Cyber Citizen Shockman Switch Review

Cyber Citizen Shockman, a classic from the PC Engine era, has made its way to the Nintendo Switch, inviting fans to relive the 8-bit magic. This port offers a mixed bag of delights and disappointments, showcasing its crisp pixel graphics and chiptune soundtrack while stumbling in the areas of control, input lag, and hitbox precision.

One of the standout features of Cyber Citizen Shockman on the Nintendo Switch is its faithful recreation of the game's iconic pixel graphics. The developers have done an excellent job of preserving the retro charm, ensuring that every character and environment maintains its original charm. The vibrant color palette pops on the Switch's OLED screen in particular, adding an extra layer of nostalgia to the experience. Accompanying the eye-catching visuals is a classic chiptune soundtrack that effectively transports players back to the era of classic gaming. The memorable melodies and catchy tunes perfectly capture the essence of Cyber Citizen Shockman, heightening the overall immersion.

Unfortunately, Cyber Citizen Shockman's transition to the Nintendo Switch falls short in terms of controls. The loose and imprecise controls that plagued the original PCE version mar the experience, making it challenging to execute precise movements and maneuvers. Whether it's the lack of responsiveness or a general inconsistency in input detection, the controls leave a lot to be desired. Unfortunately the controls are also plagued by additional input lag through the emulation layer, making the issue even worse.

Cyber Citizen Shockman on the Nintendo Switch provides a bittersweet trip down memory lane, with its beautifully preserved pixel graphics and nostalgic chiptune soundtrack fully intact. While the visual and audio aspects evoke a sense of nostalgia, the loose controls, noticeable input lag, and sloppy hitboxes tarnish the overall experience. Despite its flaws, fans of the original PC Engine title may find some enjoyment in this port, but it leaves room for improvement to truly capture the essence of the classic.

NEWS: Eschatos limited editions coming!

 

The Shoot ‘Em Up Three Punch Combo!  - Limited boxed versions available for pre-order -

Stuttgart, Germany - 18 May 2023 - Strictly Limited Games, in partnership with Qute Corporation, is delighted to announce the pre-order start for exclusive and highly limited boxed editions of Eschatos for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4. This exciting release of the Shoot ‘em up hidden gem is scheduled to launch in autumn 2023 and eager collectors can already pre-order their exclusive Limited Edition, starting on Sunday the 21st of May!  These editions will only be available at Strictly Limited Games  and will be the ONLY physical version of the game.

About Eschatos: Eschatos is a beloved polygonal vertical shoot 'em up by Qute Corporation. Initially released exclusively on the Xbox 360 in Japan, the game has since gained a cult following.  In Eschatos aliens have taken over the moon and now threaten to do the same to earth. It’s your job to prevent that from happening. To do that your ship is equipped with three different functions, with each being suited for different situations. The Front Shot shoots a powerful beam in a straight line, the Wide Shot shoots at an angle and the Shield absorbs shots and damages enemies, but works on a limited energy meter. Using them to adapt to each situation is key. Easy to learn, hard to master is the name of the game; but thankfully there are five difficulty options to help you find your groove and if you have mastered ORIGINAL MODE, try your hand at ADVANCED MODE (no upgrades) or TIME ATTACK MODE.  Not only is the gameplay excellent, the clean graphic style is very pleasing visually and allows the game to transition from one stage to the next without any breaks or even load times in this version! These transitions are accompanied by awesome dynamic camera angles, really showing off the colorful stage backgrounds and creatively bizarre enemy designs. Let’s not forget the superb soundtrack by Yousuke Yasui, whose high-energy synth-heavy work alone will keep you playing! It really is an aural feast.    Shoot ‘Em Up Fans and Collectors can get even more excited as Eschatos is accompanied by its two spiritual predecessors and Qute’s first releases, Judgement Silversword and Cardinal Sins. Both were released in 2004 for the WonderSwan Color and are among the finest looking and playing games of the handheld, both featuring creative scoring mechanics. It’s also fun trying to spot the elements that would later be used as a basis and be built upon by Eschatos, be it gameplay elements or enemy designs. A must have for all WonderSwan fans. Features: Three games in one package:  Eschatos, Judgement Silversword and Cardinal Sins Exclusive to the Switch and PS4 versions of Eschatos: Improved load times, remastered soundtrack and performance improvements  Original, Advanced and Time Attack Mode Three types of weapons:  Front Shot, Wide Shot and Shield Dynamic camera system, creating a sense of exhilarating speed  Five beautiful stages, including temple ruins, Earth's orbit, and the alien moon base  Massive bosses, battle screen-filling UFOs and other strange enemies Online leaderboards and downloadable replay system  Phenomenal retro-synth soundtrack composed by Yousuke Yasui

Limited Editions: Eschatos gets physical, powered by Strictly Limited Games. The Limited Editions for Nintendo Switch™and PlayStation® 4 (PS4) can only be found there. The Limited Edition is limited to 2,600 individually numbered copies for Nintendo Switch and 1,300 for PS4, at a price of 29.99€ / $29.99.

The Collector’s Edition is limited to 1,400 individually numbered copies for Nintendo Switch and 700 for PS4, at a price of 69.99€ / $69.99.

Both editions will be available for pre-order on Sunday the 21st of May, at 8 AM PST / 11 AM EST / 5 PM CET and shipping is expected for autumn 2023.

Ys IX: Monstrum Nox PS4 Review

Ys IX: Monstrum Nox PS5

Developed By: Nihon Falcom

Published By: NIS America

Date of Release: May 9, 2023

Price: $59.99

Nihon Falcom's Ys series of JRPGs has a long and storied history. Though it had it's start in Japan on the NEC PC-8801, most people remember it's real breakout version released for the NEC PC Engine CD/TurboGrafx 16 CD. My first experience with with the Turbo DUO pack-in version of Ys Books I and II (where I was absolutely floored by Ryo Yonemitsu's arrangements on the soundtrack, that amazing boss track in particular!), and I have been a hardcore fan of the series ever since, and i've played them all from Ys Origins all the way through Ys VIII. With the previous release, Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana NIS America took over the localization of the series, and it had quite a rough start with a half-assed translation as well as countless gameplay-breaking bugs. Thankfully that got all ironed out over the course of several substantial patches, and since then Ys VIII has become quite a masterpiece.

Thankfully with the release of Ys IX: Monstrum Nox things have gone quite smoothly, with NISA clearly learning from it's past efforts. The game runs flawlessly on the PS5, and looks quite stunning on my 4K television, and I haven't seen any sort of slowdown or frame drops. Clearly a lot of love has been put into the localization and porting this time around, as I've not run into any bugs, translation errors or the like in my time playing. The game assets look absolutely stunning on the PS5, with a general clarity that the PS4 version lacked. Load times are massively improved as well thanks to the PS5's speedy storage. There's no discernible input lag either, and the controls are tight and intuitive as ever. I do wish however that it had made more use of the DualSense controller's more advanced features such as the adaptive triggers and haptics. It's a shame that so many third party games are getting ported with nary a thought to the system's more advanced features.

 The gameplay is your usual Ys action-RPG fare, but this time with an added twist in the form of large scale tower defense battles. Now I've never been one to enjoy tower defense games, however Ys IX manages to present them in a way that makes them intuitive and fun in fashion that I've never seen in the genre. Though I may prefer the typical hack and slash action that the series is known for, the Tower Defense sections do provide a welcome distraction. As for the story, it is as always engaging and entertaining, living up to the pedigree that previous entries have set as the standard. All in all, Ys IX is a perfect example of what a JRPG can be, and I'd wholeheartedly recommend it for all series veterans and newcomers to the series and genre alike.

 

News: irem Collection Volume 1 preorder

 

RETRO REVIVAL OF ARCADE ERA LEADING irem GAMES

Kirchheim unter Teck (Germany), 27th of April 2023: Arcade games of legendary Japan game developer irem will be available to modern gaming platforms. Tozai Games and ININ are teaming up to release the irem Collection with several volumes worldwide, with Strictly Limited Games to release the special physical releases on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 for fans and collectors.

Some of the greatest and most requested action arcade games will be available to modern gaming platforms. With iconic action titles such as R-TYPE, Air Duel or Hammerin‘ Harry, irem shaped the games industry since the 1980‘s and was one of the leaders in the arcade era. With very few exceptions many of these titles have never been brought to modern console platforms or remained Japan-exclusive.  Most of them even have never seen a release on physical media up until now. So ININ, Tozai Games and irem are finally joining forces to bring them to modern console gamers. Tozai Games and ININ will be responsible for Japanese as well as worldwide digital releases on Nintendo Switch, Sony PlayStation and Microsoft Xbox. ARCADE MILESTONE FOR COLLECTORS The outstanding quality of these games often even used as a benchmark for others in the genre make the upcoming releases an exciting experience for both (modern) retro enthusiasts and casual players looking for new -or so far unknown- gaming adventures around the globe. With the outstanding history of irem as a studio and their iconic games shaping an entire industry, the collection is particularly interesting to collectors of video games and players interested in video game history and culture. To process the rich story of irem games, Strictly Limited Games will publish several Limited and Collector’s Editions for the upcoming volumes of the irem Collection.  READY VOLUME 1 The first volume of the irem Collection is an updated homage to the Japanese-exclusive ‘Arcade Gears‘ series (released in the 1990s on Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation) and comprises three legendary shoot ‘em up games Image Fight, Image Fight II and X-Multiply. Image Fight first appeared in 1988 as a vertical scrolling Shoot ‘em Up. It became one of the most successful table arcade games at that time in Japan and is still being regarded by many fans as one of the best shmups ever made. In addition to this arcade version, the upcoming volume will also include the PC Engine/TurboGrafx version as well as the NES version from 1990. The game is set in the year 20XX, the moon collapses after an explosion caused by aliens which proceed their offensive against mankind. To settle the situation, the player must go through an eponymous training process called “Image Fight”, before they are allowed to join the combat to fend off the invaders and earn everlasting glory.  Image Fight II was released in Japan in 1992, after the success of the first part. Unfortunately, the game never made it to the west (except for a Wii Virtual Console release, that is).   It is set in the year 2051, the alien forces try once again to exterminate humanity. The player must take over the role of pilot Sho, the main character in the story, switching to a new generation of ships. The story is really outstanding in this game, the introduction of visual scenes reminiscent of animes especially intended for the PC-Engine SUPER CD-ROM version strengthen the story and add depth and a second dimension to this game, shaping Sho as a real hero in this unequaled approach to building a SHMUP storyline.  X-Multiply is a side-scrolling shooter originally released in 1989 for arcade (M72). The combination of science fiction and biological elements makes X-Multiply extraordinary even though it flew under the radar of many gamers: The player is controlling a miniaturized ship getting ‘injected’ in an evidently humanoid body and is using tentacles attached to his ship to fight alien parasites killing humans in detailed as sinister designed stages located inside that corpse.  LIMITED PHYSICAL EDITIONS OF irem GAMES  The hardly rivaled quality of these games will be cumulated in outstanding Limited and Collector‘s Editions exclusively published by Strictly Limited Games. The Limited Editions of the irem Collection Vol.1 include Image Fight, Image Fight II and X-Multiply, an exclusive titlesheet design and an English manual and are limited to 4,000 individually numbered copies for Nintendo Switch and 1,500 each for PS4 and PS5, at a price of 34.99€ / $34.99.

The Collector‘s Edition will frame the games and complete them with their matchless Original Soundtracks as well as physical collectibles to deep dive even further:  The premium Collector Box will be realized in format 4:3 as an homage to the screen ratio at that time. The print quality and the magnetic closure collect all the items in a suitably exclusive way.  The Original Soundtracks will be realized on 3 CDs sitting in a Digifile. The format gives room to every game and its unparalleled music. A Visual Compendium will include backgrounds on the games, their history, feature unique insights and lay out level and character designs, from pixel sprites to context art. A Collector Coin in a separate box will make another nice link between the different volumes of the irem collection. The design is inspired by classic arcade coins and includes not just both logos and key elements from the games‘ visuals.   A package of Retro Print material will complete the collection. Next to reprints of flyers from back then which are now getting localized the first time into English, there will be mini-DIY reproductions in the style of the NES game box, a marquee sticker, a foil catching the vibe of arcade light panel designs and posters showing the key visual in impressive size. They will be limited to 2,000 individually numbered copies for Nintendo Switch and 999 each for PS4 and PS5, at a price of 89.99€ / $89.99.

In time with Volume 1, Strictly Limited Games will offer bundles of both Limited and Collector‘s Editions including the upcoming volumes 1 to 5 of the irem Collection in an exclusively designed slip case. The Limited Edition bundle will be limited to 3,000 individually numbered copies for Nintendo Switch and 1,000 each for PS4 and PS5, at a price of 159.99€ / $159.99 and the Collector’s Edition bundle to 1,000 individually for Nintendo Switch and 500 each for PS4 and PS5, at a price of 429.99€ / $429.99. The limited physical editions of irem Collection‘s Volume 1 will be available for Pre Order from 30th of April 2023 exclusively on StrictlyLimitedGames.com.