NeoGeoNinja
Shadow Warrior
Joined: August 2011
Posts: 6,616
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Post by NeoGeoNinja on Jul 9, 2014 22:54:57 GMT
I know this isn't an opinion shared by many here (or anywhere else, for that matter!)... You pretty much just completely answered your own, entire post As for D-Xhird, it's often criticised for looking great yet playing far too slow. Based on my own comparisons, Soul Edge/Blade isn't that much faster - I just suspect a lot of the negativity is from people who favour a much faster pace, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. Oh, no, no, no! This has nothing to do with the pace of the games. After all, I grew up playing most of these on a PAL console @50hz. Nope, the negativity has NOTHING to do with speed/pace, but actually, pretty much everything else. The gameplay, especially, is just ghastly. Specifically, D-Xhird. Sure, as a screen grab, it looks alright, but when it gets moving... the movement, the animation (not to be confused with how smoothly they animate, but how they ARE animated), the move execution, responsiveness etc. Yeah. It's pretty bad. And, although you may not believe me, this - like Zyrobs - is coming from someone with a soft-spot for the Toshinden series, and all it's inherent flaws. I really don't think URA is as bad as is being made out here, but, I don't think it's great either. A guilty pleasure etc. However, I actually thought Toshinden 3 on PS1 was actually half decent. Much better than 1/S & 2/URA. Additionally, while we're discussing some of the more obscure titles in this genre for our favourite console, I've tried on countless occasions to "get" Savaki. While it's definitely impressive as a technical showcase of what even third party developers could do with Sega's 32-bit later on, this is one I struggle to play for any lengthy period. Indeed, despite the smooth frame rate, it makes D-Xhird almost seem like it's rocket-powered! Despite being quite a rare example on the platform of a more serious, sports-based title, Savaki comes a distant second to All Japan Pro Wrestling Featuring Virtua. Nope. No to all of that. Also, the thing that makes Savaki so unique and, quite great, isn't just the simulation aspect, but the nature of the gameplay lends itself so well to being more about instinctual gameplay, as opposed to the juggles and lengthy combo strings found in SEGA's contemporaries. Great concept and, nicely executed. Even better than the Saturns own K-1 title, which is Savaki's nearest neighbour. Not AJPW, which is a completely different type of game. Nearly a different genre.
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Post by Oho on Jul 10, 2014 2:42:51 GMT
I thought I would play devils advocate on D-Xhird but I literally have nothing to say. I have a review coming up tomorrow but I think it is safe to say that it won't be the gleaming review you're looking for, Anthaemia. The problem is not pacing because there are slow fighters I LOVE. The problem is the whole game comes off at the very best a rush job. There is 0 flow to the game and animation looks like 6 frames tied together. While graphics are not the greatest, the real problem is gameplay. I won't say anymore as you can watch my opinion on it tomorrow, when I upload it.
Edit: The way you talk about D-Xhird, Anthaemia, makes it seem like we're playing 2 different games.
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Post by Anthaemia. on Jul 10, 2014 11:37:16 GMT
The way you talk about D-Xhird, Anthaemia, makes it seem like we're playing 2 different games. I consider myself the kind of person who can look beyond a game's obvious flaws to try and appreciate what the developers originally intended, which is often compromised as a result of rushed production scheduled, slashed budgets or technical limitations. Apart from being the actual team behind all three of Takara's Saturn fighting releases, Nextech was contracted to produce a variety of other projects (including first party Sega titles and two Resident Evil conversions, plus the all-new sequel Code: Veronica on Dreamcast), so there's no doubting their abilities to translate an idea from paper to programmed code. Whether you believe the end results played in a way anybody personally likes is another matter entirely, and unlike AM2's initial Saturn treatment of Daytona USA or CRI's port of Sega Touring Car, it seems few are unfairly willing to give D-Xhird much of a chance. There are far worse efforts out there, and to me it's not that far removed from the sluggish pace of Namco's 32-bit era efforts - for the record, I wasn't a fan of their work until Soul Calibur, which rightly eclipsed Virtua Fighter 3tb! I must at least congratulate Nextech for pushing their host platform to quite incredible levels, and based on the visual performance of later fighting games such as D-Xhird, Savaki, Last Bronx, Fighters Megamix or even All Japan Pro Wrestling Featuring Virtua, it's not hard to imagine what could have been achieved in the genre on Saturn going into 1999... we'd have definitely forgiven, if not completely forgotten the likes of the first Virtua Fighter and Fist, that's for sure. Then again, just look at what we did get: Final Fight Revenge, anyone?
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savaroth
Joined: September 2012
Posts: 792
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Post by savaroth on Jul 10, 2014 12:19:15 GMT
The way you talk about D-Xhird, Anthaemia, makes it seem like we're playing 2 different games. I consider myself the kind of person who can look beyond a game's obvious flaws to try and appreciate what the developers originally intended, which is often compromised as a result of rushed production scheduled, slashed budgets or technical limitations. Apart from being the actual team behind all three of Takara's Saturn fighting releases, Nextech was contracted to produce a variety of other projects (including first party Sega titles and two Resident Evil conversions, plus the all-new sequel Code: Veronica on Dreamcast), so there's no doubting their abilities to translate an idea from paper to programmed code. Whether you believe the end results played in a way anybody personally likes is another matter entirely, and unlike AM2's initial Saturn treatment of Daytona USA or CRI's port of Sega Touring Car, it seems few are unfairly willing to give D-Xhird much of a chance. There are far worse efforts out there, and to me it's not that far removed from the sluggish pace of Namco's 32-bit era efforts - for the record, I wasn't a fan of their work until Soul Calibur, which rightly eclipsed Virtua Fighter 3tb! I must at least congratulate Nextech for pushing their host platform to quite incredible levels, and based on the visual performance of later fighting games such as D-Xhird, Savaki, Last Bronx, Fighters Megamix or even All Japan Pro Wrestling Featuring Virtua, it's not hard to imagine what could have been achieved in the genre on Saturn going into 1999... we'd have definitely forgiven, if not completely forgotten the likes of the first Virtua Fighter and Fist, that's for sure. Then again, just look at what we did get: Final Fight Revenge, anyone? I tried giving D-xhird a chance. To me it felt like a big pile of poo. Stinking, wet poo. No matter what the developers intended or not, its controls are bad if not horrible. I seriously prefer boxing on the atari 2600 above playing D-xhird ( no I am NOT kidding, tho i must say I played boxing on the 2600 long before the saturn was ever released so i might just be a bit nostalgic towards that title ) .
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Post by bradcap1 on Jul 10, 2014 15:33:58 GMT
The way you talk about D-Xhird, Anthaemia, makes it seem like we're playing 2 different games. I consider myself the kind of person who can look beyond a game's obvious flaws to try and appreciate what the developers originally intended, which is often compromised as a result of rushed production scheduled, slashed budgets or technical limitations. Apart from being the actual team behind all three of Takara's Saturn fighting releases, Nextech was contracted to produce a variety of other projects (including first party Sega titles and two Resident Evil conversions, plus the all-new sequel Code: Veronica on Dreamcast), so there's no doubting their abilities to translate an idea from paper to programmed code. Whether you believe the end results played in a way anybody personally likes is another matter entirely, and unlike AM2's initial Saturn treatment of Daytona USA or CRI's port of Sega Touring Car, it seems few are unfairly willing to give D-Xhird much of a chance. There are far worse efforts out there, and to me it's not that far removed from the sluggish pace of Namco's 32-bit era efforts - for the record, I wasn't a fan of their work until Soul Calibur, which rightly eclipsed Virtua Fighter 3tb! I must at least congratulate Nextech for pushing their host platform to quite incredible levels, and based on the visual performance of later fighting games such as D-Xhird, Savaki, Last Bronx, Fighters Megamix or even All Japan Pro Wrestling Featuring Virtua, it's not hard to imagine what could have been achieved in the genre on Saturn going into 1999... we'd have definitely forgiven, if not completely forgotten the likes of the first Virtua Fighter and Fist, that's for sure. Then again, just look at what we did get: Final Fight Revenge, anyone? 1) I can't imagine any developer originally intended to make a game that is a whopping pile of dung. So the outlook you describe is a bit silly. 2) Despite looking rough, Virtua Fighter played circles around Battle Arena Toshinden. That's the point.
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Post by Anthaemia. on Jul 10, 2014 19:35:03 GMT
THIS IS COOL
My theory is that someone (at Takara or Sega?) made this exact demand to Nextech: "We can't have Soul Edge for the Saturn... so just give us the next best thing, and make sure whatever you come up with looks good!!"
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2014 20:36:25 GMT
Video was removed by user... What was it?
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Post by Oho on Jul 12, 2014 0:05:22 GMT
It was re-uploaded last night:
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martin
Saturn Player
Joined: October 2013
Posts: 51
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Post by martin on Jul 12, 2014 16:40:12 GMT
VF2 was always my favourite. Admittedly, I don't have the Saturn version right now. My brother has the Saturn VF2 we had as kids, and I have the arcade version they released on PSN. I really should pick up the Saturn version though because it's hardly expensive and was a wonder to play on the Saturn pad.
Last Bronx is awesome. DOA is pretty good too.
I should get around to picking up Fighters Megamix. I remember enjoying it in the day, although not as much as VF2.
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