Cave games in 2018: how have they aged for you?

Started by EOJ, March 24, 2018, 08:22:11 PM

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EOJ

How have their games aged for you? I've been playing through most of them recently, and there are a few that still have the same instant magic feeling for me:

Muchi Muchi Pork!
Mushihimesama Futari 1.5 and BL
Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu BL
Dodonpachi Saidaioujou

So, for me, these have aged the best (well, SDOJ isn't that old yet, so we'll see in a few years from now how that holds up). All the others are good too, but I'm having trouble getting back into them. I mean, I'll play a few stages of Mushihimesama or Akai Katana and it's just sorta "meh". Not feeling it that much.




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HVL

I second MMP and Futari 1.5. Those two have always been my favorite games and after a break of several years they still suck me in from the first credit so there definitely is something special about them.

Deathsmiles II is still fun as hell, especially with Lei.

EOJ

I haven't played DSII in a long time. That's one that I definitely need to try again, but I can't remember how to score in that game at all anymore. :facepalm:
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pestro87

I think Futari BL, DFK BL and DS MBL are going to keep me busy for a long time. Futari God still feels somewhat fresh to me as I keep discovering new things in it despite already having clocked a lot of hours on it...

ookitarepanda

ESPGaluda remains a timeless treasure for me, for some reason. Recently I played Galuda II for the first time in a while... I remember really hating it because of ball-crushing difficulty, but in this recent playthrough I got really into it and finally cleared it. Some of those backgrounds are just unreal.

I hear what you mean about aging - it's difficult for me to go back to Progear now. For some reason when I hear the soundtrack and the sound effects I just cringe a bit.

brentsg

I hadn't played in so long that I didn't even remember what was in my cabs.  I fired them up a month or so ago, was Akai Katana home edition in the hori, and Futari BL (complete with GP's high score) in the vert.  I played a bit of the latter.

I have a new set of shelves and have been planning to do an inventory of my boards, along with some organization.  Hopefully I have some good stuff!

Have been craving some DFK BL and Muchi Muchi Pork so need to give those a spin.

drunkninja

My old standby Ketsui i'm pretty sure will remain my goto shmup forever

even after months of not playing it, i can go right back in like riding a bicycle lol

everything about that game just flows perfectly for me.  I certainly enjoy much of Cave's other stuff, but nowhere near the level of Ketsui



Plasmo

It's hard to say if any of the games has aged badly. For me they all feel very fresh still. Timeless games.

If I had to choose though, DDP and ESP Ra.De look kinda old.

TimingTripod40

As an overall package of aesthetics and patterns I think Cave games still hold up as the absolute masterworks of the genre. In terms of scoring, though, I have more mixed feelings. I've found myself gravitating towards more intuitive and simple scoring systems as time has gone on, and Cave kind of strayed away from that a lot of times.

slateman

Other than Progear, I never liked Cave's horizontal stuff.  Still don't.  Same with Galuda II.  Dunno why...just don't love it. 

Mushi 1 was just kind of a magical time for me, and the fourth level's music is among the best in any Cave game.  Futari, what once was just OK, has taken on a brilliance I can't even describe.  The different modes, the different difficulties, it's just spectacular and I don't think that'll ever get old.

I can play DDP all day erry day.  DDP, DOJ, DFK, SDOJ - I love them all in their own unique ways.  DOJ and SDOJ (+ Futari) are my favorite shmups ever. 

Wish I could get MMP for the 360.  Prices are just silly now.  MAME is an option, but I always wanted the port.

I was never as hardcore as a lot of you, but casual play is still a hell of a lot of fun.  Nothing wrong with that IMO!

Plasmo

Quote from: slateman on March 25, 2018, 08:29:51 AM
casual play is still a hell of a lot of fun.  Nothing wrong with that IMO!

QFT! Nothing is more fun than just firing up the game and casually blazing through colorful carpets of bullets! CAVE games are just ideal for that.

One game that has aged particularly well is DOJ imo. That game got even better and more beautiful for me over time.

dan76

As I've got older I'm less interested in scoring and more interested in just getting a clear (though I seem to remember saying something similar before the forum closed). I think with some of Cave's later games the scoring overtook the simple fun of dodging bullets and blowing stuff up.

ESPGaluda is still one if the best, DDP and Mushi are good to blast through. I want to like Saidaioujou more but it's too hard for me  :P novice expert is pretty good.

I've been playing Akai Katana without using the phantom mode and that just about nails it for me.
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Despatche

CAVE's stuff is mostly still master class in both gameplay and aesthetic. Newer projects like Blue Revolver and Aka to Blue are defined by years of experience and understanding of CAVE output. People want these games to continue to exist, which also means people want the older works to continue to be played and enjoyed.

If a game has truly aged negatively, at all, it was only ever as good as it ends up being. That rarely happens. Games that are rated highly are usually a lot better than people already give them credit for.

emphatic

I'll forever love the PGM games. High scoring in ESPGALUDA until the graphics glitch out is so satisfying.

Joe T.

I've been playing the PGM era games a lot more recently but I'd still say Ibara is my favorite Cave game. Beyond Muchi Muchi Pork, I can't say I've really played the later SH-3 stuff much at all, even with the ports. Like an idiot though, I've probably spent more time hunting down the games I want over the last 2-3 years than I've spent actually playing them. :whyioughtta:

Monouchi

For the last year Ive been hunting 1ccs in most Cave games and they still feel really fresh. (Ok, Donpachi felt a bit stiff..but it was their first so.)
Studying the games gameplay and scoring (For getting those extends.) have really changed my view on many of them.
DFK 1.0 went to the top of my list from the sheer joy of hunting a 2-ALL.
Ibara was low on my list but after digging into it, its a masterpiece! (And then I have only scratched the surface.)
Akai Katana scoring is prolly my favourite scoring system.
And so on..

Cave shmups have a really high production value and depth, even the ones I thought looked really bland and boring became really fun when digging into the gameplay.

Stompp

Quote from: Monouchi on March 26, 2018, 05:05:03 AM
Cave shmups have a really high production value and depth, even the ones I thought looked really bland and boring became really fun when digging into the gameplay.
This  :righton:  I still love Cave's games even if I suck royally at most of them  =D   DFK 1.0 is my favorite with Ibara as a close second (eve though I have a love/hate relationship to it  ;) )

SomeMist

I grew to love MMP. I had preordered the MMP/PS bundle, and at first I only liked PS. I shelved it, and about 2 years ago I worked on a PS arrange clear, and then decided to give MMP a shot.

Not sure what happened, but it finally clicked. I reached 2-3 in 1.01 before I decided to buy the 1.0 PCB. Been playing that PCB on and off for nearly a year now

Quote from: ookitarepanda on March 24, 2018, 10:49:34 PM
I hear what you mean about aging - it's difficult for me to go back to Progear now. For some reason when I hear the soundtrack and the sound effects I just cringe a bit.
my favorite game. I don't agree the sound effects and soundtrack aged poorly... both have always sucked. It's everything else about it that makes it my favorite.

Oniros

#18
Quote from: dan76 on March 25, 2018, 12:15:07 PM
As I've got older I'm less interested in scoring and more interested in just getting a clear (though I seem to remember saying something similar before the forum closed). I think with some of Cave's later games the scoring overtook the simple fun of dodging bullets and blowing stuff up.

ESPGaluda is still one if the best, DDP and Mushi are good to blast through. I want to like Saidaioujou more but it's too hard for me  :P novice expert is pretty good.

I've been playing Akai Katana without using the phantom mode and that just about nails it for me.
I have a similar opinion as well. I got into shmups back in 2013 and between then and 2016 I played everything I got my hands on. I never got a single arcade 1cc but a few novice expert clears. IMO Cave's aesthetic was simply unmatched in the industry at the time. Deathsmiles, Akai Katana, and Mushihimesama are my top 3 in terms of presentation with Mushi being my GOAT. I really dunno why I prefer it over Futari.

As I get older though, I have shifted my focus towards fighting games and with shmups certainly taking a backseat. I could play them casually, but I certainly enjoy myself more grinding at them continuously chasing for the highest score possible. Sadly, I don't have the time to do this anymore and now my JP X360 is stored far away from where I currently live. :(