Looking for a recommendation

[texacala]

Hi, I'm new to the board and was hoping to get a recommendation.  I'm trying to choose between buying Ketsui versus MMP/PS for my Xbox 360.  I bought a Japanese 360 a few years ago and started with Deathsmiles, DDP DOJ, Mushihimesama Futari, and then bought Espgaluda II, Deathsmiles II, plus some other shooters like Mamoru-Kun and Triggerheart Exelica.  Of these games, my favorites have been Futari 1.5 Maniac, Futari BL God Mode, and Deathsmiles.  I've experimented with Ketsui, MMP, and Pink Sweets in MAME, but I don't feel I can really judge which game to buy given the limits of emulation.  Any ideas about which game I should get?  Thank you in advance.

[EOJ]

MMP/PS is the better deal, as it's two games in one. I also like both games better than Ketsui.

However, you can't go wrong with either game, and you'll most likely get them both eventually, so you might as well just flip a coin.

PS: My two all-time favorite vertical shooters are Futari 1.5 (esp. Maniac) and MMP.

[Let_It_Be]

While I prefer Ketsui to both MMP and Pink Sweets (Don't get me wrong all three of these games are simply amazing) I would suggest getting the double pack of Pork and Pink Sweets.

First of all, as EOJ said, you get two games for the price of one so that's a nice bonus.  But you should also consider the fact that MMP/PS is out of print, whereas you can still buy Ketsui new from Play-Asia.  The price will probably only go up for MMP/PS as time goes on, and there will also be fewer and fewer unused DLC cards for the Matsuri mode in Muchi Muchi Pork.  The Ketsui port on the other hand doesn't have anything special besides the book and soundtrack cd that came with the LE, and those at least won't be "consumed" like the DLC cards.

[texacala]

Thanks for the advice-- I think I will go for MMP/PS.  It's pretty expensive, which is partly why I wondered if I'd get my money's worth versus Ketsui.  But it sounds like it's still a great deal and should keep me busy for a long time. 

[Orochi S]

I think that's a good choice - MMP is outstanding. You would do well do hunt down a copy with the DLC included even if you have to pay a bit more, as the Matsuri version is a lot of fun.

You didn't mention DDP Daifukkatsu, but I'd recommend getting the Black Label version (my fav Cave game after Futari and MMP) over Ketsui. You can find them for about the same price. Of course, they are both great really 

[SinHo]

While i have to agree, MMP is a great game with good value for the money... but PS is not even close to my top 10 list.

Get Futari 1.5/BL or DFK 1.5/BL, as I think those are a good introduction to Cave games. Futari 1.5/BL original mode is also quite easy to clear. Ketsui is REALLY good, but can be somewhat difficult after stage 3 (in my opinion).

[Muchi Muchi Spork]

I can't stand Pink Sweets. Forced suiciding to control rank to make it playable, avoiding items and having to trigger the infinite lives trick, what... Infinite lives takes all the fun out of a game. You can just let go of the controls and you will get to the end. Of course I'm just talking about the pcb, I haven't played the port. Supposedly the rank is toned down in the port. But it's easily my least favorite Cave board. I like the graphics and sound and if it didn't have the insane rank/difficulty and had a more normal way of slowing your player's speed, it could have been good.

Pork, I could have done with a rank level display and a way to control it like in Ibara Kuro but it's at least possible to 1CC it without a stupid infinite lives trick. Ketsui, at least the arcade version, is 10/10. I don't think any other game ever has perfected constant tension as well. It feels like utopia.

[Let_It_Be]

I don't believe you can trigger the infinite lives trick on the X360 port of Pink Sweets.

[EOJ]

Triggering the infinite lives in PS is a great thrill. I don't know of anyone outside of Japan who has done it on defaults other than myself, but it's like getting a 1 life clear (if you die even once, you won't trigger it) after the 3rd or 4th (or even 5th) level, then having a few more levels as a bonus just to increase your score as much as possible (and you can use all sorts of wacky techniques to do so, since you don't have to worry about your live stock anymore). It's really awesome. When you hear that 1up chime and see your live stock roll back to two and you know it has kicked in, it just brings a smile to your face. Don't knock it til you've tried it.

[Muchi Muchi Spork]

I haven't done it on defaults. Defaults I think give no chance of extends? I didn't even know you could do it with extends off, but it would ruin the fun for me either way. And just as bad (to me) as infinite lives is the rank getting so bad that it's impossible for anyone to beat it without the lives cheat, or you have to suicide a certain way to control it instead of giving the system a way to control rank like in Ibara Kuro. Just poor design decision like Garegga needing a flipping reset button, wow that's bad, imo. There's a lot I like about it so I hope the next Cave Matsuri/Black Label board will be a PS Black Label that makes the same type changes as going from Ibara to Ibara Kuro. Yagawa has the talent but he's a band member, not a solo artist. He needs 3 more people there to tell him when his ideas are good or when they will require arcade ops to install a power reset switch.

[Let_It_Be]

It's not really a cheat, you don't have to go to a special menu or input a specific code, it's just simply part of the game.

[cstarflare]

I haven't done it on defaults. Defaults I think give no chance of extends?

Enemies drop extends at fixed places, and you get extends after shooting down a certain number of enemies and/or destructible bullets.

I was really disappointed that the infinite lives trick was removed from the console release. It didn't sit well with me at first, but I began to be excited by potential for scoring that it provided and the challenge that triggering the glitch/feature/whatever presented.

[EOJ]

If you couldn't do it on defaults, Arcadia wouldn't accept scores with it.