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Sometimes, what seems like a great idea on paper doesn't work at all in practice. That was the case with the Genesis port of Galaxy Force II, which was incredible in arcades. What could have been a magnificent experience instead turned out to be a cold, empty shell devoid of any of the original's qualities. It was essentially a train wreck in space, and if you ever had any doubt that such a thing could happen, you need only read our review to see.
The arcade had 3x 68000 processors, while the Genesis only had one, plus it had a special Zooming processor which made the arcade game amazing. Too bad the Genesis port wasn't amazing.
I'm glad I passed on this turkey, a while back. Hopefully, the Sega Ages Galaxy Force 2 (Jpn PS2) will finally do the arcade game some justice, but after seeing how the arcade Space Harrier (on the Sega Ages Space Harrier Collection) turned out, I seriously doubt well get a 100% port.
i use to think this game was hot when i saw the cover but when i played it i wasn't happy then
There was a Sega Ages: Galaxy Force II for Saturn. Like, 9 years ago.Quote:
Originally Posted by JFLY
Yeah, I have (and love) that version but it moves at half the frame rate as the arcade Galaxy Force 2. Plus, I didn't think the Saturn could handle the port anyway -- Power Drift was an indication of that. I just hope Sega can get rid of the slow down that plague Space Harrier in the Sega Ages Space Harrier Collection.Quote:
Originally Posted by j_factor
I still like this game. I got it for my Genesis. The tilting screen was a little dizzying.
Or perhaps someone at Sega was incapable of porting it properly.Quote:
Plus, I didn't think the Saturn could handle the port anyway -- Power Drift was an indication of that.
It wouldn't surprise me, what with the PCE engine a much better version of Afterburner 2 than Genny did, along with a playable (if nowhere near the arcade) version of Power Drift on HuCard.
I always just assumed that those two Sega Ages were ported badly to Saturn.
Power Drift was taken care of by YS Gameworks on DC. Galaxy Force two, on the other hand......
And considering how bad the PS2 Sega Ages are (and the fact that I have had two PS2's flake out and didn't play them much in the first place) I think I'll never be able to do better than the Saturn rev.
(I refuse to screw around with emulators)
The PS2 hardware can't handle these games. Why does Sega even bother?Quote:
I just hope Sega can get rid of the slow down that plague Space Harrier in the Sega Ages Space Harrier Collection.
Sell your PS2 and buy YS Gameworks for DC. The DC is cheaper and more powerful than PS2. Don't let anyone feed you lies.
I'd rather become a bitter retrocentric gamer than put up with Sega's
decision to debase themselves and their series (Shining Force Neo @#$%)
Let's face it, the real Sega exists only in the hearts of it's fans now.
YS gameworks was the name, not a division of Sega. It was an ok complattion, but the conversion of Outrun was kind of screwed up.
I've been spending some time with this game over the weekend, and I have to say that I enjoyed it quite a bit and think it's better than the review makes it sound. I should add the disclaimer that I have no experience with the arcade game, and I'm sure that as a port, it's pretty mangled...but as a standalone game for the Genesis, I think it's not bad at all, and I'd put it at 6/10.
The presentation issues are significant, and the sprite breakup/flicker does really detract in several places. But since it's not a one-hit kill shmup, it's less of an issue than it is in, say, Sol-Feace or (I'm told) Grind Stormer. OTOH, I think the tunes are quite good, especially the first level which has a nice prog-rock/jazz fusion thing going on.
I'm bemused by the review's claim that the game is super-easy. There's a learning curve at first, and I struggled before I got on the game's wavelength (part of the key: going fast all the time). It's true that once I got my bearings, it was a smooth ride all the way up to Hard difficulty -- as long as the timer was set to Easy. But on Normal, it's very challenging, and I'd be impressed as hell by anyone who could beat Hard difficulty with the timer on Hard (and a Weak shield). The margins are so tight with a Normal timer that Hard seems almost impossible.
The thing that's telling for me is that even though the game is so short and only takes about 15 minutes to beat, I didn't mind and even looked forward to replaying it, enough so that I've beaten it five times this weekend (starting with easy settings and working my way up to Hard/Weak/Normal timer). It reminds me oddly of Marble Madness, in that it's essentially a time-based game, and a skilled player can almost always make it to the last stage, but all your previous mistakes will catch up to you there.
Anyway, those are my thoughts. It's not a great game, and I was very put off when I first played it, but I got a lot more enjoyment from Galaxy Force II than the review led me to expect.
BTW does the shield ever recharge (before it's destroyed), or does it just offer a fixed amount of protection and that's it?
Fixed amount. It can only take so much damage, then it's gone for good.Quote:
Originally Posted by goldenband
This game has a nice soundtrack. I don't know what it doesn't come up more often. Also, the 3DS port of this is freaking amazing.
Hello from the future!
I like the OST too, pretty punchy even compared to the arcade version IMO. The port itself, well, we know how that one turned out.
The OST on the Genesis is good enough to just have it play in the background while I'm working. It's pretty great. I have to say that if any soundtrack was the driving force behind the ym2612's love affair with synth funk, this is the game to point to.
Back to back, the Genesis vs. Arcade is great. YM2612 just killin' it. This OST is awesome.
I never knew the Mega Drive version was a dud of the arcade version. My parents got me that game for Christmas. I spent a lot of time playing the game, maybe it preps me up for the arcade version, who knows. Does feel like I'm being short changed knowing that now.
On the plus side, they tried. This game looks good on stills and I agree with other members on the audio aspect: Awesome music and solid SFX.
And that's about it: this wonderful arcade that even played on MAME is still a breathtaking experience got slaughtered on our MD/GENs: Sprites are glitchy, it moves at the pace of a drunken snail, controls are unresponsive (going up and down is a chore): all these have a very negative impact on the gameplay, and morover you have only one life and no continues. Terrible game.
I kind of have a soft spot for this game because I was able to get a nice copy of Atomic Runner without spending anything after trading Galaxy Force II in to my local game store.
Well, indeed, that was some excellent business for you :rock: The MD/GEN port of Atomic Runner surpassed the already good arcade original by a mile.Quote:
Originally Posted by BubsyFan1
I like the Master System's Galaxy Force and I'll take it over their Afterburner anytime.
Galaxy Force 2 was just a disappointment. They added big planets in the background with even worse ship handling. Whoop-de-doo!