King of Fighters Sky Stage [JP Arcade 2009, XBLA 2010]

[EOJ]

This is a vertical scrolling shmup, with KOF characters. On Type-X. To be playable at the upcoming AOU show:

http://game.snkplaymore.co.jp/official/kof-skystage/

[adverse]

微妙すぎてワロタ　

[fuse]

I was wondering about this - all the info I heard before was suggesting it was straight to XBLA / PSN, and it did strike me as strange there was no penned arcade release.

Must admit I don't have great hopes for it, but still, am going to be watching it closely.

[charlienash87]

Must admit I don't have great hopes for it, but still, am going to be watching it closely.

you should watch this then

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJZwJ8DITzg

[fuse]

Have seen that - purely fanmade though, right?

I pretty much disregard anything as soon as I see 'MUGEN'

[gsl]

I know plenty of people on shmups have made this comment, but to reiterate, it looks totally like a new Shikigami title.  Which, in my opinion, could be pretty awesome.

[Megalixir]

弱すぎるよ～

I know it looks a bit like Shiki, but it just feels like SNK Playmore (not SNK, they're meant to be fucking dead) are trying to cash in on their characters. I mean, who would want this if it just had boring old spaceships in it?

[adverse]

http://gigazine.net/index.php?/news/comments/20090917_kofskystage/

Movie coming soon apparently.

[HUU]

I played the game a while back at hirose ... I was going there for some sf4 and I saw the game running !! I guessed it was the loc test 
The game was on a viewlix with nobody playing or even watching.
It really felt like a shikigami or homura, with may be bigger character on screen.
The movement of the character was confusing me, when going left then right, he does a pretty big body toss...I thought it was like the A+B toss escape from the early kof fighting games 
I did one credit with yagami and another with terry.
What I liked the most was yagami's voice ...
The game looked "empty", not so much bullet on screen. From what I saw, the chaining system consist of killing ennemies without dying.
There was also a sub system for weapon .. but I totally forgot what it was ... 
Anyway I thought it was a quick game ... just feed a couple of credit to have fun but that's it ...

[EOJ]

Some details from the game's programmer, Kappa:

http://game.snkplaymore.co.jp/official/kof-skystage/blog/archives/2010/01/xbla.html

He says they have finished the arcade version, and it will be released soon. He also talks about the XBLA version and says it will include achievements, online rankings, online versus, and the usual config options (game settings, buttons, and screen adjustment). They're currently working on it, and the guy says he's open to feedback from users about what they'd like in the port.

[adverse]

I played the game a while back at hirose ... I was going there for some sf4 and I saw the game running !! I guessed it was the loc test 

Where's hirose?

[HUU]

Where's hirose?

I mean hey akiba.

[Kaneda]

This is out now and...pretty much everywhere. HEY has 3 of em and Mikado got 2 (yet passed on DFK BL). You can set them up back-to-back like with the fighters for VS play so that two can enjoy this turd simultaneously. Ugly graphics, plain bullet patterns, enemies that looked like they came from STG Maker and the same scoring system you see in most 3D action games (enemy chaining with a very generous time between kills).

Another winner from SNK Playmore.

[PsychoDiver]

I am disappointed to hear it stinks. I wanted to like this game. It looked like a good clone of Shikigami no Shiro. Oh well...

[CastorKrieg]

KOF Sky Stage will be included as one of the modes in upcoming Neo Geo Heroes Ultimate Shooting for the PSP. Out in Japan in July:

http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/04/27/neo_geo_heroes_ultimate_shooting/

[EOJ]

XBLA version will be available Sept 15th. 800MSP

http://game.snkplaymore.co.jp/game/xbla/lineup/kof-skystage.php

[charlienash87]

it only took a year

[EOJ]

We all know it will be well worth the wait. 

[njiska]

I've only played the trial and it didn't do anything to hook me. Bullets move way too slow for their density, enemies are bland and generic looking and over all the game has a doujin feel. There was just no challenge and therefore no fun. Any one know if it gets any better later in the game?

[charlienash87]

We all know it will be well worth the wait. 

it wasn't. I'm not completely disappointed. taunting does make the game hard as balls...well, if you're playing as terry. man they made him weak. can't figure out why everyones hit box is located in their ass. i could care less about looks and the generic enemies that everyone keeps complaining about. graphics don't make the game, the game play does.

[EOJ]

I got this and I actually think it's very good. It's also really, really hard (even on "Easy"). I think this is Moss's best game to date, and at 800MSP it's a great deal.

[EOJ]

I've only played the trial and it didn't do anything to hook me. There was just no challenge and therefore no fun. Any one know if it gets any better later in the game?

The trial is only the first stage. The game gets really f'ing hard past the second stage.

[SuperPang]

I played a couple of credits and was pleasantly surprised myself, its not a bad deal. Will investigate further when I get my new stick. I rather liked Raiden IV too. Might even pick this up cheap on Type X one day although strangely I've never seen it sold on YAJ.

[njiska]

I've only played the trial and it didn't do anything to hook me. There was just no challenge and therefore no fun. Any one know if it gets any better later in the game?

The trial is only the first stage. The game gets really f'ing hard past the second stage.

Well if that's the case I may give it a try.

[seiatsu]

For a $10 game this isn't bad at all. Graphics aren't the greatest but not too bad either (occasionally difficult to differentiate background from enemies/bullets when things get hectic) and the game play is pretty fun. The six characters (each with 3 special attacks having unique properties) play different enough to give it some decent replay value as well. While not the greatest STG of all time, it's certainly worth a look. Makes me wonder where all the preliminary hate came from (probably mostly from people who have never played the game).

[EOJ]

Makes me wonder where all the preliminary hate came from (probably mostly from people who have never played the game).

This is par for the course these days, unfortunately.

[Medal]

I've heard that there's one dropped extend in stage 3 and no score-based extends. Two loops, TLB is Omega Rugal, and the side of the screen you sit on at the end of the stage determines the boss you'll fight in the next one. There's some other stuff about the system that I don't know about and haven't seen in action. Tempted to get it, but money is tight, and I may be persuaded to get Infinity Gene instead...Though I always tend to arcade games over console because they're usually going to be balanced tightly enough (length, scoring, etc.) to hold a spot on the floor in an arcade.

[TheSoundofRed]

Sorta been on a XBLA shmup buying spree as of late. Picked up Triggerheart Exelica, and now this.

I agree with whomever mentioned the hitbox location. I've had quite a few annoying deaths from being hit by bullets I thought I was clear of. Small gripe though, since I enjoy all other aspects of the game. I'm amazed at how fast the difficulty ramps up. I mostly played Stage 1 & 2 today, trying to find out optimal scoring routes. I'm trying to figure out what's more important for scoring, the chain combo or gold medals. I know you get additional points once you kill a certain number of enemies during a chain, so it might be more important to focus on it initially.