I just imported Esp Ra De and was looking for some help getting started when I came across this awesome video. I feel like I've got a lot to learn when it comes to STGs, but people like yourself producing quality content are really making the genre more accessible. Thank you! 😃👍🏻
M2 are a class act that's for sure. Their Futari port was a high water mark at the time. They also did a superb port of Sega Tetris for the JP-PS2 that not many know about - it is comprehensive with a pile of options and additions but also shows attention to detail - you can even recreate the random seed that the arcade machine uses on power up which gave you the same sequence of pieces in the first game you play. :) It even supports replays and has a handful of super plays to watch. I haven't jumped to this gen yet but the PS4 is looking more attractive with each shmup release like this. With you on the DDP release.....I play it in MAME and on the Saturn but it would be nice for it to get a modern treatment - makes me wonder if Cave have lost the source code....
Killer review. Just found your channel. Every single M2 Shottrigger release deserves an awesome deep dive review like you have done here. Insta-liked and subbed!
Dammit Mark, I went through the entire rigamarole of buying the m2 ports via the JPN PS Store but your RetroArch settings are making even these ports feel pretty laggy by comparison. That runahead feature feels like actual magic. Great review either way, keep up the great work!
I love this freaking game. It is by far my favourite Cave shmup Really love the port for the PS4 scaling is butter smooth with no jitter or anything. At least from my experience
@@TheElectricUnderground People will if you continue to create video content like this one ;) As of now you have at least 17k people who have been exposed to the game! Keep em coming :D
The best mechanic for milking bosses I've seen was in QP Shooting Dangerous. In that game, every single boss pattern summoned objects for you to destroy and score points, but doing so also damaged the boss. Attacking the boss directly was for when you couldn't handle the pattern anymore and wanted to sacrifice points to end things early. That's the only shooting game where I bothered to boss-milk. The game was designed for you to do it, and it didn't make the fights too long or boring.
From the interviews I think the room decoration mode, Irori's Room (Irori no Heya) is based on Junya Inoue's illustration where Irori is chilling in a room. And yes, the game contains LOOT BOXES! To get the cosmetics, you need to pull from the pull box or something. Worry not, the loot box has total zero monetization. Just play the Missions like a madman.
Interesting, do you buy the boxes with in-game currency, or actual money $$$? That would be shady if they charged actual money, but these days that wouldn't surprise me either.
The only way to get the tickets is to play the Missions in Irori’s Room. I’m not sure if the tickets are tied to the characters or universal. You can’t use real currency. And no other currency. 1 ticket equals 1 pull.
@@BalsticMaker12 Tickets are universal, and can be spent by any character. But I believe the character you use to buy the loot box will trigger the personal cosmetics (as opposed to room cosmetics).
Hi, great review, I was doing a stream yesterday of some Saturn Shmups and someone suggested I check out your channel, great stuff! Subbed :) Also, I'm loving playing ESP Ra De on the switch! Picked it up in Japan a few weeks ago!
Thanks for the in depth. Found this looking for comparison of PS4 vs Switch versions as I’m trying to get back into Shmups after a 10+ year hiatus. Also, I guess I’m casual core since that Esper’s Room thing looks interesting 😆
Thanks Mark! Good job bro. I always emulate this one, but glad to see your input being put out there. You always do well catering to the non-shmup community or the new players.
I have a passing interest in shmups and have been collecting this line. Been a big fan of M2 since playing their Sega 3D classics. If only I was better at the genre.
Thanks for watching! Yeah shmups certainly have a learning curve, but the good news is that games like this with the arcade challenge and save states can really help you build up your skills without repeating stuff over and over. I also think playing some touhou games on normal and easy difficulty is a fun and useful way to improve at the genre.
Great review! I did know that M2 did release Mushihimesama Futari on the Xbox 360, it seems that we are seeing more arcade games targeting to the younger generation with arcade games that are impossible to 1CC.... These days, shmups were the kings in arcades (as well as run n guns like Metal Slug) allowing players to challenge for a high score and a personal best. But at the end it's all about having fun and enjoying this very difficult genre. All it takes is a few resources such as an arcade stick, a screen monitor, any consoles and of course a lot of practice. Remember, if you lose a life in the first or second stage, never throw the credit away, there are many options in recovery and who knows, it can turn out well at the end! I heard news that there was plans on a localisation (possibly on Siliconera or Gematsu) of Deathsmiles and Deathsmiles II (first one is released already but I think Deathsmiles II could be a release on consoles such as the PS4 last year but it was never heard again, I could be wrong... Overall, great summary run! ESPrade will be my next challenge and maybe get back to Saidaioujou (managed to unlock Saya for use in the other modes but her normal ending is nothing)! I managed to get 1 trillion with each ship (Type A-Power is uploaded on my channel now) in power style in 1.51, took several practices but it was definitely a greatest accomplishment.
Top notch review! I am not particularly fond of ESP.RA.DE. but I will eventually buy it, M2 needs all the support we can give them. Still hoping they will eventually port one of the 3 first DonPachi games!
Dude this a great video and I appreciate the inspiration since I really wanted to talk about Ketsui soon. One oversight I noticed with these Arcade Challenge modes is that Rank changes aren't applied so you still need save states to actually practice I feel. I was thrown off a lot because things ended up way harder than what I practiced.
Great review. As you said, I think that the Iori's Room mode was definitely included with the intention in mind to broaden the audience for the game, which can never a bad thing for these games, hah :D I've yet to try out any other modes besides Arcade and Arcade Plus, I can imagine it being servicable for a little change of pace every now and then :) I was of the impression that the Analogue DAC only works in combination with Analogue devices?
Hi man! Thanks for tuning in and the words of support. Regarding the analogue DAC, thank you for the heads up! I had just been looking at pictures of the inputs and after reading your comment I looked into compat and you are right, it's their products only (which is lame). So, I'll have to look into tracking down another set of my gamer fury cables, RIP.
I haven't actually checked out the Shot Triggers ports yet (mostly because I don't own a PS4 and at this point I might as well wait for the PS5), so I only saw a run of this game yesterday from Jaimers. So here are some of my random thoughts with this port: I love the change in perspective in ESP.Ra.De. as compared to the the usual military shmups. The colours are a lot more vivid for a CAVE game (and while SDOJ also has the colours pop it is limited by its blue-green-grey colour palette) and the ships which were much smaller in DDP games are now massive. The character animations are very nice and fluid. The ESP and cyber aspects are definitely very reminiscent of anime from that era, which I certainly appreciate (screw the moe and ecchi stuff that run rampant nowadays). For the port specifically, Jaimers had pretty much all of the gadgets up and I enjoyed seeing the extra trivia about each stage (map layout, enemies in the stage, boss names), although I have doubts as to whether a player could even see some of the other extra info (like the hits with the special shot) when they are focusing on the action. I mentioned how the art style in Touhou was closer to ESP.Ra.De. in your IN video and that was before I even knew about how Touhou took inspiration from this game. I guess that just goes to show how strong the connection is between these two games. Also it is cool that Touhou took inspiration from the original ESP.Ra.De., then two decades later this port pays homage to Touhou. The name Alice is very prevalent in the Touhou franchise (the character Alice Margatroid, the dev team named Team Shanghai Alice, various themes like Alice Maestra), and combined with the slower patterns in the Alice Master fight, it definitely screams Touhou. Also, Alice Maestra translates to Alice Master. In regards to the lack of arrange modes and soundtracks, those in other CAVE games came from ports that CAVE made themselves. ESP.Ra.De. having no console ports made by CAVE would naturally mean a lack of both. After all, it is not as well-known as other CAVE games like DDP or Mushi. Perhaps M2 don't have the know-how to make an arrangement of a full game, unlike Arcade Plus where they just had to tweak the boss timers and add a simple boss fight. Regardless, I am pretty impressed with what they did for this port. They went from a single arcade game to a remarkable port with a new soundtrack, practice modes, an updated arcade mode, updated visuals and additional fun stuff. I eagerly await their next entry into the series. In the meantime, I'll go check out the other Shot Triggers games. By the by, do you know what other games M2 is looking at? I also hope that they don't just stop once they are done porting all the old games and that they will port the 360 shmups too. I don't want to get a console solely for shmups (the 360 doesn't really have much going for it) and needing to source a Japanese 360 and the games is going to be troublesome and costly. Ketsui made it, so there's a chance stuff like Futari, DOJ, Akai Katana etc. would make it too. But a 360 port is probably modern and accessible enough that another console port is unlikely.
I'm waiting on the Switch LE, and I'll probably double dip for the PS4 standard release, just so I have options. Looking forward to playing this. Good breakdown, and review!
Absolutely none of these games are getting any release in Europe. It's incredibly infuriating that all these incredible shmups ports never arrive in PAL regions when they could just release the US version without any extra effort on their part. I'm sure the other language regions here don't mind having the english version than never being able to get them in the first place. So come on Sony, why are you denying Europe the right to give you money for these games!?!
It's strange but lately i've began to see a substancial bump in nr of sales, for various shmups on Switch at least. The e-shop sale list tends to measure the quantity of copies sold from beginning to end, irrespective of price or percentage discount. And several of classic shooters and some newer ones, a few releases from Cave (in Europe at least), alongside the typical top choices, tend to be in a relatively high place places, (compared to what we would have seen 7 years ago). Maybe the fact that some good shmups are actually reaching US and most of all European shores, with a few outlets actually covering these games with high praises, alongside with key people (like electric underground) is finally beginning to push through.
This is a fantastic review, helping me understand this amazing hidden (from mainstream) gem on the switch! Have you done a performance comparison between ps4 and switch in terms of frame rate, frame skipping, resolution, overall performance?
As someone new I would love a video on all the jargon you guys use. Just learning what donpachi means today… I feel like the uncool kid at school that can’t follow the cool lango…. Kinda a barrier to entrance I guess…
Yoko only... the way John Lennon used to play shmups 😉. Seriously though, enjoyed this video - I was manually hammering the A shot whilst playing this until now - will be enabling auto on A button from now on.
I wish they continued with this game's style instead of how Espgaluda is more fantasy. This game LOOKS amazing and it kinda makes me sad cuz this game isn't a top-played shmup by CAVE at all cuz of the flawed scoring system, and odd choices like the neck hitbox lol.
@@TheElectricUnderground I've been also really digging Toaplan's later games' styles. Such great-looking machine designs, cityscapes, even the characters have that great anime sci-fi edge to them like on the title screen of Out Zone.
Thanks for all of the in-depth info! Curious if you ever found out about Switch input lag vs. PS4. I'm hopeful that I can start getting Shot Triggers releases on Switch since it's portable and can do handheld TATE mode, but if performance is better on PS4, I might stick with PS4. I remember hearing that they were hesitant to put any Shot Triggers games on Switch until they knew they could get proper performance, so hopefully that's what they achieved...
Ahhh just mentionning that some of the game looks inspired by Akira and GitS made me wanna get it. I wish it was on the EU eshop! It definitely looks great.
Yeah, it's a bummer it's JPN only. It's a hassle, but still possible to get ha. It wasn't too bad for me since I already got my JPN stuff setup for Ketsui DeathTiny.
@@TheElectricUnderground I think there is a physical edition of it on amazon, just did that for the Darius Cozmic Collec' on Switch and apart from the slight issue of reading M2's menus in japanese, it works well! I may do that for ESPrade.
@@TheElectricUnderground yep indeed..talking about other fun shooters with humans flying around...i find the 2nd one quite hard...gonna buy esprade ps4 version along with ketsui deathiny...two cave masterpieces
wondering if it's possible to rip the ROM data of the M2 version which contains extra DLC character and to play it on MAME or even original PCB, that would be super cool
Very nice game, on psn it's 4950 yens, it's equivalent to $40 here in my country. Do you recomend any other bullet hell like this one that's only available on jp psn?
$90 Canadian... oof! Just can't go for it even though I understand the reasons (limited market) and the fact that its value will almost certainly go up over time. Also, damn near lagless and just as beautiful looking on retroarch. Really want to continue to support Cave but that's a hefty tag.
@@TheElectricUnderground Yeah that's definitely a much more reasonable price point, though I obviously prefer a physical copy. I'll check out the rest of your video and see if the bells & whistles is worth it. Thanks for pointing it out.
I'm guessing the likelihood of an english version is pretty slim at this point? Same with Sorcerer Strikers? I have these 2 in my Japanese psn cart... Should I just pull the trigger?
Yes, I think the chance of them getting an english release is uber duber slim, especially sorcer striker. I'd say yes go ahead and get the jpn version.
I feel your pain man! I'm in Idaho where it's impossible to find hard copies of anything. I went with the digital psn release for PSI, cost a little less than importing.
Yes there is :-D In the video, I am actually playing in verticle mode, I've just rotated the gameplay in OBS back to horizontal, but while I'm playing it's actually verticle.
The Electric Underground Thank you! I mean i just tried the first time but couldnt find my score. i guess it was too low then to hit the leaderboard? and i wanted to thank you for your review, made me buy the game and i think it’s really great! cant wait to play tomorrow :)
The Electric Underground that’s probably mentioned in the pop-up the you get when using your first continue. It also has a checkbox, I don’t know what that does. Anway I do indeed get scores in the list when I don’t use a continue. Thanks Hopefully someone will translate the manual some day 🙂
really too bad it's $48 and japanese eshop only. hopefully M2 will follow in the footsteps of the Mushi port and keep the cost low + release internationally
I've bought many other shooter ports and most are lazy, quick buck type of games. M2 though has earned my trust. I paid 80ish for the PS4 physical of this a while back and have zero regrets. I put 3 hours into ESPRADE just yesterday! Practice mode, arrange mode, gadgets and so on. What more can you want? Sure their ports are more expensive than others, but I'd pay a premium price for a premium product any day, over a lazy cash grab.
I set up a Japanese e shop account on Switch to buy this game but have no idea how to actually pay for the game. I'm supposed to buy Yen somehow in the form of yen e shop voucher? Does anyone know how to convert dollars to yen so I can buy something off the Japanese E shop?
An arrange is when a shmup dev takes the core gameplay of a shmup and then switches up the scoring elements (sometimes even gameplay elements) in a new mode. Some famous arrange modes are stuff like Futari God Mode, Ketsupachi, DOJ Death Label, and now Ketsui DeathTiny mode. Basically, it's like a remix of arcade mode with new or different elements.
Yea it would be really cool if it wasn’t $90 for a switch copy I hate these limted run games cuz it ruins it for people who actually wanna try the game out.My rasberry pi runs this game just fine so I have no need to dish out $90 for this game.
There is also the digital versions that you grab for a better price. That s what I did. I know shmup fans don t like digital mostly, but it will save money in this case
Hey my dude thanks for tuning in! I've played the updated version and I still think that the TLB is much easier than the arcade final boss, I can still no miss no bomb the TLB without any trouble, but the arcade final boss has some vicious patterns still.
@@TheElectricUnderground Well, I admit that I didn't spend as much time on TLB as the time I spent on arcade final boss years ago. The reason I feel TLB is harder is TLB has a bomb barrier and I always have a problem dodging stuff coming in all 4 directions, plus huge flying swords aimed at my location freak me out. The arcade boss doesn't have a bomb barrier(she will try to move away from it but still takes some damage) so I don't get that much pressure for patterns I know I can't fully dodge(mostly the 4th HP bar).
Fantastic review -- learned so much about bullet hell in general from watching this. Subbed. Thanks for the great content.
I just imported Esp Ra De and was looking for some help getting started when I came across this awesome video. I feel like I've got a lot to learn when it comes to STGs, but people like yourself producing quality content are really making the genre more accessible. Thank you! 😃👍🏻
M2 are a class act that's for sure. Their Futari port was a high water mark at the time. They also did a superb port of Sega Tetris for the JP-PS2 that not many know about - it is comprehensive with a pile of options and additions but also shows attention to detail - you can even recreate the random seed that the arcade machine uses on power up which gave you the same sequence of pieces in the first game you play. :) It even supports replays and has a handful of super plays to watch. I haven't jumped to this gen yet but the PS4 is looking more attractive with each shmup release like this. With you on the DDP release.....I play it in MAME and on the Saturn but it would be nice for it to get a modern treatment - makes me wonder if Cave have lost the source code....
Killer review. Just found your channel. Every single M2 Shottrigger release deserves an awesome deep dive review like you have done here. Insta-liked and subbed!
Thanks for tuning in! I m glad to hear that!! Yes garegga is coming soon as well :-D
@@TheElectricUnderground Awesome bro!
this was the best review of esp ra de psi
SUBBED
Thanks my dude!! I really appreciate that! ❤
Thanks for doing such an in-depth deep dive review. I just got this (Switch version), and I feel like I have a much better appreciation of it now.
Dammit Mark, I went through the entire rigamarole of buying the m2 ports via the JPN PS Store but your RetroArch settings are making even these ports feel pretty laggy by comparison. That runahead feature feels like actual magic.
Great review either way, keep up the great work!
Thank you my dude!! I appreciate the kind words ❤ and yes, shmuparch has amazingly responsive gameplay. I love it.
I love this freaking game. It is by far my favourite Cave shmup
Really love the port for the PS4 scaling is butter smooth with no jitter or anything. At least from my experience
Yeah the PS4 port turned out beautifully! I hope this helps more people find this actual hidden gem ha.
@@TheElectricUnderground People will if you continue to create video content like this one ;)
As of now you have at least 17k people who have been exposed to the game!
Keep em coming :D
The best mechanic for milking bosses I've seen was in QP Shooting Dangerous. In that game, every single boss pattern summoned objects for you to destroy and score points, but doing so also damaged the boss. Attacking the boss directly was for when you couldn't handle the pattern anymore and wanted to sacrifice points to end things early. That's the only shooting game where I bothered to boss-milk. The game was designed for you to do it, and it didn't make the fights too long or boring.
That s really cool! Yeah some boss milking in shmups can work really well, it just depends on how well it plays :-)
InstaBlaster...
Radiant Silvergun as well
From the interviews I think the room decoration mode, Irori's Room (Irori no Heya) is based on Junya Inoue's illustration where Irori is chilling in a room.
And yes, the game contains LOOT BOXES! To get the cosmetics, you need to pull from the pull box or something.
Worry not, the loot box has total zero monetization. Just play the Missions like a madman.
Interesting, do you buy the boxes with in-game currency, or actual money $$$? That would be shady if they charged actual money, but these days that wouldn't surprise me either.
The only way to get the tickets is to play the Missions in Irori’s Room. I’m not sure if the tickets are tied to the characters or universal. You can’t use real currency. And no other currency.
1 ticket equals 1 pull.
@@TheElectricUnderground if there are no actual money, then i'm ok - as its like unlockables on 5 and 6 console gen games
@@BalsticMaker12 Tickets are universal, and can be spent by any character. But I believe the character you use to buy the loot box will trigger the personal cosmetics (as opposed to room cosmetics).
Thanks for the in-depth review!
Thanks for watching!!!
Hi, great review, I was doing a stream yesterday of some Saturn Shmups and someone suggested I check out your channel, great stuff! Subbed :) Also, I'm loving playing ESP Ra De on the switch! Picked it up in Japan a few weeks ago!
Oh nice! Shout outs to the person who recommended my channel! Yeah psi is great!
Thanks for the in depth. Found this looking for comparison of PS4 vs Switch versions as I’m trying to get back into Shmups after a 10+ year hiatus. Also, I guess I’m casual core since that Esper’s Room thing looks interesting 😆
Thanks Mark! Good job bro. I always emulate this one, but glad to see your input being put out there. You always do well catering to the non-shmup community or the new players.
Thanks for the support man! I'm glad to hear that :-) Yeah I really hope new players are able to check this review out, for sure.
I have a passing interest in shmups and have been collecting this line. Been a big fan of M2 since playing their Sega 3D classics. If only I was better at the genre.
Thanks for watching! Yeah shmups certainly have a learning curve, but the good news is that games like this with the arcade challenge and save states can really help you build up your skills without repeating stuff over and over. I also think playing some touhou games on normal and easy difficulty is a fun and useful way to improve at the genre.
also there are super easy modes for beginners !
Great review! I did know that M2 did release Mushihimesama Futari on the Xbox 360, it seems that we are seeing more arcade games targeting to the younger generation with arcade games that are impossible to 1CC....
These days, shmups were the kings in arcades (as well as run n guns like Metal Slug) allowing players to challenge for a high score and a personal best. But at the end it's all about having fun and enjoying this very difficult genre. All it takes is a few resources such as an arcade stick, a screen monitor, any consoles and of course a lot of practice. Remember, if you lose a life in the first or second stage, never throw the credit away, there are many options in recovery and who knows, it can turn out well at the end!
I heard news that there was plans on a localisation (possibly on Siliconera or Gematsu) of Deathsmiles and Deathsmiles II (first one is released already but I think Deathsmiles II could be a release on consoles such as the PS4 last year but it was never heard again, I could be wrong...
Overall, great summary run! ESPrade will be my next challenge and maybe get back to Saidaioujou (managed to unlock Saya for use in the other modes but her normal ending is nothing)! I managed to get 1 trillion with each ship (Type A-Power is uploaded on my channel now) in power style in 1.51, took several practices but it was definitely a greatest accomplishment.
Top notch review! I am not particularly fond of ESP.RA.DE. but I will eventually buy it, M2 needs all the support we can give them. Still hoping they will eventually port one of the 3 first DonPachi games!
Yes for sure! I want the same thing. Ddp with campaign version included would be off the charts amazing.
Dude this a great video and I appreciate the inspiration since I really wanted to talk about Ketsui soon.
One oversight I noticed with these Arcade Challenge modes is that Rank changes aren't applied so you still need save states to actually practice I feel. I was thrown off a lot because things ended up way harder than what I practiced.
Glad to hear it!
Great review.
As you said, I think that the Iori's Room mode was definitely included with the intention in mind to broaden the audience for the game, which can never a bad thing for these games, hah :D
I've yet to try out any other modes besides Arcade and Arcade Plus, I can imagine it being servicable for a little change of pace every now and then :)
I was of the impression that the Analogue DAC only works in combination with Analogue devices?
Hi man! Thanks for tuning in and the words of support. Regarding the analogue DAC, thank you for the heads up! I had just been looking at pictures of the inputs and after reading your comment I looked into compat and you are right, it's their products only (which is lame). So, I'll have to look into tracking down another set of my gamer fury cables, RIP.
I haven't actually checked out the Shot Triggers ports yet (mostly because I don't own a PS4 and at this point I might as well wait for the PS5), so I only saw a run of this game yesterday from Jaimers. So here are some of my random thoughts with this port:
I love the change in perspective in ESP.Ra.De. as compared to the the usual military shmups. The colours are a lot more vivid for a CAVE game (and while SDOJ also has the colours pop it is limited by its blue-green-grey colour palette) and the ships which were much smaller in DDP games are now massive. The character animations are very nice and fluid. The ESP and cyber aspects are definitely very reminiscent of anime from that era, which I certainly appreciate (screw the moe and ecchi stuff that run rampant nowadays). For the port specifically, Jaimers had pretty much all of the gadgets up and I enjoyed seeing the extra trivia about each stage (map layout, enemies in the stage, boss names), although I have doubts as to whether a player could even see some of the other extra info (like the hits with the special shot) when they are focusing on the action.
I mentioned how the art style in Touhou was closer to ESP.Ra.De. in your IN video and that was before I even knew about how Touhou took inspiration from this game. I guess that just goes to show how strong the connection is between these two games. Also it is cool that Touhou took inspiration from the original ESP.Ra.De., then two decades later this port pays homage to Touhou. The name Alice is very prevalent in the Touhou franchise (the character Alice Margatroid, the dev team named Team Shanghai Alice, various themes like Alice Maestra), and combined with the slower patterns in the Alice Master fight, it definitely screams Touhou. Also, Alice Maestra translates to Alice Master.
In regards to the lack of arrange modes and soundtracks, those in other CAVE games came from ports that CAVE made themselves. ESP.Ra.De. having no console ports made by CAVE would naturally mean a lack of both. After all, it is not as well-known as other CAVE games like DDP or Mushi. Perhaps M2 don't have the know-how to make an arrangement of a full game, unlike Arcade Plus where they just had to tweak the boss timers and add a simple boss fight. Regardless, I am pretty impressed with what they did for this port. They went from a single arcade game to a remarkable port with a new soundtrack, practice modes, an updated arcade mode, updated visuals and additional fun stuff.
I eagerly await their next entry into the series. In the meantime, I'll go check out the other Shot Triggers games. By the by, do you know what other games M2 is looking at? I also hope that they don't just stop once they are done porting all the old games and that they will port the 360 shmups too. I don't want to get a console solely for shmups (the 360 doesn't really have much going for it) and needing to source a Japanese 360 and the games is going to be troublesome and costly. Ketsui made it, so there's a chance stuff like Futari, DOJ, Akai Katana etc. would make it too. But a 360 port is probably modern and accessible enough that another console port is unlikely.
i really appreciate your in depth and apt analysis for these awesome games.
Thanks so much!
Newish subscriber here going back and watching this stuff. You do great work!
That's awesome my dude!!! :-D Thanks for the great comment.
We need all of this STG from M2/Hamster that only release on Switch/PS4 on Steam/Xbox too!!!
si Argentina no entra en hiperinflacion me lo regalo de cumpleaño, increible review!
I somehow missed this. I take it that it’s a region free release? Awesome In depth review! Love Cave shooters!!!!
I'm waiting on the Switch LE, and I'll probably double dip for the PS4 standard release, just so I have options. Looking forward to playing this. Good breakdown, and review!
Oh nice my dude! You'll have to let me know what you think of the LE extras! :-D
Absolutely none of these games are getting any release in Europe. It's incredibly infuriating that all these incredible shmups ports never arrive in PAL regions when they could just release the US version without any extra effort on their part. I'm sure the other language regions here don't mind having the english version than never being able to get them in the first place. So come on Sony, why are you denying Europe the right to give you money for these games!?!
Yeah it s frustrating, a lot of them are stuck In Japan so you gotta do the Japanese psn thing
It's strange but lately i've began to see a substancial bump in nr of sales, for various shmups on Switch at least.
The e-shop sale list tends to measure the quantity of copies sold from beginning to end, irrespective of price or percentage discount.
And several of classic shooters and some newer ones, a few releases from Cave (in Europe at least), alongside the typical top choices, tend to be in a relatively high place places, (compared to what we would have seen 7 years ago).
Maybe the fact that some good shmups are actually reaching US and most of all European shores, with a few outlets actually covering these games with high praises, alongside with key people (like electric underground) is finally beginning to push through.
tbf there isn't a US version at all
tbf there isn't a US version at all
4 years already? Time flies too fast ;(
Akira was the first thing I thought of when I saw crazy psychic teens flying around and destroying crap lol.
Great review, can't wait for mine to show up.
Thanks for watching man! Yeah it'll be a good time when you get it :-D
Thanks, just picked up a physical copy
This is a fantastic review, helping me understand this amazing hidden (from mainstream) gem on the switch!
Have you done a performance comparison between ps4 and switch in terms of frame rate, frame skipping, resolution, overall performance?
I should do one! I know that the switch version has some extra input lag, so ps4 is the way to go imo
As someone new I would love a video on all the jargon you guys use. Just learning what donpachi means today… I feel like the uncool kid at school that can’t follow the cool lango…. Kinda a barrier to entrance I guess…
good to see someone is reviewing shmups games like this, sub earned.
I'm glad to hear it! When I was planning the vid I was thinking, "oh boy, the sheer volume of this review is going to scare people," ha.
Really good review, you need waaaayy more subscribers for this great content
Thanks my dude! Yeah there s a ton of great stuff on this channel ha, I hope people start checking it out more. ❤
Yoko only... the way John Lennon used to play shmups 😉. Seriously though, enjoyed this video - I was manually hammering the A shot whilst playing this until now - will be enabling auto on A button from now on.
Yes autofire is the way to go
I wish they continued with this game's style instead of how Espgaluda is more fantasy. This game LOOKS amazing and it kinda makes me sad cuz this game isn't a top-played shmup by CAVE at all cuz of the flawed scoring system, and odd choices like the neck hitbox lol.
Yeah I love this cyber punk style too!
@@TheElectricUnderground I've been also really digging Toaplan's later games' styles. Such great-looking machine designs, cityscapes, even the characters have that great anime sci-fi edge to them like on the title screen of Out Zone.
Thanks for all of the in-depth info! Curious if you ever found out about Switch input lag vs. PS4. I'm hopeful that I can start getting Shot Triggers releases on Switch since it's portable and can do handheld TATE mode, but if performance is better on PS4, I might stick with PS4. I remember hearing that they were hesitant to put any Shot Triggers games on Switch until they knew they could get proper performance, so hopefully that's what they achieved...
I'm testing it soon! I might this weekend, just have to get it setup again :-)
Quality content as always
Thank you my dude!
Great in-depth review.
Thanks for tuning in my dude! :-D
Subscribed! Great review!
Thank you!
Ahhh just mentionning that some of the game looks inspired by Akira and GitS made me wanna get it. I wish it was on the EU eshop! It definitely looks great.
Yeah, it's a bummer it's JPN only. It's a hassle, but still possible to get ha. It wasn't too bad for me since I already got my JPN stuff setup for Ketsui DeathTiny.
Its easy to make a JP Account, which is what I did.
The JP eShop has much more and more interesting games than the EU eShop.
@@TheElectricUnderground I think there is a physical edition of it on amazon, just did that for the Darius Cozmic Collec' on Switch and apart from the slight issue of reading M2's menus in japanese, it works well! I may do that for ESPrade.
Great review!
Thanks for tuning in and watching!
the shikigami no shiro series had flying humans/psychiccer shooting around
Esp. Ra. De. predates shikigami. Rade came out in 1998, shiki 1 came out in 2001.
@@TheElectricUnderground yep indeed..talking about other fun shooters with humans flying around...i find the 2nd one quite hard...gonna buy esprade ps4 version along with ketsui deathiny...two cave masterpieces
wondering if it's possible to rip the ROM data of the M2 version which contains extra DLC character and to play it on MAME or even original PCB, that would be super cool
I just got my copy and now I'm questioning if I should open it, as it looks like it might be more difficult than I expected.
open it! :-D
Subbed, followed and added. Quality content.
Question: in Tate Mode, does this game remain as 4:3 aspect ratio or it has kind of rotated widescreen aspect ration 16:9?
You can play it in tate on a 4:3 monitor as well. :-) On a 16:9 monitor, it has blank space above and below the playfield.
Nice review and awesome game!
Thank you very much for the kind words my dude! Thanks for subscribing as well ❤
What game do you think is revered enough and deserves the mainline Shot Triggers treatment, that hasn't been released yet?
batrider, dodonpachi for sure
I couldn't understand the difference between the regular shot and the rapid shot 🤔 also at which speed do you configure the rapid shot?
15hz!
20:42 zun has amazing designs and none of them are generic lmao
Very nice game, on psn it's 4950 yens, it's equivalent to $40 here in my country.
Do you recomend any other bullet hell like this one that's only available on jp psn?
$90 Canadian... oof! Just can't go for it even though I understand the reasons (limited market) and the fact that its value will almost certainly go up over time. Also, damn near lagless and just as beautiful looking on retroarch. Really want to continue to support Cave but that's a hefty tag.
What do you think of getting the digital version off jpn psn? That s what I did.
@@TheElectricUnderground Yeah that's definitely a much more reasonable price point, though I obviously prefer a physical copy. I'll check out the rest of your video and see if the bells & whistles is worth it. Thanks for pointing it out.
@@neondagger Thanks man :-D
Which version to get if you have both PS4/switch?
I'm guessing the likelihood of an english version is pretty slim at this point? Same with Sorcerer Strikers? I have these 2 in my Japanese psn cart... Should I just pull the trigger?
Yes, I think the chance of them getting an english release is uber duber slim, especially sorcer striker. I'd say yes go ahead and get the jpn version.
How long before this becomes available on the PSN network like Dangar Feveron, & Battle Garreda from M2 shot Triggers.
I think it will either be a long time or never, sadly :,-(
But you can get it on the Japanese psn! That s what I did
Slowdown is a controversial topic but at least it's not lag.
Indeed ha!
This breaks my heart that it's not in the usa nintendo switch store
man its almost impossible to find any hardcopy schmups in australia :(
I feel your pain man! I'm in Idaho where it's impossible to find hard copies of anything. I went with the digital psn release for PSI, cost a little less than importing.
@@TheElectricUnderground no way Im in Meridian small world ! Your shmup knowledge is impressive man
I played this on mame but theres no 4th character, so do u need to unlock it first in this switch port or is it available from the start?
Yes it s an exclusive character for the port, you can unlock her with a quick 1cc of super easy
@@TheElectricUnderground Thanks for the information, im new into shmups and dig most of cave shmups game
is there a vertical screen mode wich let's you play it on a tilted monitor like in the arcades?
Yes there is :-D In the video, I am actually playing in verticle mode, I've just rotated the gameplay in OBS back to horizontal, but while I'm playing it's actually verticle.
yes
The Electric Underground How do you put in vertical/Tate mode?
Looking back which version would you recommend, the ps4 or switch?
Ps4, less input lag :-)
@@TheElectricUnderground how much input lag for the switch? gonna buy it for my switch lite
how do you play for the online leaderboard in this game? i don’t see my score in the leaderboard... which mode do i have to play?
It should auto upload to there, but it won t if you use a continue. All the modes have leader boards :-)
The Electric Underground Thank you! I mean i just tried the first time but couldnt find my score. i guess it was too low then to hit the leaderboard? and i wanted to thank you for your review, made me buy the game and i think it’s really great! cant wait to play tomorrow :)
What controller is that you’re using ??
I wish this would come west. Even just digital. Why not? Lol
I have no idea, it s annoying honestly. I want English menus!
I played a number of games now, but my local ranking is empty for all games modes. Any idea whats going on?
Hmmm, i know the score won t save if you continue a lost credit
The Electric Underground that’s probably mentioned in the pop-up the you get when using your first continue. It also has a checkbox, I don’t know what that does.
Anway I do indeed get scores in the list when I don’t use a continue. Thanks
Hopefully someone will translate the manual some day 🙂
@@FuZZbaLLbee menues got translated by someone on shmup.system11.. for other things i use the google translate realtime translation-app
really too bad it's $48 and japanese eshop only. hopefully M2 will follow in the footsteps of the Mushi port and keep the cost low + release internationally
Yeah it s really annoying they aren't doing western region releases for some of these games
I've bought many other shooter ports and most are lazy, quick buck type of games. M2 though has earned my trust. I paid 80ish for the PS4 physical of this a while back and have zero regrets. I put 3 hours into ESPRADE just yesterday! Practice mode, arrange mode, gadgets and so on. What more can you want? Sure their ports are more expensive than others, but I'd pay a premium price for a premium product any day, over a lazy cash grab.
Ketsui western store release listing leaked
Esp english trophies leaked last year
So they both might come to west
That would be awesome!
I set up a Japanese e shop account on Switch to buy this game but have no idea how to actually pay for the game. I'm supposed to buy Yen somehow in the form of yen e shop voucher? Does anyone know how to convert dollars to yen so I can buy something off the Japanese E shop?
I think you have to buy the yen card off play asia or a site like that, that's what I did.
How good is the game because I got it I got the limited edition I paid $200 and something dollars was it worth it🕹🎮😀👍🏾
Wow that s crazy expensive!!
@@TheElectricUnderground well it was brand new limited edition come with a package🕹🎮😀👍🏾
HOW do you manoeuvre though all that???
Thousands of hours of practice ha
What is an "Arrange"?
An arrange is when a shmup dev takes the core gameplay of a shmup and then switches up the scoring elements (sometimes even gameplay elements) in a new mode. Some famous arrange modes are stuff like Futari God Mode, Ketsupachi, DOJ Death Label, and now Ketsui DeathTiny mode. Basically, it's like a remix of arcade mode with new or different elements.
Cant find it on PS4
I like ESP ra.de. But imo it's the least impressive of all the Cave shmups
Yea it would be really cool if it wasn’t $90 for a switch copy I hate these limted run games cuz it ruins it for people who actually wanna try the game out.My rasberry pi runs this game just fine so I have no need to dish out $90 for this game.
There is also the digital versions that you grab for a better price. That s what I did. I know shmup fans don t like digital mostly, but it will save money in this case
I like this game but I think there are much better cave schmups like mushisama futari and Muchi muchi pork and pink sweets
Actually, TLB is harder than the original arcade version last boss. What you showed is the weakened version.
Hey my dude thanks for tuning in! I've played the updated version and I still think that the TLB is much easier than the arcade final boss, I can still no miss no bomb the TLB without any trouble, but the arcade final boss has some vicious patterns still.
@@TheElectricUnderground Well, I admit that I didn't spend as much time on TLB as the time I spent on arcade final boss years ago. The reason I feel TLB is harder is TLB has a bomb barrier and I always have a problem dodging stuff coming in all 4 directions, plus huge flying swords aimed at my location freak me out. The arcade boss doesn't have a bomb barrier(she will try to move away from it but still takes some damage) so I don't get that much pressure for patterns I know I can't fully dodge(mostly the 4th HP bar).
Late to the party.. but my play asia copy arrived today.. time to die!
I would love to line the 5 people up that gave this a thumbs down.
grow a brain