I played the Famicom version when younger and got frustrated because the game never ended. It is interesting to see that the games from early to mid-eighties were never based on actual storytelling, just score points.
Yep. Cave tried to do that too with it's 90's to modern shooters however the really messed it up by going crazy with the Lolita style girls. We don't need that crap in a shooter.
The NES version by Tecmo has a few differences to it over the Famicom. The music is slightly different, both in the "Stage Start" theme, and the in-stage and powerup themes are different in how the sound channels are used. Particularly the fact the noise channel is actually used to add percussion to the music.
Treeface Tomorrow I'll get a quick bit of footage recorded for the NES version (debating on emulator or recording off a real system via original cart) to show how much fuller the NES one's music was over the Fami. NES also got a Game Over tune exclusive to it.
It's not just "a few" differences, its a LOT different. I 've played both versions a lot for scoring and there's a lot of stuff different on both versions. Scoring is different, enemy layout is different, bullets amount is different, the japanese vesion has bugs that aren't on the american one. The difficulty is very different too.
And from what a livestreamer and speedrunner I know in the Netherlands has told me, even the PAL NES version has pattern differences from the North American one.
I freaking *LOVE* this game, played it a lot in score competitions here. Did you know about the Cleopatra Bonus? :D This game has lots of scoring nuances and a few scoring secrets, It's also a blast to play :D The NES and Famicom versions are different. While the NES was handled by Hudson, I believe Tecmo itself handled the american version, which was released a few years later. The American version is more polished, it has better music, better graphics, the difficulty is different and the scoring is different (because it has more enemies you can score a lot more of points earlier in the game), it doesn't have the bugs the japanese one has (in the Famicom version bullets sometimes warp from one side of the screen to the other. This is particularly annoying when it happens vertically). I played the Famicom version to death so I can't say I like the NES one more. :) But undoubtly the NES version is a lot more polished and better made overall.
Now, that I didn't know. I was always under the impression that the NES version was the same game. Wish I had known that in advance as I would have added both versions to this video.
Nice. Happy to hear that. I tend to putt hem out at around 10:30 in the morning here in Japan so it's online for most of the world when they wake up :)
Cheers fulgenzio1973. That's much appreciated. I actually got banned from Neo GAF for talking about my own channel years ago. Not that I really care but they are kind of ruthless with that ban hammer.
I really my all time favorite arcade shooter Star Force my first port I play was the Famicom when I was a 8 year old child since 2009. My Rank of my favorite ports of Star Force 1st Famicom and NES (US) 2nd Super Famicom and X68000 3rd GBA Last Place was my least favorite port was SG-1000 and MSX
Do you remember Astro Warrior for Master System? I've been always confused because Astro Warrior and Star Force are really similar. The tile based background and the overall game is really similar. I just played Star Force on NES and probably on a pirate multicart, but Astro Warrior on Master System I played a lot.
Thanks, Sonic Thrillington. I wish my channel was as big as 8bit guy. He's got loads of subscribers. Great content too. Kim Justice seems to be slowing down a little these days but there's still good stuff to be seen on that channel.
how could you forget "dying" trying to pulloff those little secrets shooting that first square in each sector.... or those arrows blocks... or those sponge bullet bosses XD
Retro Core Even then, it's hard. One of the randomly-selected levels in "SHMUPS Skills Test" on Steam goes from a Space Invaders style straight to something similar to Star Force.
This is one of my favorite NES shooters, but I cant remember ever playing it the arcade in the 80's. I guess it wasn't a big selling game or distributed well to the arcades where I grew up (Oklahoma). And you'd think Hudson Soft would have greatly improved the graphics for the Super Famicon version. It could have been a great shooter like Toho's Space Megaforce was. Still big thumbs up on this video!!
Always saw the Star Force cabs busy at the arcades in Japan, its a classic in Japan, one of the cornerstones for tate shmups. Still perfectly playable to this day, I for myself have both arcade versions (in America its called Mega Froce)
I don't recall playing Star Force before Mark. But if its a shooter, then I'm certainly interested. I think I'll try it out. Nice work Mark. I learned something new today. 8^) Anthony..
New subber here. Love the content. I bought the NES version many moons ago and I still hold it high in regards in the game play department. I hope to get to the Omega boss so I can call it good someday but man is that game brutally difficult!
US release and Japanese release version of Starforce on NES/FC is a little bit different. US version is much more harder than Japanese version. As you can see, Alpha level on US version has almost the same difficulty as Gamma level of Japanese version. oh, by the way, music is different as well.
@@losalfajoresok PROTEUS on C64 was intended to be a Starforce clone, Firebird had changes made, so it wasn't so similar and game became Warhawk : www.gamesthatwerent.com/gtw64/proteus/
Whilst I do like Star Force and Star Soldier on the super famicom, it's is literally 'Button Mashing: The Game' . Heck. in Japan, there was a guy in Hudson named Mr Takahashi who was capable of pressing the controller button 16 times per second, Master Higgins of Adventure Island is also based on his appearance at the time!
Japan remembers this game well, but America got tired of space shooters. Same reason why Contra is loved more by American gamers than Gradius. For Star Force, Famicom version was developed by Hudson. NES one was from Tecmo themselves. There are differences.
So the X68000 isn't emulated? Sure looks like it when it "checks the roms". It also seems the kind of game the system could run with all of its limbs tied behind its back while deciphering the enigma code at the same time.
No, the X68000 version is re-programmed. Dempa do that fake arcade boot up on all of the arcade anthology games. It's not actually booting anything but running a program to give the impression it's booting up the arcade.
...for an extra authentic experience! I'm still glad I didn't know about the X68000 when I was younger and the Amiga was my main system. How blissfully ignorant I was. ;) On the other hand, the Amiga is/was a very interesting machine for original games, just not for arcade perfect games.
Another game from the same time (not very similar, more like terra kresta) was Vulgus by capcom. Remember this game? I played a lot on arcades! Was that release for any other platform? I think it's also on some capcom collection or so but I don't remember seen this on any computer or console back in the day.
I played Terra Cresta quite a lot on NES and once in a while on Arcades, but I'm not a big fun either. Vulgus is maybe the first arcade game I ever played! At least I can't think on any other game I played before that one :) Not a super awesome game, but it's special for me because of that :)
I must say that the SF version I see at the height of the SMS, and I am not being exaggerated. I think they should have worked hard on a 16 bit level version.
They should have improved it more but to be honest they were probably concerned about the cartridge memory size since the Caravan Shooting Collection also includes two other games.
Retro Core well there’s a sky force and a star farce, so android and ios has gotten close. funny...feels like star farce has been mentioned before somewhere...strange
I though I had done Star Force in the past but I don't think I have to be honest. Then again, I'm now up to show 190 this week so it's becoming difficult to keep track with ough referring to the excel sheet I made.
I used to play a game on my c64 called Lightforce...it was pretty crap apart from the stunning Rob Hubbard soundtrack...but I always wondered where it came from. It's a pretty blatant clone of this.
![Blox Fruits Dragon Rework Update [Full Stream]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EqDAp8udhm0/mqdefault.jpg)
I played the Famicom version when younger and got frustrated because the game never ended. It is interesting to see that the games from early to mid-eighties were never based on actual storytelling, just score points.
Yep. Cave tried to do that too with it's 90's to modern shooters however the really messed it up by going crazy with the Lolita style girls. We don't need that crap in a shooter.
All arcade games were this way.
The NES version by Tecmo has a few differences to it over the Famicom. The music is slightly different, both in the "Stage Start" theme, and the in-stage and powerup themes are different in how the sound channels are used. Particularly the fact the noise channel is actually used to add percussion to the music.
I noticed that too, the NES version seems to be the Super Famicom version from the video. At least music wise but also the sprites are very similar.
Treeface Tomorrow I'll get a quick bit of footage recorded for the NES version (debating on emulator or recording off a real system via original cart) to show how much fuller the NES one's music was over the Fami. NES also got a Game Over tune exclusive to it.
It's not just "a few" differences, its a LOT different. I 've played both versions a lot for scoring and there's a lot of stuff different on both versions. Scoring is different, enemy layout is different, bullets amount is different, the japanese vesion has bugs that aren't on the american one. The difficulty is very different too.
And from what a livestreamer and speedrunner I know in the Netherlands has told me, even the PAL NES version has pattern differences from the North American one.
Ok, now I have to try the PAL version :D
There also Star Force on GBA part of the Hudson Best Collection Vol.5
I freaking *LOVE* this game, played it a lot in score competitions here. Did you know about the Cleopatra Bonus? :D This game has lots of scoring nuances and a few scoring secrets, It's also a blast to play :D
The NES and Famicom versions are different. While the NES was handled by Hudson, I believe Tecmo itself handled the american version, which was released a few years later.
The American version is more polished, it has better music, better graphics, the difficulty is different and the scoring is different (because it has more enemies you can score a lot more of points earlier in the game), it doesn't have the bugs the japanese one has (in the Famicom version bullets sometimes warp from one side of the screen to the other. This is particularly annoying when it happens vertically).
I played the Famicom version to death so I can't say I like the NES one more. :) But undoubtly the NES version is a lot more polished and better made overall.
Now, that I didn't know. I was always under the impression that the NES version was the same game. Wish I had known that in advance as I would have added both versions to this video.
That intro when start the game really catchy even for these days
Amazing! Love watching these while drinking coffee in the mornings here in the USA.
Nice. Happy to hear that. I tend to putt hem out at around 10:30 in the morning here in Japan so it's online for most of the world when they wake up :)
Every time i read a retrogaming thread on Neo-Gaf, i spam this channel, because it's the best on youtube, by far.
Cheers fulgenzio1973. That's much appreciated. I actually got banned from Neo GAF for talking about my own channel years ago. Not that I really care but they are kind of ruthless with that ban hammer.
Neo-Gaf's moderators are usually a bunch of morons, but the forum is very popular, so it' a good place to spam quality website and/or YT channels.
Yeah, true. I've heard many stories about the mods. Oh well.
Neo GAF is full of power hungry control freaks, most of them on the same tier as PedoEr- I mean ResetEra.
I really my all time favorite arcade shooter Star Force my first port I play was the Famicom when I was a 8 year old child since 2009.
My Rank of my favorite ports of Star Force
1st Famicom and NES (US)
2nd Super Famicom and X68000
3rd GBA
Last Place was my least favorite port was SG-1000 and MSX
Do you remember Astro Warrior for Master System? I've been always confused because Astro Warrior and Star Force are really similar. The tile based background and the overall game is really similar. I just played Star Force on NES and probably on a pirate multicart, but Astro Warrior on Master System I played a lot.
Oh yes, I know Astro Warrior on the Master System. I can see the similarities between that and Star Force.
I still love the tune when you get the second ship. It's so lovely.
It's like "it's all happy time" music.
Retro Core that tune makes me remember this game because gameplay-wise I really sucked at it.
very xevious like!
Larry Bundy Jr yes, xevious was a very influential shooter, especially for Japanese 80s shooters
Famicom version looks nice, I"ll give a try. Surprisingly good the SG-1000 port. Nice comparision!
Great video thanks very much.
No worries. Glad you enjoyed it.
I think I had the NES port. I remember it being a fun game. but wow, that X68000 port, though. looks darn good.
I love this game, 2nd favorite arcade game of all time after galaga, great video
There were so many of these kinds of games released in the 1980s, that if you blinked, you missed like...20.
That's so true. A lot of them are really dull too.
I know this channel is in rapid growth like the 8 bit guy and Kim Justice. Another stellar in depth video!
Thanks, Sonic Thrillington. I wish my channel was as big as 8bit guy. He's got loads of subscribers. Great content too. Kim Justice seems to be slowing down a little these days but there's still good stuff to be seen on that channel.
how could you forget "dying" trying to pulloff those little secrets shooting that first square in each sector.... or those arrows blocks... or those sponge bullet bosses XD
It is a tough game, that's for sure. Well, until you get the power up.
Retro Core Even then, it's hard. One of the randomly-selected levels in "SHMUPS Skills Test" on Steam goes from a Space Invaders style straight to something similar to Star Force.
This is one of my favorite NES shooters, but I cant remember ever playing it the arcade in the 80's. I guess it wasn't a big selling game or distributed well to the arcades where I grew up (Oklahoma). And you'd think Hudson Soft would have greatly improved the graphics for the Super Famicon version. It could have been a great shooter like Toho's Space Megaforce was. Still big thumbs up on this video!!
Inthe US the arcade version was called Mega Force for some reason. You may have seen it under that name.
Always saw the Star Force cabs busy at the arcades in Japan, its a classic in Japan, one of the cornerstones for tate shmups. Still perfectly playable to this day, I for myself have both arcade versions (in America its called Mega Froce)
I wonder why the changed the name for the US release in the arcade but kept with Star Force for the NES release?
I had this game on a Dendy multicart
Arcade Archives for me.
Good job
Ya missed one. The US release of Star Force for the NES is actually a different port done by Tecmo themselves without any involvement from Hudson.
yeah, a few others have pointed that out. I wasn't aware they were different from one another. oh well.
I don't recall playing Star Force before Mark. But if its a shooter, then I'm certainly interested. I think I'll try it out.
Nice work Mark. I learned something new today. 8^)
Anthony..
It was called Mega Force in US arcade but kept the Japanese / EU name of Star Force for the NES release.
New subber here. Love the content. I bought the NES version many moons ago and I still hold it high in regards in the game play department. I hope to get to the Omega boss so I can call it good someday but man is that game brutally difficult!
Welcome to the channel. I hope you can find many videos to enjoy.
I also saw your post about Zsnes. You'll be happy to know that is no longer used.
I wonder if that crap at the top of the screen in the SFC version would have been hidden in the overscan area?
Most likely it would have but then again that would also depend on the TV as not all CRTs had overscan back in the day.
US release and Japanese release version of Starforce on NES/FC is a little bit different. US version is much more harder than Japanese version. As you can see, Alpha level on US version has almost the same difficulty as Gamma level of Japanese version.
oh, by the way, music is different as well.
Thanks for commenting. I wasn't aware of those differences.
Warhawk on the c64 reminds me a lot of this game.
That is what I was about to say, I think is the C64 version actually with another name.
@@losalfajoresok PROTEUS on C64 was intended to be a Starforce clone, Firebird had changes made, so it wasn't so similar and game became Warhawk :
www.gamesthatwerent.com/gtw64/proteus/
Was the X68000 a computer that ran with a vertical monitor (aka Tate mode)?
Not as standard but you could put the monitor on its side if you wished.
Whilst I do like Star Force and Star Soldier on the super famicom, it's is literally 'Button Mashing: The Game' . Heck. in Japan, there was a guy in Hudson named Mr Takahashi who was capable of pressing the controller button 16 times per second, Master Higgins of Adventure Island is also based on his appearance at the time!
16 times per second? Wow, that can't be humanly possible, can it?
One of my friends can do 15 rather consistently
Plot twist: I secretly knew you would do this next.
And what's that font you used for your title screen, anyway?
The font for the Battle of the Ports logo? It's the Space Harrier font by Sega :)
Retro Core What is the font *called* , I mean.
oh, I don't know. I renamed it to SP-Harrier so I could find it easier in Photo Shop.
Japan remembers this game well, but America got tired of space shooters. Same reason why Contra is loved more by American gamers than Gradius.
For Star Force, Famicom version was developed by Hudson. NES one was from Tecmo themselves. There are differences.
Yeah, a few have pointed out that the NES version was different. Wish I had known that before making this video.
Retro Core At 7:30, you referred to Star Force as "Star Ship".
This was one of the games in persona 5. Increases guts.
Oh, they have it hidden in there as an extra? That's pretty cool.
So the X68000 isn't emulated? Sure looks like it when it "checks the roms". It also seems the kind of game the system could run with all of its limbs tied behind its back while deciphering the enigma code at the same time.
No, the X68000 version is re-programmed. Dempa do that fake arcade boot up on all of the arcade anthology games. It's not actually booting anything but running a program to give the impression it's booting up the arcade.
...for an extra authentic experience! I'm still glad I didn't know about the X68000 when I was younger and the Amiga was my main system. How blissfully ignorant I was. ;) On the other hand, the Amiga is/was a very interesting machine for original games, just not for arcade perfect games.
I think the original games on the Amiga can be fantastic. It's just a shame that 90% of the arcade ports are awful.
Another game from the same time (not very similar, more like terra kresta) was Vulgus by capcom. Remember this game? I played a lot on arcades! Was that release for any other platform? I think it's also on some capcom collection or so but I don't remember seen this on any computer or console back in the day.
Vulgus I certainly do remember. Also Terra Cresta although I'm not a big fan of that one.
I played Terra Cresta quite a lot on NES and once in a while on Arcades, but I'm not a big fun either. Vulgus is maybe the first arcade game I ever played! At least I can't think on any other game I played before that one :) Not a super awesome game, but it's special for me because of that :)
I must say that the SF version I see at the height of the SMS, and I am not being exaggerated. I think they should have worked hard on a 16 bit level version.
They should have improved it more but to be honest they were probably concerned about the cartridge memory size since the Caravan Shooting Collection also includes two other games.
i kinda want that x68000 version now...but there’s probably an android version somewhere
Not officially but you never know.
Retro Core well there’s a sky force and a star farce, so android and ios has gotten close.
funny...feels like star farce has been mentioned before somewhere...strange
I though I had done Star Force in the past but I don't think I have to be honest. Then again, I'm now up to show 190 this week so it's becoming difficult to keep track with ough referring to the excel sheet I made.
Maybe not a port but Warhawk on the C64 is almost a copy of Starforce.
That it is. There's probably a few others out there too that were "inspired" by Star Force.
On the C64 there is also Fire Track in the same vein
So is Lightforce also on the C64...pretty influential.
And Plutos on ST / Amiga..Wow there was no shortage of Star Force rip-offs in Europe back then!
Astro Warrior for Master System is also a copy.
I used to play a game on my c64 called Lightforce...it was pretty crap apart from the stunning Rob Hubbard soundtrack...but I always wondered where it came from.
It's a pretty blatant clone of this.
There's another clone of Star Force on the C64 called WarHawk. Just goes to show how popular Star Force was back in the day.
Well there was no official conversion...ripe for a cloning or two.
and c64?????
It's not on the C64. You're probably thinking of Warhawk which is a game copied from Star Force.
Famicom version looks nice, I"ll give a try. Surprisingly good the SG-1000 port. Nice comparision!
Thanks. I was expecting much worse form the SG-1000 to be honest.