumpled in a cold hallway somewhere, another victim to the insanity of this house.”

classicgames.about.com

I enjoyed reading how each of the characters explored specific parts of the elaborate mansion and its surrounding grounds. This gave the novel a more immediate pace, and took care of the tedious back and fore shuffling in the game.

Also, by describing the horror of the titular residence using the five senses, and inner-monologues, the book adds an extra dimension that complements the video game nicely. When playing the game I never imagined that the house smelled like a putrid, damp, meat locker. Yuck.

If you played the game, you'll undoubtedly smirk at certain parts in the novel. I don't want to give away too much, but if you got flustered with the game's uncanny camera angles and puzzles, and thought they could have been solved by more gun-raging approaches, S.D. Parry has been there along with you and mentioned/fixed it in her narrative.

If you're a newcomer to the world of Resident Evil you may find the book a bit silly. Since the cover has exact replicas of the game's CG characters, it's safe to say the book is marketed to Res Evil fans. If you happen to be in the comforting safety of your abode, I re... Hold on.

I though there was someone lurking outside my window. Never mind. I re...

What! Is someone at the door? I can hear your feet shuffling; I should check if the door is locked. Oh no, the lock is turning! Who are you? Wait wait... (muffled screams).

~~~~~ Four putrid skinless menacing curs out of five.

Trust Me I'm Lying: Manifesto of Online Media [un]Truths

Getting through to people is no easy task. Especially when you have an entire microcosm of instantaneous online information to contend with. Ask any budding PR professional about how hard it is to get publicity on an issue/campaign and they will tel you: It's really hard.

For Ryan Holiday, all it takes is a well placed [manufactured] tidbit of info wiggled in front of a starving blogger. Once the “mark” is hooked the entire media monster will often rear its starving maw.

Pull at own risk.

Who is Ryan? Ryan Holiday is a Director of Marketing for a well know apparel company. As part of his actual job he often machinates media to promote and hack brand names and products. How? By turning a something small -- often ridiculous and fabricated -- into a hot topic the entire online economy cannot resist.

Amazon.com

Ryan illustrates how getting a small blog to cover your story can often float that story upward to bigger outlets. Mind you, that the story in question is completely prefabricated and specifically designed to go viral. He calls this “trading up the chain,” and details how it can have immense benefits for a product or brand.

Gossip blogs, technology blogs, fashion blogs, political blogs, are now prominent news outlets -- or are often owned by bigger media corps. All need the scoops. All have new and daily postings. All of them craft useful content to inform their readers, right? Wrong. In the era of the paid by click economy the only thing that matters to bloggers is getting their site the hits.

How is this done? By crafting pseudo-exclusive news. Entire articles written for the sake of driving traffic and selling goods. But what happens when this shady tactic is used to shift and/or manipulate public opinion? Hold on to your keyboard, because the entire Internet is full of this sort of manipulation.

“And sure, sometimes people get mad when they realize they've been tricked. Readers don't like to learn that the story they read was baseless. Bloggers don't like to learn that I played them. But this is the risk bloggers and I take, mostly because the consequences are so low.”

In Trust Me I'm Lying, not only does Ryan share his knowledge of media vulnerabilities, he also exposes its chronic addiction to always craft/steal scoops at all cost. To stay relevant, and to make profits, blogs need to be updated all the time. This creates the need for content. Unfortunately, relevant news does not happen all that often. To fix that, bloggers need to create newsworthy events out of nothing to keep their sites updated daily (sometimes hourly).

Saga by Image Comics

In this vacuum of forced publishing the very idea of well-thought, researched, and accurate stories is best left with the scribes of the past. Content that does not spread is dead. And what spreads are loaded stories to inspire anger, cutesy pictures, short paragraphs, gossip, and many, many, lists. Usefulness and correctness of the content is always second to maximizing the spread.

Check this leaked guideline to pseudo-posting: Crap advice for novices.

The book goes in-depth on how to corrupt and inject stories to bloggers. It also shows in detail the affect that something entirely fabricated can have on individuals and companies. Welcome to [un]reality. PR folks beware.

I enjoyed Ryan's insight on the unseen side of the communication biz: death of the RSS Feed, coverage about coverage, myth of corrections, and keeping things broken on purpose. He backs his points with his own case studies, and compendium of links to examples that often prove how little credible fact checking and sourcing there is online. It's indeed a place ripe with exploitation.

Lazy journalism and media manipulation may not be the newest of topics. But as far as I know there has not been a story angle written from the point of the manipulator. You may not like Ryan (or the fact he has used his shady tactics to promote his book), but keep in mind that he is not the only deception artist that keeps the digital pen corroded.  

Red Shirts: The Short Life of Ensign... [What was his name?]

Imagine checking your spaceship's food synthesizer on deck six, when suddenly a violent explosion rips apart the hull sucking out your frozen visage onto the void of space. 

Not the most glamourous way to go, for an ensign.

Every work of sci-fi needs a space battle, or a needlessly complex and dangerous away mission in which some poor—usually nameless—ensign dies. Horribly. Pointlessly. But what if all those low-ranked lives were real and actually meaningful? 

In Red Shirts they are. 

Meet ensign Andrew Dahl, a new upstart who just joined the Universal Union Capital Ship Intrepid. His station: xenobiology laboratory. All was right for this young cadet, until his laboratory crew vanished. Or hid to be exact. Why? Because two senior officers of the Intrepid just walked in with a quite improbable request. 

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If you ever watched cable TV sci-fi, you'll probably admit that a lot of the narrative seems to be quite implausible, sometimes even downright silly. Quirky technology, unscientific science, and a lot of messy skirmishes by supposed advanced civilizations. It's all super entertaining. It's also what makes Red Shirts such a hoot to read. 

In Red Shirts this wacky cable sci-fi narrative is imposed onto actual beings, but treats them as expendable extras. The characters are just regular Joe-workers trying to make it through away missions which seem to take away too many of their crew-mates. The result: hyper-reality doused in hilarity.

There's much to be taken from this surprisingly clever book: It's as we're allowed to peer behind scenes, to catch a glimpse at how professional crewmen live out their existence in deep space. It all seems grand and well, until the forced narrative physics start to control and twist the destiny of the entire Intrepid crew.

The writing is simple and crisp. Brief paragraphs. Fast sentences. Simple language. Mr. Scalzi's screen-writing prose really shows in pacing and scene development. The novel has that hook and pull quality of an episodic TV show. Although it's much more grimy, intimate and sexual than a weekly TV show. 

The characters and their reactions to the unreality around them is what makes this book for me: 

“It's messed up that the most rational explanation for what does go on on this ship is that a television show intrudes on our reality and warps it. But that's not even the worst thing.”

“Jesus Christ! if that's not the worst thing, what is?” 

“That as far as I can tell, it's not actually a very good show.” 

John Scalzi, the author of the book, has been a creative consultant on the Stargate: Universe franchise. It's no surprise that his book is sci-fi written for the fans by a fan. And the proof is in the script: witty, [im]probable and engaging; here's a man that knows his way around a starship deck—or a make believe deck, I should say.

Sorry I got to end this post, just remembered that I need to dispose of all my red shirts. There's too much plasma residue on 'em...