ÿþ<style type="text/css"> .style2 { color: #66CCFF; } .style3 { color: white; } .style4 { color: white; font-weight: bold; } .style7 { text-align: left; width: 60%; } .style8 { text-align: right; .style9 { color: white; font-size: xx-small; } </style> <font face="Arial Unicode MS"><head> <title>Hardcore Gaming 101: Otomedius</title> </head> <body bgcolor=black LINK=YELLOW ALINK=WHITE VLINK=ORANGE> <script language="javascript" type="text/javascript"> <!-- function popitup(url) { newwindow=window.open(url,'name','height=350,width=600,scrollbars=yes,toolbar=yes'); if (window.focus) {newwindow.focus()} return false; } // --> </script> } <script language="javascript" type="text/javascript"> <!-- function popitup2(url) { newwindow=window.open(url,'name','height=500,width=660,scrollbars=yes,toolbar=yes'); if (window.focus) {newwindow.focus()} return false; } // --> </script> <script type="text/javascript"> function alignCell() { document.getElementById ('td1').align="right"; } </script> <center><img src="logo-1.jpg"></center><p> <br> <br> <font face=arial color=green size=3> By dai dai jiru<p> <font face=arial color=CC99CC size=4> <center class="style2">Navigation</center> <table width="100%" cellspacing="20"> <tr> <td width=33%> <center><a href="otomedius.htm"><img src="comming_soon_anoa.jpg" border=0></a> <font face=arial size=2><br> <a href="otomedius.htm"><i> Page 1 - You're looking at it <br></center></a> </td> <td width=33%> <center> <font face=arial color=FF9999 size=4> <a href="otomedius2.htm"><img src="comming_soon_toron.jpg" border=0></a></font> <font face=arial size=2><br> <a href="otomedius2.htm"><i>Page 2- What makes Otomedius Gorgeous<br></center></a> </td> <td width=33%> <center> <font face=arial color=FF9999 size=4> <a href="otomedius3.htm"><img src="comming_soon_emon.jpg" border=0></a></font> <font face=arial size=2><br> <a href="otmedius3.htm"><i>Page 3 - ?<br></center></a> </td> </tr> </table> <p> <font face=arial color=white size=3> <table width="1300px"> <tr> <td class="style7"> <font face=arial color=white size=3> <b>The Return of the Legend Whether You Like it or Not </b><p> These days, when someone mentions the word  shmup, one imagines a screen filled with nothing but slow pastel-colored bullets arranged in elaborate patterns flying across a screen that s more vertical than it is horizontal:<p> <center><img src="Dodonpachi.bmp" border=0></center><p> The reason why gamers these days know of really nothing else out there is primarily because Cave is the only arcade shmup developer that survived after all these years, which subsequently means that their style has become the standard formula for all other games in this genre to follow. Chaos Field, Psyvariar, and Shikigami no Shiro (otherwise known as the Castle of Shikigami) are a few of the many out there which show how strong Cave s influence was at this time. <p> So what happened to the rest? Irem said that R-Type Final was to be their last shmup because the genre wasn t profitable for them anymore and have kept to their word. After Zero Gunner 2, Psikyo was acquired by X-nauts and has never made another one ever since. The sequel to Technosoft s flagship series, Thunderforce VI, was under development for the Dreamcast and was put on indefinite hold until not too long ago when Sega acquired the rights to develop this game as well as its future titles, thus eliminating the only reason for the company to exist. Compile folded at the turn of the millennium, and although Milestone was formed from its ashes, its shmups so far hasn t been well received by almost anyone (myself included) because their games feel like cheap imitations of other successful titles and don t display much passion put into their work. Taito said that they would cease all internal arcade game development except for large arcade cabinet setups sometime after 1998.<p> Konami is one of the few original pioneers left that has neither folded nor has openly declared that they would stop making shmups, even though they haven t made one in over half a decade. Their last biggest effort was Gradius IV, and that was close to ten years ago.<p>  Wait a minute, some of you might ask.  Didn t they make Gradius V not too long ago which was generally well-received? The thing is, Gradius V was published only by Konami; the actual development of the game was <a href="http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/gradius/gradius4.htm" target=_"blank">outsourced to Treasure.</a> <p> So why did Konami do this? Kujyo Kazuma, the director of R-Type Final, explains why:<p> <font face=arial color=white size=2> <i> & The users/players, distributors, game's magazine publishers, managers of game companies and developers/creators, all of them take less and less interest in shooting games. So if it is eft (sic) to its own devises, I felt that R-Type will be gradually forgotten. Then I thought about developing R-Type Final, the last milestone-esq (sic) R-Type, <b>before our company lose the know-how in making shooting games.</b></i> <sup>[<a style="text-decoration:none" href="http://forums.insertcredit.com/viewtopic.php?t=10170" target=_"blank">1</a>]</sup> <p> <font face=arial color=white size=3> That s right, Konami forgot how to make shmups. They re not alone since Capcom s 1942: Joint Strike and Sega s Thunder Force VI also lack what made its predecessors great, but Konami wants to return to the days where they were considered one of the genre s leaders before they do become permanently usurped by others like G.Rev and a bunch of random <a href="http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/troublewitches/troublewitches.htm" target=_"blank">doujin developers who have the potential to become commercial entities.</a> Since Gradius IV flopped, Konami wasn t too sure what they needed to do to make the series appeal to its fans again. Impressed (and most likely humbled) by their former employee s release of Ikaruga, it made sense to just give them full reign over the development of its next entry in the series. By ironically designing it to feel more like an R-Type title and focusing its mythos entirely on stopping the Bacterian invasion instead of having the Vic Viper fly through places that have no real correlation with the enemy's assault (hence the removal of the Moai and other stages that didn't feel Bacterian enough), Gradius V was met with critical acclaim (but didn't generate any profit for the company) and gave the folks at Konami an idea of how to create a shmup that is worthy of the Vic Viper s legacy. <p> Considering how much Treasure had to break the traditional Gradius formula for gamers to warm up to it again, Gradius 6 was canned shortly after it was announced because Konami forgot that they didn t make Gradius V internally. Then the guys at Konami probably remembered that they also haven t made another sequel to Parodius in close to a decade, which they soon realized that in order to top their last entry in the series, they would end up <a href="http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/steamhearts/steamhearts.htm" target=_"blank">competing in the wrong sector of the market.</a> So they came with a compromise: make a completely new series that would appeal to the currrent generation of otaku while still retaining as much as possible the spirit of Parodius within it. <p> And they shall call it Otomedius.<p> <b>Virgin s high!</b><p> So what does Otomedius mean? Just like Parodius was a combination of the words  Parody and  Gradius, Otomedius is a combination of the Japanese word  Otome (maiden, virgin, young girl) and  Gradius. <p> You ve probably already seen pictures of the game before coming to this page (if you haven t I d be pretty surprised), and you probably already know how Konami redid the fighter craft for this new title, but in case you didn t, here s what it looks like:<p> <center><a href="bg_top-1.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('bg_top-1.jpg')" "bg_top-1.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="bg_top-1a.jpg" border=0></a><br> <font face=arial color=white size=2> <i>Translation:  The legend for over 1000 years& Now these maidens will save the world <3 </center></i><p> <font face=arial color=white size=3> The girl in the center of the image that s clad mostly in blue is the pilot of the Vic Viper for this series that s been miniaturized to the point where she wouldn t be able to fit comfortably unless its cockpit was completely removed from the fuelselage, which even then would still result in most of her body protruding out of it. This design is intentional since the girls in Otomedius are not supposed to represent themselves as pilots of the machine they re flying (although they technically are), but as a personification of it. This style has been around in Japan for awhile already, and the term for applying this technique to anything mechanical is called  mecha shoujo, or mechanical girls. <p> Konami is one of the more prominent entities in this field primarily because the company s toy division was able to enlist Humikane Shimada to create a line of personified weapons called  Mecha Musume (mechanical daughters, which the title itself is a parody of the popular all-girl group called Morning Musume), a term also used for otaku in the West to describe anything related to this phenomenon for good reason, as Konami is the only company that has created anime based off of Shimada s designs such as Sky Girls, which had its pilot episode released in the summer of 2006, just a few months before Otomedius would first make its apperance in arcades the following year. <p> The pilots in Sky Girls take control of an exoskeletal frame called a Sonic Diver (the name alone sounds phonetically similar to Vic Viper) which can switch between humanoid and aircraft mode at a moment s notice. While one can easily see Konami just applied Zone of the Enders' concept to the robots for this series, there s also a few Gradius references scattered in the OVA if one looks hard enough:<p> <table width=100%> <tr> <td width=50%> <center><a href="boom-GV.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('boom-GV.jpg')" "boom-GV.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="boom-GV-a.jpg" border=0></a> </center> </td> <td width=50%> <center><a href="boom.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('boom.jpg')" "boom.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="boom-a.jpg" border=0></a> </center> </td> </tr> <tr> </td> <td colspan="3" style="width: 40%; text-align: center"> <font face=arial color=white size=2> <center> <i><a href="boom-RS.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('boom-RS.jpg')" "boom-RS.jpg" target=_"blank"><strike>Radiant Silvergun</strike></a> Gradius V boss post-explosion glow.</font></i></i></center><p> </tr> </td> </table> <p> <font face=arial color=white size=3> <table width=100%> <tr> <td width=50%> <center><a href="SD fuelselage.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('SD fuelselage.jpg')" "SD fuelselage.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="SD fuelselage-a.jpg" border=0></a> </center> </td> <td width=50%> <center><a href="02_vic_viper_03.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('02_vic_viper_03.jpg')" "02_vic_viper_03.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="02_vic_viper_03-a.jpg" border=0></a> </center> </td> </tr> <tr> </td> <td colspan="3" style="width: 40%; text-align: center"> <font face=arial color=white size=2> <center> <i>The fuelselage is backwards for the Sonic Divers, but it's still errily similar to the Vic Viper design.</font></i></center><p> </tr> </td> </table> <p> <font face=arial color=white size=3> <table width=100%> <tr> <td width=50%> <center><a href="Raijin.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('Raijin.jpg')" "Raijin.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="Raijin-a.jpg" border=0></a> </center> </td> <td width=50%> <center><a href="FB and JK.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('FB and JK.jpg')" "FB and JK.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="FB and JK-a.jpg" border=0></a> </center> </td> </tr> <tr> </td> <td colspan="3" style="width: 40%; text-align: center"> <font face=arial color=white size=2> <center> <i>Sonic Diver G2N3 Raijin and the Falchion Beta from Gradius Gaiden <sup>[<a style="text-decoration:none" <a href="otomediusfootnote1.htm" onclick="return popitup2('otomediusfootnote1.htm')" "otomediusfootnote1.htm" target=_"blank">2</a>]</sup></i></center> </tr> </td> </table> <p> </center> </i> <font face=arial color=white size=3> This is no sheer coincidence as Konami was already underway with Otomedius before they even completed the Sky Girls OVA:<p> <center><a href="Tita Production Sketch-1.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('Tita Production Sketch-1.jpg')" "Tita Production Sketch-1.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="Tita Production Sketch-1a.jpg" border=0></a><br> <font face=arial color=white size=2> <i>Character Sketch produced during the summer of 2006</i></center><p> <font face=arial color=white size=3> <table width=100%> <tr> <td width=50%> <center><a href="mainimage_980.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('mainimage_980.jpg')" "mainimage_980.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="mainimage_980.jpg" border=0></a> </center> </td> <td width=50%> <center><a href="Skygirls 2007 logo.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('Skygirls 2007 logo.jpg')" "Skygirls 2007 logo.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="Skygirls 2007 logo-a.jpg" border=0></a> </center> </td> </tr> <tr> </td> <td colspan="3" style="width: 40%; text-align: center"> <font face=arial color=white size=2> <center> <i>Even the logos look similar</i></center><p> </tr> </td> </table> <p> </center> Although they easily could ve had Shimada create the character and mechanical designs for Otomedius, Konami decided that Mine Yoshizaki would be a better choice because not only can he also draw personified renditions of mechanical things that could be also sold off as toys, he s also had a lot of experience with creating illustrations for the video game industry, not to mention that he s already had strong ties with the company since they let him create the comic serialization for <a href="http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/twinbee/twinbee2.htm" target=_"blank">Detana Twinbee.</a> The result is rather underwhelming if you ve seen his illustrations that are best described to someone who's never seen them before as both risque and completely abstract. Then again, not a lot of people would WANT to admit to seeing these pictures because& well, just look at them:<p> <table width=100%> <tr> <td width=50%> <center><a href="G5DP.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('G5DP.jpg')" "G5DP.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="G5DP-a.jpg" border=0></a> </center> </td> <td width=50%> <center><a href="Mine Blue.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('Mine Blue.jpg')" "Mine Blue.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="Mine Blue-a.jpg" border=0></a> </center> </td> </tr> <tr> </td> <td colspan="3" style="width: 40%; text-align: center"> <font face=arial color=white size=2> <center> <i></font></i></center><p> </tr> </td> </table> <p> <font face=arial color=white size=3> Having the characters drawn like this is pretty risky, since people can be immediately turned off to the game by just by looking at these characters, regardless of how well-designed the game might be. This is exactly what happened to me when I watched the Sky Girls OVA because the studio took advantage of any scenes where they could give the best angles to show off the girls' assets. However, the TV series is extremely modest in its this regard and places more emhpasis on the characters doing stuff that s not related to making things blow up or blatently showing off their goods, which I liked. The presence of the Vic Viper also helped a lot too. <p> & What? I m not kidding about that last part:</p> <table width=100%> <tr> <td width=33%> <center><a href="Vic Viper.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('Vic Viper.jpg')" "Vic Viper.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="Vic Viper-a.jpg" border=0></a> </center> </td> <td width=33%> <center><a href="Vic Vipers.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('Vic Vipers.jpg')" "Vic Vipers.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="Vic Vipers-a.jpg" border=0></a> </center> </td> <td width=33%> <center><a href="Sonic Divers and Vic Viper.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('Sonic Divers and Vic Viper.jpg')" "Sonic Divers and Vic Viper.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="Sonic Divers and Vic Viper-a.jpg" border=0></a> </center> </td> </tr> <tr> </td> <td colspan="3" style="width: 40%; text-align: center"> <font face=arial color=white size=2> <center> <i>This is Konami metaphorically taking a jab at Taito. Repeatedly. </i></font></center></center><p> </tr> </td> </table> <p> So while Otomedius gives an initial impression of scantily-clad futuristic idols piloting minaturized Konami fighter craft, the presentation for the rest of the game sticks to its Parodius foundations, which is juxtaposing two things that shouldn't mesh well together yet it somehow does. To put it in another way, Konami knows that Mine Yoshizaki knows that you know that the girls know they re are inadequately dressed for battle and it s going to DISTRACT you, which will feel even more weird when you know that they know that the plot knows it s trying to take itself seiously. <p> But before I explain how Otomedius does this, we have to first go through how to play the game, since this is what someone will be doing a lot of when they first try it out.<p> <b>Strategy Briefing 1</b> <p> Because Otomedius is a completely new entry to the Gradius universe, Konami was free to mess around with the core mechanics since it had no expectations to live up to, so if they screwed up royally, they can recoup their losses with the toys and other merchandise that Japanese nerds have no willpower to resist because the company captalized on the current market trends by making the characters visually appealing to them.<p> ... ANYWAY, what they did to the game was pretty interesting:<p> <center><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZucsx4lzxo&feature=related" target=_"blank"><img src="Touchscreen.jpg" border=0></a><br> <font face=arial color=white size=2> <i>No, not the touchscreen. Get your mind out of the gutter. </i></center><p> <font face=arial color=white size=3> The first of these changes attempt to solve the problem of when the player passes a few stages and then gets killed because a certain section was pretty difficult, which will abruptly stop the game and force the player to immediately restart at a predetermined location in the stage a little bit before the player s death, without any weapon upgrades they earned. This wouldn t be an issue if the game didn t persist on throwing enemy formations and projectiles at the player as though they were still moderately armed to the teeth a few seconds after the action starts up again, which then results in the typical player s quick end to their remaining lives because they don t have the ninja-like reflexes and supercomputer memorization to overcome them. <p> Aside from incorporating Salamander's death system that was also implemented in Gradius V where the player immediately reappears on the screen with a few seconds of invulnerability after their death in order to allow them to pick up their <a href="review5.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('review5.jpg')" "review5.jpg" target=_"blank">Options</a> before they drift to the left end of the screen, Otomedius starts the player s new life off with a Force Field operating at full strength:<p> <center><a href="start screen.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('start screen.jpg')" "start screen.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="lifebars.jpg" border=0></a> <br> <font face=arial color=white size=2> <i>Comes with its own lifebar too. Damage dealt to the shield depends on what hit it. </i></center><p> <font face=arial color=white size=3> In exchange for having this shield, however, the player is only given two "lives" per credit. The reason why I say "lives" is because the Force Field also behaves differently from previous Gradius titles whenever it takes a direct hit. If you've played these games before, you know what I'm talking about- the Force Field can take only a maximum of three single hits from bullets (or enemies that require one hit to destroy) before going down, and these shields (as well as the player's sense of security) can be shattered in a blink of an eye if it takes these hits almost simultaneously. Because Gradius treats most weapons fired from bosses as though the craft was colliding right into a solid wall, the Force Field is essentially worthless in these encounters:<p> <center><a href="ouch.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('ouch.jpg')" "ouch.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="ouch-a.jpg" border=0></a> <br> <font face=arial color=white size=2> <i>Don't get me started on how the Force Field registers "hits" when navigating through "narrow" corridors.</i></center><p> <font face=arial color=white size=3> In Otomedius, unless the player's deliberately running into the floor or ceiling of a stage, the Force Field triggers a few precious milliseconds of invincibility before it can be hit again, which in effect is simulating the player's "death:" <center><a href="Shield Damage.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('Shield Damage.jpg')" "Shield Damage.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="Shield Damage-a.jpg" border=0></a> <br> <font face=arial color=white size=2> <i>This also applies on the last hit that takes down the Force Field. </i></center><p> <font face=arial color=white size=3> This concept is reinforced the moment the player realizes they can neither recharge their Force Field manually through the Power Up Meter (as it doesn't exist) nor gain additional "lives" by reaching a certain predetermined score (since why would one need them if they're that good anyway?). The closest thing to getting a "free life" would be if the player completed the stage without their Force Field and begins the next one, as the game will restore a sliver of it (since they'll need it because they suck that much), which isn't enough for the player's shield to withstand anything more than accidentally brushing up against the ceiling or floors of the stage, which once again, is equivalent to losing a "life" if the Force Field absorbs any enemy attack in that current state, with the only difference being that the player is still allowed to keep all of their equipped weapons unless they get hit one more time after their shield goes down. <sup>[<a style="text-decoration:none" <a href="otomediusfootnote2.htm" onclick="return popitup2('otomediusfootnote2.htm')" "otomediusfootnote1.htm" target=_"blank">3</a>]</sup></i></center><p> Since the player can't recharge their Force Field manually, the last slot in the Power Up Meter that would've been reserved to activate this is replaced with restoring an equivalent of 50% of a full charge to an ability that's unique to Otomedius- the D-Burst system:<p> <center><a href="start screen.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('start screen.jpg')" "start screen.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="D-burst2.jpg" border=0></a> <br> <font face=arial color=white size=2> <i>The player can also refill miniscule amounts of this gauge by acquiring Power Up Capsules. </i></center><p> <font face=arial color=white size=3> As with the Force Field, the game always gives the player two completely charged D-Burst Gauges whenever they start off a new life. If the player wants to utilize this, they have to press and hold down the appropriately-named D-Burst button, which will simultaneously prevent the player from firing their weapons or activating their powerups and begin to fill a small purple circle around their avatar for as long as this button is held down: <p> <center><a href="D-burst3.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('D-burst3.jpg')" "D-burst3.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="D-burst3-a.jpg" border=0></a> <br> <font face=arial color=white size=2> <i>The time it takes for it to completely fill varies with each character. </i></center><p> <font face=arial color=white size=3> If the button is released before the circle has a chance to completely form, a Quick Burst fills the entire playing field with explosions to nullify all of the enemy projectiles on the screen and grant the player a few seconds of invincibility. This abilty is universal for any character in this game.<p> The more interesting aspect of this system, however, is if the player allows the circle to completely fill. Once this happens, a D-Burst will commence the moment the button is released. Once activated, all of the action will pause in order to give the player a chance direct where they want their D-Burst projectile(s) to go before the purple meter completely empties by utilizing the arcade machine s touch screen:<p> <center><a href="D-burst.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('D-burst.jpg')" "D-burst.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="D-burst-a.jpg" border=0></a> <br> <font face=arial color=white size=2> <i>Directing Anoa s D-Burst Attack. </i></center><p> <font face=arial color=white size=3> Once the purple meter completely drains, the game resumes and the player has a few precious milliseconds of invincibility while the D-Burst Attack executes at the desired location(s). If there were any Options equipped at this time, they ll behave as though the player just died: it ll immediately detach and start drifting to the left of the screen, which gives the player a chance to pick them up again before they disappear for good. Since the game assumes that the player has no Options even though there s some waiting to be picked up on the screen, the Option slot opens up again for activation, although the player will be unable to pick up those drifting options if they already have the maximum amount trailing them:<p> <center><a href="D-Burst4.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('D-Burst4.jpg')" "D-Burst4.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="D-Burst4-a.jpg" border=0></a> <br> <font face=arial color=white size=2> <i>The reason for this is simple: Options amplify a D-Burst attack </i></center><p> <font face=arial color=white size=3> If you pay careful attention to these last images, there s also something else the D-Burst attack does besides completely bypassing obstacles that would ve been impossible to accomplish with the player s standard weapons: anything that s destroyed by it drops a Powerup Capsule.<p> <center><a href="D-Burst5.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('D-Burst5.jpg')" "D-Burst5.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="D-Burst5-a.jpg" border=0></a> <br> <font face=arial color=white size=2> <i></i></center><p> <font face=arial color=white size=3> Although it s not apparent at first glance, the way the D-Burst system works, as well as the fact that the player always starts off with both D-Burst Gauges on standby completely change the way Gradius should be played. At higher levels of play, one can end up plowing through most of the stage using nothing but D-Bursts since enemies destroyed by it will always supply enough Powerup Capsules to keep firing them. However, mastery of the D-Burst is far from easy, as it opens up a completely new style of chaos not seen in any Gradius game before this:<p> <center><a href="D-Burst6.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('D-Burst6.jpg')" "D-Burst6.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="D-Burst6-a.jpg" border=0></a> <br> <font face=arial color=white size=2> <i></i></center><p> <font face=arial color=white size=3> Let s say for example that the player is aware of the potential of the D-Burst system and begins to use it on the first enemies they see when they start the game. Looks pretty simple so far, right? <p> <center><a href="D-Burst7.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('D-Burst7.jpg')" "D-Burst7.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="D-Burst7-a.jpg" border=0></a> <br> <font face=arial color=white size=2> <i></i></center><p> <font face=arial color=white size=3> How about now? The player still needs to acquire all of their Options but the way these enemies were destroyed by the D-Burst has left a cluster of Powerup Capsules right beside each other. Ideally, one should approach them slowly so they ll touch the ship one at a time for the player can choose the right powerup to activate, (unless they set the game to do it automatically for them) except that WAVE OF ENEMIES TO THE RIGHT as well as the screen continually pushing them to the left end is going to make this really tough to pull off. <p> <center><a href="D-Burst8.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('D-Burst8.jpg')" "D-Burst8.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="D-Burst8-a.jpg" border=0></a> <br> <font face=arial color=white size=2> <i></i></center><p> <font face=arial color=white size=3> Yeah, what a mess. Although the player is completely powered up, the Options will detach and have to be picked up after a D-Burst, meaning that they have to watch for them to drift back to the left of the screen amidst all of that stuff flying around, not to mention that there s still enemies to be destroyed and Capsules to be obtained. They also have to pay attention to the Power Up Meter, since even if the game was set to automatically select the powerups for the player (which you DON T want the game to do if you re trying to master this system because it will automatically activate the Options when it reaches that slot), the D-Burst charge still has to be triggered manually.<p> Of course, mastery of the D-Burst is completely optional. One can finish an entire play session without pressing the D-Burst button at all, and that alone is an excellent example of good game design. However, I m still not done talking about Otomedius engine. Good news is, there s not much left to talk about. <p> <b>Strategy Briefing 2</b><p> Although score junkies should be satisfied with mastery of the D-Burst system, Konami attempted to add another layer of complexity to the scoring mechanics by adding an Element points. Apparently the pilots of Otomedius are magical girls who also use their craft as the medium to unleash their powers, and is typically reflected by the color of their projectile as it flies across the screen:<p> <center><a href="GO PLANET.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('GO PLANET.jpg')" "GO PLANET.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="Element Shots.jpg" border=0></a></center> <p> Taking a cue from <a href="http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/rsikaruga/rsikaruga2.htm" target=_"blank">Ikaruga,</a> the character selected by the player will have most (if not all) of their weapons focused on a particular element, which will result in the player dealing no damage to an enemy if their element opposes it:<p> <center><img src="elemental relationships.gif" border=0></a> <br> <font face=arial color=white size=2> <i></i></center><p> <font face=arial color=white size=3> However, that s not the most important part of the element system since the player s firepower isn t tightly controlled like it was in Treasure's title. This is the real reason why the Element system exists: <center><a href="Gem.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('Gem.jpg')" "Gem.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="Gem-a.jpg" border=0></a> <br> <font face=arial color=white size=2> <i>Medium-sized gem with small gems flying out of it</i></center><p> <font face=arial color=white size=3> Throughout the entire stage, the player will encounter elemental gems of three sizes. The small ones will randomly appear either on relatively weak enemies or when the player hits the largest of the elemental gems and are automatically collected if you ever see them pop up. Medium-sized gems are dropped from boss-type enemies and have to be either shot at or picked up directly in order to acquire them. The largest of the gems like the one pictured below are either dropped by the stage bosses, but are typically hidden throughout each of the game's stages and must be revealed first by shooting at them before one can even acquire its elemental power: <p> <center><a href="Gem2.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('Gem2.jpg')" "Gem2.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="Gem2-a.jpg" border=0></a> <br> <font face=arial color=white size=2> <i>These gems could be a small problem if they're "protecting" nearby enemies.</i></center><p> <font face=arial color=white size=3> To further complicate matters for those who want to master Otomedius scoring system, the gem will leave the playing field prematurely if the player runs right into it as I mentioned earlier. They'll still get some elemental points for doing this, but ideally, one should keep shooting at the thing until it cracks and then run into it to acheive the maximum number of elements from that gem:<p> <center><a href="Gem3.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('Gem3.jpg')" "Gem3.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="Gem3-a.jpg" border=0></a> <br> <font face=arial color=white size=2> <i>Sometimes, one has no choice but to run into them before they crack. </i></center><p> <font face=arial color=white size=3> At the end of the stage, the game will rank the player s performance based on how many Powerup Capsules the player picked up, the point value of the elements collected, and how much damage they received, although this last variable can be slightly mitigated if the other two are extremely high: <p> <center><a href="Result.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('Result.jpg')" "Result.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="Result-a.jpg" border=0></a> <br> <font face=arial color=white size=2> <i></i></center><p> <font face=arial color=white size=3> After the stage results are shown, the player will then be taken to another screen which will convert their rank and elemental points accumulated for the stage into experience points dubbed ST for that specific character which will only be applied once the current gaming session is over. If the player completes all of the stages in that gaming session, they'll also unlock something for their character, which could be either acquiring a new weapon only that character can choose to use before starting any given stage or a random piece of a full image that the player can look at once they get all of the pieces and will be shown on this screen as well:<p> <center><a href="result2.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('result2.jpg')" "result2.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="result2-a.jpg" border=0></a> <br> <font face=arial color=white size=2> <i>The amount of ST converted from the player's rank is also determined by the difficulty chosen for that stage.</i></center><p> <font face=arial color=white size=3> Like in an RPG, the character will level up when enough experience points are accumulated, which allows them to start off a particular stage at a higher difficutly. If the player has accumlated a lot of a particular element, then then their character's title will change, which signifies that their character's attacks is trasforming into that attribute.<p> <center><a href="result3.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('result3.jpg')" "result3.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="result3-a.jpg" border=0></a> <br> <font face=arial color=white size=2> <i></i></center><p> <font face=arial color=white size=3> After the experience points are applied, the game will then show the player various graphs which compares their current playthrough with previous ones as a reminder to keep improving themselves:<p> <font face=arial color=white size=3> <table width=100%> <tr> <td width=50%> <center><a href="result4.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('result4.jpg')" "result4.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="result4-a.jpg" border=0></a> </center> </td> <td width=50%> <center><a href="result5.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('result5.jpg')" "result5.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="result5-a.jpg" border=0></a> </center> </td> </table> <p> </center> After the player is done looking at this graph, all of their current data is saved through Konami's proprietary E-Amusement Pass system: <center><a href="E-AMUSMENT_Pass.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('E-AMUSMENT_Pass.jpg')" "E-AMUSMENT_Pass.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="E-AMUSMENT_Pass-a.jpg" border=0></a> <br> <font face=arial color=white size=2> <i>E-Amusement Pass Card.</i></center><p> <font face=arial color=white size=3> For those unfamiliar with it, the player s E-Amusement Pass works exactly like Xbox Live s Gamer Card system in regards to keeping track of player names and their progress on a particular game. In Otomedius case, the high scores of everyone who s played the game are placed on a worldwide list and compared against one another, <a href="http://www.konami.jp/am/otome/ranking/ranksinkon.html" target=_"blank">which can be seen right here.</a> Not only are the high scores saved on a remote database, the player s experience points for all of the characters used and what were unlocked for them are also stored there as well, which is all retrieved the moment the player swipes their E-Amusment Card on the machine they're currently using. <p> Of course, the E-Amusement Pass system doesn't stop here. There's something else that Otomedius takes advantage of with it, although one can argue whether or not this addtion was completely necessary... <p> <b>Magnificent Battle</b><p> What I've described to you so far only concerns one of two game modes the player can choose upon starting Otomedius. Although Single Mission is the meat of the game, Konami decided that it was a complete waste to use the E-Amusement system just as a worldwide high score board. So they added a versus mode where players can compete against anybody else who decides to start a gaming session at the same time and challenge each other to see who's the best. <p> Now before some of you get turned on and start erotically licking the screen because I just said this, it's not the type of competition where all of the contestants shoot each other to the death. Versus Mission is essentially a game to see which player can finish a Boss Rush with the highest score before either the global countdown timer for the session hits zero or one player manages to destroy all of the bosses before that happens. The progression of a Versus Mission is exactly the same a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWSSnPi_fUE&feature=related" target="_blank">Gradius V boss rush,</a> with the addition of Treasure Hatches that pop up after the inital wave of weak Powerup Capsule-dropping enemies pass by which will give the player something based on what icon the thing was displaying before it was destroyed. Players who follow the ranking criteria used in the previous game mode (get as many Elements and Power-Up Capsules as possible while taking the least amount of damage) get point bonuses added to their final score if they place first or second in those categories. Players also have infinite lives throughout this session, but upon returning to the playing field, they only get the equivalent of 50% of a D-Burst Gauge filled up instead of having both completely recharged. <p> The reason for this is simple: aside from possibly abusing the D-Burst system in order to acquire more Power-Up Capsules as well as defeating the bosses effortlessly with them due to infinite lives, executing a Quick Burst summons an Option Hunter on their opponents' screen:<p> <center><a href="option hunter.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('option hunter.jpg')" "option hunter.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="option hunter-a.jpg" border=0></a><br /> <font face=arial color=white size=2> <i>This is the only reason why it's called Versus Mission.</i></center><p> <font face=arial color=white size=3> Depending how how well the player's doing compared to the others, they'll receive a specific type of Option Hunter. The most annoying one is given to the player in 1st place, which is the purple scorpion in the picture above that slowly crawls around the screed and will continue to slowly home in on the player until it steals one of their Options or the player collides right into it. What makes it even worse is that like with all Option Hunters, they're immune to the player's standard weapons, so the only way for the lead player to destroy one while still keeping all of their Options is to either run into it and take damage or hit it with a Quick or D-Burst, hence why there's a section with the players' portriats with their D-Burst Gauge status on the top-right corner of the screen in Versus Mission. <p> And that's basically the gist of this game mode. The design problems of Versus Mission begin to manifest themselves once human players square off with each other. All of the player's current data for their characters can be applied to Versus Mission, meaning that if they have one character with a lot of weapons unlocked, they can plow right through the bosses without much of a problem if they have level 3 laser weapons. Also, certain characters will have an inherent advantage over the others simply because their D-Burst is much more effective than their opponents'. Even though the difficulty will be ramped up for characters with higher levels, their large selection of weapons more than compensates for this. <p> If the players decide to handicap themselves to make the match more even, then yeah, Versus Mission a blast to play. However, finding strangers that will be willing to do that, especially since the way arcade machines are set up in Japan, is next to impossible to do. <p> </td> <font face=arial color=white size=3> <td width=40% valign=top> <font face=arial color=#B0C4DE size=3> <center> <b><i>Shmups lost in Cave's wake</b></i><p> <font face=arial color=white size=2> <i> <a href="http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/rtype/rtype.htm" target=_"blank"><img src="http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/rtype/rtype-1.png" border=0></a><br> <a href="http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/rtype/rtype.htm" target=_"blank">R-Type (Irem)</a> <p> <a href="http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/darius/darius.htm" target=_"blank"><img src="http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/darius/dgaiden-2.png" border=0></a><br> <a href="http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/darius/darius.htm" target=_"blank">Darius (Taito)</a> <p> <a href="http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/einhander/einhander.htm" target=_"blank"><img src="http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/einhander/ein4.png" border=0></a><br> <a href="http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/einhander/einhander.htm" target=_"blank">Einhander (Square)</a> <p> <a href="http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/hyperduel/hyperduel.htm" target=_"blank"><img src="http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/hyperduel/hyprarc1.png" border=0></a><br> <a href="http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/hyperduel/hyperduel.htm" target=_"blank">Hyper Duel (Technosoft)</a> <p> <a href="http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/aleste/compile.htm" target=_"blank"><img src="http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/aleste/aleste-1.png" border=0></a><br> <a href="http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/aleste/compile.htm" target=_"blank">Aleste (Compile)</a> <p> <font face=arial color=#B0C4DE size=3> <center> <b><i>Humikane Shimada's Mecha Musume</b></i><p> <font face=arial color=white size=2> <a href="p60.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('p60.jpg')" "p60.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="p60-a.jpg" border=0></a> <p> <a href="shinden.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('shinden.jpg')" "shinden.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="shinden-a.jpg" border=0></a> <p> <a href="s3ag.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('s3ag.jpg')" "s3ag.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="s3ag-a.jpg" border=0></a> <p> <a href="vlalentine.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('vlalentine.jpg')" "vlalentine.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="vlalentine-a.jpg" border=0></a> <font face=arial color=#B0C4DE size=3> <center> <b><i>Mecha Musume in animated form</b></i><p> <font face=arial color=white size=2> <a href="Strike Witches-1.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('Strike Witches-1.jpg')" "Strike Witches-1.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="Strike Witches-1a.jpg" border=0></a> <p> <a href="Strike Witches-2.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('Strike Witches-2.jpg')" "Strike Witches-2.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="Strike Witches-2a.jpg" border=0></a> <p> <a href="Strike Witches-3.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('Strike Witches-3.jpg')" "Strike Witches-3.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="Strike Witches-3a.jpg" border=0></a> <p> <a href="Strike Witches-5.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('Strike Witches-5.jpg')" "Strike Witches-5.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="Strike Witches-5a.jpg" border=0></a> <p> <a href="Strike Witches-6.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('Strike Witches-6.jpg')" "Strike Witches-6.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="Strike Witches-6a.jpg" border=0></a> <p> <font face=arial color=#B0C4DE size=3> <center> <b><i>Other games Mine Yoshizaki was involved in</b></i><p> <font face=arial color=white size=2> <img src="Taisen Hot Gimmick 3.png" border=0><br> Taisen Hot Gimmick 3- Digital Surfing (Psikyo) <p> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEoLn13gSxs" target=_"blank"><img src="popntanksjapfront4qq.jpg" border=0></a><br> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEoLn13gSxs" target=_"blank">Pop'n Tanks! (Enix)</a> <p> <a href="http://www.atlus.co.jp/cs/game/pstation/nijiiro/index.html" target=_"blank"><img src="Nijiiro-a.jpg" border=0></a><br> <a href="http://www.atlus.co.jp/cs/game/pstation/nijiiro/index.html" target=_"blank">Rainbow-Colored Dodgeball: Maiden's Youth (Atlus) </a> <p> <center><a href="angol-fear1.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('angol-fear1.jpg')" "angol-fear1.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="angol-fear1a.jpg" border=0></a><br> Soul Calibur IV (Namco) <p> <font face=arial color=#B0C4DE size=3> <center> <b><i>Quick review: Powering up in Gradius</b></i><p> <font face=arial color=white size=2> <a href="review.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('review.jpg')" "review.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="review-a.jpg" border=0></a> <br> Destroying certain enemies will yield Power Up Capsules <p> <a href="review2.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('review2.jpg')" "review2.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="review2-a.jpg" border=0></a> <br> Touch it to highlight the first slot in the Power Up Meter <p> <a href="review3.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('review3.jpg')" "review3.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="review3-a.jpg" border=0></a> <br> Press Power Up button to activate highlighted item <p> <a href="review4.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('review4.jpg')" "review4.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="review4-a.jpg" border=0></a> <br> To move further up the Meter, collect more Capsules <p> <font face=arial color=#B0C4DE size=3> <center> <b><i>The Blue Capsule Phenomenon</b></i><p> <font face=arial color=white size=2> <center><a href="Blue capsule.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('Blue capsule.jpg')" "Blue capsule.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="Blue capsule-a.jpg" border=0></a> <br> Sometimes enemies will drop a Capsule that glows blue <p> <center><a href="Blue capsule2.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('Blue capsule2.jpg')" "Blue capsule2.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="Blue capsule2-a.jpg" border=0></a> <br> Touching this will immediately neutralize all enemy bullets... <p> <center><a href="Blue capsule3.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('Blue capsule3.jpg')" "Blue capsule3.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="Blue capsule3-a.jpg" border=0></a> <br> ... and all enemies that go down with one hit on the screen <p> <center><a href="Blue capsule 4.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('Blue capsule 4.jpg')" "Blue capsule 4.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="Blue capsule 4-a.jpg" border=0></a> <br> All of Otomedius' Capsules glow blue <p> <center><a href="Blue capsule 5.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('Blue capsule 5.jpg')" "Blue capsule 5.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="Blue capsule 5-a.jpg" border=0></a> <br> But these only manipulate the Power Up Meter <p> <center><a href="Blue capsule 6.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('Blue capsule 6.jpg')" "Blue capsule 6.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="Blue capsule 6-a.jpg" border=0></a> <br> These speical capsules don't exist in Otomedius because... <p> <center><a href="Blue capsule 7.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('Blue capsule 7.jpg')" "Blue capsule 7.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="Blue capsule 7-a.jpg" border=0></a> <br> ... The Quick Burst is an effective replacement <p> <font face=arial color=#B0C4DE size=3> <center> <b><i>I wasn't kidding earlier about the merchandise</b></i><p> <font face=arial color=white size=2> <a href="otome_bigdoll_anoa.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('otome_bigdoll_anoa.jpg')" "otome_bigdoll_anoa.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="otome_bigdoll_anoa-a.jpg" border=0></a><br> Big doll; don't ask <p> <a href="otome_key_tron.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('otome_key_tron.jpg')" "otome_key_tron.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="otome_key_tron-a.jpg" border=0></a><br> Keychains <p> <a href="otome_strap_wind.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('otome_strap_wind.jpg')" "otome_strap_wind.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="otome_strap_wind-a.jpg" border=0></a><br> Cellphone straps <p> <a href="toron_l05.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('toron_l05.jpg')" "toron_l05.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="toron_l05-a.jpg" border=0> </a><br> Penguin figures... <p> <a href="toron_l01.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('toron_l01.jpg')" "toron_l01.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="toron_l01-a.jpg" border=0></a><br> ... That come with this one <p> <img src="RIMG3283.jpg" border=0><br> These don't come with additional goodies like the previous one did <p> <font face=arial color=#B0C4DE size=3> <center> <b><i>Otomedius' first public appearance: AOU 2007</b></i><p> <font face=arial color=white size=2> <a href="AOU.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('AOU.jpg')" "AOU.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="AOU-a.jpg" border=0></a> <p> <a href="AOU1.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('AOU1.jpg')" "AOU1.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="AOU1-a.jpg" border=0></a> <p> <a href="AOU2.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('AOU2.jpg')" "AOU2.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="AOU2-a.jpg" border=0></a> <p> <a href="AOU3.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('AOU3.jpg')" "AOU3.jpg.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="AOU3-a.jpg" border=0></a> <p> <a href="AOU4.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('AOU4.jpg')" "AOU4.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="AOU4-a.jpg" border=0></a> <p> <a href="AOU5.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('AOU5.jpg')" "AOU5.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="AOU5-a.jpg" border=0></a> <p> <a href="AOU6.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('AOU6.jpg')" "AOU6.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="AOU6-a.jpg" border=0></a> <p> <a href="AOU7.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('AOU7.jpg')" "AOU7.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="AOU7-a.jpg" border=0></a> <p> <a href="AOU8.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('AOU8.jpg')" "AOU8.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="AOU8-a.jpg" border=0></a> <p> <a href="AOU9.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('AOU9.jpg')" "AOU9.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="AOU9-a.jpg" border=0></a> <p> <font face=arial color=#B0C4DE size=3> <b><i>What Treasure Hatches give when destroyed</b></i><p> <a href="Treasure Hatch.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('Treasure Hatch.jpg')" "Treasure Hatch.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="Tresaure Hatch-a.jpg" border=0></a> <font face=arial size=2 color=white><br> <i> Elemental Gems <br></a> <p> <a href="Treasure Hatch 2.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('Treasure Hatch 2.jpg')" "Treasure Hatch 2.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="Treasure Hatch 2-a.jpg" border=0></a> <font face=arial size=2 color=white><br /> <i>Powerup Capsules<br></center></i></a> <p> <a href="Treasure Hatch 3.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('Treasure Hatch 3.jpg')" "Treasure Hatch 3.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="Treasure Hatch 3-a.jpg" border=0></a> <font face=arial size=2 color=white><br> <i>Score Bonus<br></center></a> <p> <a href="Treasure Hatch 4.jpg" onclick="return popitup2('Treasure Hatch 4.jpg')" "Treasure Hatch 4.jpg" target=_"blank"><img src="Treasure Hatch 4-a.jpg" border=0></a> <font face=arial size=2 color=white><br> <i>Indestructible Fast-Flying Spiked Balls<br></center></a> <p> </center> </td> </tr> </table> <p> <p> <center><a href="otomedius2.htm"><img src="To the next page.png" border=0></a><p> <a href="../index.html"><img src="To index.png" border=0x</a><p> <p> </center></font>