Gunstar Super Heroes- Coming in November

[Melf]

I'm so excited about this! I cannot wait for it to come out. GameStop has it listed for November, which is too far away!

Some people would have preferred it be released on a more modern console, but I think the GBA is aces. I wrote an article (http://www.sega-16.com/Feature-%20GSH%20Preview.htm) about why the GBA is the most logical choice, but I understand the desire to see it on the DS or PSP (or even console).

So, let's restart the great discussion we had about this on the original board! Who's excited?

[Genesis Knight]

Uh... I guess I'm excited. Still a bit 'wowed' with the new forum. Not sure I like it as much. :roll: I liked the simpler and more friendly feel of the old one. And that I lost all of my post count... :wink:

Anyway, howdy thar!

[Platonism]

I'll be getting this, too.

[Dartagnan1083]

well, it's not like Sony would allow it to be released on the PS2.
The Xbox fills a demographic that is for the most part, completely anti-niche as far as sales are concerned,
and the Gamecube...it might have worked...if Nintendo would support their #**%ing hardware.

[PDorr3]

believe it or not i finaly bougfht and played gunstar heroes for the first time. Great game! the boss battles were great, and I loved all the onscreen action!

[Sega Uranus]

I too, am sad for losing my post counts.




Ohwell... I will be picking this up WITHOUT A SECOND THOUGHT!!!

[Cless]

WTF!! I lost millions and millions of post!!! J/k

The new forum is ok. The only bad thing is that I have to go to the old forum to see old topics, but is ok.

About this game, I excited too. But dam, november? I cant wait that long.

[Genesis Knight]

Hey Cless, is that Yuko from Valis I see there?

[Melf]

Yukio = bad ass girl with a mini skirt and a huge sword. We need more of those on TV.

[Genesis Knight]

Hehe...

Not something all too common in Western stuff, but it seems to be common enough in Japan.

Now where's my plane ticket...?

[Melf]

You guys are complaining about post counts? I lost over 800!

Think of it this way: New start on a better board that is private, ad-free, and more advanced.

Pretty good trade-off, IMO.

[GeckoYamori]

Post counts might as well be removed, hate to burst your bubble but they don't make your penis larger.

[Cless]

About post, it was just a joke, I only made like 10 posts or so in the old forum. And Genesis Knight, yes she is Yuko Ahso from Valis. Yukio = bad ass girl with a mini skirt and a huge sword. We need more of those on TV.Amen.

Ah... but this topic is about Gunstar right? Well, I found this, is a video of Gunstar Heroes (Genesis) - expert mode, 0:41:15

http://www.archive.org/details/GunstarHeroes_expert_4115

[j_factor]

Wait a second... post counts don't make my penis larger?!? I might as well stop posting then!

[Genesis Knight]

:lol:

[GeckoYamori]

Another trailer:
http://mojs.tk/~aleen/gunstar_pr1_bb.wmv

I think I see another homage in there, Super Thunder Blade? (The top-down shooter part)

[Melf]

:shock:

I cannot see how this game will not rock my socks. Treasure has almost single-handidly shown how to use the GBA hardware.


Imagine them on DS or PSP!

[rmalina]

Hopefully they choose PSP since I already dropped 400 dollars to pick it up with a 500MB card, and some accessories.... Oh dearie me!

[Vicman]

What do you mean they choose PSP? This game is coming out in October for the GBA, you expecting an ultra quick port?

BTW $400 better be in canadian dollars or you got ripped off bigtime seeing as how 1 gig memory pro duo's are going for less than $85 USD now.

P.S. if you're that anxious to play the game on your PSP better hope it's got a 1.5 firmware so you can play it on the GBA emu for the PSP. :P

[rmalina]

Actually no, it was USD. I bought the system as soon as it came out. Everything was much more expensive at the time.

I am not all that interested in emulators. I have a GBA.

The comment was concerning future projects in the Gunstar Heroes line. I expect that PSP games will be coming out for a bit longer than the time between now and October.

[crazyjoedavola]

I never did get a chance to play Gunstar Heroes for the Genny, but I'm going to pick it up soon. I had Metal Slug import for the Saturn and if GSH is half as good as that, I'll be getting the newest release.

[Vicman]

Actually no, it was USD. I bought the system as soon as it came out. Everything was much more expensive at the time.

I am not all that interested in emulators. I have a GBA.

The comment was concerning future projects in the Gunstar Heroes line. I expect that PSP games will be coming out for a bit longer than the time between now and October.

As soon as the Japanese launch of the PSP or the US launch?

As for the GH "line" you can expect not to see another one for at least a good long while since Treasure has only recently renegged on their "no-sequel" policy, and a cursory glance at their latest interview in the June issue of Play magazine confirms that Treasure is not even slightly interested in the PSP. If they're making any more portable games, it's gonna be either on the GBA, or if/when that venue has died, the NDS.

P.S. I hope you're not ignoring the emu scene on the PSP, it's a thing to behold and it's only getting better. :cool:

[rmalina]

Emulation leaves me empty. I am a collector of video games. I don't enjoy playing a knockoff.

[rmalina]

I preordered a US release PSP. It cost me 20 bucks to put on hold. The PSP was 250 bucks, the 500MB card was 80, a power brick/adaptor/usb cable was about 20, and MLB 2005 was about 40.

[Dartagnan1083]

Treasure never had a policy against Sequels.
they merely had a mindset that opposed the sequel-itis that can be seen back then, and even now.

[GeckoYamori]

For reasons unknown the game has been renamed to Gunstar Future Heroes in Europe. To be honest, none of them are really good titles.

I hope Treasure revisits Alien Soldier eventually for the DS. I think the touch screen might allow for some Abuse-like control scheme, that would be very cool.

[Melf]

Post TGS hands-on impressions from IGN!

Treasure really hit it on the nail with its very first game, Gunstar Heroes. Likely the best action-game of its time -- and still one of the best action games to this day -- that game, more than any other, established the hardcore following that the company maintains today.

It was about time for a sequel long, long ago, and while I could complain about it having taken so long, I'd rather just play Gunstar Super Heroes on Game Boy Advance and be content. I've actually had the opportunity to play for many hours as of this writing and can say without hesitation, that it was worth the wait.

Surprisingly, Gunstar Super Heroes feels very different from the original game. The game's art and presentation borrows a lot from last year's Astro Boy (in fact, the character designers are the same). The overall game flow is also closer to Astro Boy than the original Gunstar, with an emphasis on shorter levels and more variety.

Also like Astro Boy, the game has a storyline told with little bits of nonsensical text. The storyline actually alludes to the original Gunstar Heroes, with the events of that game having lead to the formation of four moons that the Gunstar Super Heroes must protect. When you first start play, you'll see some of the scenes that formed the quick intro of the original title.

Once you start Gunstar Super Heroes, you work through an introductory level (which, in typical Treasure style, is bold enough to make you start off going right to left rather than left to right) before gaining access to an initial set of four freely selectable levels. You'll find a mix of new and old here in terms of level design. One stage starts you off on the wings of a plane as it soars through the sky, continuing on to a remake of the very first Gunstar level, which has such an update in graphics that it's nearly impossible to recognize at first glance. This all leads to a remake of the first Gunstar boss.

Another level leads to a remake of one of the greatest bosses of all time -- Seven Force. This level is actually pretty close to the original's mine level in design, only now you're speeding through the mine shaft on a biped creature rather than a mine cart. While riding the creature, pressing jump makes you alternate your position between the floor, the middle of the shaft and the top. There's no need to make yourself glide in the middle of the shaft this time, and the game is sure to put this new ability to good use. Seven Force emerges following a brief, voiced introduction ("I am Green... SEVEN FORCE!") and, once again, pits you against seven robotic creatures as you alternate between vertical and horizontal movement through the shaft. It's just as exciting as it was over ten years back.

On the whole, level and boss design is as varied as we've come to expect of a Treasure game. You'll find levels where pressing left and right makes the whole screen rotate around your character. There are actually two of these, including the airplane stage mentioned above, and both are completely different. Another level takes the form of an overhead vertical shooter, with R/L rotating your ship and A and B giving you access to two forms of fire. The original Gunstar also had a shooting stage, but it was a totally different experience. Each level in Gunstar Super Heroes is split into three sections, with each section usually offering a different type of gameplay. Once you've cleared the level, you can start play from any section.

Throughout all of this, the game's control setup features some major differences from the original. You still have buttons for jump and attack, and can perform basic moves like a jump kick and dash attack. Pressing the attack button makes your character perform a slash as he starts firing his weapon. You also have an upper cut and down thrust move and can also jump into water to float and can kick off walls to repel higher.

For the most part, you use the L shoulder button to switch weapons, A to jump and B to fire your weapon. However, just as the first Gunstar offered an option for fixed shooting (your character stands in place when shooting, allowing you to aim your blasts) or free shooting (your character can move around while shooting, making it harder to lock your fire on a particular point), Super Heroes gives you a couple of control options itself. In both control types, you can move around freely while firing. However, under the A control type, when you press the R shoulder button, you lock yourself in place, switching the game to fixed fire mode. Under the B control type, pressing R doesn't lock your character in place, but does lock his stance, so if he's firing in a certain direction, he'll continue to fire in that direction no matter what you press on the D-pad. It's sorta like 2D strafing.

You'll have to chose which one you like the best. Personally, I prefer one of the two "simple" control schemes the game offers on top of these. In these control schemes, you don't have to press the fire button. Your character automatically fires by default. In Simple scheme A, pressing the fire button keeps your character firing, but locks him in place. Simple scheme B is similar but with the 2D strafing thing instead of the fixed shooting.

There are two advantages to having auto fire. First, the R shoulder button is freed up to perform a bomb attack. More importantly, it seems easier to perform some of the hand-to-hand moves with the jump button. It's just easier to concentrate on attacking an enemy with hand-to-hand moves since you don't have to worry about keeping your fingers on fire. I'm not sure if the simple control scheme was meant for weak-sauce players or not -- I just enjoy the game more with it.

Treasure is known for more than just strong and varied gameplay. If there's a 2D effect out there, Treasure will undoubtedly put it to use, and Gunstar Super Heroes proves that. Scaling, rotation -- all those cool effects that wowed us in the 16-bit era are back with Gunstar Super Heroes, and put to use so well that fans of old 2D games will definitely like what they see. The levels where you rotate the screen while soaring through the air as a bunch of 2D objects fly towards you would have caused eyes to melt during the 16-bit days. The very first boss, featuring multi-jointed construction and filling the screen deserves admission to the sprite hall of fame.

I'm not sure how many people out there actually remember the original Gunstar Heroes, so suggesting that people who loved that title pick up the sequel is probably pointless. And, in fact, it would be bad advice, since Super Heroes offers so many changes to the original's gameplay that it doesn't really matter if you liked or hated the original. The better comparison would be Astro Boy. If you liked that game and want to see a title with longer levels, even more varied gameplay and even better bosses, Gunstar Super Heroes looks like it will satisfy you. We'll have a full review closer to the game's October stateside release.

Woo! It's almost here, folks. I am so going to love writing this product review.

Biggest GBA release ever for me. :)

[Sega Uranus]

Is this GotY or what?




I would have said Zelda... but.