Akai Katana Limited Home Version [Cave, PCB Kit, November 19, 2010]

[brentsg]

Get a cheap used RGB CRT monitor (not hard to find in the UK, I'd think), get an RGB cable for your X360. Problem solved. The ports look fantastic on an RGB CRT, and zero lag.

Or better yet, play them in a cabinet. I know you have the means, SuperPang, and I won't rat you out to kernow. 

It's just a hassle.  If you have the means to setup a cab.. esp with a hi-res CRT, then you can just play the PCBs.  Plus, cabs take so much space.  Even with a supergun setup it's not the same somehow.

Uhh oh, now we're beating another horse.

[skykid]

Get a cheap used RGB CRT monitor (not hard to find in the UK, I'd think), get an RGB cable for your X360. Problem solved. The ports look fantastic on an RGB CRT, and zero lag.

Or better yet, play them in a cabinet. I know you have the means, SuperPang, and I won't rat you out to kernow. 

I wish I did have the means... and the knowhow for that matter. 
I've got the machine, I've got the cab - I don't know the first thing about getting it hooked up. I've sent messages to the chap at shmups today hoping to get one of his scart -> Jamma adapters, but I don't know if I'm too late to that party.

Any help is appreciated (or a guide!)

Oh, and I totally didn't get the joke btw. 

[emphatic]

It's just a hassle.  If you have the means to setup a cab.. esp with a hi-res CRT, then you can just play the PCBs.

Let me know when Ketsuipachi, ESPGALUDA BL etc are available as PCB's then. 

[brentsg]

It's just a hassle.  If you have the means to setup a cab.. esp with a hi-res CRT, then you can just play the PCBs.

Let me know when Ketsuipachi, ESPGALUDA BL etc are available as PCB's then. 

Dodonsui isn't out yet and Galuda is a girlie game.   

[EOJ]

What about DSIIX? DSMBL 1.1? Espgaluda Arrange? I like all of those more than Dangun Feveron or Guwange or Progear.

[brentsg]

What about DSIIX? DSMBL 1.1? Espgaluda Arrange? I like all of those more than Dangun Feveron or Guwange or Progear.

Good modes for sure, but I'll have to suffer thru with my plasma.  I've got 3 cabs, a hori, a vert, and a dedicated Ms. Pac/Galaga.  No more room or wife tolerance for more.  I mentioned the new Iron Man pinball and caught some serious evil eye.

[Strider77]

I mentioned the new Iron Man pinball and caught some serious evil eye.

If you make more money and she loves you...   ignore the eye rolling and do it back when she buy's shoes or forces you to watch some horrible romantic comedy.  

God...  I HATE romantic comedies

[SuperPang]

SP, is the "white" version of the game the same as arcade 1.0 or is it different too?  I'm unclear whether both modes are arranged or just red.

They're both arranged. Everything I've written applies to both white and red. Red just seems to be the same but with suicide bullets and more manic patterns on bosses/midbosses as far as I can tell.

[evil_ash_xero]

SP, is the "white" version of the game the same as arcade 1.0 or is it different too?  I'm unclear whether both modes are arranged or just red.

They're both arranged. Everything I've written applies to both white and red. Red just seems to be the same but with suicide bullets and more manic patterns on bosses/midbosses as far as I can tell.

Well, do you consider it a step up overall? There seems to be such a lukewarm reaction to this game. It's disappointing.

[SuperPang]

Well, do you consider it a step up overall?

Early days but I think the answer may be yes. Scoring feels somehow simplified and less restrictive. I think the key is to go into Ninja mode with some energy in orbit for quick refills. Scores seem to shoot up from the third stage onwards where there are more bullets on screen to maximise gold. I am very happy they stopped the Ninja gauge expanding and pushed the extends further into the game too.

[zombiz]

http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm13187338

Seems like a superplay video (stages 1 & 2) from Akai Katana Limited Version... White Mode !  
(279mil by the end of stage 1 ; cleared stage 2 with 1.5bil)

Edit: It seems to be a video uploaded by japanese top-player SIN ! The HQ video is available on the following page:  http://sinmoon.sakuraweb.com/movie.html
(look for 赤い刀 個人ユーザー版)

Edit 2: It's White mode actually, thanks to SuperPang for pointing that out !

[Monouchi]

http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm13187338

Seems like a superplay video (stages 1 & 2) from Akai Katana Limited Version... Red Mode !  

Edit: It seems to be a video uploaded by japanese top-player SIN ! The HQ video is available on the following page:  http://sinmoon.sakuraweb.com/movie.html
(look for 赤い刀 個人ユーザー版)

Thanks zombiz for the movie.

I could and will play this game for the change-to-ninja-mode sound effect alone. 

[dorakyura]

Cheers zombiz!

Is that slowdown at around 5:39 for real or an encoding issue? (When he switches back from ninja mode).

Really like what I'm seeing there: Certainly, there is more bullet manipulating than dodging (which will annoy some people) but to me this looks extremely fun. Hopefully the port will hit us sometime soon.

[SuperPang]

Thats not red mode.

Is that slowdown at around 5:39 for real or an encoding issue? (When he switches back from ninja mode).

Encoding, I think, it's hard to say as it is possible to bring both games to a crawl. All of Akai Katanas faults (lack of difficulty, limited scope for scoring) seem to be more down to hardware limitation than game design.

That video was humiliating to watch. I thought I had an idea of the scope for score but I'm nowhere near.

[zombiz]

Thats not red mode.

Sorry, that's my mistake

[SuperPang]

Encoding, I think

I've changed my mind.

I'm loving his technique of getting right up in the bosses faces (and especially lasers) to maximise the number of bullets in a small space. Why the hell wasn't I doing that. Also, the way he delays the final kill on the second boss is sick.

[dorakyura]

Encoding, I think

I've changed my mind.

*g*

Also, the way he delays the final kill on the second boss is sick.

That's what I thought You don't happen to be willing to part with your copy? ;-)

[TheSoundofRed]

http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm13187338

Seems like a superplay video (stages 1 & 2) from Akai Katana Limited Version... White Mode !  
(279mil by the end of stage 1 ; cleared stage 2 with 1.5bil)

Edit: It seems to be a video uploaded by japanese top-player SIN ! The HQ video is available on the following page:  http://sinmoon.sakuraweb.com/movie.html
(look for 赤い刀 個人ユーザー版)

Edit 2: It's White mode actually, thanks to SuperPang for pointing that out !

Man, I love everything about this game. I've watched the video like 4 times... I hope a port is announced soon so I can finally play this beast!

SuperPang, do you know if the hit counter acts as a multiplier at all?

[SuperPang]

Item point formula changed to: item base value + hit count x 10
Stage bonus calculation changed to the total count of all gold (small to large) collected x 10,000

[TheSoundofRed]

Item point formula changed to: item base value + hit count x 10
Stage bonus calculation changed to the total count of all gold (small to large) collected x 10,000

Oops, I should have went through the thread for the info. Thanks for posting it though.

[Runefaust]

One more thing I forgot to mention: Losing a life doesn't extend your Ninja gauge any more.

I messed around with the dip settings. You can set 1-4 lives, when yoou set  1 live you start with a very long ninja gauge. When you start with 4 lives the gauge is quite short. The gauge stays that way, even if you gain or lose lives.

[SuperPang]

when yoou set  1 live you start with a very long ninja gauge.

Cool, I never noticed that.

[emphatic]

I played both the Arcade and the Limited versions yesterday (shmupmeet) and I liked the Arcade version better. In the LE your helper ship halts enemy bullets (like in ESPGALUDA II BL), radically altering some boss patterns. Quite frustrating. LE seems quite a bit faster as well. I think this might be an acquired taste though, but with the little time I put into it, it felt more like an arrange mode than a proper BL if that makes any sense. The Arcade mode on the other hand feels very enjoyable right off the bat. Also, the game looks really easy in the videos but it really isn't.  I have a hard time with horizontal games in general, so don't take this rant too seriously. 

[brentsg]

Did you try both difficulty levels on the LE?

Also, I think that only one of the shot modes slows bullets, right?

[emphatic]

Did you try both difficulty levels on the LE?

Also, I think that only one of the shot modes slows bullets, right?

Sorry, I forgot to say that yes, only when A is held down (fixed helper ship) this happens. I didn't think to test any difficulty levels than what you get if you just press start, select your ship etc. I did have a couple of beers though. 

[SuperPang]

You press A on the title screen to select the harder mode with suicide bullets.

[Muchi Muchi Spork]

- It's really hard to get large gold.

[talking about the Limited Version]

Can you or anyone else explain any sort of strategy on how to get the gold to increase in size?

[EOJ]

I noticed we didn't have a dedicated thread for this game so I split the relevant posts from the main AK Arcade thread.

[brokenhalo]

So who here is kicking themselves for not buying a stack of these things?

*raises hand*

[dan76]

I am. I mean, there's no way I'll ever get to play it, and from what I can tell it fixes some if the problems with the original versions scoring. I guess vanilla AK is in... mame... now. It may get dumped but whose going to do that?

That whole thing of selling these expensive home use pcb's seemed a bit cheap at the time. But I wish I had one (I also with I had the Cave shop edition of the xbox release, duh).