14 Shmups, 12 Games, £1200 - Update

After the last post about this project I'm happy to say that I've acquired 2 more games towards the final target, as always I'll talk about these purchases here first:

Giga Wing 2

Was winning a copy on Ebay for about a week at about £20 but entered into a mini bidding war with another bidder about 1 hour before the auction ended. Managed to win this little bugger for £32 but I really thought I could pick it up a little cheaper - ah well I've got it now! This price was still cheaper than the £44 estimate I had on the game so it's not all bad. OH YES AND MY DC SHMUP COLLECTION IS NOW COMPLETE!!!! A DC retrospective vid will be forthcoming in the next few weeks.

Blast Wind

Finally won a copy of this at a non ridiculously silly price of £68 inc P+P, again I won this under my estimate of £75 - which in the current climate was a tough one to work to. Really looking forward to this one.

14 Shmups, 12 Months, £1200 Current Position

Latest Update

Well after much stalling April's project video finally published yesterday, man the video was a trial to put together.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJhbaIBiljo&feature=youtube_gdata_player

To be honest I'd done most of the time consuming stuff such as capturing the gameplay footage and editing that but real life has just been getting in the way recently. But I'm back with a much more positive attitude about the whole thing. I've got one of the next games lined up by the look of it but I'm going to have to bite the bullet and buy something really expensive this month.......

Still to get:

Gigawing 2 - DC

Trying to find this for less than £30 with spine has been tough, it's not rare by any stretch of the imagination but it suffers from the curse of being a DC game and a shooter. Ebay sellers crank the prices up on this game. It's funny I played this the first time at Retro Rewind with SpiffierRabbit and Oli_Lar from the Retro Gamer forum, great day and great company. More inportantly however is that this shooter represents the last DC shooter I need to buy for a full shmup collection. My mission to collect shmups in general spwawned from thios collection so it'll be quite a watershed moment for my collection when I finally complete this set.

Cotton 2 SE with Calendar and Tea Cup - Saturn

One I want in the collection purely for the beans - I mean as a Special Edition it's ridiculous right? What's doubly daft is that I turned down a copy of the standard edition for £15 once! But the game itself looks lovely so at least Im going to play this one! I expect to pay around £80 for this one.

Blast Wind - Saturn

Another Saturn Technosoft exclusive! For some reason when I started the project this shooter was quite modestly priced (£50-£60) but over the last 9 months the price has slowly risen. I suspect this is because at the moment there doesn't seem to be as many copies out there, this game seems to divide shmup fans - whilst it might not be the prettiest shooter out there I love it's unique visuals they make me think Mars Matrix on the DC. I'm probably looking at around £80 -£90 for this one now.

GleyLancer - MD

One of the first games I bookmarked on ebay when starting this project and the one that has maintained it's high price for longest, to be honest with this one I'm going to be lucky to get it for less than £90. It just rarely comes up on ebay to bid for and it's generally listed as buy it now in auctions - so the prices are really maintained at the same level. I really love this game however so I'm more than willing to part with the cash for this.

Harmful Park - PS1

The daddy!!

I suspect this one could be the most expensive game on the list, to get a nice copy with a spinecard on ebay you're looking at at least £130! Another shooter that was a good £20 cheaper on average when I started the project, there just aren't that many copies around. This is probably the game I'm most curious about it looks like a Parodius game with equally over the top boss battles.

So now it's time to stop writing and get hunting those dream shmups!!

To understand what I’m attempting to achieve with this project do please see the previous blog entry here:

http://gmintyfresh.blogspot.com/2010/07/12-months-14-shmups-1200.html

Current status

Blast Wind - Sega Saturn
Harmful Park - Playstation 1
Radiant Silvergun - Sega Saturn (Bought)
Ibara - Playstation 2 (Bought)
Mushihimesama Futari Ltd Edition - Xbox 360 (Bought)
GlayLancer - Megadrive
Gigawing 2 - Dreamcast
Zero Gunner 2 - Dreamcast (Bought)
Twinkle Star Sprites - Dreamcast (Bought)
Last Resort - NEO GEO AES (Bought)
Cotton 2 - With Tea Cup - Saturn
Soldier Blade - PC Engine (Bought)
Hyper Duel Sega - Saturn (Bought)
Deathsmiles 2 Limited Edition - Xbox 360 (Bought)

Hello Everyone

Been away the last few weekends so not much YT action from me recently I'm going to try and film a few this week.

1. 14 Shmups, 12 Months, £1200 #9 Twinkle Star Sprites


2. April 360 Shmup Madness #3 - Ototmedius Excellent


3. Another Stuff I've bought recently vid - A priority because I've got loads to show.

I Picked up an uncommon Saturn shooter this week called Wolf Fang, it's a fairly nice mech based shooter by Data East converted by Xing. The game is one of the sequels to vapor trail and and I've only seen the Saturn version a couple on times on eBay so I was really pleased to pick it up for £25! I've seen quite a few copies of the PS1 version but as always the Sat version is the one to have! Nearly picked up a copy of Planet Joker also - I know it's supposed to be one of the worst shmups of all time but it was really cheap.

Yet more new 360 shmups have kept me busy too namely Otomedius Excellent and Trouble Witches Neo:

Otomedius Excellent - Much the same as the previous game in the series but I think it's better. More characters, more level variation, unlockable weapons for the powerup system, and more interesting boss encounters. A special mention should be made about the soundtrack, it's pure Parodious you'd love picking out where some of those tunes came from!

Trouble Witches - I wasn't expecting much from the XBL download going by the reviews I've seen of it - boy I was wrong what a lovely little shooter for 800 points. Think Deathsmiles mixed with a large dollop of Cotton, it even feels a bit like the PS3/PC doujin release Gundemonium - but a lot nicer.

Geoff

Musings of the Mad – 02/02/11

So with a sense of dread I finally took the plunge and joined the world of Red Dead Redemption last night. I say dread approaching RDR not for any inadequacies the game may possess but for the fact that I know what starting this game means for me on a personal level. It means compulsion to the point of distraction to fully explore and conquer this game to the exclusion of all others. I’ve resisted one of my friends constant questioning of why I haven’t started the game because it's so good (Mark, a guy I know with a wealth of gaming knowledge rates it as his favourite game of all time!) and the rave reviews from the gaming press.

I‘ve been resisting the lesson history has taught me, that GTA 4 you stole my life!! Quite simply recently I’ve been juggling and completing some of the great games that have been released over the last 6 months, if I’d started RDR all those great games and experiences would have been left by the wayside. When playing GTA on release I didn’t play anything else till I’d completed the game and all the side missions that I wanted to. Having briefly wandered around the world of RDR I can tell the game has the same depth and magic that inhabits its older brother, all within it’s own epic game world.

So yes I’m glad that I cleared the boards and made time for this game because it’s going to be a long ride.

Geoff

12 Months, 14 Shmups, £1200 – Game #6

Mushihimesama Futari Limited Edition




To understand what I’m attempting to achieve with this project do please see the previous blog entry here:

http://gmintyfresh.blogspot.com/2010/07/12-months-14-shmups-1200.html

January

Above: the limited edition of Mushihemesama contains a double sized CD soundtrack with beautiful cover.
Above: the download card was used in the copy I bought but I didn't mind as long it was included.

Above: other side of the spine card and the lovely artwork included on the two soundtrack CDs

Another great 360 shooter I missed on release due to a lack of funds, a really beautiful looking game with some of the nicest artwork included in a Cave game. I clawed some of the money back I lost with the additional duty paid on Zero Gunner 2 last month with this purchase

I budgeted to spend around £90 on this and I actually bought it for £66 so I was really happy with the purchase. The game had seriously been loved because it was in pristine condition and the seller had even kept the sticker that was attached to the cover of the cellophane - I wish that all sellers were this loving to their games. This LE set is uses the familiar format that Cave have adopted with their special releases, an oversized box with the game in the bottom and the soundtrack in a little cardboard holder on the top. Unusally the soundtrack is a double feature and includes arranged scores for both Mushihimesama and Mushihimesama Futari. The artwork for the Mushi series has always been stunning and this is no exception as you can see. The game actually plays really nicely and is less hardcore than it's predecessor - but is equally gorgeous looking. Mind you crank the game up onto ultra and you know about it, phew it's tough!!

In short a really welcome addition to my shmup collection!!

Geoff

Current status

Blast Wind - Sega Saturn
Harmful Park - Playstation 1
Radiant Silvergun - Sega Saturn (Bought)
Ibara - Playstation 2
Mushihimesama Futari Ltd Edition - Xbox 360 (Bought)
GlayLancer - Megadrive
Gigawing 2 - Dreamcast
Zero Gunner 2 - Dreamcast (Bought)
Twinkle Star Sprites - Dreamcast
Last Resort - NEO GEO AES (Bought)
Cotton 2 - With Tea Cup - Saturn
Soldier Blade - PC Engine
Hyper Duel Sega - Saturn (Bought)
Deathsmiles 2 Limited Edition - Xbox 360 (Bought)

Fast Striker

Wow finally played my copy Fast Striker yesterday, well Geoff got off his arse and picked the game up from the post depot.

My initial thoughts about the game are very positive, as usual NGDEVTEAM have put together a very professional product. The main cause for celebration can be taken from the quality of the gameplay. The developer has obviously spent some time in conjunction with shmup and arcade gamers tweeking the balance to get the game as perfect as possible (theres a really nice chaining system that's not too punishing either).

Processing a youtube vid at this very moment with my first thoughts.

Standard and Limited Editions



Limited Edition Cover



Special Edition Contents



Standard Edition Cover



Sitting in the Reg #7

12 Months, 14 Shmups, £1200 – Game #5

To understand what I’m attempting to achieve with this project do please see the previous blog entry here:

http://gmintyfresh.blogspot.com/2010/07/12-months-14-shmups-1200.html

December Part 1



Another month another game, this month is going to be a two parter for December. Now this project is not just about getting those expensive games it's also about getting the games I want for my collection. Zero Gunner 2 represents finishing my complete DC Shmup collection, before starting this project I was 3 games away from achieveing this. I've partially completed a youtube vid showing the game and what I think about it but my first impressions are very, very, good. It might not have the kudos of Ikaruga or Border Down but it's every much their equal!! Just to note I got stung with import duty on this bugger - a first for an import game damn it! Would have been an amazing bargain otherwise, still it is mint condition. See you soon in Part 2.

Geoff

Current status

Blast Wind - Sega Saturn
Harmful Park - Playstation 1
Radiant Silvergun - Sega Saturn (Bought)
Ibara - Playstation 2
Mushihimesama Futari Ltd Edition - Xbox 360
GlayLancer - Megadrive
Gigawing 2 - Dreamcast
Zero Gunner 2 - Dreamcast (Bought)
Twinkle Star Sprites - Dreamcast
Last Resort - NEO GEO AES (Bought)
Cotton 2 - With Tea Cup - Saturn
Soldier Blade - PC Engine
Hyper Duel Sega - Saturn (Bought)
Deathsmiles 2 Limited Edition - Xbox 360 (Bought)