Game Boy Guru

Welcome to the Summer Of Raiden! We're spending the summer concentrating on the classic Raiden series of games, and we're kicking things off with the very first game in the series. Developed and published by Seibu Kaihatsu in Japan in 1990, and brought to the West courtesy of Fabtek, Raiden took some established elements within the shooting game genre and further solidified them into a simple, but potent mix. Their no-frills approach proved to be popular in arcades, and over the next couple of years, inspired a slew of imitators who took the basic Raiden formula and put their own spin on it. What is it about this game that caused it to become such a big hit?Taking many cues from legendary shooting game developer Toaplan, Seibu Kaihatsu took the basic elements codified in Twin Cobra and changed a couple things around to simplify the approach in a couple ways, but expand upon those ideas in other ways. An extra element added to coop play helped set the game apart from its contemporaries. In the year leading up to the release of Street Fighter II, it was the right environment for a game like Raiden to find its audience and succeed. The game not only spawned multiple sequels, but also received many home conversions.The year is 2090. Alien lifeforms known as the Crystals have invaded Earth. The Crystals took control over most of Earth's military hardware to use in the invasion. In response, the world organization known as Vanquish Crystal Defense develops the Fighting Thunder attack craft, a cutting-edge weapon based on Crystal technology. To survive against the invaders and fight back, VCD deploys Fighting Thunder as the only hope for humanity. Blast off with the RF Generation Shmup Club in June 2022 as we play the original Raiden!

Sign up here on RF Generation to participate: http://www.rfgeneration.com/forum/index.php?topic=19666.0

Or join the RF Generation Discord to join the discussion: https://discord.gg/NW2p3Qb7

In the 90's, as arcades were in a general decline, many games that originated in that setting began to move to home consoles, as a way to continue to proliferate. When you have a recognized property that sells well enough based on the name, it makes sense to continue that, right? While home consoles can't always match the power of the arcade hardware, they can offer a way to get that experience in front of a lot of people, and give developers a chance to change things up. Irem gave developer Tamtex that opportunity, when the venerable R-Type series moved from the smoky arcades to the living room, with the arrival of R-Type III: The Third Lightning on the Super Famicom and Super NES.

The dark forces of the BYDO Empire threaten humanity yet again, with more powerful weapons than ever. Over the past few years, they have crept close to Earth, building hidden bases for their fleets. The Earth Science Center had believed that all of the BYDO Empire was destroyed. Now they know that somewhere a BYDO mother ship carries the remnants of that foul civilization. Earth will be overthrown unless the latest R-series vessel, the R-90, can defeat BYDO's armies. Equipped with the mighty Round, Shadow, or Cyclone Forces of power, the R-90 can warp into different dimensions and meet the enemy ships and ground troops on an equal basis. As the Captain of the R-90, you must seek out the mysterious mother ship and destroy it to save humanity.

R-Type III initially saw release on the Super Famicom, and made its way to the west on the Super NES in 1993. A Game Boy Advance version followed 2004. Because it has long been a sought after and expensive game, Retro-Bit licensed the game for re-release (alongside its SNES counterpart Super R-Type), and released R-Type Returns in a single cartridge, which allows you to choose between the 2 games. Join the RF Generation Shmup Club in November 2021 as we take off and strike the evil Bydo empire in R-Type III!

In Episode 039, MetalFRO and Addicted join forces with Someguy, indie developer for Team Overloaded Studio, and talk about Assault Shell, which recently celebrated its 1 year anniversary, and a 2.0 release! We take a deep dive into the game's story, mechanics, scoring, and more.

Check out the original discussion thread for the game here: http://www.rfgeneration.com/forum/index.php?topic=19589.0

The mid-90's brought us an innovation in the shooting game genre with the advent of the danmaku, or "bullet hell" shooter. Developer Cave set the standard, and many studios and doujin developers have tried to replicate and innovate upon that over the years, with varying success. As the genre in general has seen a renaissance over the past few years, new developers have added their ideas, and tried to iterate on the formula. Some recent devs have garnered acclaim for bringing interesting new elements to the table with their entries into the shmup landscape. South Korean indie outfit Deerfarm has thrown their hat into the ring, and tried their hand at replicating that style, with Shikhondo Soul Eater.Shikhondo Soul Eater is a Korean bullet-hell shoot ‘em up set within a beautiful and bizarre world of Asian mythology.

Armies of demons known as yokai have escaped from Limbo. They are spreading like a plague across the land, sowing fear and stealing souls. You must destroy the pestilent invaders and free the captured souls from eternal torment. The game is available digitally on all modern console platforms (Switch, Xbox One/Series, PS4/5), as well as on PC via Steam, and also on iOS and Android. Physical versions for Switch and PS4 were published by Eastasiasoft, and released Exclusively through Play Asia. Join the RF Generation Shmup Club as we explore spooky yokai mythological nightmares in Shikhondo in October 2021!

Join the play-through here on RF Generation: http://www.rfgeneration.com/forum/index.php?topic=19595.0

Join the RF Generation Discord to discuss the game there, or share your high score! https://discord.gg/Ndx9jPY

Or tweet at the podcast account on Twitter, to signal your participation: https://twitter.com/shootcorecast

During the lifespan of the Game Boy, a lot of games were released that were based on various movies and TV shows, because there's already name recognition for those properties. Unfortunately, not all the games based on those properties were crafted with the love and care that original works would end up being. Even so, there are some license games that are well worth a look, despite their origins. Is Stargate for the Game Boy one of those titles? Watch and learn, and then let's discuss in the comments!

When you make a successful game, and it's beloved by millions, what do you do next? Make a sequel, of course! That seems to be the formula, and while sequels don't always replicate the commercial success of their predecessor, sometimes they do enough to improve upon the original that they stand alone. Namco had success with Galaxian in 1979, and quickly followed that up with the massive hit Galaga in 1981. Gaplus followed in 1984, and while it wasn't as successful as the previous games, it did do relatively well. In 1987, Namco brought us the 4th entry in the series, the oddly titled Galaga 88.

Galaga 88 continues to iterate on the fixed shooter formula by adding new elements, and also...by not staying fixed! This time around, there are some scrolling levels, and boss fights, as well as new upgrades, the ability to warp past levels, and more. The game received a PC Engine port in 1988, and in 1990, was rebranded as Galaga '90 for the TurboGrafx-16 release. It has been included on several Namco compilations, such as Namco Museum 50th Anniversary (PS2, GameCube, Xbox, PC), Namco Museum Virtual Arcade (Xbox 360), and Namco Museum Switch. The TurboGrafx version is also included on the TurboGrafx Mini console. Join the RF Generation Shmup Club in August 2021, as we play Galaga 88! Sign up on the forum to join us here: http://www.rfgeneration.com/forum/index.php?topic=19577.0

Follow the podcast account on Twitter to tweet us screenshots and thoughts about the game: https://twitter.com/shootcorecast

Join the RF Generation Discord server, and post about the game there: https://discord.gg/myqb2sN3

Follow the podcast account on Twitter to tweet us screenshots and thoughts about the game: https://twitter.com/shootcorecast

In Episode 036, Addicted and MetalFRO cover a game that doesn't get much attention, and is frequently forgotten among fans of shmups, and retrogaming in general. This Game Boy classic needs more love, so we're giving it some, hoping to see more discussion about it. It's Mercenary Force!

Get the episode on your preferred service, by using the links on our Linktree page: https://linktr.ee/shootthecorecast

Check out the original discussion thread for the game here: http://www.rfgeneration.com/forum/index.php?topic=19553.0

As the indie shmup scene continues to grow, more developers have had an opportunity to get their games out there for public consumption. The rise in popularity of the "rogue lite" formula has played a part, as people are seeking experiences that are less static, and a bit more unpredictable. After all, with so many rogue-lite twin stick games, platformers, and action RPGs, why shouldn't the shooting game genre dip a foot in the pool, right? Developer Panda Indie Studio (aka Arabong) has been doing just that, with early titles like Project Starship and Red Death. 2020 brought us the latest take on this formula, Project Starship X.

Project Starship is back with a wacky take on cosmic horror. In this rogue-lite shooter, you’ll take the role of the tentacled-yet-hip Swagthulhu as you CRASH-KILL comical abominations in flashy 16-bit style! With multi-purpose dodge mechanics and tons of crazy pick-ups, you’ll be able to crash your ship straight through the enemy and emerge unscathed. Project Starship X celebrates genre conventions by turning them upside-down! Join the RF Generation Shmup Club in July 2021, as we fire up Project Starship X on PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch!

Sign up to participate on the forum thread here: http://www.rfgeneration.com/forum/index.php?topic=19565.0

Post your scores, thoughts on the game, or experiences here on this Facebook post!