Psikyo Amusement Works.

[xS]

Ah well, now that we’ve got the Cave and Raizing threads up, I’d figured it’d be best if I’d post a Psikyo thread.

I have no clue about their origins, but here are a bunch of viable theories.

1) Most of us have played Capcoms 194- series. Strikers plays an awful lot like them, and includes many of the ships and bosses used in these games. And apparently they’ve got the 1942 guy working on their BGM.=\
2) SNK ripped off capcoms 19xx series to make Sky Soldiers. Video System made its Aero Fighters games on Neo Geo hardware, and they play just like evolved versions of sky soldiers. And these games play just like Psikyo’s Strikers.
3) A bunch of gimps just decided to make some awesome shmups

Anyways, for those of you who have never played any Psikyo game, here’s how they play: Loads of fast paced bullets, no itsy bitsy bullet dodging, short levels and most of their focus is on boss design. And their scoring systems are relatively simple, no OMGF {}_|_]LZ {|-|@1N 3VR3Y71|\|6 shenanigans here.

Their games…..

Strikers

1945. Amid the chaos and upheavel,
the world has not obtained real peace.
The allied military special commando
force Strikers receives a new mission.

The ultimate WWII shooter series. All three Strikers games use the simple Psikyo formula, just no nonsense firing and bombing along the way, blasting up all sorts of evil Axis baddies, and a few alien and mech type things along the way.

Strikers 1945 has one of the most daring endings evar….


Gunbird


Take the Strikers formula, slap on some cute characters chasing after some magical pirates and some potion and you’ve got Gunbird!(omgf)

The original is available as Mobile Light Force…. It’s a decent game, but it’s hard to play after the awesome Dreamcast sequel. Gunbird 2 is one of the most harrowing experiences ever, and it’s my favorite DC shooter.

And there’s this Gunbird spinoff game called Gunbarich… which is a shmup/breakout hybrid.


Just like in Strikers the artists did some very perverted things to their characters.>_<


And another interesting thing to note is Gunbird 2 is has been horribly maligned by the press….3/10 by ODCM and 5/10 by EGM.

Sengoku



Sengoku Ace was their first game, and yes it does follow the same formula. It feels a bit aged for some reason.=\


It’s Sequel Sengoku Blade/Tengai is the most intense horizontal shooter ever. Most horiz have you slowly memorizing stuff as you go along(gradius/r type), but this game just throws out a ton of bullets at you. I wish that we had more games like this.: (

Zero Gunner


Their most unique series. Bullet formations and bosses are similar to what we’ve seen before, but the rotation mechanic is something that more games need to implement. I believe that these games are based on Model 2 hardware, so chances are that the first will never be emulated.


We’ve played this on our Dreamcasts, I personally felt under whelmed playing this game. It’s a very intense Mercs type shooter featuring Capcom characters like Megaman for those of you who don’t know.



Take the Psikyo formula, add Dragons, and a trillion bullets and you’ve got this. The attack patterns are some of the most wicked I’ve ever seen, they seem like a culmination of Psikyo’s speed and Caves showers. I have not played too much of this, so I’ll reserve my judgment for later.:P



Another horizontal shooter from Psikyo, and it’s thoroughly average.



I’ve never played this one….

Or this one….
Space Bomber


Once again, I’ve missed out. No RAINE support.=\

They’ve also worked on some fighters. I’m not a big fan, but I’ll just list em anyways. [b]Battle K Road[b/]- never played, looks thoroughly shit, Daraku Tenshi Fallen Angels- KOF ripoff, Groove on Fight- Saturn cult classic

Lode Runner: the dig fight

Well, it’s a recent (or so I think) version of the classic plattfomer Lode Runner. It’s a lot of fun for what it is…

And they’ve worked on other stuff like G Taste Mahjong, Quiz de Idol and Taisen Hot Gimmik, which are not worth listing here among all of their classics.

Unfortunately, Psikyo has just croaked. The arcade market is dying, and it seems that you have to some sort of dancing gimmick to survive these days. I wonder how long Alfa, Treasure, Cave, and Taito will last….

Ah well, at least we’ve got the cell phone version of Gunbird.=)

Forgive me if I didn’t write enough

[Frogacuda]

Originally posted by xS
Zero Gunner


Their most unique series. Bullet formations and bosses are similar to what we’ve seen before, but the rotation mechanic is something that more games need to implement. I believe that these games are based on Model 2 hardware, so chances are that the first will never be emulated.

The first one is on Model 2 hardware, and it's already emulated. It's not nearly as good as the second (which is Naomi native, btw). Pilot Kids is emulated too, btw.

[thumbnail]http://www.eden.rutgers.edu/~tfahs/ZeroGunner.jpg[/thumbnail]

[xS]

I couldn't find it on .dk.

Btw, someone tell me whenever Space Bomber and Gunbarich are on RAINE.

[Frogacuda]

Originally posted by xS
I couldn't find it on .dk.

That's because it's not emulated in MAME. (Thank God. That would be slow as shit).

[xS]

Gimme TEH R0MZ.(on xengen)

[Frogacuda]

Here's a not-so-subtle hint about what emulates it.

[xS]

I have Pentium 3, 500 mhz, Vodoo 1... is that enough

[Frogacuda]

Originally posted by xS
I have Pentium 3, 500 mhz, Vodoo 1... is that enough

Probably not. RAM requirements are hefty as well. give it a try though. Request fullfilled on XG.

[xS]

Thanks. I'll check it out. Btw, is the Aerofighters team alive?

[Victrix]

Strikers 1999, Dragon Blaze, and Zero Gunner 2 are all quite cool, and got basically zero exposure as far as I know. They mechanics in each were getting pretty nicely refined, and I really wish there was more than a slim chance that we'll ever see newer evolutions of each.

For those that don't know, Strikers 1999 was (I think :P) released in the arcades here as Strikers 1945 III (two was released as Strikers 1945 on the psx, farther confusing matters), and I don't think it had a home release. It was the latest version of their Strikers formula, with several ships, each possessing a different subshot, a different charged shot, and a different 'bomb' (the bombs in Strikers are usually a little different than a splitsecond screenclearing flash, they often call in bombing strikes from other planes, blocking fighters, or um, transform you into a robot and drop an atomic explosion). It also added a 'Technical Shot', the ability to kill all but the last few bosses instantly, but only if you could get up to point blank range at a certain time and hit their exposed core - which they only show for a second, and they can't be too damaged, meaning you risk a longer fight if you miss it.

Dragon Blaze had all of the above, plus an additional mechanic - you're riding on a dragon, and the third button allows you to dismount, leaving your dragon to fight on its own. The dismount is also forceful, and will ram and destroy most mid to large sized enemies on a level, encouraging aggressive play - it also causes extra golden coins to spew out of enemies, giving you more points (normal coins dropped are silver, and there are less of them). The charge shot is different while mounted or dismounted, and I believe your sprite is smaller while dismounted (your sprite while mounted is also smaller, which is unusual for Psikyo, as they usually have rather unforgiving sprite sizes, but then again, their games are less manic than Caves).

And last, Zero Gunner 2, which was a helicopter based shooter, with a very interesting (and well done) rotation mechanic, allowing you to deal with threats from all sides. The graphics in this were quite impressive, particularly the multipart bosses this time around, as their transformation sequences were pretty darn awesome.

Sadly, outside Gunbird 2 (insanely hard imo), and Zero Gunner 2 (import only DC), I suspect most people haven't had much experience with Psikyo shooters, outside perhaps a mouldering and smoke covered Strikers 1945 I cabinet at the local pool hall. I know I never saw any of their more recent games in any arcades.

Looks like we won't be seeing anything else from them now though :/